it's really nice to have you here on christmas eve eve. when you settle in to watch this show, by now, you probably know to expect a little bit of the unexpected. right? you might have me reading unusually long portions of court transcripts. sometimes i do, you know, and our reporting breaking news, because the news drives us along. but other times we try to do historical background for understanding what is important in the news today. i recognize that we do weird stuff on the show and if you've been watching for a while you probably know that as well. we mostly do weird stuff on the show because my brain works

weird. [laughs] and i'm aware of that. i know the way we approach things, the way we approach them, can be a surprise. but even with all the weird things that we have done over the years to cover the news, i have never before done this. nor have i ever anticipated that one of the things i would need to do on the air sunday, in order to explain the news, would be to break down a new trend in recent amazon.com reviews for yankee candles. but that day has arrived. okay, review number one, no scent, very disappointed. one star. review number two, no sent. very disappointed and embarrassed, as this was a gift. one star. review number three. fraud! smells like wax when late. definitely not a yankee. one star. now those scented candles,

purchased online, could theoretically have been duds that got sent out to amazon customers, even though they had no scent. theoretically, i guess that could be true. but that's not actually what's seem to have happened here at all. there is an assistant professor of political science named nick beach i'm at northeast university. he studies this kind of phenomenon, believe it or not. when he saw this new trend in these amazon reviews for smelly candles, he had an inkling of why that may be. why it may be that all of a sudden scented candle company started getting all these complaints about their candles not being smelly enough? the professor used a computer program to scrape all of the amazon reviews for yankee candles. the program flagged reviews that use the words no smell or no scent. and then he graft the number of reviews that had language like that. and you can see that this is a

thing that has big peaks and big valleys. a very specific kind of complaint about their candle purchases. independently, on its own, this makes no sense. until you overlay the chart until you overlay the complaints with the country's covid infection rates for the same dates. the purple line shows candle reviews were people complain about not being able to smell the candle. and the red line is covid rates in the united states. put on the same timeframe. you think there is a correlation there? [laughs] one of the symptoms, of course, of covid infection is losing your sense of smell. as more and more americans get infected with covid, more and more lose the ability to smell anything. and apparently, a very predictable number of them start blaming the poor candle company for the fact that they cannot smell anything. it is not the candle company's

fault you have covid. and this is not the first time this exact correlation has been spotted. a researcher at one bryn mawr also did a review and found much the same results. and it is good to remember that we use metrics like this in public health all the time. it's not that different from looking at places where fevers get started. and that gives you an inkling that something is going on with illness in that area. but tracking peoples complaints about the lack of delicious melina's in their lies from candle purchases, it's almost like a disconcertingly cheery way to track a pandemic. but the bad candle reviews are going up and the numbers are going up. and those things are related. and just to play numbers themselves, the numbers are

themselves as dramatic as what the candle reviews are telling us. this is newly-recorded cases in the united states right now. look at the far right side to see the most recent days. look at how steeply cases are rising right now. that line on the far-right is basically vertical. in new york state, they not only had their highest case numbers ever this week. and new york state, they broke the record for daily new cases. five times in one week. this is new york state. massachusetts, just today, reported the highest number of new cases they have seen ever since the start of the pandemic. washington d.c. has a relatively small population. and when big things happen to small populations these can look warped when you put them on a chart. but honestly, look at the chart of washington d.c. and its new covid cases. its new this is the washington d.c. chart of new covid cases reported over time. look at the right side of that graph. it looks like a glitch. it looks like somebody dropped,

it right? that is not a typo. and that is real. and if you want a little slice of life and washington, in terms of people who work and or live in washington d.c., who you have heard of. we've had a lot of high-profile cases. democratic senator cory booker, senator elizabeth warren, senator chris coons. they've all announced that they have tested positive for covid-19. so congressman jason crow, today congresswoman jan schakowsky announced that she has covid. we have news from the white house that staffers who worked with president biden and vice president harris have been infected. both the president and vice president have been repeatedly tested themselves and they remain negative, we are told. but it is -- i mean, it is all over the federal government, among other things. today, 74 people who recently traveled with the deputy secretary of defense, they all came down with it as well. seven of them. and of all those instances i named, we don't know of anybody having to be hospitalized,

