♪ ♪ arthel: the u.s. set a new record for coronavirus cases almost every day over the past week. the latest yesterday as more than 184,000 americans tested positive for the virus according to johns hop countries university. hello, everyone, and welcome to "america's news headquarters." i'm arthel neville. eric: thank you for joining us today, i'm eric shawn. the total number of infections in our country has topped nearly 11 million. 10.8 million, to be exact. and, sadly, that is more than any place else on the globe. in fact, the u.s. has set

another grim new record just last weekend according to johns hopkins university with more than one million new cases in just one week. officials say krone that virus is dangerously spreading, and it is not because there is more testing. charles watson live in atlanta, headquarters of the centers for disease control, with the very latest on this pandemic. charles? >> reporter: hey, good afternoon, eric. you laid it out, coronavirus cases are really surging across the country, and the last seven days about 1 out of every 320 people in this country tested positives for the virus. and the numbers do not appear to be slowing down. the u.s. has reported on average 145,000 daily new cases this week alone according to a new york times database. on saturday nine states set records for the most cases they've recorded in a single day including north dakota where hospitals are overloaded with patients and are critically understaffed. on state of the union this

morning, dr. anthony fauci said if une nexts continue to surge -- infections continue to surge, we'll likely see a growing number of restrictions reinstated. >> i think what we're going to start seeing in the local levels, be they governors, mayors or people at the local level, will do as you said, very surgical type of restrictions which are the functional equivalent of a local lockdown. but we're not going to have a national lockdown. but, you know, if things really get bad and you put your foot on the pedal and yet is still you have the surge, you may need to take the extra step. >> reporter: some state and local leaders are beginning to take that route. the governor of new mexico issued a two week stay-at-home order that will halt nonessential business and travel for at least two weeks. in the state of oregon, they followed up with its own partial two week lockdown closing gyms, indoor dining and limiting social gatherings to no more than 6 people. and, you know, the idea among health officials like dr. fauci and others is that pandemic fatigue is at play, but many

believe that the new public health restrictions that we're seeing will ultimately help bring the soaring numbers in this country down. eric? eric: all right, charles. in a few moments we'll be going out to iowa a that there's warnings they will be running out of icu beds. we'll have a report from cedar rapids. thank you. arthel? arthel: meanwhile, president trump with another defiant tweet on the election this morning just hours after he appeared to admit defeat for the first time. all of this as his administration continues to stonewall president-elect joe biden's transition into the white house. we have fox team coverage on this. jacqui heinrich is live in wilmington, delaware, with the president-elect. but first, we go to david spunt live at the white house. hi, david. >> reporter: good afternoon. president trump not at the white house, he's golfing at his northern virginia club. but at this pointless still refusing to concede, however, via twitter in classic president trump mode, he tweeted this morning and came awfully close

to conceding when referring to president-elect joe biden. want to read this tweet, he wrote, quote: he won because the election was rigged, no vote watchers or observers allowed, vote tabulated by radical left, privately-owned company which couldn't even qualify for texas. the president doesn't technically e need to formally concede for president-elect biden to become the 46th president. he is president-elect, and when votes are certified in the coming weeks, he'll be inaugurated at january 20th at noon. about 20 minutes after the quote he won tweet, the president added, quote: he won in the eyes of the fake news media, i concede nothing. we have a long way to go, this was a rigged election. this morning the president's attorney claimed he will not concede. giuliani, rudy giuliani, the former mayor of new york, said the president was being sarcastic. as far as any cooperation

between team trump and tam biden is concerned -- team biden is concerned, there really is no cooperation when it comes to a transition. the trump administration is keeping biden's team from gaining access to security briefings and other government tools. this morning, arthel, dr. anthony fauci with the national students of health says the transition is needed desperately especially as a vaccine gets ready to roll out to the public. >> i've been through multiple transitions now having served for six presidents for 36 years, and it's very clear that that transition process that we go through, that time, the period of measured in several weeks to months is really important in a smooth handing over of the information as well as it's almost like passing the baton. >> reporter: dr. fauci went on to say the president has not attended a covid-19 pandemic briefing in months, but this is a photograph of a recent briefing, vice president mike pence sitting there at the helm in the situation room leading that. the vice president is the head of the coronavirus tax force. but when the pandemic hit

