protect ourselves and gain a lot of normalcy in our daily lives, too. >> dr. leana wen, great advice. hope everybody stays safe over this thanksgiving holiday and happy thanksgiving to you and your family as well. we appreciate it very much as always. great to see you. i am jim acosta, thanks very much for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. have a good night. outfront next. biden puts a plan in action to address rising gas prices, though admitting today it won't solve the problem overnight. so, is this nothing more than just a political ploy? plus, the white supremacist organizers of the deadly rally in charlottesville, virginia, found liable in order to pay millions of dollars. the jury deadlocked on the more serious claims tonight, though. and she led protestors at tiananmen square hit for ten months, until she was finally able to escape in a cargo box. tonight, her message for chinese tennis star peng shuai. let's go outfront. and good evening, i'm erin

burnett. out front tonight, president biden throwing a hail-mary pass. the president ordering the release of 50 million barrels of oil from america's strategic petroleum reserve. biden desperate to ease rising gas prices for america. touting a deal with five other countries to do the same thing and open up their oil reserve. now, look, it is good biden is working with other countries to relieve pressure on prices but context matters and the reality is that this is essentially america alone. india releasing just 5 million barrels. 1.5 million for the uk. south korea, china, and japan, no number at all just quote/unquote working on a plan. still, biden insists the move will pay off. >> our combined action will not solve the problem of high gas prices overnight, it will make a difference. it will take time but before long, you should see price of gas drop. >> okay. well, i hope he is right. but again, context really matters. so, americans used more than 20

million barrels of oil a day in the month of september. translation. today's release equals about two and a half days of u.s. oil use. say it again. two and a half days of u.s. oil use. to be blupt, it hey not provide the kind relief many hundreds of millions of americans are looking for and that may be why the white house did not want to directly answer our jeff zeleny when he asked if this was really just a political move. >> does the president believe that this is an emergency of an energy sake or more of a political crisis? >> well, we're emerging from once-in- once-in-a-century pandemic and the supply of oil has not kept up with demand. >> but is this being done primarily to try and stave off a political crisis? >> this is being done in order to take -- use every tool at the president's disposal to lower the price of gas for the american people. >> okay, sure, the president should used every tool at his disposal and there is a lot to

talk about there. but this emergency reserve release, biden knows the reality, too. we have learned that biden had been privately advised that tapping into the reserve wouldn't do much to alleviate the current problem, so he knew. and another thing. biden has been talk about doing this for a while, in fact, for weeks he's been asked and the market had been expecting it. so for the translation on that, let me kweet the head of petroleum analysis of gas buddy. quote, oil prices started dipping once the administration hinted this move was coming. so it's essentially already priced into the market. okay. well, you can see the price of oil has dropped from its recent high. price of gas, now, $3.40. up 61% from a year ago. experts say maybe biden's move lowers it by five kcents, maybe ten. only temporarily. ouch. so, where it then goes from there, no one knows and that is really important because it brings me to the heart of the issue tonight and, that is, what

it's -- it's hard to stave off a surge in energy prices with a small release of oil. j.p. morgan, one of wall street's top strategists tells bloomberg oil prices, in fact, are a steal compared to the surge we have seen in other assets. so he points out if the surge in oil prices was keeping up with the surge we have seen in other assets, other commodities, the stock market, bond market, it would be somewhere -- oil -- in the realm of $115 a barrel. $115 a barrel. again, it's at $78 a barrel right now. so let me translate that. oil prices could be 47% higher and indeed, they would be if they had gone up at the rate other assets have. and that is why today's move from president biden, while welcome, is essentially a total hail-mary pass. jeff zeleny is outfront live outside the white house. so, jeff, you know, i saw your questioning there of the press secretary, jen psaki. why did the president make this announcement today?