though some of those people say they have covid symptoms. i think of the people i mentioned, all those people had been vaccinated or boosted. so these are breakthrough infections for people who are, nevertheless, well protected from serious illness by the vaccines. and we also do know that while, yes, there can be breakthrough infections for people who are fully vaccinated and boosted, well -- we know that. we also know for sure that people who are not vaccinated our way, way worse off and more vulnerable right now. and i can show you that very easily. let's do new york city for a second. as we talked about, new york state is having record breaking numbers. new york city is having a huge spike in cases. new york city is a highly vaccinated city. you probably heard about their big upswing in cases recently. just look at this. and at first glance i know this looks boring. by that has a really, really good payoff in a second. trust me. this is covid cases in new york

city week by week and it is the covid cases going back to late september. the number of covid cases being reported per 100,000 people in new york city, from late september until now. and you can see, these numbers go up. you are starting right at thanksgiving and late november, the numbers started picking up. and they pop up a little bit, right? but you know what? put the label on that line. that number who, the part of the trial that we are looking, at that line there, that's how the cases have risen among people who are vaccinated, in new york city. yes, they have gone up, for sure. and watch this. bank! this is the same time period. yeah, they both started to go up at the same time. but oh dear. not only are vaccinated people getting infected way, way less

likely to end up seriously sick or hospitalized. but look at how fast the cases are rising in unvaccinated people, versus people who have gotten the shot. man, get your vaccine now, please. and if you haven't been boosted, get your booster. now is the time. just look at this graph. which line would you rather be on? as this omicron variant just runs us down in the road right now. that said, at the same time, it's a remarkable confluence of things. a remarkable confluence of events, that this christmas week, we simultaneously have this epic surge of new cases from the omicron variant. lots of breakthrough cases among people who are vaccinated. but tons and tons of new cases among people who are unvaccinated. so you've got this big new surge of cases. and at the exact same time, the same week, we have this big

leap forward. and all this interesting stuff to think about and potentially change up, around all the drugs that are available right now to fight this thing. this has been a huge week in terms of case numbers. through the roof. also a huge week in terms of how we fight covid. start with the vaccines. we know now that omicron has been here long enough, we know there is still effectiveness from our vaccines against the omicron variant. but it is reduced effectiveness, so you need to get your booster. if you are fully vaccinated and boosted, yes, you can still get a breakthrough infection. but you are still quite unlikely to get seriously ill enough to be hospitalized. for people who get infected who are at high risk of getting seriously ill, and they are trying to stay out of the hospital, our country over the past few months has had pretty good success with these monoclonal antibody treatments. od sthese drugs you need to taks an infusion, as a series of injections. well, that is changing right now to. because the bad news about monoclonal antibody treatments

that have done so well for so many people over all these recent months, the bad news about them right now is that the two most commonly used ones, the one from lily and the one from regeneron, they don't work against the omicron variant. that said there is a third monoclonal anti bodies, that when made by glaxosmithkline, that one is harder to get. but that one does work against omicron. and there is a very interesting story about the administration realizing that early on, as soon as omicron reared its head. the on the initiation has been trying hard to marshal its resources of that one monoclonal antibody that still works. they've had interesting decisions as to what to do with the very limited amount that we have. on top of the monoclonal antibodies, yesterday and today, the fda approved to different drugs that you can take at home. anti viral pills that you can

take to prevent serious illness. the one from pfizer that was approved yesterday appears to be more effective and appears to have potentially fewer side effects and safety concerns than the one that was approved from work today. the pfizer one appears to be the preferable option from merck. both in terms of effectiveness and complications. but the one from pfizer, the better one, isn't really, really limited supply and will be for a long while yet. no one, the one that is not as good or as useful for a lot of people, there is more supply of that one. but again, it's not as effective and it has safety concerns that the other one does not. the merck one was basically approve today to be used when something some treatments are not available. it's not for pregnant women. it's not for certain other people. but that said, we have millions of doses of that one and less