earlier this year, the president did attend, although it's been months as confirmed by dr. fauci. as far as a vaccine is concerned, president trump on friday, arthel, made the announcement in the rose garden the vast majority of americans will be able to receive a vaccine by april, and today dr. anthony fauci concurred with that timeline, and that's good news. arthel? arthel: that is good news. david spunt, thank you very much. eric. eric: well, arthel, let's now go to jacqui heinrich in wilmington, delaware, and she reports on president-elect joe biden. >> reporter: hi, eric. president-elect joe biden is at home today. he has no public meetings, but he is talking with transition advisers from his home as he considers cabinet picks and also works on issues like coronavirus. but he is still blocked from accessing funds, agencies and information that will come when the general services administration finally does certify his win. what impact of all of this -- one impact is the biden transition team is having to

come up with their own distribution plan for a potential vaccine because the white house has refused to coordinate and has locked them out of federal talks with agencies. right now the department of health and human services is planning a vaccination campaign for february and march, but biden's experts aren't privy to those discussions. his team's having to reach out to manufacturers and distributers to insure that when a vaccine is approved, people can get it. biden's chief of staff was on "meet the press" this morning. >> the bigger issue will be the mechanics of manufacture and distribution, getting this vaccine out. and that really lies with folks at the health and human services department. with need to be talking to them as quickly as possible. you know, it's great to have a vaccine, but vaccines don't save lives. vaccinations save lives. >> reporter: the transition team is scheduling discussions with pfizer and other manufacturers this week as covid cases soar across the country triggering discussions about a potential nationwide lockdown as one member of the biden task

force suggested with the government covering lost income for workers. but biden's team says it may not have to come to that. >> the way we think about lockdowns, i think, is different than it was in the spring. in the spring when we didn't know a lot about covid, we responded in a sense with on/off switch. we've learned a lot since that, it's more a dial we turn up and down depending on severity. >> reporter: meantime, expectations are rising for biden to choose his pick for secretary of state. yesterday he did say he's closer to making a cabinet pick, but he did not specify which one, eric. eric: all right, we will know at some point. thank you. arthel? arthel: and, eric, meanwhile, as president trump refusing to concede, we are closing in on a date when states will certify their votes in the election. joining me now, jeff mason, white house correspondent with reuters. so, jeff, you know, you've got

several senior republican leaders saying they will not flip their votes when electors make their final decisions next month, not going to flip it from president-elect biden to president trump. what does their position reflectsome. >> well, arthel, you're speaking about republican legislative leaders in these key states where president trump is working on lawsuits to try to east stop certification -- either stop certification of the vote or turn it over, michigan, wisconsin, arizona, georgia. and what it reflects is simply that they, these republican leaders, do not want to overturn the will of the people in their states. in those states the majority, in some cases it's a slim majority but nonetheless a majority of the voters, voted for president-elect biden, and that's why he won those states, and that's why the electors will have to give their votes to him. arthel: meanwhile, i want to play for everyone some sound from former president barack obama. he was on cbs with gayle king. let's listen.

>> there's damage to this because what happens is that the peaceful transfer of power, the notion that any of us who attain an elected office whether it's dogcatcher or president are servants of the people. it's a temporary job. we're not above the rules, we're not above the law. that's the essence of our democracy. arthel: will we have to wait though til december when the electors, the senior republican members you're talking about specifically cast their votes for president trump to concede and cooperate with traditional transfer of power that president obama was just referring to? >> well, it's a good question, and i don't know the answer. i think it's possible that we may never see a concession at all from president trump. but i do think that it will be at least until december until people around him and perhaps republicans in congress start putting pressure on him for that to happen. as we saw with his tweeting

today, he's not ready to concede, and they have several lawsuits that are still pending although many have been thrown out. but i think he will wait for that legal process to continue and wait for the recounts to happen in two states, wisconsin and georgia, despite the fact that the results of that are unlikely to tip the results in those two states. arthel: right. and not discounting president trump's 73 plus million voters. however, the people spoke loudly in support of joe biden. so circling back to these republican leaders saying they're not planning on flipping their electoral votes when they make their final decisions in december because their saying it's the vote of the -- they're saying it's the vote of the people. so maybe, just maybe does that signal that we'll see more compromise and perhaps eased gridlock in d.c.? >> well, i know that's something that president-elect joe biden would like the see, and he's hinted at that repeatedly in his public comments. the governing philosophy that he has laid out.