does he truly believe that it will work in any meaning wafl? >> erin, the white house has been talk about this as you said really for a few weeks but the announcement was done today we are told because it was that coordination with five other countries trying to make a global announcement. shining a global light on this. and no coincidence, it's also right before the thanksgiving holiday. so the white house is definitely trying to show americans that they are on this problem. now, gas prices are not something that the president alone controls. of course. but they are a president's headache, regardless of which president is in office. and for president biden now, this is a central headache. with inflation certainly worrying this white house more than anything else we have really seen but the timing today was done to get this started. and energy secretary jennifer granholm was asked, specifically, about the -- the 50 million barrels. the market, of course, was expecting much more. she described it as a bridge to get into the, um, the new year and to, you know, try and work out the supply and demand issues

but a question is how long will that bridge work and will prices come tdown at all? they do believe in the coming weeks, the next few weeks before christmas, they hope, there will be some evidence that at least this is working to a small degree, erin. >> thank you very much, jeff zeleny. i want to go now to douglas, former director of the congressional budget office and austin gouls by. thanks to both of you. so, doug, let me start with you. president biden says today releasing the reserves won't solve the problem overnight but it will, quote, make a difference. again, they released 2.5 days of supply. do you agree with the president? >> no, i think you have got this exactly right, erin. this is a trivial amount of oil in the global ocean of oil. and it's not going to make a bit of difference. and the real issue is the fact that there are -- have been substantial mismatch between supply and demand and this just doesn't solve that problem. >> austin? >> well, i think it's a little unfair and it's not the correct way to think about it.

how many days of supply is that if it were 100% of supply? the issue has been, if you needed an extra 2 million barrels a day, it would go for three weeks or so. that's not insignificant. that's not major. it's certainly not permanent. i think the context of this is the price has gotten up above what most people view as the marginal cost of production and that's because saudi arabia and russia, together, are restricting output. so, anything you could do to try to throw a wrench into the opec cartel, which is why i think they got the other countries onboard so that it's not just a u.s. phenomenon. if you could change that dynamic, that would make a difference. >> so, doug -- >> i mean, this is nothing. from on opec point of view, this is nothing. they can offset this easily. >> well, this is -- okay, so let me just -- to the point that you

are making, though, about that it's on the margin, austin. doug, let me ask you something the president said because he actually addressed this issue, you know, what it's costing the producer to make it, versus what the consumer is paying for it. the re ttail price at the pump. here's what he said. >> in fact, if the gap between wholesale and retail gas prices was in line with past averages, americans would be paying at least 25 cents less per gallon right now. as i speak. instead, pocketing the difference as profit. that's unacceptable. >> there are some saying that's complete political theater, though, doug. and you heard j.p. morgan's point of view, right, oil should be at 115 bucks a barrel if it mirrored any other assets so what do you say to the president? >> well, number one, j.p. morgan has that right. but gas is up a buck and a half and that quarter is not the problem. the problem is that gasoline's up, you know, at a 60% rate and even if you take out food and energy, we have got inflation that's up at a 5.5% rate over

the first part of this year. 1.5, when he took office. so that's the problem. i mean, energy is only 7% of the average household's budget. so they are going after a small part of the problem with a trivial policy. they have an inflation problem. they better figure out what to do about that. >> so, austin, put me in the mind of what is happening at the white house. they -- they -- there are people who know everything that we are talking about, right, and they have briefed the president. yet, they chose to to do this anyway. not saying they shouldn't have done it but it's not going to massively move the needle and change the world here. so is this a sign if nothing else they feel that he can they can do, austin? what is the thinking you think? >> as i say, the -- the oil market, often tps times, when you are in periods of high demand, a little bit of supply does make a significant difference on the price. if you could get 2 to 3 million barrels a day for a few weeks, that could have an impact on the price. and if that changes the political dynamic within the opec cartel, that would be

important. i think to the broader inflation point that doug raises and which you are -- you're kind of going at, there, they are stuck in a little bit of a -- in a little bit of a pickle because the timeframe of the easing of the supply chain constraints -- which are easing -- but that's going to be months. and that's not a political timeframe. so that's why it's uncomfortable when you look beyond oil, which is a world commodity. >> right. and i understand there are some who say inflation is driven purely by how much money supply there is and there are others who say it's what people expect is going to happen to inflation, which right now isn't very good either. i understand there is different camps on all this, doug. but to the point that austin is saying is it is a lot more than gas. both of you are saying this. it's everything going up. here is what biden said about that today. >> all these concerns a few weeks ago, there would be a -- there'd not be ample food available for thanksgiving. so many people talked about that.

