neighboring georgia, the new case rate tripled in in the past two weeks. in indian, daily vaccination rates jumped 111% from three weeks a. >> the delta variant is a game changer and at this point it's not whether we vaccinate or mask, we have to do both. >> reporter: an internal document from the centers for disease control and pre investigation says the delta variant feeling much of the rise across the country produces similar viral loads in vaccinated and unvaccinated people affected. they may spread the krarnt as unvaccinated people. but it's critical to know break-through infections among vaccinated people are rampl as the cdc pushes for people to wear masks indoors, president biden says, more restrictions could be coming s. and health experts agree, unless many more americans get vaccinated, things could get much worse. >> what we can say is this virus is doing exactly what we predicted it will do. if we can't get extremely high rates of vaccination and those rates now need to be higher than they were with the original strain because of the increased

in georgia, where the case rate has more than tripled in the past two weeks and schools are about to reopen, one metro atlanta county decided to start offering cash as an incentive. cnn's natasha chen joins me with more. >> reporter: ryan, the bad news is the number of new covid cases have been rising in the state of georgia. the good news is so has the vaccination rate. the seven-day average of new vaccination doses administered is up 85% since three weeks ago. one thing we're seeing that's working today at this site is that incentives work. they're giving out $50 pre-paid debit cards. we've seen lines of cars even before the event started at 8:00 a.m. today they've vaccinated more than 200 people. we talked to the very first person in line who showed up in a wheelchair. he arrived by public transit. i talked to him about the dangers of covid but here he is, talking about what really drove him to get here today. if you are unvaccinated, you're 25 times more likely to end up in the hospital or die from covid. >> right, right. i've been listening to all of that. but really, like i say

we're also looking at georgia's overall numbers, data relative to the vaccinated pop lanes. then, of course, because we do offer surveillance testing, we are carefully monitoring the numb bers of individuals testing positive, and we're watching the up tick of the delta variant. we recognize those are critical data points to help us determine how to proceed day by day. >> lisa, the governor vowed no new mask mandates, no lockdowns. if these trends continue, how much responsibility would the governor bear if the schools had to shut down, if you hit some of the triggers? >> i understand that governor kemp has articulated his position around the masking mandate. that's an open question, to determine how much of that responsibility is there to bear. i will safe, for me as superintendent, part of what is mission critical is to issue every strategy that gives us an opportunity to say we did as much as we could to help prevent the spread. again, watching the data helps drive that. i'm certain and i'm optimistic that that would be true for our state government as well. >>> 100 studen

i'm joined by georgia's lieutenant governor, jeff duncan. lieutenant governor, great to have you on. elected officials right now are split on whether to offer vaccine payouts to boost rates. we've heard that the white house is considering up to $100 to get people vaccinated. is this something that you and governor kemp would consider statewide? >> well, certainly if you look at the data, we're in the midst of a pretty significant wave that's beginning. and you know, i look back to the lessons learned from the early parts of this pandemic, and you know, those lessons learned were, you know, that -- try to leave the partisan battles to the side to make good decisions. and you know, for me the majority of folks i talk to that are not vaccinated just have a couple of questions. they have some concerns. you know, somebody last night at dinner told me they said, you know, i keep being told to talk to my health care provider. how do i call and ask a question about the vaccine? there is no vehicle for it. the push i'm making is that we try to flood

this is wrapping up in dekalb county, georgia. they vaccinated 230 people today. that's better than they expected to do. this is the third time the county has run such an event, only the second time they offered such incentive like a gift card give away, and each time in the past month, they've seen more people come in. that's a good thing. across the country, we know vaccination rates are picking up, that's true in georgia as well. the vaccination rate, 85% higher than it was three weeks ago. that's the seven day average of new vaccine doses administered. some of the people coming here have been teenagers who are getting ready to go to school this week. we talked to one 13-year-old who was a little skeptical, in the last week, decided it was best to do this before she goes back to class. >> i don't want to go to school, catch the virus. first i thought if i got the vaccine, virus went into my body, i saw people sick that didn't have the vaccine. >> that's worse, right? >> yes. >> reporter: the fear of actually getting covid. of course, that's a worse experience t

but we begin our coverage in georgia. cases there have exploded in recent days, and health officials say in the last two weeks ago, new cases have risen over 200%. natasha chen is at a vaccination drive in the atlanta area. obviously, there is a big push to get more people vaccinated right now. what are you seeing today? what are you hearing from people who are showing up to get vaccinated? >> reporter: well, jessica, it's clear that incentives actually work. because this is the largest number of people dekalb county has seen at recent vaccination events in the last month or so. that is partially because people are wanting the debit cards that are being given out. $50 debit cards for each person who gets a shot today. the first person in line that we talked to said he definitely came because of that. just now, they told us they reached 200 people vaccinated since this event started at 8:00 a.m. eastern time. we did also talk to some families who brought their young kids here. of course, you have to be 12 or older to get t