than 100,000 doses of the other. so, our whole landscape for what we've got in terms of drugs to fight this thing, it's all really, really changing right now as we speak. while we've got this huge crush of cases we've got two new drugs approved. two others that were pretty widely used where rendered obsolete by the new variant. as soon as you think you've got your head around the options available to us, it changes. boom, all of a sudden, you cannot smell the popcorn scented candle. but even as this whole landscape is changing, we all have to do our best to understand it. this is not only news you can use, it's news you need to use, to make practical decisions right now. about vaccines and boosters, for yourself and your family members. about testing. whether or not you can easily accessed testing, what is your strategy around testing, to keep you on your family safe. also, what are you going to do if someone in your family's

positive? what are you going to do? how are you going to approach it? if you are someone you love is maybe going to need one of these treatments? the treatment landscape, as well as the vaccine landscape and all these things, is very much in flux right now. but the good news is, is that there are experts among us who can help us understand them and none of it is so complex that we as regular, late people can't absorb it. joining us now is our friend dr. david kessler, a great source of guidance. and doctor kessler thank you for making time tonight. i'd love to have you back soon. i hope you don't mind that i kept that in so quickly. o quickly. pleasure, rachel. >> any of that wrong. i think it's a little bit hard to keep track of our medicine cabinet is changing, in terms of water vaccines and treatments can do to help us with this new variant. did i screw any of that up? >> no, you got a perfect. i think we have to recognize

what you just showed in those graphs is that we are going to break the peak of this pandemic, next week. just in the number of cases. we have to recognize that that is just bringing a lot of stress, and a lot of concern right before christmas to a lot of families. i don't think there is a family, certainly where i live in washington, d.c., in the new york area, that's not confronting, what do i do about being exposed to somebody, somebody was positive test. let me just take a minute or two, rachel, if i can, just to see if i can put this a little in context, with where we are, as we go into this holiday. this is, no doubt, a highly, highly infectious disease. it's an exploding number of cases. was absolutely critical to

understand, while this is highly infectious, most people who will get it, are not going to be seriously sick. omicron infection is considerably less severe in people who are fully vaccinated and boosted. because they are immunized against that. now, the observed severity of omicron is less than delta. cases, as you, said are up 45% in the last week. but hospitalizations are flat. here is who i am most concerned about in the next couple of days. the people who are at the center of who we have to take care of. these are people who, despite vaccination, are still at an increase. raise the extreme out elderly. the medically fragile. the immunocompromised. those are the people who have

to be we -- have to take great care -- for the rest of us. i think this is very important if you don't have symptoms, or if you only have mild symptoms -- we see these long lines, i don't think, if you don't have symptoms if -- you only have mild symptoms, i don't think right now, there is a need to stand in line for hours to get tested. if you have a home, test the news it. if you have a head cold, a good fitting mask, please use this. for those of us who are vaccinated and boosted, please understand we have our shield, we have our protection. yes, on a norm's number of cases, but we are going to get through this just fine.

>> one of the things i want to ask you, doctor kessler is the changing options, for people who need treatment. for people who are sick and who are at high risk of advancing to serious illness, needing to be hospitalized, or potential death. these monoclonal antibodies have saved a lot of lives over the last few. months we've talked about it a bunch of times over the last little bit. there's been a psychological factor. even if people were not willing to get vaccinated, they're willing to get sent to that type of treatment if they got ill. now, the monoclonal antibodies we have been using most often, do not work against omicron. can you talk to us a little bit about the decision-making that you've been part of, or the government is gone through, around that one remaining monoclonal antibody, that is in such short supply, that does seem to work against omicron. >> rachel, you helped us over the months get out the word of how important these monoclonal

antibodies are. but, when we started seeing the omicron variant in south africa, just at the very beginning. as soon as it got reported, no evidence in the united states, we looked at the monoclonal biology, and we did our analysis of those mutations. we realize two of the three monoclonal antibodies were not going to work. we used our best science and recognized that the -- were not going to work. there was still plenty of delta, so we made sure that people used that, but we pulled back for a number of weeks the gsk. that allowed us to have more that we shipped out this last week, we are shipping out more we -- have about 300,000 regiments in