understandably. but families can rest easy. grocery stores are well stocked with turkey and everything else you need for thanksgiving. >> okay. so the stocking issue, doug, was a problem. and now, there is more in stock. but turkey, cost up 24%. complete thanksgiving dinner, cost up 14%. general mills, raising the price on hundreds of items across the board. betty crocker, cheerios, dollar tree. everything is going to $1.25 tree. you know, 25% increase, if anyone wants to do the math. um, but this -- this -- this doesn't feel temporary when people put numbers out like this. each respond. doug? >> well, i mean, number one, the white house is uncomfortable about this because their american rescue plan was the start of this problem. that was a massive over stimulus in an economy that has some supply problems, no question. but they are badly exacerbated by the fact they put too much money in when the economy was already growing at 6.5%. they are responsible for mart

part of that. and there is no easy way to fix this. of course, you could just stop the monetary stimulus, raise interest rates, you could raise taxes on middle class. that would stop it but we all know that risks a recession and so they are going to let this go and they are going to try to deal with it slowly but that means wages continue to rise. that is cost pressures, inflation expectations continue to rise. that's an incentive to negotiate even higher wages. i see the end result in consumer prices. and that's a durable inflation problem. so they really are struck right now. >> austin, this is where it does seem durable. if you are betty crocker or progresso and you get a 20% increase through, i don't know when that 20% increase is going away. it would take a lot to take it away. once they get an increase through, austin, that is pretty much permanent, isn't it? >> inflation is how much prices increase each year so if they get through and they stop increasing at 20%, inflation will have gone to zero. so, i -- i disagree with doug. i don't think he's correct that

u.s. policy is what's driving the inflation. if you look at germany, they announced they have got the highest inflation in 29 years. if you look in china, highest inflation in 26 years. u.s., highest inflation in 30 years. something is happening, worldwide, and that thing is that people are not spending their money on services the way they usually do. they are spending it on goods, physical goods. and the supply chain cannot handle us spending so much of our money on physical goods all at the same time. we have got to get control of the virus so we can go back to spending money on services and that will relieve the supply chain and -- the inflation that is concentrated in physical goods right now where the supply chain is. >> i thank you both very much. i think -- really important to have a real substantive debate like this. thank you. next, new subpoenas issued by the january 6th select committee. so, who do they want to hear from tonight.

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new tonight, a jury finding the white nationalists who planned and participated in the deadly 2017 unite the right rally in charlottesville, virginia, liable for more than $26 million in damages. james alex fields jr., who the nation saw in that extremely disturbing video, is responsible for nearly half of that money. he plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protestors, injuring dozens and killing heather heyer who was 32 years old. jason carroll is outfront and, jason, you know, incredible amount of money here. $26 million. the jury sending a strong rebuke to the white nationalists who were behind the deadly rally. >> reporter: yeah, and plaintiffs' attorneys are calling this a major step in holding white nationalists, white supremacists responsible for the violence that occurred during the unite the right rally. and, you know, as you know, at the end of the day, this is a civil case, civil trial. this was about trying to get as much money as possible out of

these defendants. 17 of them -- some of them, individuals -- some of them, organizations designated as hate groups. and while the jury did, you know, hold them accountable for millions when you add it all up, they did deadlock on two major claims. one of those, being conspiracy to commit racially-motivated violence. - the other one, failing to prevent that conspiracy. however, the jurors, at the end of the day, they did find that these defendants were responsible for four other claims, including state conspiracy claims. and in addition to that, subjecting plaintiffs to racial and religious -- racial and religious harassment. >> this verdict sends a very clear message that violent hate won't go unanswered. that there will be very serious consequences for this sort of extremist violence we saw here four years ago. >> reporter: and, erin, when you look at things in terms of what ended up happening here, you

know, there's been a lot of sort of talk about how exactly are you going to get all of this money from all of these different plaintiffs? because -- all these different defendants -- because a lot of them are already claiming, look, we didn't even have enough money to defend ourselves. and so, some of the defendants -- the defense attorneys -- are already -- are already out saying it's really going to be impossible to get money from these people. >> right. so it's more of a symbolic 26 million, right? that's the bottom line? >> well, what one would hope -- i want you to listen to what one of the defense attorneys had to say about this because he is saying, once again, it's going to be very hard to get money from his clients. >> the defendants in the case are destitute. none of them have any money. i don't know how any of the plaintiffs are going to get anything for any of this. >> reporter: you know, and when i sort of asked plaintiffs' attorneys about that, erin, they had this to say. they said, look, we understand that a lot of these defendants don't have the money but they

