could this be a covid game changer? "the lead" starts right now. a new phase of the pandemic. the fda will soon consider a new pill to fight covid-19 along with more booster shots and vaccines for young kids. nuclear secrets hidden inside a peanut butter sandwich.

the stunning rede tails of how a navy engineer and his wife allegedly tried to sell top secret information to a foreign agent who turned out to be the fbi. plus, total meltdown. thousands of flights canceled in the past few days and a mystery over exactly what is going on. welcome to "the lead." i'm pamela brown in for jake tapper on this monday. we want to start with the health lead. something brand-new and good is going on right now in this pandemic. today the drugmaker merck asked the fda for emergency authorization for what could be the first pill to treat the virus. not a vaccine. not an infusion of antibodies. this will be a capsule to treat adults who get sick. merck says this one is so promising the company stopped a study on it because the drug was working so well. and this new request comes as covid cases keep ticking down. as cnn's nick watt reports, that's an encouraging sign but

it doesn't mean we're done with this pandemic. >> the first pill to treat covid-19 might be getting close. today it's maker's merck and ridgeback therapeutics asked the fda for emergency use authorization. in trials, near half the risk of hospitalization and death in people already suffering some symptoms. >> longer term this will be huge. >> reporter: and unlike monoclonal antibody treatment and remdesivir given as infusions, these are easy to pop pills. >> makes it much more accessible, reliable and really gives us hope. >> reporter: the numbers meantime, average daily covid-19 cases and deaths in the u.s. both down from last week. patients in the hospital, lowest it's been in more than two months. >> we have to just be careful that we don't prematurely declare victory. >> reporter: as more vaccine mandate deadlines near, shots in arms just did tick up. plus the powerful voice is

making a pitch to fellow evangelicals. a somewhat hesitant group. >> if you have prayed to god to give you protection against covid-19 and along come these vaccines, created by science, which god has given us the ability to do and they're incredibly safe and effective, maybe that was the answer to prayer. >> reporter: pfizer vaccine boosters, of course, already a go. fda advisers meet thursday, friday to talk moderna and johnson & johnson booster shots. later this month, they'll talk vaccines for the 5 to 12s. younger kids, still maybe by year's end? remember, trick-or-treating coming soon to a street near you. >> a good time to reflect on why it's important to get vaccinated but go out there and enjoy halloween as well as the other holidays that will be coming up. >> reporter: now back to that potentially game-changing antiviral pill. we don't know yet when, if it

will be rolling out, but it's going to be a few weeks at the very least. but what we do know is in mid-june the biden administration preordered 1.7 million courses of that pill taking a gamble that they were onto a winner. >> nick watt, thank you. let's bring in dr. peter hotez from texas children's hospital. great to see you, dr. hotez. let's zero in on this new covid pill from merck. it's to prevent severe illness for people who contract the virus. how does this new pill stack up against other covid treatments out there right now? >> so, of course, the advantage relative to monoclonal antibodies, with the monoclonal antibody you need to go to an infusion center and get it administered intravenously. these are quite a number of pills but still an oral treatment that goes on for five days. the key, though, this is for individuals who start to get sick who become positive for

covid-19, as -- by pcr, and if you get it early enough in the illness, it seems to decrease the likelihood that you'll get severe illness or lose your life. and it's not magic. it will reduce the severity of illness. the most important message i've been trying to get out there is it's not a substitute for vaccination. i don't want this to become ivermectin version 2.0, although this one actually works whereas ivermectin doesn't. it's not nearly as effective as getting vaccinated to prevent you from getting infected in the first place. >> always better to prevent the infection than getting it and having to treat it. what does the pill actually do in the body? >> so it belongs to a class of drugs called a rabonucleocide and inhabits a critical enzyme that the virus needs and actually introduces mutations

into the virus. actually catastrophic mutations for the virus so it's no longer effectively replicating. and that use of the mutation word is very important, pam, because i have a feeling when it is released through emergency use, it will not be authorized for pregnancy until it's better studied and make certain that there's no untoward effect on the fetus. for pregnant women, again, it's just another reminder it's critical that you get vaccinated. >> yet pregnant women at still such a high rate are unvaccinated. i think in the uk there was a study out recently where 1 in 5 covid patients in the hospital were pregnant women. what do you make of that? how do you get the word out to pregnant women on how important vaccines are? >> it's so important. pregnant women do not do well with the covid-19 virus. high rates of hospitalization. and so much loss of life. you can imagine how tragic that would be for any family. so getting the word out that these vaccines are highly safe