cnn's natasha chen is live at a vaccination site in dekalb county, georgia, with that story. what kind of incentives are you seeing there today, natasha? good morning. >> reporter: good morning, christi and boris. today they are giving out backpacks and $50 pre-paid debit cards. the debit cards are something they tried in the previous vaccination event that they had and they found that it was effective in a sense that they got more people arriving at that event than previously before that. so today, this morning, the event doesn't start for almost another hour. we can see there's a line of people already prepared. they have a choice to either get tested or get their vaccine. i suppose they could do both at the same time. both are being offered here. this is being billed as a back to school event. that's why they're giving out backpacks trying to encourage the school-aged children who are eligible for a vaccine to get a shot as well. but it's a good sign to see at least some people waiting here knowing that it doesn't start for another hour and as we've been mentioning, the mo

we start this morning in dekalb county, georgia. natasha chen joins us live. it's where many experts are encouraging people to roll up their sleeves by offering incentives, right, natasha? >> reporter: yeah, boris. they're giving out prepaid gift cards today in hopes more people will come to this spot at a mall and get the shot especially as school districts in this area sometimes a bit early to make up for lost instruction time during the pandemic. in many places across the country, georgia is seeing a rising 7-day average new covid cases and that has a lot of people concerned. >> america's waking up to a new day of increased covid restrictions and president biden said we're likely to see more as cases of the highly contagious delta virus spreads. >> almost 1 million people got vaccinated yesterday. >> cdc data shows the rate of new vaccinations is the highest it's been in weeks. just under half the u.s. population is fully vaccinated. the u.s. is pulling in extra help to get it approved as quickly as possible to ease the minds of those worried about vaccine

attorney in georgia from telling the house oversight committee why he, abruptly, resigned during trump's promotion of the big lie. nor, will the doj, publicly, stand in to defend congressman mo brooks in a private lawsuit that was filed by congressman eric swalwell, who was forced to run for his life from a violent mob after his colleague stirred up the rally crowd. now, whether it's refusing to, now, be a roadblock to a select committee's pursuit of truth. or the ways and means committee's attempts to view a presidential tax return. in the end, the goal is to provide the transparency that a coequal branch of government needs to serve as the effective check and balance that democracy requires. now, we will, one day, and perhaps soon, be able to answer the question that was on all of our minds, as we watched what officer daniel hodges described as domestic terrorism unfold. how could this have possibly have happened in america? >> to my perpetual confusion, i saw the thin blue line flag. a symbol of support for law enforcement, more than once, being carried by the terrorists as they ignor

january 2, 2021 he calls the secretary of state of georgia and lean on him to overturn the election. why should it shock anyone that he was calling senior justice department officials and trying to put a thumb on the scale with respect to the election? big revelation today is that the justice department is making that available to congress and that is how a function government should work. we want a president to be able to talk to his cabinet officials but we don't want him to be able to engage in misconduct. when a president does, that information should be turned over to congress. >> is there any question whether or not what trump did with the acting ag was obstruction, was wrong behavior by a president? >> there's absolutely no question about it. look, there's a long standing tradition of presidents of the united states putting in place the attorney general, obviously he nominates them, they come from his political party in all likelihood. however, there is a long tradition of distance and separation. so for instance, when i was there, working on nominations, if there were white h

georgia, for example, which is not even 39% vaccinated according to cdc data. state officials there, saying hospitalizations have risen 50% in the last two weeks. and deaths, by 18%. more companies are requiring employees to be vaccinated. disney and walmart becoming the latest today. in addition, walmart employees will, once again, be told to mask up, regardless of vaccination status. and of course, there is the president, late today, opening the door to new, federal measures. that said, not everyone's getting onboard. even with the threat to the unvaccinated becoming clearer than ever, today, florida's governor ron desantis issued an executive order blocking mask mandates in schools. blocking mask mandates, that would protect unvaccinated students against a virus that's exploding in his state. the governor saying there will be no lockdowns, school closures, restrictions, or mandates in his state. the war might have changed today but some on the battlefield have not. here to talk about it and take your questions are dr. peter hotez. author of the aptly titled

