-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening again. the latest surges quickly and sharply receding, and that is certainly great news. the green on the map indicates declining cases, and there's a lot of it tonight. public health experts are now expressing optimism about getting back in the words of surgeon general murthy yesterday to, quote, some sense of normal. he says he feels that more so now than at any point in the outbreak. the growing optimism is also tempered by attacks on officials and experts driven by the

dialled reality, and no one is immune. yesterday for that work at texas children's hospital, dr. hotez was nominated for the nobel peace prize. yesterday evening, he was attacked on fox. short time later, the vicious emails started hitting his inbox now. he joins us along with dr. leana wen, who has faced similar attacks. dr. hotez, congratulations on your nomination. it's not the pfizer-moderna vaccine. can you explain what you're work on? >> yeah, this is from our texas children's center for vaccine development at baylor college of medicine, where we've been developing global health vaccines for more than two decades, mostly vaccines for parasittic diseases. but we took on coronavirus vaccines about a decade ago and have developed a low-cost vegan vaccine made of yeast, similar

to the hepatitis b vaccine. it looks really promising. we've provided it with no patent, no strings attached to producers in india, bangladesh, and now southern africa. india is the furthest along, where they have 250 million doses. they're known as biological e and they've now released the vaccine through the emergency use regulation. i think this will be an important step to vaccinate the world because it checks so many boxes for what you want for a global health vaccine. >> after all that, you were attacked on fox last night, compared to alex jones, called a misinformation machine, constantly spewing insanity, among other things. i know you received emails like this, shut your pie hole if you're not going to support our constitution. communist traitors, you can go to china if you like communism. we are not having it here ever. anyway, these kind of things go on and on. soon the republicans will be back in charge investigating your sorry -- you'll be sentenced to hang by the noose

until dead. i'll celebrate the day i see you hanging from the gallows. what is your reaction to the ongoing war on science and people like yourself? >> yeah, i mean, this has been goinon because of defending vaccines for a couple of decades. but i think the new version of this is that it's coming from the political extremism on the right. it comes from the nighttime fox news anchors, steve bannon, representative green have attacked me. and increasingly it has an anti-semitic -- they know i'm jewish -- they may know i'm jewish, so there's a lot of nazi images and nuremberg kind of thing. so, it is quite distressing. and the new part is they're not only working to discredit the science, and that's why so many americans are refusing to get vaccinated and needlessly losing their lives, but now they're attacking the scientists. they attacked tony, of course, dr. fauci. but i'm right up there as well. and it's -- it's really disturbing because of course i got my md and phd in the 1980s

with the goal of making vaccines in the pursuit of humanitarian goals. and we're doing that. but i never dreamed that we'd be so vilified and seen as enemies of the people, which by a significant percentage of americans. >> dr. wen, in florida, governor desantis is fundraising off misinformation, selling freedom over fauci flip-flops, saying fauci can pound sand on the souls. fauci for prison. what do you make of desantis using misinformation and raising money off this? >> well, $39 flip-flops sound pretty expensive. but, i mean, this is obviously a major problem. i mean, here we have people like dr. fauci, dr. hotez, who are literally saving millions of lives. they're getting attacked. and at the same time, science itself is being discredited as well. and there's a real cost to what's happening to this attack

on science. we saw financial times analysis this week, for example, that found that if the u.s. had comparable rates of vaccination to leading european countries, that about half of our hospitalizations this winter could have been averted. so, you think about the number of people who got ill and are -- and are dying because of this type of misinformation and direct attack on science. >> and dr. wen, you've also been threatened. last fall a man in texas was indicted by a federal grand jury for sending you threats because of your stance on the vaccine. you wrote an op-ed for the "washington post." you're advocating for lifting restrictions and a return to normalcy. you're still being attacked. why do you think it's time, first of all, to lift restrictions? let's start with that. >> well, we cannot live the in a perpetual state of emergency. there is a place and a time for that, and i believe that we best preserve public health authority for when those times are most needed. by the way, i am not advocating that we lift restrictions right

