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Lawmakers questioned Fauci about “lab leak” COVID theory in marathon closed-door congressional interview

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Washington — Members of Congress, their staffers and one of the world’s most famous doctors, Dr. Anthony Fauci, sat for 14 hours over two days last week around a long conference table in a private office in the basement of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. They took breaks to munch on sandwiches, salads, cookies and chips. And the two main players shook hands at the very end.

The marathon closed-door interview sessions with Fauci, who helped spearhead the federal government’s response to the COVID pandemic, are setting the stage for a higher-profile public hearing and interrogation in late spring or early summer, according to multiple sources who spoke with CBS News. And the questioning will happen in the middle of a heated election year, as some Republicans continue to blister Fauci with criticism over his role in the government’s response to the pandemic. 

The Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has been probing Fauci’s handling of the pandemic; the origins of COVID-19, including the theory that COVID leaked from a Chinese lab; and vaccine mandates and programs overseen by government officials during the pandemic. 

Sources in the room for Fauci’s two-day interview told CBS News the meeting was cordial, but also revealed the intense and fractious political divide over his legacy and work.

The Fauci interview

Dr. Anthony Fauci arrives for a closed-door interview with the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 8, 2024.
Dr. Anthony Fauci arrives for a closed-door interview with the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 8, 2024.

Drew Angerer / Getty Images


With hourly breaks, Republican and Democratic staffers and members took turns peppering Fauci with questions about his work during the Trump and Biden administrations’ response to COVID. 

Republicans pressed Fauci on the “lab leak” theory, which posits that the coronavirus escaped from a virology lab in China, and other lines of inquiry about COVID’s origins. They also asked Fauci about the social distancing and school closures that defined the experience of the pandemic for Americans. 

The panel’s chairman, Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, told CBS News the interview and the exchanges were cordial and professional. In a public statement after the two-day interview, Wenstrup said Fauci “testified that the lab leak hypothesis — which was often suppressed — was, in fact, not a conspiracy theory. Further, the social distancing recommendations forced on Americans ‘sort of just appeared’ and were likely not based on scientific data.”

Rep. Raul Ruiz of California, the top Democrat on the panel, told CBS News that “Dr. Fauci is a dedicated public servant who stepped up for our nation during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.” He criticized House Republicans for pursuing what he called “a politically motivated probe to vilify him.”

According to sources familiar with the interview, one Republican lawmaker questioned Fauci about learning loss suffered by students who were shifted to virtual schooling during the peak of the pandemic. 

Fauci declined to comment to CBS News about his interview. But in a statement, his attorney pushed back on anticipated criticism of Fauci’s responses about educational setbacks.

“Dr. Fauci does not deny, nor has he ever denied, that for a variety of obvious reasons, the pandemic resulted in a substantial learning loss to children,” Fauci’s attorney wrote.

Subcommittee Republicans also said Fauci “admitted that America’s vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic could increase vaccine hesitancy in the future.”  

Republicans said Fauci, who served for 38 years as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in Maryland before retiring in 2022, responded to questions with “I don’t recall” more than 100 times during the two-day interview.

One Democratic aide said Republicans are unfairly characterizing Fauci’s responses. The aide, who was familiar with the interview, said Republican staffers and members asked Fauci uniquely specific and granular questions about individual conversations from four years ago. “No one would be able to answer some of the Republicans’ questions with specificity,” the aide said.

Democrats blasted Republicans on the committee for not immediately releasing a full transcript of Fauci’s interview for public consumption. Republicans said the transcripts must first be reviewed by committee members, aides, Fauci and Fauci’s representatives to ensure the accuracy of the transcriptions before the records can be released. No timetable for publishing the transcript has been announced.

Multiple aides familiar with the subcommittee’s work told CBS News they expect the majority to call Fauci to testify at a public hearing in the next four or five months. The hearing could be volatile, since Fauci continues to be a frequent target of Republican presidential candidates, who accuse him of mishandling the nation’s COVID response. GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called Fauci a “tyrant” in a social media post earlier this month.  

Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, who attended the Fauci interview, accused Democrats of asking “soft-ball questions” during the extended sit-down. 

“There will be a public hearing eventually. He’ll come back at some point. That will be a lot more theater,” Jackson said. He added that the closed-door interview was “cordial and very professional” and that questioning was mostly conducted by lawyers and committee staff.

The subcommittee also interviewed former National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins last week as part of its probe. The subcommittee said the interview with Collins also included questions about COVID’s origins, the lab leak theory and the federal government’s 2020 guidance about social distancing.

Wenstrup told CBS News the interview with Fauci will be used to help the committee produce its final report on its investigative findings late this year, likely after the 2024 elections. Republicans and Democrats will each release their own report. 



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Timothée Chalamet surprises crowd at NYC look-alike contest, as police break up event

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Timothee Chalamet from “Wonka”, Margot Robbie from “Barbie” | The Lot


Timothee Chalamet from “Wonka”, Margot Robbie from “Barbie” | The Lot

24:10

NEW YORK — Timothée Chalamet made a surprise appearance Sunday at his own look-alike contest in Manhattan. 

At least one person was arrested after a large crowd formed and police broke up the event in Washington Square Park.

Chalamet posed for photos with his doppelgängers, some of whom came dressed as his characters from the movies “Wonka” and “Dune.”

The look-alike contest was one of several such competitions hosted by the YouTube personality Anthony Po, and it promised $50 for the winner. As word spread on social media, thousands of people RSVP’d. 

