>> good evening tonight, one rising superhero -- global impact, whether it is to do with the looming threat in the biggest european armed conflict since the world war or the worst pandemic since 1918, china is front and center tonight. and ukraine, members of the administration spoke today and over the weekend warning beijing that arming russia would be a mistake. >> we are confident that the chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment. it would be a very risky and un-ways that. >> that is bill burns, the cia director, on covid we learned yesterday the department of energy has assessed, in a newly updated tolerance report that it most likely originated from a laboratory leak. cnn has just learned the reason for that updated report, three sources telling cnn that the department of energy shift was based in part on information -- center for disease controlled, the chinese cdc, in wuhan, was doing it around the time of the

outbreak on a coronavirus variant. cnn has previously reported that the lab was studying coronaviruses in bats but it is unclear how closely related the variants were to the strain which started the pandemic. as for the energy department's new assessment, it is described as low confidence and a minority view apparently within the intelligence community. that said, it sparked new calls today from transparency from china. >> we would wish to see from the prc a greater degree of responsibility, a greater acknowledgment that it is in the interests of the chinese people, yes, we better understand the origins of covid-19, but it is in the or -- to understand the origins of covid-19. >> today's development also prompted to leading house republicans to send letters demanding the state department of energy and the fbi to provide testimony and documents related to the ongoing probe of the ten pandemics origin. china's foreign minister also weighed in, calling on relevant parties

to quote, stop vilifying china and stop politicizing the issue. in a moment, war on china's potential role in the ukraine crisis with tom friedman, right now cnn -- dr. leana wen, also cnn -- intelligence analyst john miller. how much -- from an intelligence standpoint should anybody put in the department of energy's assessment if they are saying the confidence is low. what does that even mean? >> well. so if you do an intelligence assessment high confidence means certainly, most likely, medium confidence means likely, probably, low confidence means possibly, maybe, maybe not. so the answer is, we shouldn't put much stock in it. they are coming to a conclusion based on incomplete intelligence, they are one of 60 agencies that were asked to look at this, we have seen the votes from other agencies, so they are saying, based on what we have, which is all we need to come to a solid conclusion, this is our choice, but we are not solid on it. >> doctor wen, cnn learned this update from

the department of energy's assessment was in part based on information that the chinese cdc in wuhan was studying coronavirus variants around the time the outbreak, how is that different from what was already known about the work the lab was doing? >> i don't know. we would be more information, because we had already known that the two laps in wuhan, the chinese cdc, as well as the track -- they were studying coronaviruses, that was an active area of research for them. so, in order to have more evidence in favor of the lab leak theory, we would have to find that the samples that they were working with in the lab were genetically linked and where the genetically the same as the ones that caused illness in those individuals infected with covid-19 initially. we don't have that information. i think the bigger issue here is that we know that there are two plausible theories, we know that there is the lab leak theory, there's also the

animals -- theory, data points in both directions, but both are plausible. we also need to protect against the next pandemic by working to protect the world against most of these possibilities. in a sense, it isn't all of the above approach. if the goal is actually to improve human health, which we would have to improve laboratory -- safety and at the same time reduce the likelihood of spillover from animals to humans. >> i mean look, i think there are certainly a lot we need to learn about covid in terms of how to respond to the next pandemic, to dr. wen's point, should schools be shut down like they were? it certainly didn't seem like that, big picture, was that a great idea. obviously we know a lot more. john, how important you think it is to know exactly where it came from? >> well, it is important. it is important to know if that was a natural occurrence out of a food market in wuhan that sells exotic animals where this could come from, intelligence officers don't like coincidence, anderson. the idea that there were two laps there that were working in this field of all

places is certainly suggestive. but the question you pinpoint is, was this something -- in the lab, was this something that could be weaponized, is that white spread so fast? or was this a natural occurrence? and you know, even going back to the director of national intelligence, the national intelligence council, the gray beards of the entire spy world in their conclusions, when you go back to the original report, for intelligence agencies believe that it was a natural exposure from an animal, one intelligence agency which we believe was the fbi said with moderate confidence they believed it was a leak from the lab. and three remained unable to coalesce around a given theory, because of the intelligence gaps, the things that we didn't know. the department of energy coming over big gives us a -- confusing one when they say low confidence. >> was anything ruled out like bio terrorism? >> what was ruled out was unintentionally or intentional launch. that is really