now for the entire u.s. there are many parts of the country that are still being overwhelmed with patients, that hospitals are still really full. so, we certainly should not be lifting restrictions there. but there are other places that are clearly trending in the right direction, and we need to give people hope. we need to have an off ramp with these same restrictions we're putting in. there are definitely people who aren't happy with this point of view. they're saying, look, we may have new variants come up in the future, so let's guard against that. i agree we should have better treatments, we should have more testing, make sure we have high quality masks, we should do everything to protect the most vulnerable, including those immunocompromised. but at the same time we also have to recognize in fact this may be the best time to lift these restrictions because of the possibility of new variants. let's give people some semblance of normalcy for now. >> dr. hotez, pfizer has submitted data to the fda on the smaller dose for children 6

months up to 5 years of age. the ceo says he believes children of the age group will need three doses of the vaccine, that it's best to begin getting the first two doses while the company waits for data on the third dose. do you agree with that? >> i think what's happening, anderson, with this omicron wave, there's been so many cases that allows you to get a signal whether these vaccines are working and confirm that they're safe. so, i think what's happened with this omicron wave, there's enough confidence in the data to move forward and put it in front of the committee and the acip to see if they agree that two doses is giving sufficient protection to move forward with the expectation that it would improve even more with the third dose. so, it's a little bit unconventional, but it may make sense if there's sufficient data to give some strong evidence that two doses is having an important effect. and with omicron, because there's been so many cases, that may -- that possibility may turn out to be the case. but we'll know when we have the

meeting, we'll start to see -- the public will start to see that data because the system is very transparent. so, it's not a guarantee that we'll move forward on this, but i think it's a possibility. >> dr. hotez, thank you. congratulations on the noble nomination. dr. wen, thanks as well. coming up next, breaking news on russia's reaction to american troop's deployment to europe. later, what does it say about the state of race in the america. in the nfl, the former head coach brian flores is suing the league, alleging racial discrimination. we'll dig deeper ahead. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪

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kylie is in kyiv for us. >> sam, what is ukraine's response to the u.s. troop deployment? >> reporter: they've responded very positively. they say it's a very important step in the right direction and set off some of the pressure that they're coming under from the russians, who continue to expand their troop presence in the east and importantly in belarus. but at the same time, anderson, they're also saying, now we need some serious strategic weapons, particular surface-to-air missiles. so far the only lethal aid they've had from the u.s. and uk have been antiarmor missiles, nothing that would make a great deal of difference in the long term, anderson. >> and what's the kremlin said about the developments? >> reporter: the kremlin have said that this is yet another provocation coming from nato. they've been characterizing nato's movement east since 1997 as an act of aggression

effectively, and saying that all of this points to why it is that it's so important to russia to have a system agreed with nato and the united states, as the sort of lead nato partner, that ukraine would never be allowed to join that organization. of course a position that's been recently rejected in writing after it was rejected verbally by nato and the united states. >> sam kiley, thanks. massachusetts democratic congressman seth moulton served on the armed services kcommitte. you were critical of the biden administration's strategy and approach. i'm wondering if you think president biden has corrected course when it comes to ukraine and russia. >> i do. i wrote a letter to the national security adviser back in december and they're following those recommendations. they may be a little bit late,

but i think they're doing the right things. look, anderson, imagine if president trump were in power today. he wouldn't be doing any of this. he would be believing putin over our own intelligence agencies and broadcasting that to the world because that's what trump did. we're in an immeasurably better position, the white house, democrats in congress, and all our nato allies are aligned here for standing up for ukraine. >> there has been disagreement over the use of the word "imminent." ukraine's president zelenski had taken issue with the united states describing the invasion as imminent. this afternoon the white house walked back that message, saying the word sent a message they didn't intend to send. seems like imminent is a pretty clear word of what message they were trying to send. >> it does make sense because the intelligence reports change over time, and i think we all agree that putin has not made a final decision here. i mean, there still time for