also understand when you look at some of these white nationalists, when you look at some of these groups who were designated as hate group, they are constantly getting money from dark corners of society. and so, what this does legally is it gives them the legal arm to take that money whenever it comes in. >> right. thank you very much, jason. and also new tonight the former new york city police commissioner, bernie kerik, demanding an apology from the january 6th select committee. this is after the committee subpoenaed him. they said the committee was wrong when he attended a meeting with rudy giuliani, steve bannon, and pro-trump lawyer john eastman on january 5th with the topic of overturning the election. however, carrick's lawyer also says his client with comply with the subpoena. and this comes as the select committee is issuing a now round of subpoenas. whitney wild is out front on that. and, whitney, they have been actually -- i know they have talked to 200 people but a lot of subpoenas coming out here.

who are the latest targets of the committee and why? >> the latest targets of the committee are people the committee believes are directly linked to the violence. this is a round of subpoenas we have been waiting for because we know that the committee is building up to trying to figure out what were the connections between all these different areas, the white house, the money, the rally, and eventually, erin, the violence. so they have zeroed in on some key figures here of the these major far-right extremist groups. most notably, the proud boys. several of those people, now indicted for their roles in the insurrection. this also includes a subpoena for the oath keepers. a group that, according to the subpoena, provided security for roger stone in -- on january 5th and 6th while he was in washington, d.c. further, several of those members are now charged with conspiracy for their roles in the insurrection. and then finally, a group we haven't spoken about a lot on cnn but this group called the first amendment, they are important, erin, because they are actually listed as security on a national park service permit for an event that

happened on january 5th. so, consider that. they were the security, the legitimate security, on a permit. however, on january 6th at 4:13 p.m., the subpoena says -- so this was hours after the violence broke out, hours after capitol police had gone hand to hand with rioters -- that group tweeted the cost of truth is pain. erin. >> wow. all right. whitney, thank you very much. an important detail and she's right, not a group we have heard a lot about but one, no doubt, you will be. thanks again, whitney. next, the jury in the trial of three men accused of killing ahmaud arbery deliberating after the prosecutor argued arbery would still be alive, if it were not for his race. >> is a black man running down the street. plus, the international olympic committee now accused of looking the other way when it comes to china and its treatment of tennis star peng shuai.

tonight, awaiting a verdict. the jury in the trial of the three men accused of killing ahmaud arbery wrapping up day one -- wrapping day one after more than six hours of

deliberations. okay. so they were in there for six hours and it came after the prosecution delivered its rebuttal argument with a fiery attempt to undermine the defense's claim that the killing of arbery was just an act of self-defense. martin savidge is out front. >> reporter: tonight, the jury deliberating the fate of the three men accused of killing a black man running through a coastal georgia neighborhood last year. >> the law of the case. >> reporter: the judge placing the controversial case into the hands of one black and 11 white jurors. >> so with that, ladies and gentlemen, i ask that you retire to the jury room. >> reporter: the prosecution getting the final say retelling how an armed father and son, gregory and travis mcmichael, aided by a neighbor, william roddy bryan, pursued 25-year-old ahmaud arbery, eventually cornering and killing him. the final moments, caught on video. >> you can't force someone to defend themselves against you, so you get to claim self-defense. this isn't the wild west. >> reporter: defense lawyers say the men were attempting a citizen's arrest, after they say arbery was seen several times trespassing inside of a home

under destrconstruction. it turned deadly they say when arbery attacked travis mcmichael as mcmichael was pointing a shotgun at arbery, travis saying he shot in self-defense. the prosecution pushing back saying the men that day never told police they were attempting a citizen's arrest. >> the defendants never, ever said citizen's arrest. so, ladies and gentlemen, where in the world did this citizen's arrest thing come from? because it didn't come from the defendants on february 23rd, 2020. >> reporter: and the state argued self-defense was not an option, since the father and son initiated the chase. saying an armed travis mcmichael in a truck never really feared an unarmed arbery. >> there is no fear here. there is only anger. do you really believe he had no other choice but to use his shotgun? >> reporter: the state arguing if any one of the defendants had not taken part in any of these crimes, ahmaud arbery could still be alive, and that his race was a motivating factor. >> what's your emergency? there's a black man running down the street. >> reporter: both, arbery's