important to know. because, of all countries that were hurt by this, china was her first and hardest and longest. so, the idea of intentionality has been ruled out by all the intelligence agencies based on what they know. the question is, what is a government accident or was it an animal accident in the markets? the natural exposure. >> doctor wen, what i don't understand is, something like hiv, geneticists, and correct me if i'm wrong, they have been able to, however they do it, i am a terrible science student, they have been able to figure out basically that it came from southeastern cameroon i, think it was. that it was several monkeys siv combine of several monkeys, they have an approximate timeframe prior to 1920 or 19 oh wait. if they can do that with hiv, how come they can't do that with covid? >> a lot of it has to do with the lack of transparency by the chinese government, which has been actively obstructing investigation to the point

where we don't even know how much information we can trust coming from them, and it is because of this obstruction that we may never know the answer here. which is really disappointing. but i think that is why we have to shift the question from the important one, as john was saying, of what caused covid, to instead ask if either of these hypotheses is true. then what? and i think we are at the point where, i just don't really see the chinese government at any point soon opening up their investigative launch and letting independent research is in. if that is the case, then we as a world can move on, and say there was no intentionality, it was an accident in some way. so how do we prevent this from happening neighing again in the future? >> doctor wen, appreciate it. -- columnist tom friedman, also bestselling author among many books, hot flat and crowded, why we need a green revolution and how it can renew america. so tom, there was a spokesman for the -- blocking from the beginning international

investigators, numbers of global health community from accessing information that they need to understand the origins of covid-19. how important you think it is to understand where the virus originates? >> you know anderson, the previous conversation, we know two things. for sure. one is this virus emerged from wuhan on the other is that from the very beginning, china has not cooperated in giving international investigated -- the raw data, the raw data that they would need to -- wear this virus emerged from. that has been the case from the very beginning. >> if the u.s. government were to conclude with the reasonable degree of certainty that it originated in a chinese lab, not intentional, but got out, what are the options going forward? how would that impact everything?

>> i don't see what you can do today. the chinese will never admit it. so, we are not going to go to war with them, we won't section them over this eye, don't think the rest of the world would be with us. but, i think it is something the chinese have to think about because it will increase their isolation in the world. but at this stage, they have taken the decision basically to not release the raw data. they suppress the envy formation when the virus emerged, they suppress the information that it was being transmitted -- and they suppressed their own doctors and scientists the raw data that they would need what emerged from the market, what were the neighborhoods, for the people. without that, it is just really hard to determine. >> -- if china gets lethal military aid to russian drones or all tailoring or long-range artillery ammunition, how does that change the dynamics of the war? >> that would be huge. anderson, that would be world war iii kind of stuff. that would be china and russia against i would say, the european union and the united states. which makes me surprised that the trainees

would do that, since the european union and the united states are the two biggest export markets. i think what maybe going on is a wrestling match inside of china. i think there are some chinese officials, military people, who are probably saying, the americans have been sticking it to us all year. they stuck it to us on -- they stuck it to us on railway companies, in the meantime they have been asking us to stay out of the war. maybe we should ask them to have a little fire scare. what if we threw some weapons into this thing? that is one school. i think there is another school that recognized, wait a minute, we have been under covid lockdown for three years, we decide we are finally going to open up again to the world, invite foreign investors here, send chinese business people, students and academics out into the world, the last thing we need to do right now is enter the war on the losing side. so,

i think there is a bit of a fight going on inside of china. i suspect the administration decided to elevate this information, bring it public, in order to tip that internal fight. >> what about taiwan though? doesn't that factor into this in their thinking? >> well, it certainly does. i would say as a general rule, anderson, general, i would rather be not in a row or with china. i live by the rule that, let's not fight china and russia at the same time. right now we are in a big in direct war with russia. and if i can, if i can at all avoid it, i would rather not be in a conflict with china to at the same time. and i think also, i would not want to be creating a situation where china's president xi jinping feels that if he doesn't take taiwan right now, then he is not going to be able to take it at all, we are not ready to defy -- defend taiwan from an onslaught from she. we should be very -- and saying nothing. we want she jinping to wake up every morning, look at taiwan and say, now. not today. that is all you want. and anytime you -- make

