rely on the experts at 1800petmeds for the same medications as the vet, but for less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world, you are watching "cnn newsroom" and i'm rosemary church. just ahead, the city of boulder mourns the ten lives lost in a shooting rampage at a colorado supermarket as investigators work to piece together how the attack unfolded. president joe biden demands stricter gun laws after two deadly mass shootings in the u.s. in less than a week. and a cnn investigation uncovers the shocking brutality

of police and soldiers in belarus, our exclusive report this hour. ♪ thanks for joining us. across the united states emotions are raw from monday's deadly shooting spree in boulder, colorado. many are struggling to comprehend why a lone gunman opened fire at a supermarket killing ten people killing a police officer who was among the first on the scene. the area near the market has become a makeshift memorial. people are leaving cards, flowers and other items to honor the victims. those killed came from all walks of life ranging in age from 20 to 65. on tuesday boulder's police chief was emotional in

identifying each victim. >> i'm going to read the namts of the deceased. denny stong, 20 years old. neven stanisic, 23, rikki olds, 25, tralona bartkowiak 49, suzanne fountain 59, teri leiker 51, officer eric talley, 51. kevin mahoney, 61. lynn murray, 62. jody waters, 65. our hearts go out to all the victims killed during this senseless act of violence. >> police still don't know why the suspect, 21-year-old a meld alissa went on a shooting rampage. he is charged with ten counts of first degree murder and will appear in court on thursday.

more from keng la. >> reporter: as the officers first made their way in they confronted the gunman 21-year-old ahmad alissa, the arrest warrant says he was walk to go s.w.a.t. officers to surrender. he had been shot in the leg, removed a green tactical vest, all of his shooting except for shorts. he had two weapons an ar style rifle and a handgun, one of them purchased six days before the shooting. the affidavit says the suspect did not answer questions, though he asked to speak to his mother. >> i know that there is an extensive investigation just getting under way into his background. he's lived most of his life in the united states and beyond that we are in the early stages of the investigation. >> reporter: the family emigrated from syria in 2002. the gunman's brother says alissa struggled with mental illness and his removed facebook account he wrote a year after graduating from high school i believe my old school was hacking my phone. a high school friend says alissa

was bullied in high school for being muslim, something that he resented. >> people chose not to mess with him because of his temper, people chose not to talk to him because of how all he acted and things like that. so, yeah, he was very alone i'd say, but when he was with you he was approachable. >> reporter: alissa's brother said he never knew him to own guns. law enforcement did recover additional weapons from the gunman's home. >> 136, local shots being fired at us. >> reporter: witnesses first heard shots in the parking lot around 2:30 in the afternoon. anna haines lives across the street from king soopers store. >> i also saw the gunman holding a semi-automatic rifle, he was on the handicap rail to the entrance of the store. >> reporter: newly released arrest documents say witnesses saw the suspect fatally shoot at least two people in the parking lot, a man in a vehicle and an

elderly man. store employees watched through a window as the gunman walked up to elderly man, stood over him and shot him multiple additional times. >> he is armed with a rifle, officers shot back and returned fire, we do not know where he is in the store. >> reporter: the first officer to confront the gunman was killed, shot in the head, as the shooter continued to roam the store busy with shoppers and people waiting to be vaccinated in the store. >> that's when at least one shooter came in and killed the woman at the front of the line in front of him. they ran upstairs to hide and hid in a coat closet standing up for 45 minutes. >> reporter: as the gunman was led away ten lay dead at the store. >> officer eric talley, 51. >> reporter: one by one the police chief spelled out all the names of the ten victims including her own officer, eric talley. >> this officer had seven children ages 5 to 18. i just had that officer's whole

family in my office two weeks ago to give him an award and so it is personal. this is my community. >> reporter: kyung lah, cnn. and president joe biden is making an emotional appeal for new gun control legislation in the wake of two mass shootings in less than a week but as cnn's kaitlan collins reports he faces steep hurdles in a very partisan and divided congress. >> reporter: after two mass shootings in less than a week president biden is calling for action. >> i don't need to wait another minute let alone an hour to take common sense steps. >> there is a shooter, active shooter somewhere. >> reporter: biden said he was, quote, devastating after ten people were killed in colorado and urged the senate to pass legislation expanding and strengthening background checks. >> the united states senate -- i hope some are listening -- should immediately pass the two house passed bills that closed

