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to all of you watching here in the united states, canada and around the world, i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom." ♪ we start here in the u.s. where powerful storms have been hearing through the southeast. in a deadly and destructive night at least five people have been killed in alabama as a tornado swept through calhoun county. so far seven tornadoes have been reported in the state. here in metro atlanta and surrounding areas a powerful tornado swept through south of the city and a tornado watch is still in effect. the cleanup will be substantial as the heavy rains and intense winds left a trail of wreckage in its path, knocking down trees, blowing out windows and leveling homes. now, in a stunning video one man captured a potential tornado touching down.

watch this. >> [ bleep ]. oh, [ bleep ]. oh, no. >> search and rescue missions are continuing into the night across the south more than 45,000 customers are without electricity. communities in alabama and georgia are now left to pick up the pieces and rebuild. cnn meteorologist derek van dam was at the scene of the tornado you just saw and he spoke to cnn earlier showing us the damage that the storm left behind. >> this was a very heart-breaking scene for my crew and i to approach this evening as we came to the region southeast of birmingham. that same footage you saw a moment ago was part of the tornado that for the house that you see behind me completely off of its foundation, ripped it 100 feet from where it was originally located and deposited it in shambles behind me. what you're seeing is a rescue

operation from the individuals that live in this community. this is an animal rescue center where we're located, they house over 50 horses, 50 stallions, in fact. several dozen goats as well as sheep. these animals all need to be rescued, there is no more fences, all the trees have been obliterated around this area including homes that you see behind me. there is a massive effort to try to save the animals from this particular rescue center as well. >> let's go trite to tyler mullin he's been tracking this deadly and destructive weather. the storms have been devastating and they are not done yet. what's the latest? >> they are not done yet but they are quickly diminishing. then our eyes go to the second system which is a system that's going to be coming our way come this weekend. it will bring another severe threat. the system we dealt with yesterday brought large destructive tornadoes which led

to structural damage as you can see from eagle point, alabama, this area was hit really hard. look at the trees it's like a buzz saw just went through. that is reminiscent of a strong tornado, likely an ef-4 or so. in total nearly two dozen tornado reports yesterday, again, these were long track extremely dangerous tornadoes. there continues to be a tornado watch for the area shaded in red here across central georgia on into south carolina, that is until 7:00 this morning. you can see the line quickly pushing down to the south and starting to lose its punch. down here across southern alabama just some light to moderate showers ongoing at the moment, then just south of atlanta we have moderate showers as well. the most intense part of the system now is pushing into south carolina. the wider view shows the main low pressure pushing up to the north, you can see the little spin -- spinning right there, the pin wheeling motion, that is

going to lift to the north, bring the northeast rain and some wind. the trailing cold front will lead to some weak showers and thunderstorms across the south. notice how it pushes down, it just kind of peters out as i said, but notice this, kim, as we get on into saturday we're going to see a system start to push some showers and thunderstorms on into the mid south come saturday and sunday, storm prediction center is already highlighting this area, we have to watch it closely for yet another round of severe weather come this weekend. kim? >> let's hope no more lives are lost. thank you so much, tyler mauldin. appreciate it. joe biden used the first news conference of his presidency to put north korea on notice that the u.s. would respond if its missile tests continue. we will have much more on that in a moment. now, during the back and forth with reporters the president spelled out the many long-term challenges his administration faces, but he made clear his focus at the moment is on leading the country out of the

pandemic. >> i got elected to solve problems and the most urgent problem facing the american people i stated from the outset was covid-19 and the economic dislocation for millions and millions of americans. the other problems we are talking about from immigration to guns and the other things you mentioned are long-term problems, they have been around a long time. what we're going to be able to do, god willing, is now begin one at a time to focus on those as well. >> the 78-year-old president also revealed for the first time that he is already thinking about a possible second term. that prompted an interesting question from cnn's kaitlan collins. listen to his response. >> my plan is to run for reelection. that's my expectation. >> do you believe you will be running against former president trump? >> oh, come on. i don't even think about -- i don't -- i have no idea.