family and defense attorneys said they have faith in the jury. >> we are confident that this jury will seriously consider all the evidence. and come back with a verdict that is reflective of what actually happened, which is the brutal and unjustified murder of ahmaud arbery. >> we are very confident in the evidence of travis's innocence and now we will see what the jury feels is justice and we will accept the verdict, whatever it is. >> reporter: defense attorney kevin goff who has made controversial comments throughout the trial, criticizing the presence of black pastors, seemed to soften his tone. expr expr expressing concern for the arbery family. >> there is no pressure on the lawyers. win or lose, we go home. the pressure is on the clients. you know, and i -- i feel for the arbery family. this has been an ordeal for them. >> reporter: jury deliberations will begin, again, at 8:30 in the morning. and speaking of pressure, wednesday is, of course, the day before thanksgiving. and though it has not been spoken of by the judge, there is

likely to be a significant amount of pressure on the jurors to render some kind of verdict before the major-holiday weekend. we do know that for security, a unified command has been put in place. they haven't said if they will delay the announcement of a verdict to allow security time to be present. we do know that there is a significant presence of security forces nearby just in case, erin. >> all right. thank you very much, martin. and i want to go now to paul martin, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. and stephanie rawlings-blake, former defense attorney and former mayor of baltimore. so, paul, um, six hours of deliberations today. right? and today was day one, right, because they -- they finished the argument. they are going to continue tomorrow ahead of thanksgiving. supposed to get out at noon. could delay a little further. if they have to come back after thanksgiving, that means they are coming in on friday. so, do you think there is a verdict tomorrow? >> there's a verdict tomorrow for two reasons. one, the prosecution has put forth a very compelling case. and when they put forth a very

compelling case, it's easier for the jurors to come -- come to a conclusion that -- that is consistent with the law. two, it's thanksgiving. these people are human beings. they want to go back to their lives. they've been overwhelmed with this whole situation and they know that if they don't render a verdict tomorrow, they're back on friday. >> yeah. so, mayor rawlings-blake, you know, this started today. so you have the six hours of deliberations as i mentioned. that was after the prosecution presenting its rebuttal argument today. so, the prosecutor tried to undermine the defense's argument that the defendants were performing a citizen's arrest. that is beanen the core of it. so here is what the jurors heard today before they went into their deliberations. >> the defendants never, ever said citizen's arrest. they never, ever said we're making an arrest. they never said we saw him commit a crime. so, ladies and gentlemen, where in the world did the citizen's arrest thing come from? because it didn't come from the defendants on february 23rd, 2020. >> so, mayor, did -- was that convincing? and -- and how important is it to the prosecution to prove that

this was not a, quote/unquote, citizen's arrest? >> i agree with paul. this was a very, very strong rebuttal. um, i think the jury has a lot to consider, and a lot of good information. and it is essential that the prosecutor rip apart any notion that this was a citizen's arrest. i mean, think about it. what the jurors have heard in this trial, would they want to give that power to another human being? that they could just think that they thought that they saw something and -- and on that basis, be able to take someone's life. i really think that it's going to be, um, really difficult for there to be any -- any decision, other than that they did not have any right to self-defense. i think there's -- these defendants are going down. >> i mean, it's pretty -- it's pretty hard. shorts and a t-shirt. guy's not harmed. it is a really hard argument for them to make.

paul, however, the jury does have thee defendants, right? each of them, facing nine charges. okay. so, you got a lot to go through, to sift through. malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, criminal attempt to commit a crime. that is a lot. or is it not? i mean, they got to tick through each box and each person. >> but you have to understand they -- they are tied together through the course of this trial. if they find that they're not justified in shooting mr. arbery, they all go down. it doesn't go -- it's not going to be a matter of, you know, a question of fact. this isn't a question of fact. we already know the facts. did the facts apply to the law? did they make a self-defense claim? they did not. then, they fall. so i don't think it's as difficult as it may seem at first blush. >> mayor, do you agree with that? that even though you have got nine each and three people in one trial. which may surprise some. may think you would try everybody individually but they have been tied together.