it that he feels he has to act, you are being doing something very reckless. do >> you think there is something we could do to offer china as an incentive to not pursue a weapons deal with ukraine? relief in some way from terrorists, something similar? because they are getting a lot from russia in terms of cheap energy. >> yeah. no, i think the administration acted wisely, if there is this debate inside. but i think it is very important again that we not be talking ourselves into a war with china. i actually don't like to even use the word china. i must prefer one sixth of humanity who speak chinese dialects. i would rather not, if i can avoid it, be at war with 16 of chinese -- rollover for anything, but i want to stay the course we have always been with china, build bridges where possible and draw unarmed red lines were necessary -- i am very worried when i see

republican congressman attacked judy chu, the first chinese american in congress, saying she shouldn't have a security clearance. that is terrible stuff. we are in mccarthy era stuff that we don't need to repeat. lets everybody come down here a bit. and not talk ourselves into a war with china, a conflict, a standoff may be necessary, but let's be smart about this. >> tom friedman, we appreciate it. thank you tom. >> next to, the 2020 election lies that fox news personalities foisted on viewers and what fox chairman rupert murdoch admitted about them order but -- bring you the details when we come back. and later, the defense -- alec murdaugh trial but not radically different theory of the crime and also up murdaugh's brother said on the stand today and what happens when -- murdaugh's wife and son were killed.

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>> striking new details tonight dominion voting systems defamation lawsuit against fox news, they come from a court filing published later today revealing that the fox chairman rupert murdoch admitted to, in a sworn session -- not only that, the filing describes how murdaugh himself characterized some of those lies, senior media reporter albert ghersi joins us along with senior --

correspondent maggie haberman, and first amendment attorney lila levine who is so well respected he has worked with basically every media company in the united states, in particular for fox and cnn in past cases. we appreciate him being on. all over what is in these filings? >> this is really shocking stuff. -- >> even you are surprised, you have been following this for years. you are surprised that things ended like this. >> i was reporting a lot about what fox was doing 2020, i really -- never imagined that behind the scenes there would be the sort of damning information, these admissions that were being made by top executives and top hosts like shawn hannity, tucker carlson and so on and so forth. in this recent legal filing, what we have here is rupert murdoch calling the trump lies that were being pushed around the election damaging, calling the me bs and then also conceding that he knew that some of these top posts at the network were peddling this lie to viewers. and the definition that the dominion took a, i want to read to part of it,

they ask, you are nowhere that fox endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election. murdaugh says not fox, no, but maybe lou docks, former fox host, maria bartiromo, as congress teter's. that is a weird spotting of harris he does. then they go through. fox -- janine pirro. i think so. -- sean hannity, a bit. and then it goes on and they say, he says, some of the commentators were endorsing it, and dominion lawyer says, about their endorsements, about the stolen election, yes. they endorsed. that is what rupert murdoch says. all while he is beyond the scenes saying he does not believe any of trump's election lies. >> a lot of these fox host behind the scenes didn't seem to believe it either. >> no they didn't. this actually exposes that fox is not at its core, a news network. news networks, they deliver the

truth as they know it to viewers. they do the best job to obtain the truth, sometimes it is not perfect but that is what they do. in this case, we know that behind the scenes top personnel knew that the narrative they were pushing to viewers was not true, and they have evidence now -- in search of profits. >> in the rough rate of losing viewers. this is -- viewers to the small right-wing channels that trump was promoting after the election was called on fox -- >> mr. levine, when i spoke to for 60 minutes story about this last year, about the dominion ceo, you said this was the strongest defamation case you have seen in your 40 years of seeing defamation cases and you have seen dozens if not hundreds. do these filings, how do these filings change or opinion at all? is this still while the, how would you characterize it now? >> they haven't made dominions cases weaker, i can say that. >> what about dominion's case, why is

it so strong? what, why is it so damning? about this new filing. i think >> well, i think you have to separate out the news value of today's filing from the legal significance of today's filing. as a news matter for all the reasons oliver was just saying, this is important stuff. from a