in pregnancy. one of the pieces of disinformation coming out from anti-vaccine groups is they make the statement that it causes infertility. it's nonsense. the vaccines do not do that. they just copy, paste from a false assertion made about the hpv vaccine for cervical cancer and other cancers. these vaccines are safe. they're used in pregnancy. they'll save your life and give you high levels of virus neutralizing antibody which you can pass on to your newborn baby through breastfeeding or p pla placental. >> you brought up disinformation. i want to ask you about what allen west, a republican candidate for governor of texas, has been pushing on twitter. he has covid. he is not vaccinated. he's in the hospital. and he told his 800,000 followers on twitter, quote, instead of jabbing americans and

not illegal immigrants with a dangerous shot, which injects them with these spike proteins, guess what? i now have natural immunity and double the antibodies and that's science. so allen said he'd rather see more monoclonal antibody infusion therapy. he is not helping make the case for vaccines especially in your home state of texas, is he? >> no. in fact, we just published a study in collaboration with a group at yale looking at the state of texas and florida. if texas and florida had reached vaccination levels similar to what's in the northeast, 74% by the end of july, we could have saved 22,000 lives. so 22,000 lives were needlessly lost because we didn't achieve high vaccination coverage. in part because of phony rhetoric like this. anti-science rhetoric which i don't even call it misinformation or disinformation anymore, pam. i call it anti-science aggression because it's a

killer. anti-science is now a leading cause of death in the united states. >> that is really alarming. i also want to note a troubling number in friday's jobs report. the health care industry alone lost more than a half million jobs since the start of the pandemic. nurses and residential care workers made up 80% of the losses. what do you make of that? what are you hearing among the ranks at hospitals there in texas? >> i'm talking to people all the time, including family members who are physicians and health care providers. part of it is they're exhausted. these last two years just took a lot out of everybody. just seeing so much death and destruction. so many people losing their lives and now, and then, of course, we know the stories where loved ones couldn't be with them in their final hours and having to have that surrogate role. on top of the fact now we've had 100,000 americans nationally lose their lives over the summer from the delta variant despite the availability of safe and

effective vaccines. so i talked about the 22,000 lives in texas and florida. but 100,000 nationally who needlessly lost their lives. that was -- has been incredibly demoralizing and the fact that when these health care providers get off shift and they have to do food shopping or get some dinner, they see nobody wearing masks and that's also demoralizing. it's trivial to call it burnout. it's demoralization and hopefully we can get some of them to come back into the workforce. >> you believe it's more that than the vaccine mandates they're leaving because they don't want to get the vaccine? >> yeah, i think that's a small minority of health care providers leaving on that basis. >> dr. peter hotez, thank you so much. their bosses looking at the tv as officers fought for their lives. the new allegations in a scathing letter from a capitol police whistleblower. plus, inside the taliban's

so-called justice. cnn's clarissa ward looked into what the taliban say and what's really happening there. that's ahead. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. (announcer) carvana's had a lot of firsts. 100% online car buying. car vending machines. and now, putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your down payment and monthly payment. and these aren't made-up numbers. it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. whether you're shopping or just looking. it only takes a few seconds, and it won't affect your credit score. finally! a totally different way to finance your ride.

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in our politics lead, expect a showdown over subpoenas in the investigation into the january 6th insurrection. over the weekend, cnn learned former trump aide dan scavino was served at mar-a-lago. and they're threatening to pursue charges against steve bannon if he didn't comply. now there's a new scathing letter from a capitol police whistleblower accusing leadership of inaction and failing to share vital intelligence with other top officers before, during and after the deadly riot. >> reporter: growing signs of democracy in peril. top republicans doublg down on the big lie as they turned to the 2022 midterms. on sunday, the number two house republican, steve scalise,

refused to acknowledge president biden was legitimately elected. >> if you look at a number of states that didn't follow their state past laws. >> reporter: republican senator chuck grassley appeared alongside trump at a rally in iowa saturday. >> so if i didn't accept the endorsement of a person that's got 91% of the republican voters in iowa, i wouldn't be too smart. i'm smart enough to accept that endorsement. >> reporter: in february, grassley rejected the big lie in a statement saying, the reality is, he lost. he brought over 60 lawsuits and lost all but one of them. but this weekend, grassley looked on as the former president continued to lie about his loss. >> first of all, he didn't get elected. >> reporter: representative liz cheney shot back at her fellow republicans tweeting, perpetuating the big lie is an attack on the core of our constitutional republic. as trump continues to undermine