loopholes in the background check system. >> reporter: then biden went even further. >> we should also ban assault weapons in the process. >> reporter: despite the president's calls for action capitol hill is already divided on how to respond. >> thoughts and prayers are not enough. and yet thoughts and prayers is all we have heard from my colleagues on the other side. thoughts and prayers must lead to action. >> senator from connecticut knows that is false. every time there is a shooting we play this ridiculous theater where this committee gets together and proposes a bunch of laws that would do nothing to stop these murders. >> reporter: former president barack obama also calling for stricter gun laws, saying it's, quote, time for leaders everywhere to listen to the american people when they say enough is enough because this is a new normal we can no longer

afford. president biden now finds himself in a similar position to the one he was in in 2012 when president obama tapped him to lead the effort after 26 people including 20 children were killed in sandy hook. >> that's why i've asked the vice president to lead an effort that includes members of my cabinet and outside organization toss come up with a set of concrete proposals. >> reporter: the concrete proposal turned into only a modest measure on expanded background checks and never made it out of the senate. aides would go on to say biden had wanted to do more, including his long-time adviser bruce reed who told "politico" in 2015 even before new town the vice president had wanted the administration to push harder on the issue. this time aides said president biden is considering executive orders in addition to urging congress to act as families from atlanta to boulder grieve. >> those poor folks who died left behind families and it

leaves a big hole in their hearts. >> reporter: and while he was on the ground in ohio president biden was asked whether or not he believes he has the political capital to get lawmakers to move on those gun reforms he was calling for at the white house. he crossed his fingers and told reporters he hopes so, but he has not started counting votes yet. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. well, we are closely watching vote counting in israel's election with nearly 90% of ballots now counted the result remains too close to call. prime minister benjamin netanyahu hailed tuesday's vote when he appeared before supporters but the outcomes remains anything but clear. the pro netanyahu block of parties are below the threshold needed for the majority but that could change quickly.

elliott gotkine is in jerusalem. the fourth election in two years with benjamin netanyahu's party ahead but the path to victory still uncertain. what is the latest on all of this? >> reporter: it very much is uncertain. seems like deja vu all over again and you could almost play the tape from our conversation at the last elections because this is a similar situation. the one big change that we had in the last half hour or so is that with other 90% of the vote counted one of the arab parties which according to exit polls and according to early results until we got to about kind of 70%, 80% of the vote counted they were projected to not make it into the ken set. that changed when more votes came in and as things stand and these aren't the final results, as things stand they are

projected to get into the dken necessary set. the pro flew block if you presume the party -- they would come out with 59 seats out of 120 and the anti-netanyahu block would come out with 57 out of 120 leaving them both shy of a majority. there are other possibilities and per musicians it's unlike had i l. i that either of the two arab parties would join either governing coalition because no arab party has done so in the past. a confidence and supply arrangement whereby parties don't formally join the coalition but agree to support it on particular bits of legislation is a possibility but doesn't make for a particularly stable coalition. i should say as you have said as well, reiterate these aren't final results and there is half a million absentee ballots which in addition to including diplomats and soldiers and the like, into year also includes

people who voted in the drive through covid polling booths, people in quarantine and people in nursing homes as well and that could have a major impact on the vote as well. so we are watching these numbers closely, but important to bear in mind is that it ain't over until it's over. >> still a long way to go and too close to call. journalist elliott gotkine in jerusalem. many thanks. coming up next on "cnn newsroom." astrazeneca says it's new coronavirus vaccine shows promising results but u.s. regulators say not so fast. plus some european countries are tightening restrictions to contain yet another wave of the coronavirus. a live report from paris coming up.