president trump said that that's not sort of a philosophy he's leaving office with, but i think it's also clear that he may be trying to lay the groundwork for a potential re-election run for himself if four years. -- in four years. that has been focused, basically, on keeping his base energetically and continuing to say falsely that the election was rigged. arthel: yeah, he continues to say falsely that the election was rigged, and at what point does president trump maybe realize, again, this is the united states of america and perhaps try to expand that if, in fact, he wants to run again and maybe coming in and taking the stage and saying, hey, listen, guys, this is the way it works in this country, let's do this right way, and he uses his power for good? >> well, another way of phrasing that question would be when do the people around him come to that conclusion, because there's certainly some who think this will be tarnish eking his legacy and hurting his chances of running for re-election again in four years if he does not exit

gratefully. arthel: jeff mason, i'm going to allow you to exit gracefully, and i'm going to saw good-bye for now. thank you very much. all right, take care. eric? eric: well, let's clarify. the election facts as we know them right now, rigged election or your own government, election officials across the country and voting experts say t not true. it's not true. baseless claims that are inflammatory, designed to undermine your faith in american democracy. here's the chairman of the federal agency, the u.s. election assistance commission, ben huffman. >> the reality is this was the most secure election we've ever had, and it was one of the most well-run elections we've ever had. and this is about facts, this is about truth, this is about respecting our democracy, respecting our elections and focusing on what has really occurred. the american people made their voice heard, and when we spread conspiracy theories and we don't back that up with fact, it has

an impact. eric: now after the president's claim that republican observers were blocked from watching hundreds of thousands of votes being counted in democratic-leaning philadelphia, in case you missed it, here's the top republican election official in philadelphia, philadelphia city commissioner al schmidt on that with me on thursday. >> the president says observers were not allowed in the counting rooms. is that true? >> that's totally untrue. eric: the president says, quote, bad things happened that our observers were not allowed to see. is that true? >> absolutely not. eric: have you seen any evidence of voter fraud here? >> i have not. eric: and how about the allegations about dominion voting systems? they supposedly changed trump votes to biden votes. well, here's part of the company's answer to that allegation. quote: vote deletion, switching assertions are completely false. dominion is a nonpartisan company. dominion has no ownership relationships with the pelosi family, feinstein family,

clinton global initiative, smartmatic or any ties to venezuela. dominion works with all political parties -- all u.s. political parties. prosecutors say any voter or election fraud allegation will be thoroughly investigated and if a fix were in, if there was wrongdoing, we will know about it. but election officials across the country insist as of today there is no evidence of any widespread fraud affecting the outcome the presidential election, that our precious democracy was not tampered with and that such baseless and false claims are an insult to the thousands of election officials and workers across the country who we have seen dedicating themselves 24/7 to insure a fair and free election for all of us. arthel? arthel: and we thank them. meanwhile, politics certainly not stopping the pathogens, eric, as many of the worst cases of coronavirus spread are happening in the middle of the

country from phil to the da -- from illinois to the dakotas and beyond. a journalist from one of those states on the increasingly serious situation there, that's up next. ♪ ♪ try boost® high protein... -with 20 grams of protein for muscle health- -versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. and now enjoy boost® high protein in café mocha flavor.

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surge at record rates nationwide, walmart is again monitoring and limiting the number of customers entering its stores, admitting customers inside on a one out, one in basis in stores where they have reached capacity under government restrictions. and also grocery stores like krogerer and publix have reinstated buying limits for items like paper towels, toilet paper and hand sanitizer. eric: well, last week was the worst our country has seen so far with the exploding number of new coronavirus infections. in fact, the analytics farm says the mid e west is now under siege. states in the middle of the country, including kansas, oklahoma, iowa, illinois, they are seeing the biggest surge of infections to date. we have the health care reporter for the gazette newspaper in cedar rapids, iowa, where it's