democracy, the house select committee wants answers. >> this is the united states congress demanding their compliance with an investigation that goes right to the heart of american democracy and national security. >> reporter: former chief of staff mark meadows and former pentagon official kash patel are engaging with the committee while steve bannon says he intends to defy orders. cnn learned that former trump aide dan scavino was served with a subpoena on friday after the committee had trouble finding him. it's unclear if he will cooperate. cnn has also obtained a letter from a capitol police whistleblower accusing the two senior leaders of mishandling intelligence surrounding the insurrection. the whistleblower identifies themselves as a former high-ranking officer with 31 years at capitol police and says they came forward because assistant chiefs pittman and sean gallagher played a role in

disciplining officers for actions on january 6th but feels they were never personally held fully accountable. the letter sent late last month and first reported by politico claims that two of the top u.s. capitol police officers failed to act as violence unfolded and that pittman lied to congress earlier this year when she told senate investigators that vital intel was shared with police leadership. the whistleblower writes this information would have changed the paradigm of that day. a spokesman denied to politico that pittman lied to congress. bannon still faces a subpoena to appear for a deposition this thursday and is expected that the committee would wait until after that det to move forward on criminal content if he doesn't show. bannon is sociting executive privilege. he wasn't in the executive branch at the time and was a key player in promoting the january 6th rally so making this blanket claim of privilege is legally

absurd absurd. >> it's basically insulting to think they'd buy into that. the big lie that fueled the insurrection still being pushed by republicans. how a few in the gop are now trying to push back. it's sleep number's fall sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed. it helps keep you effortlessly comfortable by sensing your movements and automatically responding to both of you. and, it's temperature balancing to help you stay comfortable all night. it even tracks your circadian rhythm, so you know when you're at your best. in other words, it's the most energy-building, wellness-boosting, parent-powering, proven quality night's sleep we've ever made. don't miss our weekend special. save up to $800 on sleep number 360 smart beds. plus, 0% interest for 36 months & free premium delivery when you add a base. ends monday. i earn 3% cash back at drugstores

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again advocating for ashli babbitt, the insurrectionist killed january 6th while trying to storm the nation's capitol. in a new video message on her 36th birthday, trump called for the department of justice to reopen its investigation in her death. the capitol police officer who shot babbitt said he did it as a last resort and has been cleared of any wrongdoing. let's discuss all of the happenings from the weekend. so much to start with, but let's go with, shall we, chuck grassley, alice? strump continuing to whitewash january 6th. he was doing so at that rally in iowa. and the most senior republican, republican from iowa, chuck grassley, there on stage, right there on stage with trump, was clearly right behind him every step of the way. what do you make of that given chuck grassley's past comments about, you know, the

insurrection and trump and the election not being stolen to now this. >> i think there are many republicans who can say, denounce january 6th and the insurrection at the capitol but still do what you can to try and thread the needle to keep donald trump on board. having been one of the presidential candidates that has -- or campaigns that has done the full grassley three times, traveling all 99 counties in iowa, i'm very well aware of how popular chuck grassley is in iowa and all of us are here. the key here is that he will do well in iowa. he also has very strong support amongst republicans in iowa. but the motivating factor here is that if you can, in the election like this, if you can keep donald trump on board and keep his supporters in your camp and also grow the tent and keep the independents, as well as the undecided voters and the swing voters on board, that's the winning ticket and that's what chuck grassley is trying to do

and i think he will do so successfully. >> -- how much the establishment republicans in iowa lined up behind -- or donald trump at that rally. it wasn't just the jim jordans and the matt gaetz of the world who gathered and stood behind him. it was governor kim reynolds. congresswoman ashley stinson, considered a rising star in the party and senator chuck grassley who is from iowa and has been an iowa senator as long as i've been alive. but what was really instructives too why grassley made that appearance over the weekend with donald trump, i found these recent polling from the "des moines register" fascinating. if you look at the favorability ratings for donald trump among iowa republicans, it's 91%. that was at 91% figure that chuck grassley has been talking about. chuck grassley's numbers, 81%.

still very high, to be sure, but surprising to see that ten-point gap. >> it's not just a win for establishment republicans to hug him. republicans are very much damned if they do and damned if they don't. if they call out his big lie, they could find themselves in a primary and alienating their own base. if you don't say anything, they are potentially allowing the man in their party who has the biggest megaphone to hijack their messaging for 2022. republicans right now, the house is theirs to lose. traditionally, they flip the house when one party controls washington. democrats controlling washington. they are very much to take the house. they want to talk about biden and the border and covid, biden's dropping poll numbers. if they allow trump to seize the day and talk about his election grievances and go on about these lies, the big lie, they potentially make 22 a referendum on trump and not biden. that's a disaster for them.