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angeles. >> reporter: one in four americans have now had at least one vaccine dose. >> it's been a horrible year. i will remember this year for the rest of my life. >> reporter: but it's not over. the road to herd immunity long and winding. astrazeneca celebrated results from its vaccine trials, today pushing back and promising to share their primary analysis with a review board that raised concern the company may have used some outdated information in a press release. >> this is really what you call an unforced error because the fact is this is very likely a very good vaccine. >> reporter: the public should rest assured that nothing will get improved unless the fald has a thorough analysis of this data. >> reporter: and with the three vaccines already authorized the white house still confident of reaching its goal, enough doses for all by end of may. although johnson & johnson now has just eight days to meet its

goal of 20 million doses delivered by end of march. >> the company reiterated publicly that they are on target. they have a big production week ahead. >> reporter: within hours of that statement a source told cnn that j&j will only get about halfway to 20 million by month's end. meantime, the average daily death toll in the u.s. just dropped below 1,000 for the first time in nearly five months. but the country's average new case count still stuck at over 50,000 a day. >> that's not good. they should keep going down and down. when you plateau like that there really is a danger of a resurgence. >> reporter: and with time, tiredness and vaccines our guard is slipping. nearly half of americans according to one poll went out to eat in the past week. some new vaccine numbers and they are good, the white house

says they have 27 million doses to allocate this week. that is up significantly, just from last week. there will come a day when supply meets demand. not yet, but it will come. a good sign, texas starting monday is going to open vaccine eligibility to every adult in the state. nick watt, cnn, los angeles. brazil's health ministry has confirmed more than 3,000 new deaths from covid-19. that's a new daily record for the country and it pushes its death toll closer to 300,000. the second highest total in the world. nationwide intensive care units are close to full in at least six states are running critically low on medical oxygen. in an effort to address the crisis the president is pledging to ramp up vaccine distribution saying this will be the year of vaccinations for brazil. germany is reporting it has reached 75,000 deaths from

covid-19. it comes as chancellor angela merkel announced a hard five-day lockdown during the easter holiday to help battle a sharp rise in new covid cases. she also says the variant first identified in the uk is making it more difficult for germany to control the viruses spread. >> and in france president emanuel macron is making it his priority to speed up vaccinations as the country face has third covid wave. for more on the situation in europe let's bring in cnn's melissa bell in paris. so, melissa, the french president saying he will accelerate vaccinations, making it a national priority. how will they do that exactly and talk to us, too, about germany's situation. >> reporter: well, essentially, right, keeping vaccination centers over the weekend, rosemary and denouncing that people who are over 70 until now had been people over 75 with no underlying conditions can go ahead and get themselves

vaccinated. so lowering that age range of people who can go to those vaccinations and -- centers and begin to get a vaccine, but it is a reminder really of how far behind where it should be france is. less than 4% of its population has been fully vaccinated and once again, eu countries want to get 70% of their population vaccinated by the end of the summer. so it's going to be a hard slog. this of course as you mentioned each as in germany, in holland, in norway, in france, we're seeing worrying rises in terms of new cases, high entry numbers into icus, icus bursting at the seams. french doctors warning if there are not a further advancing of restrictions we are headed toward a war. the speed of the covid-19 third wave and its variant driven spread throughout the european union, even as the vaccination campaigns struggle on the ground. i mentioned those changes being made in france, but more broadly europe wide there is the

question of supplies. we understand later today we will be hearing from brussels about a beefed up export ban mechanism which will allow the eu to keep even more doses of those vaccines produced in the eu in the eu, something that's pretty controversial but i think speaks also rosemary to europe's desperate need to fix its supply problems in order to begin to counteract those rising covid-19 figures. the european commission under a great deal of pressure here while other countries have managed to get their vaccination programs up and rolling and made progress, for instance, the united kingdom which might even help keep that third wave in check, that is far from being the case in the eu. it is a controversial move to beef up that export ban but looks like one that the european commission is determined to carry out. what it's going to be looking at, rosemary, is not just whether or not a country is exporting itself covid-19 vaccine doses but also how fast its vaccination program is moves on compared to the eu. the eu giving itself a lot more