predicted the numbers will double in the next two weeks. thank you for joining us. how bad is it? >> things are pretty dire here at this point. we're seeing alarming number of new cases each day, and hospitalization rates keep reaching what we've never seen throughout this pandemic. it's safe to say that local officials are alarmed. eric: they're alarmed and, michaela, there is a prediction from the university of washington that iowa is going to run out of icu beds in december. in fact, what, seven -- of 17 southeastern counties, only 2 have icu beds available? they may not be able to take care of iowans who have coronavirus. >> yeah. that's certainly an alarm. just this morning the university of iowa epidemiologists tweeted something like icus are filled, and they're beginning to ration critical care resources. so it's definitely becoming a reality as we continue on. eric: and what do they do when they start rationing, you know,

resources? what are the health care officials talking about? you know, sending people with coronavirus symptoms home if they don't need to be intubated? >> so we're not quite at that level. the university of iowa hospitals and clinics, which has been takg care of coronavirus patients at home if they have capacity to, if they feel well enough to stay home, they have been doing that throughout this pandemic. we're not quite at that point yet. so in the recent weeks, local hospitals have begun reducing elective surgeries. they've done this in an effort to preserve staffing capacity and preserve supply capacity, you know? they feel confident that their surge plans could take care of all the patients that do come in. they're really worried about their staff at this point. not only are staff becoming suck and having to stay home for two weeks at a time, but quite frankly, they're burned out. they've been doing this for eight months now, and hospital officials are worried about the capacity to care for these patients. so the university of iowa hospitals and clinics, again,

they've begun moving some of the staff in outpatient settings to help alleviate some of that need. eric: we're looking at a graphic of, those are statistics showing how it could double very shortly. governor kim reynolds has for months resisted a statewide mask mandate. she now says masks should be worn inside for certain sized groups. does it seem that she's done enough? look, i know you may not have a mask on your tractor out in the wheat field, but what's the sense of what the state has done and if they have reacted properly to what's an exploding emergency? >> yeah. so governor reynolds' mask mandate is really a partial mask mandate. it only applies to 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. and, you know, there are people who believe that goes far enough, but there are also local leaders who don't believe that goes far enough. local municipalities have issued their own mask mandates, but then there's restrictions.

the mayor of cedar rapids has had a mask mandate since early september. there are other local leaders pushing for the governor to go further especially for health care professionals. they believe that the governor needs to be taking more steps at this time. eric: yeah. the infections started, basically, in the spring. processing plants, in the tyson plants and now some of your counties have rates that are ten times that of new york city, houston, new orleans and other places. what do you predict, what do you think's going to happen over the next few weeks? >> yeah. you know, i really defer to public health officials on this and, you know, they're really concerned heading into the holiday season. you know, at the rate that they're seeing, they're really asking people to, please, cancel thanksgiving plans because their worried going into the holiday, you know, groups of people traveling across the state are coming from other states and getting in large groups of people could really exacerbate the situation we're seeing right now. eric: it's dangerous, it is out

there, heed the warnings. michaela ram of the gazette, the health reporter there, thank you for your work. >> thank you very much. eric: we're certainly thinking of your state. take care. arthel? arthel: absolutely. well, tens of thousands of president trump's supporters filling the streetses of the nation's capital yesterday before things turned violent. next, who the president blames and what the police say. ♪ ♪ who is usaa made for? it's made for this guy a veteran who honorably served and it's made for her she's serving now we made it for all branches and all ranks whether they served one tour or made a career of it. we also made usaa for military spouses and their kids usaa is easy to work with and can save you money on auto, home and renters insurance. become a member today. get an insurance quote at usaa.com/quote usaa. what you're made of we're made for

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country with their parents. 67 people are dead in the philippines, the storm packing winds of up to 150 miles an hour leaving many homes submerge. about 500,000 people in the philippines have been forced to evacuate. and history unearthed in egypt, archaeologists finding coffins that contain mummies. experts say more evacuations -- excavations are still underway there. arthel: fascinating, eric. joe biden's transition team is working to prepare a coronavirus action plan, but the trump administration is denying biden's team crucial data about the pandemic and contacts with agencies like the department of health and human services. finish the co-chair of the biden covid task force reacting

earlier today on the president-elect's plan. >> none of this is going to be possible if we don't rebuild public trust. that's really the most important foundation here. the way you do that is by communicating honestly, by leading with science and scientists in the case of this pandemic and ultimately by delivering results. arthel: ohio congressman tim ryan joins us now. he served as surrogate for the president-elect during the campaign, and congressman, thank you very much for joining us here. >> thank you. arthel: absolutely. first, i want to get you, please, to tell us how president-elect biden and his transition team are using and relying on know-how and experience to forge ahead with coronavirus plans in the face of obstacles from president trump. then explain to us in what ways they're hamstrung by president trump's refusal to concede and grant access to his coronavirus response, his coronavirus response and plans.