deterrence. there still is time for diplomacy. and really the two have to go hand in hand. >> president zelenski warned that if russia invades ukraine, this is going to be a european war, a fully fledged war. do you agree with it? if so, what are the implications of that? >> well, we don't know. but that is certainly my fear. there's no question that all of nato is very concerned about what's going on here, especially our eastern european allies and nato. and if putin learns the lesson that once again he can be aggressive, invade foreign countries, and essentially be rewarded for that, have success, then our nato allies do have a reason to be concerned. who knows who will be next? and that's why it's so important that we are extremely strong on not just responding to an invasion or responding to an incursion but absolutely doing everything we can to deter and

prevent any sort of invasion from ever starting. >> do you think there's a diplomatic solution that both sides would accept or all side ls would accept? >> look, as a marine veteran, i'm very -- i'm a huge believer in diplomacy, as most veterans are. and i think we can come to a diplomatic solution here. is it difficult? absolutely. there's nothing obvious. think back to the cuban missile crisis, in some ways i think there's a decent analogy here. the ultimate diplomatic solution included deals behind the scenes. it included some things that were, you know, ultimately to our strategic advantage but were hard for people to see at this time. that's the kind of situation we're in right now where it's not obvious that a diplomatic solution is on the table. but i can assure you that the administration is working as hard as they can behind the scenes to figure out what that diplomatic solution is. ultimately, that's of course what we want. >> congressman moulton, i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you, anderson. still to come tonight, the

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behind the scenes and despite best efforts of the former president's allies, the january 6th committee does seem to be making headway in getting people to talk, or as the case today, getting a former justice

official to show up. jeffrey clark is his name. he met two months after being held in contempt for failure to cooperate. what do you know about jeffrey clark's meeting with the committee? >> so, it was less than two hours, anderson, so i'm going to say that he did not cooperate very much and that it is likely he took the fifth a lot. i -- i do think it's important, just for context, look, jeffrey clark is not a household name. but he is critical in this investigation because he was working apparently hand-in-hand with trump to try to overturn the election. he was trying to bring the justice department into this. i want to say one thing about taking the fifth, and that is, that would not have come as a surprise to the committee today when he showed up. my understanding is that they formulate very specific questions and that it can be equally revealing -- maybe not

equally revealing, but revealing and interesting when a witness won't answer a question. >> i think you're also paying close attention to developments involving the former vice president. we know the committee has been interesting in speaking to him. do we know where tonight those negotiations stand? >> i think they're still negotiating. we don't know yet. there are some people from pence world who have told us that there is no chance in hell that he is going to testify. there are other sources in pence world who have told me they are trying to work something out, that the vice -- former vice president doesn't want it to be a circus. maybe he would go in privately. maybe he would answer questions in writing, which is something the committee does not want. but here's one thing that's happened, as we've seen in the last couple of days. trump has been attacking pence openly over and over. not the first time. but you have to say, is that

really the best strategy for trump right now? i mean, pence has beeny and large unfailingly loyal. but is -- are those attacks going to have an impact on whether or not pence does cooperate in the end? >> appreciate. >> sure. >> i want to get some perception from biographer of the former vice president who cowrote "the shadow vice president: the truth about mike pence." do you see a tipping point by the renewed attacks of the former president? >> i do. i think we are reaching a tipping point. and jamie's observation about whether this is the right time for the former president to be so aggressive in his comments about mike pence is spot on. you know, mike pence was loyal to a fault, many would say, and now he's watching to see whether