january, we've just bought another 600,000 for the first quarter. we're buying everything we can get our hands on. but, the important part -- if you put up your graphic. again you see that those monoclonals are only -- their very important. but, the great news is we have, now, that medicine cabinet, certainly for our patients. we have oral antivirals, to that were approved yesterday and today. we have a new intravenous, the drug is not new, that is been out there, there's a paper in the new england journal, yesterday, who found results for use as -- to prevent hospitalizations. there is a range of therapies. there is one that's also very important, there's a monoclonal

-- authorized. and that's astrazeneca, and that's for prevention. even before you get invective, for people who are immunocompromised. those people who are -- have been afraid to go out. whether it's cancer, or transplants, other reasons that there are immunosuppressed, that is something that -- giving them that monoclonal will give them the equivalent of a vaccine, and that protection. so, many more therapies today than we've had in the past, and access to oral treatment, but the public can easily use for a patient therapies all to -- meet as soon as we have enough of these, when that visor drug -- when we have millions of doses among -- yes it's going to take a few months to get there. that's going to be a game-changer. >> just as a lay observer of

these things, that drugmaker talking about -- that pfizer drug. i feel incredibly bullish on the prospects for that drug, just because it's clinical trials data was so impressive. the unanimous recommendation from vaccine advisory group, that it should be approved. the fact that it is easy to administer. three pills twice a day, five days, you're don. such effectiveness. three days after symptoms's, may be hard to do, but still show some effectiveness. people get to five days after symptoms. there's so much good to say this about the pfizer pill, and how many lives it could save. the only part about it is how few doses there are. i know the united states government is buying up everything that we can, are we at the physical, and scientific limit, in terms of what can be produced, in terms of that pfizer drug? i know there's a lot of the merck drug, which has a lot of -- is a less appealing in a lot of ways. but that pfizer pill is so

promising, it could be a game-changer, as you say. is there anything we can humanly do to get more of them? >> we're working -- pfizer is working day in day out. they've already accelerated. the chemical synthesis takes 6 to 9 months, so there are some limiting steps, but that we're trying to overcome those. we'll have about 265,000 doses in january, but will be in the millions by april. >> will the administration have a, sort, of communication plan, or messaging plan to let people know about their treatment options. obviously, that one, when we got it -- in a way that we can deliver it at scale, it will be a very good solution for a lot of people until that's available, more widely. treatment decisions could be complex health providers need to be involved in those. decisions is there some effort that, you are planning, or the administration is planning to let people know more. especially if he millions of

americans will be affected by this. it seems like up in peoples consciousness about treatment options is going to make a big difference, in terms of people accessing treatments are safe there. lives >> absolutely. it's not only just patients, is also doctors. these drugs, now that we have five therapies that work against omicron, they vary in effectiveness, they vary in the risks, as you mentioned they vary in their abilities. we're going to have to educate physicians, and we are doing that we're going to have to maximize the benefits of these therapies, we're going to have to be sure that the high-risk patients get the most effectiveness, and they go first tonight, the most important thing is to those who have been immunocompromised, those who have not been able to get a vaccine, there are drugs

that are being shipped, that you can take. >> doctor david guzzler, chief science -- it's always an honor to have you here. thank you for your time and your ongoing service. i know you will not get it'll enough time off, but i hope it's a restful time for you and your family. >> mary, christmas rachel. >> you too. all right, much more ahead stay with us. with us. one of my favorite supplements is qunol turmeric. turmeric helps with healthy joints and inflammation support. unlike regular turmeric supplements qunol's superior absorption helps me get the full benefits of turmeric. the brand i trust is qunol. ♪♪ ♪♪