attorney in georgia from telling the house oversight committee why he abruptly resigned during trump's promotion of the big lie nor will the doj publicly stand in to defend congressman mo brooks in a private lawsuit filed by eric swalwell forced to run for his life after a violent mob and colleague stirred up the rally crowd. whether it's refusing to now be a road block to a select committee's proof or the ways and means committee's attempts to view a presidential tax return, in the end, the goal is to provide the transparency that a co-equal branch of government needs to serve as the effective check and balance that democracy requires. now, we will one day and perhaps soon be able to answer the question on all of our minds as we watched what officer daniel hodges described as domestic terrorism unfold. how could this have possibly have happened in america? >> it's my perpetual confusion. i saw the thin blue line flag, symbol of support for law enforcement more than once being carried by the terrorist as they ignored our commands and continued to assault us. the sting of cs gas and oc

secretary of state raffensperger in georgia. there is an effort to replace them with sycophants who will do what trump wants. >> right. and the conversation was december 27th, i believe, it was with acting attorney general rosen. why was he acting attorney general? because bill barr had quit or been fired ten days before. because he was not a shrieking violet in pushing the edge of of the envelope, knew he couldn't stay because of what he was about to be asked to do. rosen gets fired and gets replaced by a lower-level assistant attorney general who trump thought would do his bidding. mark esper, the defense secretary had been fired after the week of the election. think of this in a foreign country. the defense secretary fired a bunch of cronies. it's lucky that even though esper was gone, mark milley held the line are defense, it's lucky that deputy -- acting attorney general rosen seems to have held the line at justice, but the degree to which this was a genuine attempt by a sitting president. and he is still the leader of the

so in georgia, that fear has become a reality, just two days after starting their school year, more than 100 students at one school in atlanta are now in quarantine after nine students and five staffers tested positive. so cnn's natasha chen is following that story for us. natasha, you have some breaking news about what that school is now discussing. what have you learned? >> reporter: yeah, alisyn, just within the past hour, we got the update with the number of cases, as of this afternoon. as you mentioned, 14 total cases, more than a hundred students in quarantine. and now, the drew charter school behind us is discussing possibly having mandatory vaccination for staff. the head of school, peter mcknight, told me that about three quarters of the staff were -- are already vaccinated, but now there's discussion about whether to make that mandatory for all employees. now, of the positive test cases, only one of the staff members who tested positive was actually vaccinated. so one breakthrough case. we talked to a parent and his child who attends this school about the frustration of this ha

and now one school in georgia is considering requiring its staff to be vaccinated? how is that going to go over? that story ahead. now we're giving you even more reasons to rediscover the joy of travel. like more entertainment, food, and drink options. which means more ways to unwind and satisfy cravings. reconnect with more. listerine® cleans virtually 100%. helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. never settle for 25%. always go for 100. bring out the bold™ i'm really nervous. i don't know what i should wear. just wear something not too crazy, remember it's a business dinner not a costume party. on a spotty network this is what she heard... just wear something crazy, remember it's a costume party. a costume party!? yes! anybody want to split a turkey leg? >>> welcome back to newsroom, everyone. i'm alisyn camerota. as coronavirus cases surge across the country, the cdc is now sharing new findings about the highly contagious delta variant. and the threat that it poses to both unvaccinated and vaccinated americans. the new data shows the delta variant cause

and i don't know about you guys, but here in georgia where i live, you can really see that. i mean, you really hear the stories of, oh, i know this person. i know this person. i know this person. to make matters even worse, the delta variant also seems to make you sicker. once you get it, it seems to make you sicker than previous st strains of coronavirus. people who get covid-19 are more likely to be hospitalized, more likely to be admit to the intensive care unit, more likely to die. i want to keep those words up there for a minute. if you're not sure yet if you should be vaccinated, those words should make you sure. you are more likely to die if you get the delta variant than the previous strains of coronavirus. getting vaccinated cuts the odds of you getting hospitalized or dying way, way down to a very, very, very small number. john? >> yeah. i think looking at the -- some of these graphics that we've seen from really what our public health officials at the federal level were looking at, it cuts it down to -- you have 25 times more likely to be in the hospital or to die

arkansas, louisiana, tennessee, mississippi, alabama, georgia. florida alone, now big state, number-three state, right? makes up a huge chunk of the new cases. they have been in the top five for new cases, going back to april. now, if you look, you will see that there's some toxic politics that have gone along with that. don't fauci florida and all this other stuff. and now he's anti-mask down there, the governor. i get the political play. it works with the trump fold but it's making people sick. you could say that, look, they have a big population. okay? so they're going to have bigger numbers. but the positivity is way outpacing the rest of the country. okay? which is why they have more people in the hospital than they did at any time this year. it's a scene playing out across the entire region. it's not just florida. but you have to look at where you have the most cases, and you will see the lowest percentages of vaccination. and the highest rates of transmission. okay? if you focus on that same group of states, you see, it's almost all red do