ability if this depose through to keep vaccines in the european union, rosemary. >> all right. paris correspondent melissa bell, many thanks. well, one year on since the first covid lockdown many across the uk stopped to remember the thousands of lives lost, buildings and landmarks were lit up in yellow, a sign of hope and support for those who are grieving. prime minister boris johnson says it's been a difficult and dark year, but the things are starting to get better. >> month after month our collective fight against coronavirus was like fighting in the dark against a callous and invisible enemy. until science helped us to turn the lights on and to gain the upper hand. and cautiously but irreversibly, step by step, jab by jab, this country is on the path to reclaiming our freedoms. >> and cnn's scott mclean joins

us live from london. so, scott, after a very bad start to this pandemic the uk has certainly turned a corner with the very successful rollout of its covid vaccination program even though restrictions are still in place. do bring us up to date on all of that. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, rosemary. so this government, the british government, has rightly gotten a lot of criticism for its handling of the covid-19 pandemic despite the fact that we've been through three lockdowns, one of which we are still in right now the uk has one of the highest covid-19 death tolls on earth. on the other hand as you mentioned the vaccine rollout has gone what seems like lightning fast. 54% of the adult population has now gotten at least their first dose of the vaccine, the government's goal is to offer it to everybody over 50 in the next three weeks and all adults by the end of july. it is a very different picture as you heard melissa talking about in europe, though. i want to show you a graphic that illustrates this stark difference. the uk has vaccinated three times the share of its

population compared to european giants like germany, italy, spain and france. now europe is facing this third way and it simply does not have enough vaccine doses to do much about it. the eu is threatening to block vaccine exports outside of the block, but because of the way the vaccines are produced and because of the international inter expectedness of the supply chain a lot of people are saying that may cause more harm than good especially if there is retaliation. prime minister boris johnson was asked whether he would consider retaliating against europe if there is a blockade. listen. >> we in this country don't believe in blockades of any kind of vaccines or vaccine material. not something that this country would dream of engaging in and i'm encouraged by some of the things i've heard from the

continent in the same sense. >> reporter: a little context for you, rosemary. it's pretty easy for the prime minister to make statements like that about being against blockades because the uk at the moment is not exporting any finished vaccine doses. their deal with astrazeneca requires the company to fully fulfill its contract before shipping anything abroad. >> all right. we will continue watching this. joining us live from london, scott mclean. many thanks. still to come tributes are pouring in for the victims who lost their lives in the boulder mass shooting. plus a north korean missile test would normally make a u.s. president sit up and take notice but hear j joe biden and the white house are playing the latest one down. brain better? unlike ordinary memory supplements— neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference.

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♪ after two mass shootings in less than a week president joe biden insists the time is now for concrete steps to address gun control issues in the united states. he has a long political history of pressing for reforms with mixed results, but in his remarks from the white house on tuesday he said he will do everything in his power to keep americans safe, even as he faces an uphill battle in a divided congress. >> i don't need to wait another minute let alone an hour to take common sense steps that will save the lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the house and senate to act. we can ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines in this country once again. i got that done when i was a

senator. it passed. it was law for the longest time and it brought down these mass killings. we should do it again. >> meantime, a makeshift memorial is growing near the boulder, colorado, supermarket where ten people were gunned down on monday. more now on the victims from cnn's sunlen serfaty. >> reporter: the victims going about their daily lives in a grocery store, customers, employees, some there to get their covid vaccine. the ten lives lost from all backgrounds and ages, from 20 to 65 years old. >> our hearts ache for those who lost their lives. >> reporter: among them 25-year-old rikki olds, a manager at king soopers store, she was raised by his grandparents, her uncle describing her as charismatic, a strong, independent young woman, a shining light he says in this dark world. and 51-year-old officer eric