>> they are definitely tied together. i think if there is an ounce of maybe, you know, thanksgiving good will, i think the -- the defendant bryan -- william bryan, excuse me, may be the one to be found less culpable for his role. um, but i think, again, i agree with paul. that these individuals are all tied into a very heinous act. and i think they will be found guilty. >> all right. thank you, both, very much. i appreciate your time and of course, bryan, the one who was filmed the video there at the end. all right. next, china's state news lashing out at, quote, some western forces for raising questions about the safety of tennis star peng shuai. well, i am going to talk to a woman, next, who led protestors at tiananmen square in china, hid for ten months, and was finally only able to escape in a cargo box. she has a message tonight to peng shuai. and trump's pick is out. so, who are the republicans that could now be running for pennsylvania's absolutely crucial senate seat?

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tonight, malicious speculation. that is how china is describing

growing questions about the wellbeing of tennis star peng shuai, who vanished three weeks ago and suddenly reappeared this weekend, after accusing the former vice premiere of china of raping her. this is the human rights watch group accuses the international olympic committee of sports washing after it downplayed concerns about peng following a video call. and the ioc, let's just be honest, not the only organization facing scrutiny for looking the other way again and again with china. will ripley is out front. >> reporter: zhang gaoli, china's 75-year-old former-vice premiere, the one-time face of the beijing 2022 olympics and the man who stands accused of sexual assault by one of china's premiere tennis stars, peng shuai. her disappearance in the wake of the allegations on november 2nd and mysterious reappearance over the weekend, fueling a firestorm that threatens to dismantle china's worldwide sport aspirations. or does it? while the women's tennis

association's threat to pull a ten-year multi-tournament contract could cost china, contracts with major league baseball, the nba, formula 1, and others put china on course with its goal to make sports a $780 billion industry by 2025. >> this could be the biggest sport economy in the world. >> reporter: sports is already big business in china. home to almost 1.5 billion potential fans according to an l analytics company global data, fifa and uafa alone are worth more than $2.2 billion and growing. athlete sponsorships and sports manufacturing account for lucrative deals for companies like nike. in 2018, nike made some $6.2 billion in china. that number rose 21% from the previous year. nike saw just a 7% increase in revenue in north america over that same period.

so far, peng shuai's sponsors have stayed silent in the wake of the allegations. >> what a lot of organizations are trying to do at the moment is -- is to navigate the middle way. >> reporter: the wta has a lot to lose by taking a stand. reportedly, one-third of their revenue comes from china. the organization's chairman and ceo telling "out front," it's a chance they are willing to take. >> because this is certainly -- this is bigger than the business. >> for the nba, the outcome was remarkably different. basketball is china's most popular sport but after a quickly-deleted october 2019 tweet by houston rockets' general manager darryl mori in support of the hong kong democracy protests, the backlash from china was swift. the threat of sponsorship loss, broadcast denial, and severing of ties with the nba proved a bridge too far for an organization that, at that time, made 10% of its revenue in the chinese market the. the nba, initially, distanced

itself from mori and moved to do damage control hoping to salvage its relationship. and the ioc looking at a multibillion-dollar revenue stream from china's hosting of the winter olympics just a few months away. that relationship with china, like it was in 2015 when zhang helped negotiate beijing hosting the 2022 winter games, appears as strong as ever. >> when the history books look back at this time, they will say the wta, what an incredible master class in humanitarian leadership, the right way to do it to call china on its abuses and the international olympic committee sitting there, as they always do, basically doing nothing. >> reporter: and right now, as we look at a live feed of cnn's signal inside china, you can see that as soon as you started talking about this story, erin, it went to color bars. they have been consistently censoring cnn's coverage of peng shuai's case and it just shows the level to which they are trying to erase this completely not talking about it on their state media in the mainland, not talking about it on social