georgia's seven-day rolling average of new cases is at its highest level since early march. >> thank you very much. let's get some more on today's coronavirus developments. i want to bring in the dean of brown university. as you heard, president biden just told americans that if you are in an area with high levels of vaccination, you don't need to wear a mask. but the cdc says it depends on case rates. can you set the record straight for us? a lot of us remain confused. >> yeah, absolutely wolf. thanks for having me here. so the cdc is right. it really should be driven by local transmission or case rates in your community. the more infections you have, the higher the risk for everybody. again, mostly for the unvaccinated, but it is spilling over to the vaccinated as well. i think what the president suz probably referring to is low vaccination places are where the big outbreaks are happening. so there is a correlation there. but you have to follow the case rates, the infection numbers to make that decision. >> are you optimistic that vaccine mandates from both the president or private

one city is atlanta, georgia. shootings in atlanta have increased by 32%. last week the city shut down all public pools after a teenager was shot and killed at one of them. today they are investigating the murder of a woman and her dog inside a city park. >> it was particularly gruesome. that's how the police are describing it. she was stabbed multiple times. some local reports say she was disfigured. that's how gruesome and violent this crime was. she was walking her dog about 1:00 a.m. in the morning. when her wife couldn't reach her, she went to the park and she found her there. police looking for a suspect. they don't seem to know much at this point. we are still waiting to hear more from police. this all comes on the heels of this report on the council for criminal justice where they looked at violent crime in 22 cities. what they found is that compared to last year there's a rise in homicides. 16% rise in homicide. in 2019 there's a significant rise of 42%, of course all of this having to do with guns. they also say that gun assaults are higher this y

you're in atlanta, georgia, the map looks orange and red. maybe it's a high transmission area. where are you back to wearing a mask indoors, or are you? >> we are. we've kind of been doing it throughout. back in may, the guidance came out that, you know, if you're vaccinated, you don't need to wear it indoors. in part, i think, because i work at a hospital, i'm wearing a mask all day. but grocery stores, indoor public areas, we were sort of doing it. practically speaking, you get a lot of funny looks sometimes when you do that. and, you know, that can be uncomfortable. my girls and my wife have been doing it. if you go to a place, where everyone will be vaccinated, a friend's house, we won't wear masks in those situations. we won't wear masks outdoors. i think viral transmission outdoors has not been a big deal. but indoor public areas where transmission is high, and it is substantial in our area, that has caused us to keep wearing masks. >> sanjay, thank you. >>> as we talk about the country divided on the question of the unvaccinated and the vaccinated, we'll talk a mother wh

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we have all the details on the georgia spa shooting. next. at philadelphia, we know what makes the perfect schmear of cream cheese. the recipe we invented over 145 years ago and me...the world's best, and possibly only, schmelier. philadelphia. schmear perfection. what happens when you make power your thing... above everything? you put muscle over matter. and you make horsepower... a superpower. ♪ >>> the georgia man accused of fatally shooting eight people at three atlanta-area spas in march was in court today. robert aaron long pleaded guilty today to four of the killings and was sentenced to life in prison. long still faces an additional 19 charges in nearby fulton county. six of the eight victims of his shooting spree were asian women. we will keep you updated as that case moves forward. thank you for watching, everyone. our coverage continues. stitute did 20 years of clinical studies on a formula only found in preservision. if it were my vision, i'd ask my doctor about preservision. it's the most studied eye vitamin brand. if it were m

. >> so, in other words, you are in an area that's red, atlanta, georgia. you are vaccinated but the reason you're supposed to wear a mask is so that just in case you don't become infectious, not so much that you're going to get sick, so that you don't contaminate other people, you would wear a mask for the benefit of other people. >> correct. and some of those other people in my case i have three kids, they are all just at the age now where they're vaccinated. but for people who may have unvaccinated people in their household or work in a healthcare setting or something like that, it's really about that. this should not suggest, again, just to reiterate, that the vaccines don't work. i feel very comfortable that i'm not going to get very sick even if i do develop some symptoms. but what's new here, again, jake, according to dr. walensky, this is data that hasn't even been published yet. but basically they found enough evidence to say that even if you are vaccinated and developed one of these breakthrough infections, you could carry enough of a viral load t

the cities of provincetown, massachusetts, and savannah, georgia, are announcing requirements for indoor masking. florida now the epicenter of the surge. 20% of the nation's new cases. every county in the state has high levels of community transmission. joining me now is dr. jerome adams. former surgeon general under president trump. thank you for joining us now. new cdc guidelines for mask wearing for individuals who are vaccinated. what should they do? >> i think the guidelines cannot come soon enough. we need to understand we tried the honor system and it failed. the cdc guidance said mask it or vax it. we know there are many more people out there going without a mask than the statistics suggest or vaccinated. that is number one. number two, the delta variant is 1,000 times more infectious. we are seeing breakthrough infections, not leading to death or hospitalizations, but it could cause the spread we are seeing. we have to take that into a account with masking. public health officials are left in a lurch. >> you like to see more mask wearing inside for vaccinated and unvaccinated pe