i have no idea whether there will be a republican party. do you? >> as the president alluded to 2024 is still a long way off. in the meantime the clock is ticking on getting his aggressive agenda moving in congress and at the center of that is a growing debate about the senate filibuster. jeff zeleny has our report. >> reporter: president biden feeling emboldened during his first news conference on thursday at the white house making clear that he believes he has the upper hand in his battle with senate republicans. he talked about that $1.9 trillion covid relief plan that got no republican votes but it did earn support from republicans in the country. and that, he said, is going to be a template going forward. he explained his thinking like this -- >> i think my republican colleagues are going to have to determine whether or not we want to work together or they decide that the way in which they want to proceed is to -- is to just

decide -- divide the country, continue the politics of division. but i'm not going to do that, i'm just going to move forward and take these things as they come. >> reporter: now, this hour-long news conference certainly offered a window into president biden's thinking in ways that we have not yet seen. one is bipartisanship has changed a bit. he started coming into office by wanting to get republicans to vote on some of his plans but when they showed little interest in doing that he clearly is trying to go his own way saying bipartisanship is getting support from republicans out in the country, but also some interesting thinking on the filibuster. that is the senate rule that requires 60 votes on any major piece of legislation. he inched a bit closer to urging senators to change the rules on that, take that away, allowing legislation to pass more easily. now, former president barack obama has called the filibuster a relic of the jim crow era, certainly racial undertones in

that, and biden said he grade but acknowledged he does not have the votes or power to change that filibuster yet. on gun controls, voting rights reform legislation, those are some issues that will test the filibuster and the president clearly making a case that he believes this is something that if there is gridlock he will push harder to change that. all this coming as foreign policy also front and center on the president's agenda. he is facing a decision on afghanistan, is he going to withdraw troops by the beginning of may or not? he made clear that that time frame may be a little more aggressive but he said in a year from now troops would not be in afghanistan. at the same time talking about north korea, he was asked suss singtsly if he believes like former president obama believed that north korea is the biggest foreign policy threat. president biden answered in one word, he said yes. jeff zeleny, cnn, the white house. all right. now more on north korea. the u.n. security council committee in charge of dealing

with sanctions on that country will meet in a few hours. the u.s. requested the meeting after north korea conducted two separate missile tests in less than a week and the u.s. didn't view the first test as a real provocation but wednesday's firing of ballistic missiles ramped up the urgency for washington and its allies. here is what president biden said. >> u.n. resolution 1718 was violated by those particular missiles that were tested, number one. we're consulting with our allies and partners and there will be responses if they choose to escalate. we will respond accordingly. but i'm also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization. >> cnn's paula hancocks is in seoul, south korea, for us.

paula, as we heard there president biden saying north korea was the top foreign policy item so presumably for north korea's missile launch it was mission accomplished. >> reporter: that's right, kim. i mean, certainly it felt as though north korea was lowered down the priority list when it came to the incoming biden administration, certainly there were more pressing concerns, but this is what north korea does well, it makes sure that it puts itself at the top of that national security priority list by firing these two ballistic missiles. now, it was interesting that president biden did say once again, yes, that it is at the top of the agenda and a very big policy -- foreign policy concern. the national -- the north korea policy review is still under way. we are expecting as early as next week to hear exactly what the biden administration believes should be the policy going forward.

that's been under way for a couple of months now. many people are waiting for that, north korea clearly couldn't wait for that and carried out what it calls this newly developed new type tactical guided projectile. there are many missile experts pouring over the issues that state run media has issued to find out if that is exactly the case, some of them have preliminary assessments out, they believe that it is a new kind of short range ballistic missile and as you say there will also be a u.n. security council committee meeting when they deal with the sanctions against north korea to talk about all of that on friday morning. u.s. time. of course, it is very difficult to see what exactly they could improve on when it comes to the sanctions which are already fairly tight. kim? >> we will be following that story today. thank you so much, paula hancocks in seoul. u.s. president joe biden says it's sick and unamerican for republican-led state

legislatures to propose ways to restrict voting and now three civil rights groups have filed suit against a sweeping new law here in georgia which they say does just that. the bill sped through the republican-controlled state legislature on thursday. the governor, also a republican, signed it immediately. as dianne gallagher reports democrats say republicans are trying to gain an unfair edge in future elections. >> after the november election last year i knew, like so many of you, that significant reforms to our state elections were needed. >> reporter: georgia governor brian kemp signing into law a sweeping election bill that could restrict ballot access. the move came after the republican-led georgia house and senate worked in quick success to pass the legislation. >> the ai's 34, nay's 23 20 and the house agreed to the house substitute to send the bill 202.