>> trump has barely been on. fox used to be that whatever he wanted to go on. all of us knows this better than i. do whenever he wanted to go on, he could just dial into hannity or hannity would go interview him. other hosts would do the same

and that is not the way it is now with lou dobbs even less so. they have pivoted towards ron desantis who they are encouraging and basically the entirety of news corporation is behind desantis and the candidacy at this point. that is different than saying trump is wrong, from saying the wrong things. i don't think, and mueller can speak to this better than i. can i don't think that they are likely to start doing that because they are still in this litigation. i think they are concerned about anything that they say publicly but they are definitely in a bind. just of their own making in terms of how they handled donald trump. >> do you agree with that? that they would have to think twice about what they say about the presidents election lies that he is spinning? >> absolutely. i mean, you see just in the last few days, it has been reported that -- currency can't talk about the place case on air. precisely because they don't want people saying things that might come back to bite them in the litigation. >> this filing also describes rupert murdoch's relationship -- with the son-in-law to the president

didn't jared kushner. he was giving information about biden to kushner before they ran. is that right? >> again, this is not how our news network is supposed to operate. theoretically, this would be a fireable offense. if someone at any other news network were to do this, according to the filing, and it will reach you from it, it says that during trump's campaign rupert murdoch provided trump's son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner with fox confidential information about biden's ads along with the big strategy before it was public, effectively, i would assume, giving that campaign an edge over biden. this is one of the many things that we are learning in these documents that show that rupert was helping to work with the gop, and another part of the filing,

or the previous filing, there was talk about doing anything you can't help down georgia where there is of course that special senate race. so again, this goes back -- to paint a broader picture of fox. not necessarily as a news network at its core, but one that really works to push republican talking point, something we have known for a while. these documents are pretty damning. >> all over darcy, thank you haberman, lee levine, i appreciate. it coming up next, the defense in the alex murdaugh trial, they rested their case with the witness suggesting to shooters to the killing. details ahead. advil targets pain at the source. acetaminophen blocks, pain signals, advil, dual action. your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

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i screwed up. mhm. i got us t-mobile home internet. now cell phone users have priority over us. and your marriage survived that? you can almost feel the drag when people walk by with their phones. oh i can't hear you... you're froze-- ladies, please! you put it on airplane mode when you pass our house. i was trying to work. we're workin' it too. yeah! work it girl! woo! i want to hear you say it out loud. well, i could switch us to xfinity. those smiles. that's why i do what i do. that and the paycheck. >> the defense rested today in

the alex murdaugh double murder charge -- as well as a forensic scientist, who's at this evidence suggested to him it was not the work of one person. randi kaye has more, first we want to warn you, some of what you will hear is disturbing. >> you have an opinion whether there was one or two shooters who matt murdered meghan paul on the night of june 7th? >> when opinion is that the totality of the evidence is more suggestive of a tutor scenario. >> a forensic scientist testified for the defense breathing new life into the defenses theory that two shooters were involved in killing maggie and paul murdoch. here is why. whoever shot paul, the witness says, likely would have needed time to recover, given the violent nature of paul's death. >> what was happening to the shooter at that point? >> he is getting hit with large amounts of brain material, blood, skin, hair, bone fragments. and i believe, very likely, some -- >> and

what would be the force of that hitting the shooter? >> substantial. >> would you expect to see any type of injuries to the shooter? >> that's quite possible. i mean, for sure. >> so what about the shooter's clothing? >> how much biological material and broad is going to be on the shooters clothing on the shooters person? >> a lot. a lot. on the upper body. and head. >> keep in mind, investigators first on the scene who testified for the state said they didn't see any blood on alec murdaugh that night. the state has suggested he watched up and change clothes after allegedly killing his wife and son. >> on cross examination, the state took -- that a footprint found in the

feed room where paul was killed belonged to paul's killer. >> you haven't seen the report that identified paul's put front. >> definitively -- i did not. >> you only saw there -- wanted to see. >> i, i -- supplied to me, yes. -- >> the defense called one of murdaugh's brother, john marvin murdaugh, as its last witness. he painted a picture of his brother as a loving family man, and left the jury with this disturbing description of having to pick up the pieces of his nephew paul in the feed room. >> they did not cleanup,