the city's of province town, massachusetts, of course in the middle of tourist season, savannah, georgia, st. louis as well, announcing new requirements for indoor masking. florida is now the epicenter of the surge we are seeing. cases have more than tripled in the past few weeks, and every coin county in the state has high levels of community transmission. cnn went inside one florida hospital where covid patients are pleading for vaccines after contracting the virus. >> we're getting ready to intubate the patient, putting them on a ventilator, and they say if i get the vaccine now, could i not go on the ventilator. so they are begging for it. >> bad? >> yeah, i cannot breathe good. i have shortness of breath. i feel sorry about not getting a vaccine. >> you're sorry you didn't get the vaccine. do you think you would be here if you had gotten the vaccine? >> no. >> all right. joining me now is politico reporter, gary fineout, who has spent the past two decades covering florida politics. it's tough to hear from patients in the jacksonville hospital. it's tough to see the numbers right now

the cities of provincetown, massachusetts, and savannah, georgia, are announcing requirements for indoor masking. florida now the epicenter of the surge. cases have tripled in the past few weeks in every county in the state now has high levels of community transmission. now, cnn's randi kaye visited a florida hospital in jacksonville that's now really in crisis mode, randy, and i understand people there are more or less begging at this point for the vaccine. >> they absolutely are, and you will hear from some of them in a moment, john, but this hospital i visited, baptist medical center in jacksonville where nearly 100% of their new covid patients are unvaccinated. they're getting new patients every day, and even if they are eligible for the shot, they didn't get it. that's why they're in the hospital now fighting to survive. >> the increase started happening so quickly, and it's multiplying so fast every single day, we can't open up beds fast enough to meet the demand. >> we met chief nursing officer tammy daniel in jacksonville's baptist medical center on one of the hospital's covid fl

savannah, georgia, made that change just today. joining me now is savannah's mayor, van johnson. thank you. i appreciate it. this is an important conversation we're going to have. >> absolutely. thank you. >> you're requiring masks in all government facilities as well as savannah city schools and early childhood centers. was this a tough choice for you? >> it was a tough choice, but it was a necessary choice. don, our community transmission index has tripled. on july the 12th, we were at 84. today we're at 289. our percentage of positive tests have gone up from 5.7 on july the 2nd to 12.2 on july 23rd. our seven day rolling average has increased from 8.3 on june 8th to 80 now. our vaccination rates are still very low, 42%. we have 40 folks in our hospitals here where a couple of weeks ago we had no one. so obviously we have to do something. >> yeah. we've seen how controversial mask mandates have become. the thing is, is that, you know, police officers or people say, how do you enforce that? my thing is how do you plan to enforce this because to say you have a mandate and then do

not something akin to tourism, as one georgia republican congressman claimed. this weekend, as you may have heard, house speaker pelosi fl named illinois republican, adam kinzinger, to the committee. accepted and today kevin mccarthy had this to say about it. >> you know, some republicans have been saying that the g -- the gop should play ball with this committee. >> really? who is that? who is that? adam and liz? aren't they kind of, like, pelosi republicans? >> well, pelosi republicans. it's a new spin on the conventional label, which has been to refer to them and a few others as anti-trump republicans. which, cnn political commentator and conservative amanda carpenter says, really, short changes their motivations. she tweeted about congressman kinzinger, why is he being described as an anti-trump republican? he is a pro-democracy republican, who rightly is disgusted by what happened on j. 6. it's about principles, not people. as for what it means to be a mccarthy republican? well, it seems that it means, at least initially, seeing their insurrection for exac

not something akin to tourism, as one georgia

nothing akin to tourism, as one georgia republican said. liz cheney is no longer the lone republican on the panel. they named republican adam kinzinger to the committee, he accepted, and today, house republican leader kevin mccarthy had this to say about it. >> you know, some republicans have been saying that the gop should play a part in the committee. >> who was that, adam and liz? aren't they kind of like pelosi republicans? >> pelosi republicans. it's a new spin on the conventional label which has been to refer to them and a few others as anti-trump republicans. which cnn political commentator and conservative amanda car carpenter says really short changed their conversations. she tweeted, why is he being described as an anti-trump republican. he's a pro-democracy republican who rightly is disgusted by what happened on j 6. it's about principles not people. as what it means to be a mccarthy republican, well, it seems that it means at least initially seeing the insurrection for exactly what it was, and acknowledging exactly who was respo