trumpism is going to sustain itself or whether it's now going into a decline. and if he sees that the former president is not quite as powerful as he once was -- and trump's lashing out, i think, indicates an insecurity on his part -- then perhaps the former vice president would think it's in his interest to cooperate with the committee so he can say, look, i was loyal as long as i had the duty to be so loyal. and then in the interest of the country, i did my duty and responded to the committee's call. so, this is a very perilous time for donald trump. >> i mean, it's perilous for mike pence if he wants to be president, which, i mean, it seems a very difficult road to see how that might even happen. but given that trump is the gate keeper -- and in order to, you know, even win a primary, he would have to appeal to a lot of the former president's supporters, that would seem to

argue against the idea of testifying at all. >> well, you're precisely right about the primaries. so, that is the tough spot that mike pence is in. if he believes that donald trump is going to run again, then he's sort of paralyzed, isn't he? he can't quite make the move that he might like to make to move toward the middle and be out there on the fringe, staying loyal to trump and resisting. so, this all comes down to where mike pence places his priorities. is it with his ambition -- and he is supremely ambitious, and a lot of folks don't realize tthat, that he has wanted to be president forever. or is he a person interested in his civic duty? >> he wasn't -- he hadn't -- his career wasn't really -- his political career wasn't really going anywhere at the time that

then candidate trump picked him to be the vice president. >> right. that was the deal with the devil that mike pence made against his wife's wishes. she thought that donald trump really was not the person for mike to associate himself with. and i think she's been proven right in the long term. but at the moment, he was a failed governor of indiana. he really was going nowhere. i think he saw this as a kind of last chance. it may have been a ticket to nowhere. >> yeah. preciate your time as always. thanks so much. >> thank you, anderson. coming up, senate republicans claim racial discrimination by president biden as he vows to put a black woman on the bench. we'll take an in depth look at one front runner when pressed on issues of race and her career, next. who said only this is good? and this is bad? i'm doing it my way.

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♪ call one eight hundred,est resul eight million ♪ republican senator ted cruz is of course standing by his -- cruise considers that, quote,

offensive. >> you've got to understand, racial discrimination is wrong. period, full stop. the democrats are so casually racist that they'll make that promise, and not only that, it ends up being insulting to african american women. there are -- there are black women who are very talented jurists who may well be the appropriate nominee. but when biden starts out by saying he has a quota system, he diminishes the achievements of those african american women. >> well, cruz is not alone among republicans. senator roger wicker said the nominee will be a beneficiary of, quote, affirmative action. senator john cornyn calls it unfair to whoever is chosen. and susan collins argues it politicized the process. other republicans worry a messy confirmation fight could damage them in the midterm races. joining me bakar ri sellers,

author of the new children's book, "who are your people." so, bakar ri, do you share senator ted cruz's concern that this is an insult to black women? >> no. i -- i wanted to laugh one of those good hearty belly laughs at the intellectual dishonesty that is ted cruz. the fact is you have wicker, ted cruz, and senator kennedy from louisiana who are doing more than a disservice. i mean, not only do we have to look at the lack of diversity they have on their own staffs, including the few women they've hired in their own offices, but the fact that they can form their mouth to -- to talk about this process and denegrate this process and talk about reverse racism and talk about discrimination while they've stood idly by and watched

discriminatory processes from the 45th president of the united states and whereby the process we nominated and selected supreme court jurors before. this has never been an issue for this party. it's never been an issue for ted cruz. i've never heard ted cruz come out and forcefully defend diversity until now. and it's so tongue and cheek you cannot take this man seriously at all. >> you made the point a couple nights ago that for generations the assumption upon selecting a supreme court nominee was that, i mean, they would be white. it wasn't even a question. it wasn't even assumption. it was just a fact. and no one certainly really ever seemed to, you know, on ted cruz's disposition, ever seem to raise an objection or concern about that. >> never. and you won't hear ted cruz push back on ronald reagan in 1980 talking about nominating a woman to the supreme court. and to be completely honest, this conversation about race -- >> by the way, president trump