media. are these organizations and sponsors endorsing this by continuing to do business with china? that is the uncomfortable question that a lot are facing right now. >> it's amazing. and by the way, the great irony that they have saying, look, everything's fine. look at the pictures of her. but if anybody wants to talk about it, they put it -- they put it to what everyone sees on their screen now. i mean, it's -- it's pretty incredible. all right. will, thank you so much for that report. i want to go straight on that now to leng chai, who led student protestors in tiananmen square in china, then spent ten months in hiding until she was able to escape by hiding in a cargo box. that's how she was able to get out of country. also, the founder and ceo of all girls allowed now. i appreciate your time, obviously as i began speaking this segment, they took us off the air in china but we are on the air everywhere else in the world. >> erin, thank you so much for speaking out. thank you. i am so proud of you. >> i feel honored that we have the ability to -- to keep talking about it and we're going

to keep doing it and we are grateful to you for coming and talking about this because you understand it. i mean, the wta vowing to cut ties with china, if peng shuai is not proven to be safe. if her rape allegations are not formally, fully, and fairly investigated. compare that to the international olympic committee. had one arranged video call with her and says, oh, she seems completely fine. nothing to see here. please, let's go ahead with our olympics. what do you say to the ioc? >> i think it's really shameful what they are doing. they suppress all the chinese women who suffer this kind of abuse over and over again on a consistent basis. this is shameful. and it's a selling out. i am so proud of wta and what they stand for, for the women, for the basic human rights. this is truly -- this is bigger than sports, bigger than business. this is morality issue. this is human rights issue. and i just really hope that the world will stand with peng shuai. and i really want to call her

the tank woman. just like the tank man in 1989 who stand -- stood in front of tiananmen square and stood in front of all the tanks and troops. she is one woman and hero -- heroine speak out against this kind of brutal physical/emotional abuse. she need to be encouraged and be made safe. she need also made honored and i read her blog. and she is so devastated and she is just even talking about whether she is worth living. and she's made to be feel shamed. so she -- she need not only know -- we need to know where she is about physically. we also need to know where -- how -- what's her state of mind? because this is huge for one person to take on entire regime, entire culture. and putting everything on tline >> it is incredible and when you

think about it, you know, she's -- she's doing it and, you know, they are hoping that, um, you know, by putting out pictures or i'm sure some sort of anodyne interviews, right, that they will say everything is fine. but your point about her state of mind, what kind of life is she going to be allowed to live? that is what this comes down to and last night i spoke to desmond schumm. i know you know of him. his ex-wife -- they have a child together, as well -- vanished four years ago in china. literally, went to work. went to work. boom, gone. and was gone. called for hundreds of days. never answered her phone until he has this book coming out and all the sudden, she is the one -- she answers the phone and is the one delivering the threat about the book. so, desmond believes there is a very grim future for peng shuai because she spoke out from inside china. let me play it for you, ling. >> when the party has a complete hold on your entire family, all your friends, and your -- all your properties, you act

according to their desire. >> do you think she is going to be allowed to leave china on her own free will? >> no. that's no chance of that. >> it was very sobering to hear that, um, ling. not surprising but -- but sobering and deeply disturbing. you, also, were inside china when you spoke out. five nights in a cargo box ten months later to escape because you were on its most wanted list. is he right that there is no real way out for peng shuai? >> um, it's -- if we don't speak out, there's really no way for her to continue to survive in that kind of entire culture. and she's already made her interview and to -- and to basically be played -- play a role in the undermining the severity of this assault, i really feel the wta's demand not only ensure her physical safety, her freedom, but also to demand for investigation to hold the

premiere -- vice premiere responsible. the kind of details she shared in her blog, how he brought her into his -- he assaulted her seven years ago. and then, he was obsessed about her and brought her back to his home. even to cause her to accept -- you know, sexual assault against her. she cried all night. and this go on for a period of t time. after that, he discarded her. and so, this is brutal. this -- you know, humiliating. this degrading to any woman. also, because she is a successful woman and she need to be treated that way, with honor, with respect, and with protection. >> all right. ling, thank you very much. i appreciate your time and your perspective. your deep commitment to these -- to -- to this cause and -- and not just hers but so many others. thank you. >> you're welcome. thank you so much for speaking out. and next, a scramble inside