>> here's the problem. they don't have the wherewithal. they don't have the backbone to do what you just said. to do what alice says in terms of trying to tell the truth about the election and trying to espouse conservative policies and keep the base. for the republican party, it's all or nothing. we were at an inflection point this past weekend. you all talk about how the establishment is now being sucked up by trump. there is no establishment in the republican party anymore. it is all fringe. they are so fringy that the '60s and '70s fashions are jealous. it's ridiculous. you know, you saw it in the op-ed that christine whitman wrote along with miles taylor because she talks about putting together a coalition with democrats because there is nowhere to go for establishment republicans. >> we actually have an excerpt from that op-ed saying rational republicans are losing the gop civil war and the only near-term way to battle pro-trump extremists is for all of us to

team up on key races and overarching political goals with our longtime political opponents, the democratic party. alice? >> we're asking republicans, the key to winning the, quote, civil war within the republican party. with all due respect to both of them, they are strong republicans. but republicans are not going to win in primaries and certainly the general by voting for democrats because you can sit there and hate donald trump all you want, but it's the policies that bring this republican party together. and it's the policies of the republican party that -- >> and that's when people hate donald trump so much they let that get in the way of good policy and republicans moving forward, we need donald trump's face but we also need swing voters and the undecided voters. that is the only way altogether, not one group, not two, but all three. and voting for democrats is not the winning formula. >> this is why you're a brilliant republican strategist but the republican party does not look like the republican

party that you worked in, alice. and that's the problem. because donald trump is not leading the republican party on its policies. he is leading it on the big lie. he is leading it on focusing on anti-democratic issues. on something that is very, very dangerous to democracy. and when you have former establishment, now fringe republicans like chuck grassley cuddling up to him and making his bed in the big lie, in the conspiracy theories, in anti-democratic and dangerous thought processes, that is when you not just -- you don't just have a danger moment for the republican party, you have a danger moment for the country. and that's why i think it's so incredibly important for anyone in the republican party who has a backbone left, like christine todd whitman, like the others who are with liz cheney and adam kinzinger for them to continue to speak up. it may be a losing strategy for

them, but you know what? the importance of holding up truth and democracy and the constitution and trying to focus on saving our democratic institutions and, frankly, our electoral processes for the country should be more important than winning an election. >> but the key is it's not the republican party -- the only message we have and the only issue we're talking about is not just january 6th. we're not focused on the past. we're focused on the future, like rachel said. >> trump is. he's the de facto leader of the party. there's plenty of material, frankly, for the republicans, as you pointed out, rachael, to talk about in terms of the democrats. we had this op-ed by a "new york times" columnist where he said democrats have been unable to deliver much to make their voters happy and their major agenda items have been stalled in congress for so long that many of those voters are growing impatient and disillusioned. >> yeah, democrats have had a tough couple of weeks, too. they are fighting right now and

can't get anything passed through congress. biden's poll numbers continuing to drop. and covid still a big issue. these are things that a lot of republicans want to be talking about and i think the problem with that op-ed that former trump officials anonymous as he calls himself, saying just turn to democrats and elect democrats is it only in many ways empowers trump more. you do have republicans who can't paint the whole party as people who are spouting the big lie. talk to mitch mcconnell. he has been very careful about trying to thread a needle here. a lot of critics would say he's not doing enough to call it out, but in saying -- but in saying that all republicans -- if you are a republican that doesn't support the big lie, you should vote democrat. i think liz cheney, adam kinzinger would disagree and by doing that you end up washing that away. >> also just going back to that charles blow piece. it's a difficult time for

democrats. my colleagues talked to a lot of activists and voters in georgia. they're unhappy with a lack of action in washington on police reform, voting rights. this is why that $3.5 trillion reconciliation package is so important for biden and the democratic party. the taliban claim they have changed. what is the reality on the ground, though? our report from afghanistan up next.