talley, a husband, a father of seven, who within minutes of the first 911 reports of an armed man inside the store ran into danger. he was the first officer on the scene and then shot and killed. >> when the moment to act came, officer talley did not hesitate in his duty, making the ultimate sacrifice in his effort to save lives. that's a definition of an american hero. >> reporter: talley had been in i.t. before becoming a police officer, but at age 40 pursued a career change, joining the boulder police force ten years ago. >> he didn't have to go into policing. he had a profession before this, but he felt a higher calling. he was willing to die to protect others. >> reporter: his father saying it didn't surprise me he was the first one there. and revealing he was learning to become a drone operator on the force because the job would be

safer. talley's police car parked outside the boulder police station becoming a memorial. and a procession of his fellow officers honoring him monday evening. boulder police revealing the other eight victims. >> the families of the victims have been notified. >> reporter: 20-year-old denny stong, 23-year-old neven stanisic, 49-year-old tralona bartkowiak, 59-year-old suzanne fountain, 51-year-old teri leiker, 61-year-old kevin mahoney, 62-year-old lynn murray and 65-year-old jody waters. lives lost, families shattered. >> our hearts go out to all the victims killed during this senseless act of violence. >> reporter: sunlen serfaty, cnn, washington. north korea has conducted its first known missile launch in a year. south korea says its military detected two cruise missiles sunday morning but the white

house is down playing the situation. >> north korea, sir, do you consider that to be a real provocation by north korea? >> no. according to the defense department it's business as usual. there is no new -- there is no new wrinkle in what they did. >> [ inaudible ] diplomacy at all. [ laughter ] >> selina wang is following the story from tokyo. so president biden doesn't seem particularly concerned about north korea's missile test. why is that? >> rosemary, not at all. you even heard her laughing at the end calling this business as usual. u.s. officials were largely expecting this. they called this, quote, normal testing. experts said that this was fairly routine, that this was a mild response to recent u.s./south korea military drill and the key piece of information here is that north korea

launched a short-range projectile not ballistic missiles, this helps to explain why the u.s. does not see this as a serious breach and why it's not going to stop the u.s. from pursuing diplomacy with north korea. north korea traditionally does take some very provocative action early on in u.s. and south korean administration. when trump and obama took office tests of this kind were conducted as well and experts say that this was less of a provocative action than in previous administrations. but when it comes to the timing, rosemary, we are weeks away from when we are expecting biden to publicly announce his administration's strategy on north korea. it is expected to be a departure from previous administrations. you had trump take a very top down approach, personally meeting with the leader. then you had obama who would not engage until north korea changed its behavior. and none of that stopped north korea from continuing to develop its weapon systems. it did not stop north korea from continuing to repress its citizens and we know that biden plans to take a multilateral

approach, working with countries in the region, but that is expected to be a challenge considering that china which is probably in the best position to influence north korea does not seem willing to take that same active diplomatic role that it did in the past. something to watch moving forward is what role china is going to take as the u.s. increasingly sees china as an adversary. >> we will watch closely. cnn's selina wang, many thanks. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is in europe for nato meetings and russia is topping the agenda. britain's foreign secretary is calling on nato allies to face down the threat from moscow and ensure that it faces consequences for its hostile actions. and nic robertson is in london for us and joins us live. good to see you, nic. how was secretary blinken received at the nato summit and what's ahead for him wednesday? >> reporter: seems to have gone down very well so far, rosemary. he came with this mission to

listen to what these nato partners had to say, to take that back to washington, to allow president biden to factor that into his decisions on things like troop withdrawal in afghanistan, no decision taken on that. we heard from nato secretary general yesterday, but it sort of talks about this more consultative process rather than the testy relationship that president trump developed with nato. so a warm return was how it was described by state department officials. also secretary blinken meeting with what's known as four countries very close to russia's border so, that will sort of feed into the thinking for today, but it is going to be a very tough message for russia, what the european partners have wanted the united states to project towards russia is a consistent and firm policy and that sounds like what secretary blinken is planning. the u.s. position and the

discussions around russia today to be. this is how he looked forward to that moment, described it. >> we are very clear-eyed. we will work with russia when it advances our interests and one of those is strategic stability and we have always demonstrated that with the extension of the new start agreement. on the other hand we will stand resolutely against russian aggression and other actions that try to undermine our alliance and i think that that approach is exactly where nato is as well. >> and this is certainly going to be robust backing on that point from the british foreign secretary, dominic raab, as you've said, rosemary, he is saying russia is using new and disruptive technologies, it is interfering in elections, spreading, you know, take news and fake information about coronavirus and these are seen as destabilizing, undermining things for democracies and of