>> reporter: democrats independent ripped the 100-page bill that would make significant changes to georgia elections arguing some provisions would disproportionately affect voters of color. >> this bill targets a county like mine and minority voters because we have the votes to change elections in the state of georgia. >> the elections were not stolen, but what is happening before our eyes right now is an effort to steal elections. >> they are trying to make it a crime to give people water and a snack. >> reporter: republicans countered saying the legislation would help safeguard elections. >> the bill greatly expands accessibility of voters in georgia and greatly improves the process of administration of elections. while at the same time providing more accountability to ensure the integrity that vote -- that the vote is properly preserved. >> reporter: the bill known as sb 202 would add new id requirements for absentee voting, limit the use of ballot drop boxes, make providing food

or drink to voters in line a misdemeanor and grant state officials broad power over local elections including the ability to replace local election officials, among other major changes. republicans dropped measures that would have dramatically reduced sunday early voting and repealed no excuse absentee voting. it adds a second saturday and allows for two optional sundays of early voting. opponents of the bill protesting at the capitol in atlanta thursday says it feels like revenge after the last elections here. >> well, what happened in georgia scared them. they're scared. what happened in georgia turning a southern state blue and also getting a jewish senator and an african-american senator in the state of georgia, that scared some people. >> this is not a moment, this is a movement. this is a revolution. and when our votes are under attack we will stand up and we will continue to fight back, even if we have to go to the supreme court. >> that report from cnn's dianne

gallagher. democratic georgia state representative was arrested thursday evening for protesting outside the governor's office as he signed the bill. the post to social media shows park cannon speaking with a georgia capitol police officer. but after the state representative knocks on the door she is arrested, handcuffed and led away. cannon was taken to fulton county jail but has since been released. joining me now from los angeles is cnn's senior political analyst ron brownstein. ron, thanks for coming on. first i want to get to what happened last night in georgia, those sweeping new election restriction laws, state lawmaker arrested trying to protest the bill, all quite extraordinary. >> it's extraordinary what we are seeing across the country, kim. i mean, the big lie from trump that the election was stolen, stolen in his vision primarily in large cities with big african-american populations,

philadelphia, detroit, atlanta, disproven in courtroom after courtroom across the country, discredited after the january 6th attack on the capitol, which it happened to inspire, and yet still living on and driving this extraordinary surge of voter suppression laws in republican-controlled states across the country. clearly the broadest attempt to mac it more difficult for americans to vote since the jim crow era before the voting rights act and one that i think is creating -- even putting a gauntlet down before congressional democrats, will they act to try to set a nationwide floor of voting rights because without it we are going to see an enormous divergence in what democracy means in blue states and red states as soon as 2022. >> the symbolism of a black lawmaker being dragged off to jail, surely this will be a huge rallying cry for democrats. you talked about the gauntlet. the president said in his press conference yesterday it was unamerican, he would, quote, do

everything in his power to stop it. so, you know, the filibuster, the fact that he signaled that he would be open to getting rid of it, could this be the issue, the one thing that might generate enough unanimity among senate democrats to overcome the filibuster to tackle this issue head on? >> i would say if there's any issue that can do it this will be the one. there are two responses advancing legislatively to this wave of efforts to make it tougher to vote, one is the bill known as hr 1 or s 1 in the senate, an omnibus set of election reforms centered on creating automatic same-day online registration as well as guaranteeing voters access to mail voting on demand and 15 days of early voting. the other is a kind of reauthorization and reinvigoration of the voting rights act, the landmark 1965 law that was eviscerated in a 2013 supreme court decision. it is highly unlikely that any republican is going to vote for

s 1, there may be a couple for the voting rights act but the likelihood is that both of them face a filibuster. i think this will be the issue where democrats feel that they are on the strongest ground historically, morally in challenging the filibuster which as you know in response to a question from our colleague kaitlan collins joe biden agreed that he views as a jim crow relic. >> i did want to get your thoughts on biden's first press conference as president. what are your key take a ways about his priorities, how he handled it and how it says about joe biden as president. >> priorities, look, i think that even though biden gave very strong statements on voting rights and didn't give an inch on immigration basically saying he felt no compunction about abandoning trump policies that separated kids from his parents i think he came out of that press conference it is clear that he bawants to be defined a kitchen table concerns. bread and butter concerns. he wants to put shots in arms,

checks in pockets and shovels not ground. it was revealing that amid all of these questions i thought the press didn't do themselves any favor by never asking about the pandemic which is still immediate for most families, but amid all of these questions about other issues what did he say he was going to do next? infrastructure. there will be other elements of administration that will be fighting some of these cultural war and socially divisive issues but biden himself i think is going to define himself as much as he can to the american people as focusing on these lunch pail kitchen table concerns. >> that's all the time we have. we appreciate your thoughts. ron brownstein, really appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. a standstill at the suez canal could mean trouble for global commerce. the efforts under way to free this massive container ship blocking one of the world's most important trade routes. plus the suspect in the boulder supermarket shooting makes his first court appearance. we will have the details.