From “a silly joke” to “pandemonium”

New York Chalamet Look alike Contest
Miles Mitchell, 21, winner of the Timothee Chalamet look-alike contest, holds his trophy near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York.

Stefan Jeremiah / AP


Minutes after the competition started — and before Chalamet arrived — police ordered the group to disperse from the park. Organizers were hit with a $500 fine for an “unpermitted costume contest,” and police said one person was issued a summons for disorderly conduct. 

“It started off as a silly joke and now it’s turned pandemonium,” Paige Nguyen, a producer for the YouTube creator, told The Associated Press.

The group relocated to another park, and the audience eventually crowned Miles Mitchell, a Staten Island college senior, as the winner. 

“I’m excited and I’m also overwhelmed,” Mitchell said. “There were so many good look-alikes. It was really a toss-up.”

The contestants were asked to demonstrate their French skills, about their romantic plans with Kylie Jenner, and what they would do to make the world a better place. 



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11-year-old stuns pharmacist at shuttering Massachusetts Walgreens with $6,000 gift

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Community gathers to thank Walgreens pharmacist for 30 years of serving Weston after store closes


Community gathers to thank Walgreens pharmacist for 30 years of serving Weston after store closes

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WESTON – A small group of loyal customers gathered in Weston Saturday morning to thank a pharmacist who is relocating as Walgreens closes the location where he served the community for almost three decades.

The celebration was led by an 11-year-old boy who shocked the pharmacist by presenting him with thousands of dollars that he raised as a thank you gift.

Weston Walgreens closing

In the midst of corporate cutbacks at Walgreens, the location on Boston Post Road is closing permanently. So a small group came out to thank the pharmacist at the store.

“It’s humbling. I can’t believe it. It’s amazing,” said veteran pharmacist Bob Hesselberg, who has worked at the store for nearly 30 years. “I don’t want to retire, even though I am 75. I don’t want to retire. I’m not ready for it.”

Hesselberg is moving on to a store in Waltham. The sendoff was led by 11-year-old Aarav Khanna, whose school bus routinely drops him off right across from the Walgreens location.

“I’ve seen the amount of kindness and hard work he puts into his job,” Khanna said.

walgreens-donation-weston.jpg
Eleven-year-old Aarav Khanna shocks pharmacist Bob Hesselberg with a $6,000 check.

CBS Boston


Money raised for pharmacist 

Khanna got the idea to raise money for Hesselberg as a going away present. And the total grew quickly. Thanks to the community, Kanna was able to present Hesselberg with a check for $6,000 on Saturday, leaving the pharmacist in shock.

During the Saturday celebration, a young girl gave a handmade card to Hesselberg, who people in the community call “Pharmacist Bob.”

“You walk in, he not only greets you by name, but he wants to know how your family is, and how is that medication you had last time, and how are you doing? And he means it,” customer Carol Ott said.  

The Weston Walgreens closes in the middle of November. Hesselberg hopes some customers will follow him to Waltham, but he worries about some of the older residents driving that distance, especially since the chain won’t be doing home delivery anymore.

“I’m gonna miss everybody. And I’m very grateful for all of this. And thank you so much,” Hesselberg told the crowd.



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Harris tells Philadelphia church election will “decide the fate of our nation for generations to come”

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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Philadelphia’s Church of Christian Compassion


Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at Philadelphia’s Church of Christian Compassion

09:15

Vice President Kamala Harris is back in Philadelphia Sunday as the countdown to election day nears one week.

Harris, who spent several days in the Delaware Valley over the past week, spoke at the Church of Christian Compassion in Philadelphia on Sunday morning and will hold a campaign rally in the city later in the night. 

“In just nine days we have the power to decide the fate of our nation for generations to come,” she told the congregation.

Several minutes into her speech, some shouting broke out in the crowd. Harris paused during the disruption. “That’s why we fight for our democracy. Every voice is important,” she said while the outburst was quieted.

Harris went on to encourage the Philadelphia church to lean on faith in the days leading up to the election, and urged worshippers to use their feet to get to the polls.

“Here in Pennsylvania, right now each of us has an opportunity to make a difference. Because in this moment we do face a real question. What kind of country to we we want to live in,” she said. “The great thing about living in a democracy is we the people have the choice to answer that question. So let us answer not just with our words, but with our works.”

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, Harris visited the Famous 4th Street Deli in Philadelphia’s Queen Village neighborhood before attending a town hall in Delaware County. Earlier in the week, the vice president sat down with former Congresswoman Liz Cheney in Chester County in the first of three moderated conversations in battleground states.

During that conversation, Harris appealed to Republican voters who are on the fence about voting for former President Donald Trump, and claimed he used the presidency as a way to “demean and to divide” Americans.

“I think people are exhausted with that, rightly,” Harris said. “And it does not lead to the strength of our nation to tell American people that we must be suspicious of one another, distrust one another.”

On Monday, Harris will harness the star power of some of her biggest supporters during a benefit concert at Temple University’s Liacouras Center, according to multiple sources.

Twenty-time Grammy winner Bruce Springsteen will headline a concert and a rally with former President Barack Obama as part of the Harris campaign’s effort to mobilize voters in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.

Speaking to CBS News Philadelphia’s Joe Holden, Harris said she’s “honored” to have Obama’s support on the campaign trail. “And people like Bruce Springsteen, to have their support, and of course he is an American icon, I think it just shows the breadth and depth of the support that we have,” Harris said.

When asked if any other big name supporters are planning to turn out for the event Monday, Harris said with a laugh, “I have nothing to report at this moment. Stay tuned, however.”

Earlier this month, Springsteen endorsed Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.





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