course democracy is something -- strength of democracies is something that president biden really wants to sort of bake into his international relations. nato will be part of that. so this idea that there are rising out extra sees like russia and china that want to undermine not in traditional ways of countering perceived threats, but they're trying to do it by these new methods and that's part of what nato is doing in these meetings which is to look at their 2030 positioning and that is to be able to be more than a conventional weapons alliance which has brought together more than sort of 50% of the global military powers, if you will, but it wants to be able to meet those new and threatening technologies and that's where the developments are going to come and russia clearly is at the leading edge and the biggest immediate threat to many at the nato partners for the united

states. >> all right. understood. cnn's nic robertson joining us live from london with that analysis. appreciate it. well, belarus's authoritarian president is showing no mercy to protesters who say he lost the election. coming up, an exclusive cnn investigation reveals the brutality his regime has brought on demonstrators demanding democracy. why do nearly one million businesses choose stamps.com to mail and ship? no more trips to the post office no more paying full price for postage and great rates from usps and ups

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with real-time notifications and a week of uninterrupted recording. all powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. gotta respect his determination. it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. well, now to a cnn exclusive. shocking examples of torture by police in belarus. it's a violent effort to keep in power the man known as europe's dictator, president luke he go shank co who has faced seven months of protests against an election most say is rigged. nick paton walsh is with us now from london. good to see you, nick. so what all did you find in your exclusive investigation into

police torture in belbelarus? >> reporter: extraordinary crack downs since the election. extraordinary, too, to hear this soviet union era repression occurring right on the doorstep of the european union. the overbearing neighbor to belarus's east, russia, the kremlin obviously nervous at seeing a democratic protest movement on its doorstep supporting lukashenko but nervous at how the shear brutality inside the country may be turning a younger generation against moscow for the foreseeable future. but ahead now after tomorrow's call by the opposition for broad protests across the country we start this particular investigation with an extraordinary story of courage and hope. somewhere through the icy sludge here is the path to freedom. across the border and out of what's been called europe's last

dictatorship, belarus. some walk if they can, one man we'll call him sergei, had no choice but to swim it. nearly three miles. here he stands on sheet ice free, but in anguish at having to flee. after just crossing out of b belarus into the safety of ukraine. he films himself in flippers and a wet suit to leave evidence of what he tried in case he doesn't make it. i will try to call there, he says, and hope i won't freeze. i'm navigating by the stars. the feeling is indescribable. i've been going 90 minutes and have a mile left. being detained before for protesting an on a wanted list he had to flee imminent arrest. i can't turn back now. his testament to how bad things have gotten in belarus that people feel compelled to make this dark perilous journey, a run to freedom the likes of

which europe hasn't really seen since the soviet union. belarus caught between russia and the european union has been ruled for decades by alexander lukashenko. he declared victory in august elections the u.s. said were fraudulent. huge protests followed and he moved swiftly to crush them. he and russian president vladimir putin are two peas in a pod when it comes to shutting down dissent. so putin swiftly helping his partner with $1.5 billion and our unspecified aid. months of systematic repression and for tour followed documented by human rights groups. cnn has obtained from defected police officers videos exposing abuse leaked from the police's own archives. here the white suv is full of activists fleeing a protest crackdown. riot police pounce, one fires a

gun. the voracity is startling. some kicked where they lie, another has had his face rubbed into the ground. most lie incredibly still. they are then detained. in custody cnn was told mistreatment ranges from extreme cold and ramped cells to being beaten severely and sexual assault. on another day perhaps the worst abuse in the back of a police van. he refused to unlock his phone so he cup open his pants and raped him with a baton. >> it was hard to move because i had been heavily beaten, he cut my underwear using this knife. he asked me to give the password again, i refused and he did what he did. it's not just anger, police trained to do this. we are seeing it now, a huge scale for the first time. it's touched nearly every family in belarus.