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 mail letters ship packages anytime anywhere for less a lot less get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/save and never go to the post office again global supply chains could soon be feeling the pressure as crews are scrambling to find a way to free a massive container ship clogging the suez canal after failed attempts to free the ever given dredgers are working to remove up to 26,000

cubic yards, that's about 20,000 cubic meters of sand from around the ship. that's enough sand to fill eight olympic-sized swimming pools. john defterios is tracking developments from abu dhabi. early on the suez canal officials were giving rosy estimates of how long it would take to solve the problem. a couple days in are they giving a more realistic idea of exactly what he it's going to take? >> reporter: this is day four now, kim, and it looks like the hill is getting steeper each day. the suez canal authority put out that number what needs to be dug up but didn't give a timeline which is quite alarming. in the last 24 hours we heard from one of the ceos involved in terms of the salvage operation saying it could take days or weeks. there's 200 vessels there already backed up. in the last hour we heard that

should swell to 300 vessels. so the pressure is on the industry now. so the cost of operation, the cost of lost trade is being more defined as well. $400 million an hour in lost trade adds up to about $10 billion a day. that's why people want to get this moving but we are lacking clarity. is it feasible by next week is what the industry wants to know. >> okay. but then if they can't move it in a week or so what happens then? >> well, in fact, i spoke to some shipping sources last night they said their deadline is next tuesday, one week in. there is expected to be a kind of act of mother nature here, a reasonable high tide between sunday and monday and the industry is talk being it a lot offering some hope. if not the alternative is to reroute and go around the cape of good hope and south africa and come into europe and on to the united states from there. but that adds seven to 12 days of shipping, a lot of costs, a lot of wear and tear on the crew

and that's why they're giving this the extra time to see if there is an escape opportunity here for the ship. >> lots of hopes on that high tide. thanks so much, john defterios in abu dhabi. we have much more to come here on "cnn newsroom." face-to-face, but will they work side-by-side? eu leaders are about to begin the second day of their virtual covid-19 summit struggling to hammer out a deal on covid exports.

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world. i'm kim brunhuber and you're watching "cnn newsroom." the u.s. president has announced a major new goal for america's covid vaccination drive. joe biden made the big announcement at his news conference on thursday where he also praised the u.s. vaccine rollout so far. >> we will by my 100th day in office have administered 200 million shots in people's arms. that's right, 200 million shots in 100 days. i know it's ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has each come close, not even close to what we are doing. >> and ur leaders were to meet at this hour for the second day of their summit on covid-19. it's taking place virtually because infection numbers keep increasing. the big talking point will be the issue of restricting vaccine exports, something the french president supports. joe biden spoke to eu leaders on thursday and called for close

cooperation given the common challenges. international diplomatic editor mick robertson joins me now. give us the highlights and what we can expect today. >> reporter: kim, the message coming from the eu very clearly is they want to step up the vaccine rollout inside the european union. there's a lot of pressure on them, there's a third wave coming. they have talked about proportionality, they've talked about reciprocity, that being they should put -- the european union proportionate if a country outside the eu is doing better than the european union in terms of vaccine rollout then the eu should come first. they didn't get a supporting vote on those tough measures, but they did say that it is important that the eu does -- eu citizens do get their fair share of the vaccine. they say that they now have transparency on what vaccine

manufacturers are doing and they say in that context they will expect companies like astrazeneca to meet their commitments to the european union ahead of other commitments beyond the eu's borders. there was concern in the uk that the measures that could be introduced could stop and limit vaccines coming to the uk. that that could have a significant knock on effect on the uk's vaccine rollout, the uk at least three times ahead of the eu in terms of vaccine rollout. it does seem at the moment as if the uk has avoided that, that the eu has not gone as far as those tough measures, second as you said, it is still possible they may win a round, enough support within that leaders council meeting but it seems at the moment so far that they're going to stop short, kim. >> interesting. we'll follow that throughout the day. cnn's nic robertson in london. thank you very much.