>> well, i think, first and foremost, hiring ron klain as his chief of staff who had been his previous chief of staff as vice president but also was the person who handled the ebola response and did a phenomenal job, so, you know, ron klain understands this world, joe biden understands this world, so really surrounding themselves with people. and then the key, like any good leader, is listening to them, listening to the science, listening to the people who have been studying infectious diseases and the response to pandemic experts going all the way back to 918 which is -- 1918 which is the most modern one that we know about. and so i think he's doing a really good job of putting his plan together, but you need the cooperation of the president, the current president -- not the president-elect. and the more knowledge you have, the more experience you have from the people in the trump administration, the better the response is going to be for the

american people, and that's who we're here and elected to protect. so i would hope that -- i know losing hurts, but you can't put your own concerns in front of the concerns of the american people. arthel: and i understand that candidate biden's additions had been in contact with pfizer for months. what specifics, congressman, can you tell us about president-elect biden's coronavirus plans that would assure us that he will be ready to go to battle with this deadly virus on day one? apart from, of course, having ron klain? >> well, he's committed to it. i think he's been talking about this now for minutes. he's laid out -- for months. he's a laid out in great detail how he's going to respond. we've got to get more tests and better tests, we've got to have a real plan around contact tracing so that we can isolate people that we do know are positive. we've got to implement the masks around the country. that's the easiest thing that we

can do. all of the people who have studied this said that we can reduce the spread by 80%, reduce deaths by 80% if we all just wear a mask when we're interacting with orr people many public -- arthel: but, congressman, excuse me -- >> presidential leadership to really make that a priority. so those are just a few things. and then, look, how do we get this sucker out here as quickly as possible to states and have the apparatus and the infrastructure in place to be able to get it to local communities across the united states. that's what the vice president is committed to do and, hopefully, we can start that process quicker now instead of waiting until the end of january when he gets sworn in. arthel: okay. and i wanted to jump in, excuse me me there, because you mentioned masks. president-elect biden has not said that he will call for a mandatory rumor that we all wear -- requirement that we all wear masks across the country.

and as you know, president trump has turned masks into a political weapon. so i ask you how can -- because that's according to all the scientists, dr. fauci included -- all the scientists say all we have at this point to protect us in the meantime while we wait for the vaccine and wait for trust so that we all get vaccinated and acquire that trust, how do you, how does president-elect biden do that? i mean, that's a big obstacle that's going to be standing in his way on day one. how does he get around that? >> yeah, it's really crazy that it's come to this where a mask in a global pandemic is somehow a political statement. but, you know, the president of the united states, more so than any power that they have, veto power, executive power, all of that, the most important power that they have is they are the cultural figure for the government and the united states. they set the tone in the united states. and i think we all know that president trump has left his imprint on the culture here in the country.

and so what joe biden is saying is he will also affect the culture. he will be the leader, the father of the american family, so to speak. and so what he does and says is going to carry a lot of weight. part of the gift that joe biden has is taking the temperature down and i think that's going to help where it becomes less political, and then he will influence the culture. yeah, you can always mandate or do an executive order, but your example is really, really important. i think joe biden's going to set a good example for us. arthel: okay. well, for the sake of the country, we wish the president-elect well. congressman tim ryan, thank you very much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. arthel: take care. eric? eric: tens of thousands of transfer supporters gathered in washington, d.c. yesterday. they echoed the president's unsupported claims of fraud, and they urged him not to concede to president-elect biden. the rally was largely peaceful but, sadly, before the day was