georgia's election results need to be audited yet again. so, that has become such a focus for republicans is to continue to try to relitigate the 2020 election that was more than six months ago. >> trump arguably threw away the presidency by hyping this vote fraud idea and discouraging mail-in voting by republicans. he threw away the republican senate by convincing a lot of republican voters in georgia not to vote because votes couldn't be trusted. but apparently he's not yet done and he wants to throw away in seats in 2022 as well. >> wonderful panel. thank you so much for being here. you always know how to make me feel so depressed. [ laughter ] >>> the u.s. says it's ending the combat mission in iraq. what this means for the situation on the ground, next. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ monitor, check and lock down you money with security from chase. control feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term

clark atlanta university is the largest private hbcu in the state of georgia. we have about 4,000 students, so we were able to tell our students thank you for being resilient and diligent during the covid. they have not been on campus for a year. so, we decided to set aside about $2 million and to eliminate all of that i have balances. so, ana, i tell you, over the last few months, i've received calls and texts and emails from students who otherwise would not be able to return to school in the fall, but now, they woke this morning, and they have zero balances. >> incredible. explain exactly what this covers. does this cover 100% cost of tuition and room and board? >> well, it covers your balance. it's not that we're paying the tuition. it's that if you had a tuition balance, if you had a room or dining balance, then we forgave that balance. and ana, we used federal funds. we used herf funds, which that's the higher education emergency relief fund which is part of the c.a.r.e.s. act so the auc presidents, we were instrumental in getting that through congress. we

a month after kids there in georgia, we start school. where does this leave parents? >> reporter: trying to figure out the rules in their district or in their particular school. and a lot of the parents, some are frustrated and angry and because they have to make sense of the patch work of rules that they're seeing across the state and that is what we're seeing across the country. so for example, atlanta public schools including the middle school behind me implementing a universal mask mandate. schools begin next week. but in neighboring gwinnett county, that is a different story. over summer break, 6-year-old audrey guard rarely left the house without a mask. >> so you have to wear a mask to school every day. >> reporter: audrey can't wait for august 4th, the first day of first grade at peachtree elementary school. >> are you excited for school to start. >> yeah. >> reporter: her mother feels differently. >> i am furious. i am irritated that these are the people that i elected. >> reporter: sarah guard is furious that only strongly recommends masks on school grounds.

a restaurant in atlanta, georgia, posting it photo. quote, for the safety of our staff, guests and community, no vax, no service. amid the rising number in infections recommending the mask be worn indoors even by those who are vaccinated. and with the new school year just around the corner at least eight of the 20 largest school districts in the u.s. are making masks optional for students in school while another nine are requiring masks. some districts like shelby county and tennessee are preparing for return to classes with mask mandates. >> our parents are supportive and they understand that in the state of tennessee there is a 200% increase of covid-19 specifically the delta variant. 700 new cases per day. you know, i have said it before and i'm going to continue to say it. i am going to keep students safe. >> and cdc data shedding more light on the potential risk for the immunocompromised which make up a little over 2% of the population now. if they are infected data shows they would be more likely to be ill and even if they are va

. >>> coming up, i'll talk to the georgia congressman arrested over a peaceful protest about voting rielghts. his arrest comes as at least 18 states pass laws that make it harder to vote. you're live in the cnn newsroom. s your skin's ceramides and strengthens it against dryness for softer, smoother skin you can lovingly embrace. renew the love for your skin with dove body wash. try our new scented oils for freshness that lasts. crafted to give you amazingly natural smelling fragrances, day after day... ...for up to 60 days. give us one plug for freshness that lasts. ♪ someone once told me, that i should get used to people staring. so i did. it's okay, you can stare. when you're a two-time gold medalist, it comes with the territory. this past year has felt like a long, long norwegian winter. but eventually, with spring comes rebirth. everything begins anew. and many of us realize a fundamental human need to connect with other like-minded people. welcome back to the world. viking. exploring the world in comfort... once again. tums vs. mozzarella stick when heartburn hits, fight back fast wi

it's that crazy woman from georgia comparing it to holocaust-era measures. it's one thing after the other. it's congress people not wanting to admit that they've gotten vaccinated. it has led to all of this noise that has really affected republican perception. they have irresponsibly turned it into a source of outrage and a wedge issue that's going to be used to drive people to the polls. the problem is, in the midst of doing that, we've got a delta variant that is killing people again. the problem is, while they remain unvaccinated, they're holding the rest of america hostage. and so if you don't want to wear masks on a plane, get vaccinated. because the rest of us are having to do it because you're not vaccinated. if you don't want your kids to have to wear masks to school, get vaccinated. because the rest of america's kids whose parents are vaccinated are going to have to wear the mask because you're not vaccinated. so, you know, i don't know what it is going to take for people to understand that we are all in this together and to be responsible about the