i saw blood, -- pieces of skull. and when i saw brains it could just be tissue, and for some reason i thought it was mine -- something that i need to do for paul to clean it up i felt like i owed him and i started cleaning. i wanted to ask you -- no mother and father or aunt or uncle should ever see and do what i did that day. >> randi kaye joins us now from the courthouse >> the judge approved a visit to the crime scene, any idea -- when that happened? well anderson, the state is expected to call four or five reply businesses tomorrow that could take all day. if it does, then the crime scene a visit by the jury -- it is about 30 minutes from here harry, acres, property belonging to the murdaugh's. when the jury goes there, they will people to see everything that they have seen in pictures throughout the trial. they will see the feed room where paul murdaugh died, we will see how close that was to will american murdaugh's body was found. they will see the golf cart path that alex murdaugh said he took from the main house back to the candles and back that night. just how close those two buildings are. we will probably see the gun room, where authorities seized all those guns, it will see the shooting range. but these are all the places that they have seen in

pictures. so it will really give them, for the first time, in person, some perspective about what went on there. and hopefully, they would be able to figure out a little bit more about how they feel about what they have heard throughout all of this testimony, anderson. >> randi kaye, appreciate it. joining us tonight, criminal defense attorney -- on school professor and former field prosecutor, just hurrah. what does it tell you that the jury wants to visit the crime scene.? >> well i, think the request came from the defense. to have the jury -- and the judge said that his practices, if either side makes the request, we generally will grant -- >> when they go, is anybody talking to them about this is where the body lies, this is where paul's body was? >> it is a little unclear exactly how this will happen. i think that would have to be agreed upon by the parties in advance, what if, anything will be said. there really shouldn't be much said. i mean the, jury is going to be there to see the crime scene. there is a real loss of control though, that happens. anytime the jury comes out of the jury box and out into the courtroom, there is a famous example from the other jen -- oj simpson's

house and the defensive tierney said for change the art of photographs on display to leak it look more appealing to the jury, or so they thought. so there's a loss of control, the potential for sort of a presidential impact on the -- and of course there is not it is not exactly as it was the night of the murders, that is one of the things the prosecution pointed to in opposing this, which is to say for example, the trees had grown more. between the house and the kennels. and i gather one point may be, could the defendant have heard gunshots if other people were there shooting his wife and his hunt, what you have heard it from the house with the trees with more foliage? that might have an impact. >> mark, we just heard, i mean very disturbing details from the forensic science today, supporting the two shooter theater -- may have been

stunned, needed time to recover. how important do you think that testimony was today? i >> think it was very good for the defense. because again, what they have to do is put reasonable doubt, at least one jurors mowing to find that this could happen anything -- definition of reasonable doubt. but again, i don't know that this is exoneration for murdaugh. i think what needs to happen now -- i presume it will happen, is at the statements to own the. in the need to own the possibility that there may have been a second shooter, we don't believe so but even, either way we know there was one person involved and that was murdaugh. i presume that that is what they're going to do with their testimony. actually think they should have probably owned the possibility of two shooter scenario earlier in the case, because we knew this was coming. because we talked about it while before the case began. >> so you are saying they need to off the offer essentially a explanation of how there could be two shooters, but that palmer always one of them? >> yeah. i think the best thing

they could do, with that potential reasoning, that has been thrown out with the two shooters. everyone was wondering why there were two different types of weapons. i think the state has to own it. i think you have to sit back and say this is consistent with her theory of prosecution, murdaugh was one of them. maybe the only one. there certainly was one. and that sort of does away with any significance of this defense -- presentation >> just echo, what do you think of that? is it too late for them? >> i am skeptical -- i mean we haven't third -- one of two shooters. generally prosecutors need to convey confidence in their case and to sort of switch in the last minute, i don't think that is going to go for wearing. well but i do think this two shooter theories going to resonate with the jury. because as a matter of logic and there is always been this -- if you are acting alone have used two guns to really large guns. -- to shoot his wife in such close proximity in time. i think the jury has been -- gathers expert testimony in the record that the defense can point to and say there is not just a matter of common sense from logic there is an expert that is saying he thinks that the evidence is more consistent with their being two shooters than one. >> the defense has also talked to me about have the crime scene was left by authorities. biological matter, pieces of brain, laying around. is, do police cleanup crime scenes after they're done investigating? i have been to a

couple of murder scenes. i don't recall them cleaning up afterwards. >> no. they really don't. i mean, that hopefully will bring in some other agency to do it but no they don't. for quite honestly want to say finish their jobs there are out and trying to put together the investigation. i do want to say it wasn't suggesting -- the prosecution's case but, i do think they need to acknowledge and do away with this defense theory of two shooters. and they can do that by suggesting at least one of them was murdaugh. >> mark o'mara, just zero thank you. just ahead what, rhonda santos has to say about his former president in his new memoir. cnn--'s florida -- -- at a hotel down the road from the former presidents