also promising to nominate a woman. >> yes. and if we looked at the list of president trump's choices, we recognize that that wasn't the most diverse list that you could have had. so, i mean, there are these steps that people could have taken to show some -- to show some truth and voracity behind their statements but they haven't. and this is where this conversation becomes so misinformed. it's so frustrating because the fact is when you have people like senator kennedy, when you have people like senator whitaker and senator cruise who are put in a position to vote on these individuals, that is the problem because they do not understand the issues of race in this country. dare i say, and it will -- this is going to make its rounds, i'm sure. but dare i say, one of the cruellest jokes that this country has ever played on black folk was replacing thurgood marshal with clarence thomas. but this would go over their head because they do not understand thurgood marshal's

role in history or the role in race in history and replacing him with clarence thomas and how that set us backwards. these conversations are too complicated, it appears, for ted cruz to understand and that's the travesty because he thinks diversity is the butt of all his jokes and he acts like he wants to the next jayleno or what have you. >> he says he wants to see the court look more like america, which is not a revolutionary statement. it's something that, you know, you would think a lot of republicans, frankly, would just embrace full stop. >> i mean, you would think. but then you would have to -- you would have to star it with the question, anderson. you literally have to star it with the question of do you value diversity? do you inherently see diversity as having people with different backgrounds, geographical

backgrounds, enl cation backgrounds, and do you think that matters? do you think it's important to have a black woman's voice in the room when discussing these issues that come before the court. and you'll have a response from many well meaning white folks and republicans and senators who say, oh, the race should not matter. i am color mind. well, that's a perverted antiintellectual statement because you want to see somebody's fullness and the wholeness of the diverse experiences they bring to the table. there is value in vahaving that person in the room. it's very difficult to get through that conversation, and people don't want to have that conversation about the value of diversity. and that is what lindsey graham was talking about. he actually hit the nail on the head. there is a great value to having a woman of color, a black woman in the room making this court reflective of what this country's promise should be. >> i appreciate your time tonight. thank you. the white use not showing its hand, but one name is surfacing as the front runner.

your jessica schneider introduces us. >> it is the beauty and the majesty of this country that someone who comes from a background like mine could find herself in this position. >> reporter: it was less than a year ago when ketanji brown jackson referenced her unusual road to becoming a federal judge during her confirmation hearing. now she's on the short list to take justice stephen breyer's seat on the supreme court, someone she clerked for. if confirmed, she would be the only supreme court justice with a background in criminal defense. >> i had the privilege of serving as a federal public defender. >> it wasn't just jackson's professional life, representing criminal defendants who couldn't afford lawyers in washington, d.c., it was also personal. two of her uncles worked in law enforcement in miami, florida. her uncle, calvin ross, eventually became the chief of police for the city of miami.

her younger brother was an undercover narcotics officer in baltimore and served in the maryland army national guard. and on the other side of the blue line, another uncle was sentenced to life in prison for a drug crime. >> in far too many cases, the punishment simply does not fit the crime. >> reporter: president obama commuted the sentence of her uncle, thomas brown, in 2016. she helped by sending his file to the prestigious law firm, wilmer hail, which submitted the clemency petition to president obama in 2014, six years before ketanji brown jackson became a judge. she has never publicly discussed her uncle's run-ins with the law. she has never been asked about it during her confirmation hearings. but she has said her personal history might be beneficial on the bench. >> the more experiences that can be brought to bear on our complex legal problems, the better. >> jackson also pushed back when republican senator john cornyn

specifically asked about the role her race plays in her professional life. >> i don't think that race plays a role in the kind of judge that i have been and that i would be. i've experienced life in perhaps a different way than some of my colleagues because of who i am. and that might be valuable. >> even before jackson became a judge, she tackled inequities in the criminal justice system. as vice chair on u.s. sentencing commission, jackson and six other members decided unanimously to lower federal judge sentences. >> i said, justice demands this result. >> reporter: the reductions had wide ranging impact. they were retroactive, meaning 30,000 federal prisoners got their sentences lowered. >> she has the big law firms as part of her résumé, but she also has this very professional interest in serving those who often are more marginalized before the law, being a public