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in our world lead, quote, candid and professional. that's how the state department is describing their first meeting with the taliban since the chaotic u.s. exit from

afghanistan. one u.s. official says this weekend's meetings in doha were not about legitimizing the taliban government. as the taliban insists, they're taking a less oppressive, gentler approach. cnn's clarissa ward went to afghanistan to find a very different picture. vulnerable afghans tortured and shamed with medieval techniques. >> reporter: this is the image the taliban want to project. friendly and pious, bringing peace and security. on the streets of ghazni city, a taliban official goes from shop to shop. talking to the owners. he asks how the security situation is with the taliban in charge. the situation is good. praise be to god, the man says. it may well be a performance for our cameras, but it is telling. the taliban wants to show they

have changed. when you're talking to the men and some of them don't have long beards, are you saying anything to them about their beards or does it matter right now? we tell the people that this is the prophet muhammad and make them aware, he says. but we don't want to force the people to do this. in another part of the market, the newly resurrected, much-feared religious police are also keen to show they are taking a lighter touch. they gather the shopkeepers to introduce themselves and warn them about the importance of following the sharia. make sure your women cover themselves, one talib tells the crowd. they should not travel without a close male relative. a man stands nearby, casually smoking a cigarette. a punishable offense under the previous taliban regime, but no one says a thing. back at their headquarters at

the ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice, the men are still settling in. up until recently, this was the ministry for women. the man now in charge seems leary of my presence and refuses to meet my eye. he says their mission is to help afghans embrace islamic rule. and what do you do if they're not following your interpretation of sharia law? >> translator: we act with accordance to sharia law. firstly, we inform people about good deeds. we preach to them and deliver the message to them in a nice way. the second time, we repeat it to them again. and the third time, we speak to them slightly harshly. >> reporter: if his words sound like talking points, that's because they are. as we leave, he hands us a newly issued taliban booklet outlining

the group's gentler approach. so he says that this book contains the rules for how they should carry out their work. but old habits die hard. and back in kabul, it's clear not everyone is following the new guidelines. badly bruised. in a secure location, wahid shows us the ugly marks left behind after he says he was whipped by taliban fighters. we've changed his name for his protection. he tells us three fighters stopped him at a busy traffic circle wearing western-style clothing. they took him into a guard hut and demanded to see his cell phone. >> translator: i had photos on my phone related to gays. also the clothes i was wearing were a gay style. they took me and covered my mouth. two of them held each of my hands and the third hit me. first with a whip and then with

a stick. >> what reason did they give for doing this to you? >> translator: when they were beating me, they kept saying i was a gay. i should be killed. they had very scary faces. they were enjoying beating me. >> reporter: that lurid brutality was on full display weeks earlier in the western city of harat when the bloody bodies of four men were hung in public for all to see. the taliban said they were kidnappers, killed during a raid. on one man's chest, a grim warning, abductors will be punished like this. remarkably, many in the crowd seemed to approve of the taliban's medieval display. people are really happy about this decision, this man said. because people believe that by doing this, kidnapping can be removed from this province. in other grotesque display, two alleged criminals, their faces

painted, were humiliated before a jeering crowd. a punishment the taliban favors for petty thieves. after the corruption of the former government, the group has seized on a frenzied desire for swift justice. but they are savvy enough to know how it looks to the rest of the world. back in ghazni, our attempts to see the justice system in action are repeatedly stonewalled. we're told that the sharia high court is closed, despite the people waiting outside. we're trying to show that you have -- as we try to persuade the taliban to let us in, we see two men head into the court. our taliban minder relents and lets us follow them. but in the courtroom, the judge makes it clear we are not welcome. tell them to stop, he says.

we are quickly ushered out. we've been trying all day to get into the sharia court. they're not legislatting us but won't give us a reason. it may be that what happens behind closed doors here doesn't fit the taliban's new carefully cultivated image. and that the movement born in conflict is still brutal at its core. >> such a powerful and important report. and we didn't see many women in your piece. what is life like for women and girls in afghanistan right now? >> well, i think it depends where you are. for women in urban areas who have seen huge improvements to their quality of life over the last 20 years, life is very difficult at the moment. girls are not allowed to go to school after sixth grade. women are being told to stay at home, not to go to the office. women are being told in some

parts of the country to cover themselves up, to wear a burqa. we saw signs everywhere outside beauty salons that have images of women's faces that have been defaced, covered in spray paint and graffiti. and we heard today from the u.n. secretary-general again saying that this is a real problem that the taliban are not living up to some of the promises that they made with regard to women and girls. and that's a big part of why the u.s. and others are not going ahead and unfreezing that aid that the taliban so desperately wants to try to prevent an economic collapse, pamela. >> cnn's clarissa ward in islamabad, thank you. coming up -- dead drops and alias secrets hidden in a sandwich. how a navy engineer and his wife allegedly tried to sell nuclear secrets, up next.