out there was some violence on the streets of our nation's capital. lauren blanchard is live in washington with the very latest on what happened. hi, lauren. >> reporter: hi, eric. well, throughout the daylight hours yesterday those tens of thousands of pro-trump supporters, they rallied mostly peacefully. but when the sun went down, that is when things got ugly. >> there is now a fire burning in the street here. oh, they're setting the maga flags on fire. holy cow. >> reporter: it was, it was like a powder keg. maga marchers and counter-protesters at times separated by a line of police in downtown washington. there were members of black lives matter and antifa as well as far-right militia groups like the proud boys which spent much of saturday shouting at each other. [background sounds] >> back the blue! back the blue! [inaudible conversations]

finish. >> reporter: two officers were injured, and last night the d.c. mayor's office said at least 20 arrests were made for disorderly conduct, assault on an officer and firearm possession. during one confrontation, a man was stabbed multiple times and taken to the hospital. he is expected to be all right. and republican house leader kevin mccarthy reacted on twitter this morning in part writing: in the cover of darkness, dozens of antifa thugs launched violent attacks in the streets. conservatives will not be intimidated by cowards. plus, the d.c. chapter of black lives matter none too happy with d.c.'s mayor, muriel bowser. maga supports were ripping signs off of the fencing outside the white house, they say she did nothing to stop them. eric? eric: all right, lauren, thanks so much. arthel? arthel: well, eric, fox news is learning that the fbi wanted to arrest the late sex offend or e jeffrey epstein at a beauty pageant back in 2007.

also a report from the justice department details how the late financier secured a secret plea deal and spent just 13 months in a florida jail. the lead prosecutor in the case was aiming to get epstein behind bars for more than 17 years for his alleged sex crimes. former u.s. attorney alex acosta offered epstein a no-plea deal instead. while they rule -- acosta says this, quote, fully debunks claims that he cut epstein a sweetheart deal. eric? eric: well, it's history in the making, arthel, as it's almost time for liftoff in southern florida where a u.s. rocket will head into orbit for just the second time since we've relaunched our space program. we're live at the kennedy space

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♪ ♪ arthel: new york governor andrew cuomo holding an emergency digital summit with six other northeastern state governors this weekend discussing possible coordination on fighting the pandemic as coronavirus cases continue to surge nationwide. aisha ofny is in -- aishah hasnie is in new york city with more. >> reporter: hi, arthel. well, governor cuomo this morning going after president trump's vaccine rollout plan, specifically which group will get the vaccine first. speaking at new york city's historic riverside church, governor cuomo today said minority communities in new york were hit the hardest, so now he says he's mobilizing his own plan to deploy a vaccine to all new yorkers fairly. >> the black and brown

communities that were first on the list of who died cannot be last on the list of who receives the vaccine, period. [applause] >> reporter: but cuomo says he cannot do this without more federal cash to the tune of $6 billion to distribute the vaccine fairly. the state is currently facing a $15 billion deficit. meantime, some good news for new york city parents. in-person learning will remain open on monday. mayor bill de blasio tweeting that the city's infection rate dropped over the weekend from 2.8 to now 2.5. governor cuomo has been urging the mayor and the school districts to also start factoring in the schools' infection rate in order to keep classrooms open. and this weekend we saw the first major restrictions go into place in the state since the height of the pandemic. a statewide 10:00 curfew now in i effect for bars, restaurants

and gyms. the state also now limiting gatherings at home to just 10 people ahead of the thanksgiving holiday. and as you mentioned, arthel, that emergency summit underway this weekend right now still going on, we are waiting to see if there's going to be an outcome, maybe some announcements as that wraps up later today. arthel? arthel: yeah. coordination's crucial because, you know, everybody's all closely positioned geographically in the northeast. all right, thank you so much. >> reporter: you got it. arthel: eric? eric: well, nasa, arthel, nasa is preparing to open a new era in commercial space flight. that'll happen today with the launch of the first fully-crewed spacex space mission. it's going to go up to the international space station from florida. the crew dragon capsule will lift off later this evening. it's got three american and one japanese astronauts onboard. phil keating live for us at the kennedy space center awaiting

the launch later on tonight. hey, phil. >> reporter: hey, good afternoon, eric. yeah, just about seven hours from now spacex and nasa will try it again. tropical storm e or ta's remnants on the atlantic pushed last night's planned launch of this capsule until tonight, and that's -- the weather looking beautiful out now right at the launch bed, 39a. it's gorgeous weather for now, a lot of blue skies, but that could change later. the big falcon 9 rocket named resilience for this launch, spacex's drone team went out on the launch pad this morning shooting some pretty pictures. launch time set for 7:27 p.m. eastern time. this crewedded mission a far bigger deal than i any launch since the last a space settle in 2011. thursday all four restaurants suited up and sat inside the capsule for one final dress