defender, working on the u.s. sentencing commission. and that is an incredibly important perspective that is often left out of judicial nominations. >> jessica schneider, cnn washington. ahead the lawsuit by a former nfl head coach that's overshadowing the buildup to super bowl lvi. next. for one year of epic adventures... in a new dodge hellcat... and you don't even have to quit your day job. you just need to show you've got real drive. are you our new chief donut maker? for rob, it took years to find out why his constipation with belly pain just wouldn't go away. despite all he did to manage his symptoms... day after day. still came the belly pain, discomfort, and bloating, awful feelings he tried not showing. finally with the help of his doctor it came to be, that his symptoms were all signs of ibs-c. and that's why he said yess to adding linzess. linzess is not a laxative. it helps you have more frequent and complete bowel movements, and is proven to help relieve overall abdominal symptoms

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and save at trelegy.com. ♪ life can be a lot to handle. ♪ this magic moment ♪ but heinz knows there's plenty of magic in all that chaos. ♪ so different and so new ♪ ♪ was like any other... ♪ the houston texans say tonight that brian flores is still in the running for their head coaching job. that comes despite his explosive lawsuit. he was head coach of the miami dolphins until last month. tonight randi kaye looks at the accusations. >> i understand the risks. look, i love coaching football. i'm called to coach football. >> reporter: former miami dolphins coach brian flores loves coaching football but says the color of his skin has made

it tough to land a job as head coach in the nfl. flores filed a lawsuit this week against the nfl and its 32 teams alleging racial discrimination. >> many have come before and done a lot to create change in this country for people of color. and i just felt like in this instance, you know, it was my turn to step up. >> reporter: flores says he's stepping up after he claims the new york giants interviewed him for a job as head coach, even though they planned to hire the assistant coach from the buffalo bills, brian daboll, who is white. according to the lawsuit, text messages show the patriots coach gave it away by congratulating the wrong person, since flores hadn't even been interviewed yet. belichick writing, coach, are you talking to brian flores or

brian daboll. sor, i f-ed this up. i think they are naming daboll. i am sorry about that. >> it was humiliating to be honest. there was disbelief. there was anger. >> flores and his lawyers argue the interview was just a formality, so the team looked as though it was considering a minority candidate when it really wasn't. the league man dates teams interview majorities under what's called the rooney rule. the new york giants are pushing back saying brian flores was in discussion to be our head coach until the 11th hour. it's not just the giants flores is accusing in his lawsuit. he claims the denver broncos feigned interest too and after a similar bogus interview in 2019 gave the head coaching job to a white candidate. the broncos denied the allegation. >> just the entire process doesn't feel like you're an actual candidate. and that's -- that's unfortunate.

>> reporter: flores' lawsuit claims the nfl is rife with racism particularly when it comes to the hiring and retention of black head coaches, coordinators and general managers. according to the nfl, the majority of the league's players are black, but the the league denied the allegations from flores, saying it's deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progressn providing equitable opportunities throughout our organization. >> thank you. >> reporter: beyond race the lawsuit also accuses the miami dolphins team owner of offering to pay flores to lose games on purpose. $100,000 for each game lost. so the team could benefit from a higher nfl draft pick. >> there was, you know, several conversations about we don't -- you know, take a vacation. we don't need to -- we don't

need to win right now. >> reporter: the miami dolphins deny flores's allegations. flores, meanwhile, was fired after leading the team to its first back-to-back winning seasons since 2003. randi kaye, cnn, palm beach, florida. some winter olympics competitions kicked off today before the opening ceremonies on friday. china's implementing a new strategy to promote positive images of their nation. we'll have a report from beijing on that next. t customization. that's why i love liberty mutual. they customize my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. how about a throwback? ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪