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in our national lead, a sticky situation for one maryland couple. the fbi says they were caught trying to sell classified nuclear secrets by smuggling memory cards into a peanut butter sandwich and a pack of gum. cnn's jessica schneider has all the details of how the fbi uncovered the plot. >> reporter: some of the country's most closely guarded nuclear submarine secrets inside a peanut butter sandwich. over the weekend the fbi and

u.s. navy arresting navy nulear challengeer jonathan toby and his wife diana for attempting to sell classified information. alleging they used methods out of a spy novel to pass the information to an undercover fbi agent. after messaging with agents for monthses, the couple left a memory card at a dead drop location in west virginia in june where the fbi found it wrapped in plastic and placed between two slices of bread on a half of a peanut butter sandwich. allegedly inside, details of militarily sensitive design elements operating parameters and performance characteristics of virginia class submarine reactors. virginia class submarines are some of the most advanced stealth submarines in the world, capable of staying under water for months at a time. they can engage targetsed sea and on land and gather intelligence and deploy navy

s.e.a.l.s. they had a memory card in a chewing gum package that contained schem attic designs for the virginia class submarine. the fbi says that jonathan toby has been a navy employee since 2012. he worked at a lab in pennsylvania on nuclear propulsion where he maintained a top secret security clearance. his wife was a lookout for her husband during the dead drops. in one of his messages, jonathan toebee said he carefully gathered it routinely in my job. >> it was a mix of some very sophisticated methods used by mr. toebee and his wife and some really sloppy ones. >> reporter: the couple wrote they were seeking a total of $5 million in crypto currency. the fbi says they paid the toebees $100,000 over the course of the investigation. but the biggest mystery remains,

who did this nuclear engineer think he was selling the government secrets to? the fbi is only referring to it as country one in the court records and that country did alert the fbi which began that year-long undercover investigation. pamela, toebee and his wife will appear in tourt tomorrow. the government is seeking they be detained pending trial. they say they are a flight risk. also worrying they could destroy evidence here. >> that's a good thing that government alerted the fbi. >> yeah. >> wow, what a story. thousands of flights canceled. angry, stranded passengers and still no clear answer as to why so many southwest flights aren't taking off. ♪ there are beautiful ideas that remain in the dark. but with our new multi-cloud experience, you have the flexibility you need

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in our money lead, a disastrous holiday weekend for southwest airlines. for the fourth straight day, the world's largest low-cost carrier canceled hundreds of flights adding to a total of more than 2,000 since friday. many travelers, even flight crews, were forced to camp out in airports after being left without a hotel room or a way home. one passenger telling cnn they had to drive 900 miles after being stranded by the airline. cnn's nick valencia joins us from the airport in atlanta. what is southwest saying about the cause of all of these cance cancellations? >> pamela, this is just a mess. and southwest airlines says they have staffing shortages which has contributed to this mess.

it's a issue they've known about for months but have not been able to resolve. their c.o.o. released a video statement saying they're making no guarantees that they'll be able to stop these cascading cancellations saying they simply aren't where they want to be when it comes to staffing and when you compare the numbers, they have 7,000 fewer employees when compared to prepandemic. union representatives for flight attendants say about 1,000 of those 7,000 employees took early retirement buyouts in the early days of the pandemic. so you had passengers showing up here over the weekend and even still today expecting to get on their flight only finding out at the ticket counter that they weren't able to do it. we did find out there was a coup whole had their flight rebooked. this seems to be exclusively a southwest problem. southwest is their primary airline. >> it's been extremely frustrating. i mean, it's disrupted my work schedule anyway. and for sure and plans that we

had. >> this is a staffing shortage over the weekend. that was exposed by florida problems, weather and air traffic control problems, significant amount of their flight crew is based in florida. southwest has a huge problem at their hands that they haven't been able to wrap their hands around yet. >> thanks, nick. thanks for joining us for "the lead." our coverage continues now. happening now -- potential turning point in treating covid-19. the fda was just asked to authorize the first pill to fight the virus. how might that impact the pandemic and the push to vaccinate more americans? also tonight -- growing fears of another election nightmare as former president trump and his enablers keep peddling the big lie and defying the january 6th select committee. are they laying the groundwork for 2024? and thousands of air travelers are left stranded and