rehearsal. they basically did every step of the launch, docking with the space station. before it landed here from houston a week ago and the four have been in quarantine ever since, this launches a historic step from test flight to certified flights and from 100% nasa and/or russian assist to comcial contractors doing the job. >> it's great that we're flying crews on a regular cadence once again from here to kennedy space center to space on u.s. rockets. that's truly an exciting time. >> reporter: the crew left to right, shannon walker, pilot victor glover, commander mike hopkins and the japanese astronaut from the japanese space agency. as it was at the end of may with the first crew to launch from florida since the last shuttle did it, nas a saw and spacex are fired up. that test, for the most part,

went flawlessly. the other future carrier of astronauts will be boeing and its starliner capsule. it's already done one empty test fright and is -- flight and is expected to begin taking astronauts up to low earth orbit late next year. the crew gets to the space station roughly 27 hours of lift avenue, so it's going to be a long journey giving them plenty of time not only only to sleep,t up and be fresh for the docking, but it'll also leapt nasa and spacex know how roomy or too tight having four astronauts in that capsule is. once they are there, they will do a full six month stay doing science and research up above us. eric? eric: wow. we're back in space and don't have to rely on the russians anymore. phil keating, thanks. arthel? arthel: as we say in new orleans, yeah, you're right. well, imagine speak one-on-one with some of the sport's most iconic athletes like muhammad

ali, pete rose, tom brady? well, our next guest, sportscaster jim gray, there he is, he he's had that honor. more on his chats with some of the greatest of all time, next. ♪

>> i think there's a lot of different reasons why people are successful. i'd say some people have, let's say, in its highest form just natural ability, size, speed, explosiveness. there's intangible things, competitiveness, durability, sustainability, leadership, determination, being a great team player. all those things probably in different aspects of different sports come into play. eric: that's quarterback tom brady talking about what it means to be the greatest of all time. jim gray knows, he's out with a new book, "talking to g.o.a. g.o.a.t.s." and tonight some of his most notable interviews will air on a special here on the fox news channel, 10 p.m. tonight. we're going to have to wait because jim is here with us now. jim, congratulations on the book. what is it like for you to sit down with such legends? >> well, it's been a huge honor, and it's just been terrific to

have been able to have been in their presence and to have been able to learn so much from them, to have seen up close all of their trials and tragedies and tribulations and to finally be there when a lot of them have stepped on the top step of the victory platform. it's been a great honor, and i'm really grateful to have had the opportunity to have written this book and to put it together so that people can see what it is that they've gone through. it was really, really quite something to be able to put it all together and look back on the 43 years. eric: wow. who stands out the most, if you can pick one at all, what story is most resonated to you? >> it would have to be muhammad ali. it was the first interview is, eric, that i ever did. i was 18 years of age, and he was very gracious and courteous with your time. it led to a lifetime relationship. turned out that he let me do his last interview on national television, so i would have to say muhammad ali for everything

that he accomplished in the ring and for what he stood for outside the ring. ashing eric that is just amazing -- eric: that is just amazing. what makes them stand out? what did you learn from ali about life and their accomplishments that may separate them from us normal folk? >> well, they're all extremely determined, and they're dedicated to their craft. they'remy optic in their vision. and when if you look at what they've been able to accomplish, they don't let anything stand in their way. kobe bryant would not let anybody get in his way, nor would ali e, brady or any of them. eric: the show is this evening, 10 p.m.? >>to it is, talking to g.o.a.t., 10 p.m. there are till the one. ♪ applebee's 2 for $20. it's date night in the neighborhood. - [announcer] forget about. vacuuming for up to a month.

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♪. leland: doubling down on his election claims, you are watching video from last night in washington as they were late night clashes between trump supporters and counter protesters who both arrived in washington, those one for a good couple of hours before the metropolitan police and right teams were able to move in and separate the groups. welcome to "america's news headquarters" from washington i am leland. gillian: i am gillian turner, great to be with everyone. the president is tweeting a vengeance, going full speed