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where's mom? she said she would be home in time for the show. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ don't worry, sweetie. she promised she'd be here for it. ooh! nice shot! thanks! glad we have xfinity, with wifi speed faster than a gig! me too! woah, look! mom is on tv! she's amazing! (cheers) xfinity brought us together, after all! power your whole home this holiday with wifi speeds faster than a gig. click, call, or visit a store today. the house and senate are both sing 2

done for the year. both wrapped up their legislative business last weekend and hightailed it home for the holidays. the house isn't scheduled to be back in d.c. until january 10th. but in the senate, they are coming back a week earlier, which is notable for, among other reasons, because it means that the senate will be back in session on january six. and that of course, is a controversial thing in terms of whether or not elected officials and, say, capitol police officers actually want to be at work and at the one capitol on january 6th, given

what happened one year ago. that said, there is also a real urgency for the senate to get right to work at the start of the year. given the list of things they're looking to accomplish, not the least of which is the legislation to protect voting rights. there has been a tidal wave of voting restrictions expected to pass in republican-controlled states. federal protections on voting rights, well, it's kind of now or never. and on that issue of voting rights, i would like to draw your attention to something. sort of remarkable turn in the debate around voting rights. i'm surprised this hasn't seen more national attention. i believe it deserves it. but judge for yourself. aid involves a political candidate in georgia. a very famous one. his name is herschel walker, he is a football legend and a heisman trophy winner and a former nfl player. he is now running is a trump endorsed republican for the u.s. senate seat in georgia

currently occupied by democratic senator raphael warnock. and mr. walker, though famous for his football career, he is not necessarily the most natural choice for a senate candidate. shortly before he announced his bid for office, the associated press had a worrying report about the portrait that emerged of him from public records. they reviewed hundreds of pages talker tied to walker's business ventures and it sheds light on a turbulent personal history that could dog his senate bid. there are accusations that he repeatedly threatened his ex-wife's life, meaning he threatened to kill her. also exaggerated claims of financial success and he alarmed business associates with unpredictable behavior. a history that the ap ran down included the fact that his ex wife secured a legal protective order against him because of his threats and perceived violence. for the complicating matters,

walker was encouraged to run for the senate seat in georgia despite the fact that he does not live there. he had been living in texas for a really, really long time, so that makes georgia a hard place for him to be the senator from. despite that, he got the sign off from president trump and senator mcconnell, so this is not just a trumpy republican. one of the other interesting things about herschel walker and his senate races that, until now, despite his major name recognition and his endorsements, he has kept a low profile. he has tried to avoid public interactions with voters, for example. he has turned down, basically, all interview requests with mainstream journalists. and we may be starting to understand why that is. this is a clip from a recent interview that mr. walker gave on a far internet or talk radio show. just let this wash over you. just sink into this. >> raphael warnock doesn't talk

about inflation. he doesn't talk about the price of gas. he doesn't talk about supply chain disruption or anything of that nature. but he brings up voting rights. the john lewis voting rights bill. what do you say about raphael warnock trying to push this? pushing this during this time to, would i, call federalize elections? >> you know, what's sad about that, using the name of a great man to brand something, i think that's terrible to do. you know, senator lewis was one of the greatest senators that's ever been and for african americans that was incredible. to throw his name on a bill for voting rights, i think it's a shame. first of all, when you look at the bill, it just doesn't fit with what john lewis stood for. and i think they know that. and i think that it is said for them to do this. >> the lewis herschel walker is

talking about is john lewis. of course, john lewis was not a senator. what did he say there? senator lewis, one of the greatest senators who have ever been. he was never a senator. he served in the house of representatives for three decades. to put his name on a bill for voting rights, i think that's a shame. it just doesn't fit with what john lewis stood for. voting rights was the cornerstone of john lewis's life's work. he was one of the key figures responsible for the landmark 1965 voting rights act. even if you can't wrap your head around, that it really is this next part of the herschel walker interview that will make your head spin. >> let's go to the writing rights. if you want to get to vote, first, you want to encourage people to vote, that's the most impressionist thing that you have.