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>> after week long retreat hosting republicans, from the former president's mar-a-lago residence, florida governor ron desantis releases his new memoir tomorrow. called the courage to be free. for his blueprint for america's revival. and the incoming video, there's just the latest evidence of a one see as us off on for the presidential campaign. the new book is focused on culture war fights against what he calls, will corporations. he also takes a

few swipes at the former president. jeff zeleny has details. >> florida governor ron desantis inching ever closer to a higher anticipated presidential launch, with a new campaign style video. >> freedom is worth fighting for. >> and a new book, that serves as a roadmap for a potential 2024 republican primary. in the courage to be free, obtained today by cnn, desantis plants his flag as a leading alternative to donald trump and pushes back against the former presidents often made assertion that he alone is responsible for the governor's success. >> i do not think republican primary voters are sheep to simply follow an endorsement from a politician they like without any individual analysis. but i do believe that a major endorsement can put a candid on the radar of gop

voters. in a way that boosts good path candidates prospects. >> i stood for what i believe was right. >> he said it was his debate performance in his 2018 race that led to his come from behind victory. as the republican presidential field takes shape desantis is making an early splash. >> florida is where woke goes to die. holding up his florida record as a blueprint for a national platform. like the parental rights and of education act which critics have dubbed the don't say gay bill. that led to his feud with the disney corporation. >> today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end. there is a new sheriff in town in accountability will be the order of the day. >> the governor went to what disney world's backyard to sign a lot today, effectively punishing the entertainment giant for speaking out against the desantis's agenda. he uses that fight to bolster his view that big business, a longtime ally of the gop has, become two broke in, his characterization and should be called out by a

new class republican leaders. >> corporate america has become a major protagonist in battles over american politics and culture. the battle lines almost invariably find a large publicly traded corporations lining up behind leftist causes, he writes, adding, or guard for public >> is -- not up to the task at hand. >> while desantis is not planning a formal campaign announcement until at least may, people tell cnn he is trying to capitalize on a hunger among many republicans eager to find unelectable fighter. as former governor, he has become a combative figure in the culture wars, for which he offers no apologies. >> to always be on offense, because if you are not on offense you are basically sitting duck and you let these people come and just take potshots at you all the time. >> now, there is no doubt that a formal announcement is still expected till the end of the spring, right after the florida legislative session. he plans to send more bills and -- to

seldom to the republican base but it is clear he wants to influence this race right now. he wants to freeze the race, if you will, from the other candidates in the race. but anderson when you, read through this book one thing that really stands out is how different rhonda santas is now from the first time he wrote a book in 2011, just a decade ago. the trump air has changed the republican party of course, it has certainly changed him. he talked about a role of limited government, now of course he's using government to enact his agenda. so a very interesting read here on the new governor of desantis. >> jeff zeleny, appreciate it. -- he said nothing can correct after hundreds of newspapers [interpreter] -- racist remarks he made on his youtube channel. the latest on scott adams next. ce the carbon intensity of the fuels that keep things moving. today, we're producing renewable diesel that can be used in existing diesel tanks. and we're committed to increasing our renewable fuels production.

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>> scott adams, author of the dilbert comic strip is not backing up from racist comments that has gotten his work pulled from hundreds of newspapers. today, defending his comments about black people being quote a hate group, and why people should quote, get the away from black people. and an obvious question for those who canceled me, is a

discreet my point? so far i've not seen it, i've only seen disagreement with my use of hyperbole. cnn's sara sidner has more. >> you know his work, but might not know his name. scott adams is the cartoonist behind the dilbert comic that pokes fun at corporate culture. he now finds himself in some very hot water for this. >> nearly half of all blacks are not okay with white people. according to this poll, not according to me. according to this poll. that is a hate group. >> adams was responding to the poll that does not meet cnn standards, by rasmussen reports, asking back americans if they agreed with the statement it is okay to be white. rest missions that just over half of the respondents agreed with the statement. adams decided that made black people a hate group and went on to make this racist segregationist suggestion. >> i don't want to have anything to do with them. and i would say, based on the current way things