in fact here in atlanta, georgia where the cnn center is located, there was some kind of haze to the sky tonight with a nearly full moon. that coloring that you see on the tv screen is the smoke predicted into the weekend that will impact much of the southeastern u.s. even though the major metropolitan areas d.c., new york, boston should stay haze-trfree. 79 large active fires over the western u.s., today we have the potential for dry lightning taking in a and idaho. and so a red flag warning. we are getting much needed relief, but perhaps a bit too much too soon. and too quickly. because flash flood warnings are taking place including the maricopa county region where phoenix is located, they have had extremely heavy rainfall within the past six hours or so leading to localized flash flooding throughout the region. you can see the high resolution forecast lighting up like a christmas tree because there is a lot of rain in the forecast across the area thated for so l. when the ground is so dry, it doesn't have the ability to absorb the rain and so that is why we see the flash flooding

in atlanta, georgia, the public school district announced it will require all students and staff, even those who are vaccinated, to wear masks when school starts, and it start there is in just a few weeks. the top elected official in harris county, texas, urging everyone to once again wear masks. in clark county, nevada, home of las vegas, county workers must mask up in public places indoors. it was a week ago that los angeles brought back the mask mandate. everyone was so surprised. it is confusing. but one state at the center of the current surge will not be returning to mask mandates. the governor of florida saying his policy will not change, even though florida leads the country in new covid cases and seeing an increase in hospitalizations. >> i get a little bit frustrated when i see some of these jurisdictions saying, even if you're healthy and vaccinated, you must wear a mask because we see increased cases. understand what that message is sending to people unvaccinated, it's saying the vaccines don't work. that's the worst message you can send to people at this time. >> it's the

but now the forecast, watch the smoke move into georgia, alabama, and then it hangs out for a while. the smoke will stay where the winds are calm. and you will notice it more or less with a hazy sky and sunrise and sunset. but, jim, this is what we do not want. precipitation does look heavy for the desert southwest. but temperature-wise, all of north america will see higher temperatures in the next several days and the weeks to come. that heat dome which has been moving around in the northwest. this will be a bad year. >> tom sayer, thank you for that. tonight the biden administration is hitting cuba with new sanctions in the wake of historic anti-government protests there in the islands. a national security correspondent is joining us with details. give us an update. >> reporter: yeah. so the state department today, secretary of state blinken said these were to go after those violently repressing the protesters in cuba. there were two groups named today. specifically the minister of the revolutionary armed forces and then this elite cuban forces group. they are a group that has been

the good sir from georgia, mr. vernon jones who is running for governor in georgia at this moment, why don't you go talk to them and others like him. >> i'm talking to you. you know what it sound like, it sounds like you and your client still believe the big lie. >> the big lie, what does that mean? 75 million people believe the big lie. >> mr. mcbride, i want to thank you for coming on new day. i hoped you would have a fact based conversation about an attack on our capitol. joseph mcbride. >> torture is not okay. >> keep yelling torture, we'll stick with the facts. still to come, football hall of famer, michael irvin criticizing his former team when it comes to coronavirus. >> and the move by ben & jerry's outraging some leaders in israel. >>> and the u.s. men's basketball team arriving in tokyo but without another one of its key players. andy scholes has this morning's bleacher report. with schizophrenia, i see progress differently. it's in the small things i look forward to. with the people i want to share it wi

most republicans believe would have trump, the big lie, what happened in georgia. he lives in another world. zbh he creates that world in many ways be i the media he consumes and the people he puts around him. he ignores facts that are not in line with what he thinks in many cases. he may believe that the republicans would have lost eight more seats if he was not involved. he has a very difficult time taking responsibility for anything that goes wrong or anything that doesn't go his way. but based on the different kinds of media he consumes and the people he puts around him, he's able to create his own world and ignore the reality on the ground. and that's allowed and some dangerous things to take place. one thing that's interesting about the books is how many people he has surrounded himself with that have been close to him have flipped and said you know, we do not support the president in the way he operated a lot of times they're not doing that on the record but they're doing it in significant ways to show how crazy things were inside and how close we got to the