not encourage but encourage. i mean that you get things done. out don't talk about it after but get it done right now. why don't we go in and get the idea, to get everything done right now instead of waiting until it is time to vote and start talking about it. and i think that is what people have to remember. s what peopl>> that's what peopo remember. got it? we've got to encourage -- not encourage but encourage. you know what i mean? mister walker is trying to clarify his position on voting rights there. but again, he says, senator john lewis would never want to be associated with this. if he is trying to clarify his position on voting rights there, i don't think he was successful. if you diagram those sentences i don't think you would get closer to figuring out what he is getting at. look, it is fine to not be an expert on voting rights legislation. but to be clear, this is the guy, the republican party, both the trump wing and that mitch

mcconnell wing are throwing their full weight behind for the u.s. senate seat from georgia currently occupied by raphael warnock. this is who they want representing the people of georgia next year. watch this space. ♪ feel stuck and need a loan? move to sofi and feel what it's like to get your money right. ♪ ♪

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atlas. atlas. atlas technology international. it appeared to be funded and perhaps run by a firm in china, in shanghai. but with his company said its business was when it filed its annual report with the securities and exchange commission, but they said their business was, was, selling capes cakes and cupcakes. we are a bakery-based company in california, specializing in freshly made cakes and cupcakes. we engage in the business of selling a wide variety of cupcakes and other baked goods

under the brand name suites and treats. okay, they are doing business as suites and treats. but their real name is atlas technology. that's kind of a weird name for what is a cupcake company, right? but okay. watch what happens next. the following year, the same company, atlas technology international, they filed their annual report with the sec. but now, instead of the cupcakes they wish had disappeared, now the company designs and develops touchscreen technology. that is quite a change in business plan. the annual report goes on, quote, the company has yet to establish atlas as a renowned brand for touchscreen technology. well, yeah, give them a break. just last year, atlas was selling fresh baked cupcakes. they only just went from cupcakes to touch screens. give them some time, the

branding hasn't followed them, as they've made that leap. that was one company. the company that started off saying, it made cupcakes and then immediately switched to touch screens. that's their business. cupcakes or touch screens, depending. we learned about this odd business from the washington post today, which noted that the same shanghai folks behind that company also ran another company, this one claiming to be a smartphone sales company in miami beach. but it did not appear to have sold anything, not a single thing, ever, to anyone. u.s. sales company? there was also a company run by the same guys in shanghai, that claimed to be developing autonomous drone software. pretty cutting edge stuff. well, that company who, it had zero employees. maybe the drones were so autonomous they were going to design themselves. really cutting edge.

so the sec looked at these publicly traded companies in the united states that all appeared to be fake. and the sec determined that these were fake companies, yeah. these guys in china were not running companies selling smart phones or drones or cupcakes with or without touch screens. but if you are running, you know, publicly traded entities, there is a lot of rules about not being fake! [laughs] and the sec stepped in and more or less kick those companies off the stock exchange, issuing what is called a stop order. the sec forcibly stop those companies from selling more public shares. and stop orders are a serious thing and they are a rare thing. in the past ten years, something like 35 companies total have gotten stock orders like this. of the 35 in the past ten years, at least three of them were run by the same group of guys in china. in shanghai.

well, now this chinese firm in shanghai that appears to specialize in launching publicly traded companies that mislead regulators and investors and that then get everyone involved in trouble, i will give you i guess as to what their investment is. yes, it's donald trump's latest business that sure. the former presidents supposed media company. this is italy today at the washington post. quote, a chinese firm helping former president donald trump take his new media company public has been the target of investigations by securities regulators, who say that the firm misrepresented products as ambitious growing enterprises. misrepresenting your companies as wildly successful businesses, in order to get people to fork over the cash to you. whatever could've attracted his chinese firm to the founder of trump university?

game recognizes game, right? the thing to remember about the trump media company that was just launched a couple of months ago with great fanfare, donald trump is going to launch a new social media platform. with new -- fox news in netflix all rolled into one. the thing to remember about this company, it appears to not exist at all. one security slur telling the post today, there is a shell company -- one of these companies created by the chinese firm -- basically emerging with another shell company. because as far as we know the trump media company has not been formed. but that is not stopped this chinese firm company from raising hundreds of millions of dollars. hundreds of millions of dollars, from the public. to supposedly, eventually, invest in this trump media company, which does not exist. a financing deal that is now under investigation by the fcc and finn roe, the financial industry regulator.