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tonight, a television doctor could emerge as the top republican candidate in a crucial senate race. i am talking about dr. oz because he is among several

big-name republicans considering entering the pennsylvania senate raced after the trump-backed candidate dropped out. sunlen serfaty out front. >> reporter: sean parnell suspending his campaign for pennsylvania's open senate seat. scrambling the gop field, creating a new opening for others to get in, in a seat a republican has been elected to going back five decades. and crucial for republicans to keep in the midterms, as the party seeks to win the senate majority. in addition to those candidates who have already declared their race could see political newcomers and wildcards, like hedge fund millionaire david mccormick, the husband of former-trump official, dina pall. a source telling cnn the parnell departure has clearly created on opening where he is clearly considering it. saying there has been accelerated outreach from gop

leaders within pennsylvania and nationally. and another possibility, daytime tv talk show host, dr. oz. >> let me ask you. if -- if your health is as strong as it seems from your review of systems, why not share your medical records? >> reporter: in 2007, oz saying he'd consider running for office someday. calling himself a moderate republican. but a potential oz candidacy wouldn't come without controversy. earlier in the covid pandemic, he initially advocated for hydrochloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus. >> it's believed to be very safe. >> reporter: and it s unproven benefits. >> turns out it might have an effect against this virus. >> reporter: he later said not enough was known about the drug and caused an uproar with these comments pushing for schools to re-open in april of 2020. >> we need our mojo back. i just saw a nice piece in the lancet arguing that the opening of schools may only cost us 2 or 3% in terms of total mortality. >> reporter: the backlash prompting him to later apologize. >> i have realized my comments

on risks around opening schools have confused and upset people. >> reporter: in the past, oz has been fiercely criticized for promoting unproven products on his show, like certain diet pills. >> i don't get why you need to say this stuff because you know it's not true. >> so if i can just get across the big message that i -- i actually do, personally, believe in the -- in the items that i talk about on the show. >> reporter: in 2015, a group of doctors sent this letter to columbia university. calling his faculty position there unacceptable. accusing him of promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain. >> we will not be silenced. we will not give in. >> and many republicans in pennsylvania tell cnn that they are skeptical that oz could go the distance in the republican primary if he gets in. and they say he is kind of a novelty. but they don't know how much real excitement there is about his potential candidacy and, erin, cnn reached out to dr. oz about his potential plans and did not get a response. >> going to be a fascinating

race, no matter what happens here. sunlen, thank you so much. and next, nasa with a new mission to prevent a real-life armageddon. you're never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your discover card. and that's just basic wavy guy maintenance, right? next up, carvana. oh, boy. carvana just doesn't seem to understand how the test drive works. they give their customers seven days. and if they don't like it, they give 'em their money back. wait, they take the car back? that's crazy! what if it was driven by like a zookeeper? or a mud wrestler? or a guy who's on the outs with the missus and he just needs a place to sleep for seven days? yeah. (vo) buy your car online. love it or return it. with carvana. ♪ limu emu... & doug ♪ ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how

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on communities of color. - i never in a million years thought that my son, let alone any six-year-old, would be gunned down in the streets of san francisco and not get any justice. - chesa's failure has resulted in increase in crime against asian americans. - the da's office is in complete turmoil at this point. - for chesa boudin to intervene in so many cases is both bad management and dangerous for the city of san francisco. - we are for criminal justice reform. chesa's not it. recall chesa boudin now. tonight, defending earth from armageddon. that is the purpose of nasa's next liftoff which is just a few hours away at 1:00 a.m. or just

about eastern time. the mission is to test whether a spacecraft can actually successfully change an asteroid's orbit. if all goes well, the golf cart-sized craft, whiis going t intentionally slam into a 525 foot wide harmless asteroid. just think about that speed. it's incredible. it's known as a moonlit. nasa hopes the collision will change the asteroid's orbit, which is of course the stuff of mov movies. shifting an asteroid's path to save planet earth. thanks so much for joinings you. ac 360 starts now. good evening. the jury in the cases of the three white men charged in the killing of an unarmed black man, ahmaud arbery, just wrapped up its first day of deliberation. it's one of three cases we're focused on this evening. all have captured the attention of americans across the political spectrum. and delve into issues of either race or far-right extremism. and also, importantly, whether we're too divided as a nation to agree on an appropriate definition of the word justice.