are going, the best advice i would give to white people is to get the away from why people. just get the away. wherever you have to go, just get away. there is no fixing this. >> adams failed to acknowledge or may not know that the phrase, it is okay to be right was popularized by white nationalists online, and used to troll people. the phrase it is okay to be white sounds perfectly innocuous. it is okay to be white. what is wrong with it? >> it is not -- it is actually not innocuous. it is a long-standing slogan used by white supremacists to try to make the point that there was some conspiracy against white people. and they do that, sarah, really with the intention of trying to undermine claims of anti black racism, to undermine claims of antisemitism, to say that somehow they feel like an aggrieved, marginalized

population. >> newspapers across the united states dropped his cartoon with immediate effect after he posted his thoughts on youtube. the editor of the plain dealer, kris quinn, saying about homes, we are not a home for those who espouse racism. we certainly do not want to provide them with financial support. but adams is not without defenders. one of the most famous men in the world and certainly on twitter, stepped in to defend adams. elon musk, initially did not condemn adams's racist comments but instead said, the media is racist. of course, he is the owner of a media company. adding, without any evidence, for a long time, u.s. media was racist against non white people and now they are racist against whites and asians. musk leader agreed with the tweet, saying adams's comments quote, weren't good, but had an element of truth to them. then, musk went

on a rant accusing the media of giving black victims of police violence disproportionate coverage over white victims of police violence. he failed to share why that might be, according to a 2020 study, unarmed black americans and native americans are both nearly three times as likely to be killed in a police encounter. as for adams, adams mcneill universal, the company that syndicates gilbert said, it is cutting ties with a common strip and it's curator, saying in part, as a media and communications company, a mu values free speech. we are proud to promote and share many different voices and perspectives, but we will never support any commentary rooted in discrimination or hate. adams has said on twitter that he was only quote, advising people to avoid hate. and suggested free speech in america is under assault. even so, he seems to be reveling in his newfound notoriety. >> i forgot i'm supposed to be

feeling bad about all of this. one of the things i have realized about myself, i like attention. i just kind of like it. >> and sarah sidner joins us now. timing of this is interesting. it is interesting because it is black history month. we are still black history month. and he is saying these segregationist words at us time when people are trying to celebrate the contributions that black people have made to this country, for everything from the first female millionaire in this country, teaching women that they can do just what their male counterparts can do, to the people who built this country for free. so, you have been saying this, while at the same time you have to wonder the timing of the poll being released. using a phrase that has been used ad nauseam by white supremacists who were trying to make the point that

somehow they are the marginalized group in this country not people of color. it is disturbing but i would like to say as a person who is of mixed race. my mother is white and my father is black, i will be talking sure that i am around all of my family. and i'm glad that you've decided not to stay the away from me.. >> sarah steiner, welcome anytime. thank you. we appreciate it. coming up next to look at the winter weather, already hammering up next most of the country, -- a late word on where the storms are heading. next downy light in-wash freshness boosters. it has long-lasting light scent, no heavy perfumes, and no dyes. finally, a light scent that lasts all day. downy light!

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lomita feed is 101 years old this year and counting. i'm bill lockwood, current caretaker and owner. when covid hit, we had some challenges like a lot of businesses did. i heard about the payroll tax refund,

it allowed us to keep the amount of people that we needed and the people that have been here taking care of us. see if your business may qualify. go to getrefunds.com. >> so from coast to coast, severe weather hitting millions of americans. forecasting i snowstorm of the season. watches and advisories are in effect. with up to three inches of snow is expected through tens of snow could fall. a, west pleasant view california, nevada. white house conditions have shut down a portion of interstate 80. more than a foot of snow expected there. meanwhile, possible tornado damaged homes. and in oklahoma, residents are cleaning up after --

down trees, homes left in ruins. more than 100 storms to hit oklahoma, texas and kansas over the weekend. news continues, the situation room with wolf blitzer starts now. >> tonight it's the virus that shook the world. killing more than 1 million american so far. and millions more worldwide. now new revelations about the mysterious origin of covid. former defense secretary mark esper is here live. plus, -- >> remarks except in m16s are the key capability for that offense. >> sean penn pleads with president biden to send fighter jets to ukraine. where the actor says doubly quote blood on our hands. sean pinion joins me. >> and president xi

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