regulatory authority. because even by the wild west standards of a scummy end of wall street, this deal is sending up red flags left and right. i know nothing should surprise anymore, but even for the most cynical among us, this is a little bit gobs. backing this guy spent his entire presidency talking about getting tough on china. he turns to a dubious chinese firm to finance his first business venture, since leaving office. they are immediately under investigation, because of all the previous cons they have pulled off. joining us now is washington post reporter doug mcmillon, who with his colleague jonathan o'connell -- broke the story. mr. melon, thanks for a time tonight, i appreciate you being here. >> hi rachel, thanks for having me. >> over the last few years, looking at shady business stuff around the former president, one of the things i found

difficult, it is his business, to some degree, maybe for the most part, has been real estate it. strikes me that big city real estate of the type he's involved in, always seems really shady and scummy to everybody looking from the outside, who doesn't know the business. it's hard to tell if he was worse at doing egregious things then everybody else. applying that same sort of standard to this, as a wall street story, is this chinese firm an outlier, in terms of this corner of wall street, these types of deals, and the kind of scrutiny that they've attracted? >> well, this is definitely an in usual -- for one of the most high-profile deals on wall street. the trump -- it's something that a lot of people are talking about, or looking forward to, that is drawn a lot of investor interest. despite, as you, mentioned little being known about the actual business. it appears the trump media, and

social media business is -- it's without some sort of power point presentation about how it plans to compete with other social media companies like twitter, and streaming companies are. netflix but it seems to be very little substance behind those claims, right now. there are very few known employees, for example, and apparently, revenue. this is a company that through this deal, it turned into a public company overnight. we took a close look at the deal and we started looking at more and more at this company. our capital and found this is definitely an outlier. this is a tiny tiny firm, based in shanghai, they had some global offices but they, have no offices in the united states. we talk to former employees of this company, who said the founder and the leaders are really interested in this idea of u.s. regulatory markets, sec -- it's easier to get into. it's easier to list shell

businesses, or businesses with little revenue, or at very early stages then the regulators in china, or hong kong or other parts of hong. part of the business model was to help chinese firms with business models, bringing them public to the u.s. market. they've had very mixed tracked records, they haven't found a lot of success stories, yet they have this regulatory cloud, a number of deals and up in the crosshairs of sec investigations. >> is it a problem if trump's company turns out to be fake? like those other fake companies associated with the shanghai group, that you guys wrote about today? are there rules about all this money that has been raised, by these means, by the supposed trump media venture, if it never comes fruition? can i take the money and run? >> the thing about this deal --

it's a merger deal, it's not a traditional ipo. that somehow gives them a little bit more latitude to make bold claims, that they don't necessarily support right away. but, once the merger goes through and the trump business is publicly listed, they're going to have to share their financials. they will have to be audited, quarterly earnings. reports are going to actually have to see what this business is. if it's a shell business, you are allowed to have a shell business with no active operations in the u.s.. you have to be clear in upfront about it. it appears that they are not going that. route it appears that they are trying to build this media company. , and yeah, there will be investors who will want to see that company. at the end of this, deal there will be over one point $2 million in donald trump and his associates pockets. they are going to have a responsibility, or there will be expectations by investors

who own shares, that they own shares in the media company. i do eventually think they will have to make good on some of their promises, do they have to meet their rosy as possible projections that trump is making? they're projecting over 300 billion dollars over the next five years. i don't think they are bound to that. but you will see some efforts towards building a business. it'll be interesting to see what happens, if that ends up not being the case. >> and i will believe it when i see it. when we crossed that point. washington post reporter, doubling. thank you for being here, fascinating story. thanks >> thanks rachel. >> we'll be right back, stay with us. stay with us. the daybed slash dog bed. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash classroom. and this is the basement slash panic room.

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