custody is often brutal. detainees from an october protest were filmed by police and forced to face the wall inside a central police station. some bleeding, one with seven teeth smashed in, some ravaged by tear gas. many here told us they were later beaten in custody, some have fled belarus, but you can also see a teenage boy motionless on the floor. witnesses told cnn he had likely had an epileptic fit but the police ignored him, occasionally kicking him and saying are you a boy or a girl. a minor, he was released later. in these rooms police are still tracking down protesters. one we will call anya, you can see her running from riot police, the stun grenade hit her leg badly. in hospital doctors gave her little help, she said, but tested her blood for alcohol and rang the police to say she was a likely protester. she fled home. >> i get a phone call from the

police asking where i had been. i began making up stories. they said they would come and get me, a unit of them, and if they take me i thought then i can say good-bye to my limbs because no one will look after me. >> reporter: police voracity in belarus, a riot squad descending on a squad here has slowly and quietly swamped a generation desperate for a new life and calling for new nationwide protests on march 25th. the u.s. has imposed commonplace sanctions and the kremlin its usual writ of fear. it's an early test for president biden which method will win out. >> nick paton walsh with that report. and we asked the belarus yan ministry of interior, foreign minister and prime minister's office for comment, they declined to answer. we will be right back.

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rely on the experts at 1800petmeds for the same medications as the vet, but for less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. welcome back. columbine, aurora and now boulder, colorado has seen at least six mass shootings in the past 25 years. the city of boulder tried to ban some forms of semi-automatic firearms such as the one used in the grocery market shooting but a judge blocked those efforts

less than two weeks ago. so now with ten more lives taken cnn's tom foreman takes a look at colorado's dark past with guns and what happens next in a state all too familiar with tragedy. >> reporter: the columbine high school attack more than two decades ago was a shock to the entire country. the murders of 12 students and one teacher -- >> they just started coming in the library and opening fire and shooting off bombs, people were getting shot all around me. >> reporter: the desperate flight, the confusion even after the two teenage gunmen killed themselves. for hours after the shooting began police were picking their way through the building. >> reporter: it all seemed more than any one state could bear, then columbine echoed through the nation with mass shooters in some places calling it an inspiration, grieving families and others citing it as a comparison. but back in colorado the next

horrific attack was on the way, 2012 aurora, a young man burst into a midnight movie and opens fire, a dozen people are killed, 70 are injured. >> you could just hear gunshot after gunshot and i just started praying. >> reporter: unlike the columbine shooters the killer is captured and sent to prison. just like them he was heavily armed. >> an ar 15 assault rifle, a remington 870 12-gauge shotgun and .40 caliber glock handgun. >> reporter: 2015 colorado springs a man starts shooting near a planned parenthood clinic. three people including a police officer are killed, nine more wounded. court finds the suspect mentally unfit for trial, he remains in custody. 2017 highlands ranch, another denver suburb, a gunman

barricades himself in an apartment and fires more than 100 rifle rounds, one officer killed responding, four more wounded before the gunman is shot dead. 2019 again highlands ranch. authorities say a pair of armed students walk into school and one pulls his gun in class killing kendrick castillo who tried to stop him. others are injured. police captured the suspects. one confessed and is in prison, the other pled not guilty and awaits trial. and now boulder where in just the last few weeks a judge struck down a local ban on assault weapons. boulder joins that sad list of colorado towns asking how could it happen here and what can we ever do to stop it? tom foreman, cnn, washington. >> and thank you so much for your company. i'm rosemary church. "early start" is coming up next. you're watching cnn. have a wonderful day.

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♪ welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world, this is "early start." i'm christine romans. >> good morning, christine, i'm laura jarrett. it's wednesday, march 24th. it's 5:00 a.m. here in new york and we begin with another american community reeling from another senseless act of violence after a gunman opened fire at a boulder, colorado, supermarket killing ten people. authorities have identified all of the victims, shoppers just running errands, store employees who had worked there for years and a police officer just trying to stop that massa