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some competitions already under way at the winter olympics before the opening ceremony on friday. the games come against a backdrop of political tensions, especially after the white house called for a diplomatic boycott of the games weeks ago as a statement against china's human rights abuses. now china is taking an interesting approach in promoting a favorable image of

the nation by paying foreign influencers to spread positive propaganda. cnn correspondent david culver is in beijing with the story. >> reporter: it is the side of the beijing winter games that china wants you to see, as told by a russian youtuber. he's just one of many foreign influencers granted access to china's olympic venues ahead of the games and posting videos that shower praise on the host country. as the olympics kick off, get ready to see a surge in china-related posts on your social media feeds. cnn found some of it is even expected to come from inside the u.s. paid for by china. >> what we're doing is we're acting in the advisory capacity of promoting awareness, engagement, a bit of excitement and support for the olympics and team usa. >> reporter: in a u.s. department of justice filing from december vipp jaswal's new york-based company says it plans

to develop a marketing promotion -- the list of clients china's consulate general in new york. the chinese government paying $300,000 to target audiences outside of china. and that's just to jaswal's company. he'll use platforms like instagram, twitch, and tiktok, all of which are blocked inside china. >> they don't need to audition for anyone's approval. they just need to present their side of the story that is not heard through politicians or the press. >> reporter: jaswal says the roughly nine or so influencers he's recruiting will not focus on politics but rather the olympic spirit. they'll join the steady stream of posts made by foreigners telling the so-called real china story. but on these profiles you'll struggle to find any criticisms of china's human rights record. instead it's the positive spin. >> a lot of these western influencers will come to iconic spots like this one, the forbidden city, which is beautiful, and they'll show you the best of china. that work in turn gets promoted

by state media. >> reporter: take that russian youtuber, for example. he tells cnn he was invited to see the venues and is not being paid by china nor told what to say. but state-run china radio international picked up his story. then dozens of other state media outlets began reposting the article, amplifying his praise of china. it's part of china's wider strategy to promote positive foreign voices. in fact, a report in china's official guangming daily, suggested foreign influencers who are friendly to china be used to help bolster the official narrative. it also characterized foreign athletes and their coaches as a rich mine to tap into. that same strategy extended into controversial topics like xinjiang. it's where the u.s. alleges china is committing genocide against its uighur muslim minorities. claims china strongly denies. but scroll through the posts of these foreign influencers -- >> there's no proof of genocide. >> reporter: and you'll see they echo the official narrative painting a rosy picture and

denying any wrongdoings. >> it's totally normal here. >> reporter: those videos then shared widely by chinese state media and embassies around the world. promoting china abroad is not without risk. jaswal says he's faced personal attacks and death threats for doing business with china. >> i'm an american citizen. i'm a patriot. my mindset going in was i was promoting an event that belongs to the world. >> reporter: but the world is fractured. and even during a global sporting event that's supposed to unify china's social media blitz may do little to sway minds. >> david culver joins us now. is there any way to quantify these influencers are actually having an influence on anyone outside of china? >> reporter: hey there, anderson. difficult to say the direct impact these influencers have outside of china. but chinese officials, they know the vulnerabilities and the potential influence and uncensored social media has outside its borders. in fact, many chinese officials and state media outlets

themselves, very active on twitter and facebook even though those platforms are blocked here. we did reach out, by the way, for comment to several influencers. those who got back to us, they maintain they are not paid by china. which andanderson, in some case may be true. but they at times see the benefit of their work being amplified to a population of more than 1.4 billion people, anderson. >> david culver from beijing. thanks so much. appreciate it. the news continues. want to turn it over to don and "don lemon tonight." >> anderson, thank you very much. i appreciate it. this is "don lemon tonight." just imagine what they know. just imagine what they know. two more witnesses speaking to the january 6th committee just today. the leader of the oath keepers, who was in jail, by the way, in oklahoma ahead of his trial on charges of seditious conspiracy, appearing remotely for several hours. his attorney says that he is answering many questions and taking the fifth on others. and then there's trump doj official jeffrey clark, who pushed the justice department to pursue the former president's big lie of bogus