marjorie taylor greene is in georgia. look, i think these speaking tours and rallies, trying to get attention. marjorie taylor greene doesn't have committee assignments back in congress, gaetz is under federal prosecution. so they're doing rallies. i can just see them fundraising off of this. i think for them this is just going to feed into their narrative that the left is canceling them. unfortunately as we have seen with the fundraising reports, being extreme and being outrageous san effective fundraising tool. >> to be sure. we saw their supporters take to the streets after the cancel cancellations. is that why these cancellations are a political benefit to them, not just the fundraising numbers but raises their notoriety? >> in some ways makes them martyrers. you saw their supporters rallying in the streets. they have been on twitter talking about this. for them, it's no skin off their backs. >> liberals say orange county kind of pretty purple, historically conservative, and they cancelled on them, but maybe they want

alabama, georgia, idaho, oklahoma, south carolina, tennessee, west virginia, and wyoming. let's take closer look at arkansas. only about 35% of eligible people are fully vaccinated. in the past week alone, there were more than 7,000 new cases. one doctor puts in it stark terms. the hospital is full. covid-19 numbers increase every day. we are stopping patients in the recovery room. no space for transfers. running out of caregivers. support health care workers. mask up. get vaxed. that position, dr. have the doctor joins me hive from little rock. dr. patterson, thank you for joining us. your tweet from yesterday paints a grim picture, a picture we saw in the early days of the pandemic. not something we would expect to see with three different effective vaccines available in the united states. one of your colleagues says it is heart wrenching to see unvaccinated individuals come into the hospital with regret. what is it like the hear regret when it is too late? >> you know, we talked to people who should know better, and they are now dealing with the worst health care crisis

we've already seen a suit filed against the laws in georgia. we'll see similar suits against the laws in other states. it's getting harder and harder for doj to prove what we call discriminatory intent or discriminatory effect. so they're fighting a very important battle here but they are facing an uphill battle in the courts. >> right, and if they don't take action in congress and they just choose to pursue this in the courts, that could take just years to wind its way through the legal system. let's turn now to the criminal investigation into the trump organization. earlier this month, the manhattan d.a.'s office charged the company and its cfo with a tax scheme. the prosecutors don't appear to have anyone convinced who works at the trump organization to cooperate against the former president. we've seen this movie before. one viewer asks if prosecutors can't get anyone inside the trump organization to cooperate, can they still bring charges against donald trump. my sense is no. >> i'm very doubtful, jim, i'm with you on this one. it's clear

members of congress to step up and pass this necessary legislation to protect voting rights in texas, georgia and across the country. >> my understanding is that some of your colleagues tested positive for covid here in washington. you did not. >> negative. all of our -- >> everybody here on hand for this interview. >> i just tested before i walked in here. >> what's happening there? is everybody staying safe, keeping safe? do we know how this happened? >> absolutely. all of our members in our delegation are fully vaccinated. the three members who tested positive are feeling well, not showing symptoms. you had dr. fauci on earlier, it's really important that folks get vaccinated because we know that covid-19 vaccine prevents serious illness, even from these new strains. but, we knew this quorum break would bring risk. we have members of our delegation left behind sick loved ones. >> i'm at risk of losing my seat in the state legislature and brought health risk because there's an active pandemic. many of the members are over the age of 65. this is so much bigger than one politician. it's so mu

. >> so you know, we spoke with georgia senator jon ossoff's office who said the office has gotten thousands of calls about these passport delays and request for help. and he told our frederica whitfield moments ago that the state department isn't moving faste enough. here he is. >> looks to me like a failure to adapt to the circumstances. there were certain changes made to procedures at the passport offices in response to covid-19, and that's fine because it was necessary from a public health response to protect folks who go to the passport office, to protect those who work at the passport office. we're now a year and a half into this pandemic, and providing passport services is a vital function of the government. it's a vital consular service we provide to citizens, and the state department needs to take action to reduce these delays. >> do you agree with those comments? do you think the state department really needs to step it up? i mean, especially if they're having shortage in staff? >> yeah. i absolutely agree. i mean, we know this moment was going to come. it's -- it is difficult. we

. >>> plus, mounting anger over the death of a journalist in the nation of georgia. local tv stations have joined the calls for the prime minister to resign. we'll explain. stay with us. dad, why didn't you answer your phone? your mother loved this park. ♪ she did. >>> the funeral for haiti's assassinated president jovenel moise has been set for next friday. we also learned the fbi is in haiti and has begun its own investigation. that's because some of the key suspects in the plot appear to have connections in florida. the country's acting prime minister said if it was meant to topple the government it failed. haitian authorities say dozens of police are being investigated over their possible roles including some who were at moise's home at the night of the attack. >>> in the country of georgia, there are growing calls for the prime minister to step down after journalists were viciously attacked while covering a protest in the capital. the death of a cameraman several days later has galvanized the position of the prime minister with several tv stations calling for