so as well as vaccinations europe is taking other measures to stop the spread of the virus, france is banning outdoor gathering of more than six people, there are also strict measures in place in 19 regions across the country. france has about 100 departments in total. across the channel the british prime minister has backtracked on the idea of vaccine passports for pubs after a backlash from the hospitality industry. let's bring in cnn's scott mclean who is in london for us. got everyone talking when boris johnson floated those covid passports for pubs. seems like the ultimate carrot to get people vaccinated but is it actually doable? >> no final decisions have been made on that. the prime minister kind of treading lightly on this issue at the moment but he said this week that he's been thinking quite deeply about it with the idea of making sure that you can safely go to the pub without the risk of any kind of infection. he said yesterday that there's three ways to do that, obviously you can require someone to show

a negative test, you can require them to show antibodies from a previous infection or proof of vaccination, which now more than half of the adult population in this country has had at least one dose of. as you mentioned, though, there's plenty of critics of this, mostly from the pub industry, from pub owners themselves who are expecting restrictions to be fully lifted by the end of june. they don't want any kind of lingering restrictions beyond that. there are all kinds of ethical and moral considerations to be made since not everybody wants or can get a vaccine as well. the prime minister has acknowledged that those are issues that will need to be sorted out. he said if this is to be brought in it won't be right away, it will be after everyone has had the chance to get the vaccine. even discussing this issue is a luxury that the uk has right now because the situation in france is much, much different. i will show you a graphic that illustrates the situation where

the uk is seeing its case counts steadily decline for a couple months now, france, though, they are going in the opposite direction and the reason why is vaccinations. france has been able to vaccinate only about a third of the number of people that the uk is doing, they simply do not have the kind of supply that this country has and so instead they're resorting to the blunt instrument of new covid restrictions. so more regions now are going into lockdown light, nonessential stores and shops are closing, while schools are remaining open. across the country social gatherings are being restricted to just three people. the uk is going in entirely the opposite direction, pubs are set to open at least outdoors in a couple weeks from now, social gatherings will be loosened starting on monday. given the sort of night and day scenario you can understand why french president emanuel macron is so supportive of this idea of limiting or restricting vaccine

exports out of the eu to places like the uk where obviously the situation is much, much better. kim? >> absolutely. all right. thanks so much, scott mclean in london. appreciate it. the suspect in the boulder supermarket shooting has been moved from the county jail. officials tell cnn that other inmates were asking about him and making threats. in court thursday his attorney asked that the next hearing be delayed so that the defense can assess what she called her client's mental illness. kyung lah has details. >> reporter: handcuffed and in a wheelchair from a gunshot wunt to his right thigh ahmad alissa appeared for the first time as defendant. the 21-year-old sat alert as the judge read his rights in the courtroom. >> sir, do you understand those rights as i've explained them to you this morning? i need you to answer out loud, please. >> yes. >> that was the only time he spoke in his ten-minute hearing. he is charged with ten counts of murder for the ten innocent lives lost at the store.

prosecutors also filed an 11th charge of attempted first degree murder for officer richard tiedel. officer tiedel one of the first responding officers described being shot at by the gunman in the arrest affidavit as he saw officer eric talley fatally wounded. the district attorney says those charges will come after investigators still at the scene today finish collecting all the evidence. the public defender indicated a possible future defense. >> we cannot begin to assess the nature and depth of mr. alissa's mental illness until we have the discovery from the government. >> reporter: mental illness and school years filled with being bullied for being muslim according to alissa's brother who saw him growing increasingly paranoid. his attorneys today did not discuss his current mental state. >> what sort of state is he in right now? >> reporter: a law enforcement source tells cnn investigators are scrubbing through his social

media presence, among them posts like this one where he complained if these racist islamaphobic people would stop hacking my phone and let me have a normal life i probably could. across boulder memorials to remember the victims and ten families unable to grasp the loss including the sister of officer talley. >> my mother called me and she was just screaming and she said his daughter had called her, his young daughter, and said, nana, daddy is dead. this is not okay. it's not okay that i buried my brother. >> reporter: in an act to mark the end of officer talley's watch the boulder police department used the fallen officer's handcuffs to formally place the shooting suspect into custody tweeting this, though this was a small gesture, we hope it is the start of the

healing process that so many of us need at this time. the boulder police department announced that the funeral for officer talley will be on tuesday morning, it will be live streamed so the public can also take part in watching. as far as the suspect, did he not enter a plea in court. the prosecutor already warning the public here that it is going to be a lengthy court process. kyung lah, cnn, boulder, colorado. >> we will have much more news to come here on cnn, including some big name western brands facing a boycott in china after speaking out about how some chinese cotton is produced. that's ahead. t unbeatable relief from your worst cold and flu symptoms. so when you need to show your cold who's boss, grab mucinex all-in-one... and get back to your rhythm. feel the power. beat the symptoms fast.

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xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. some popular western brands are face ago boycott in china. a few big names including h & m and nike have expressed concerns about claims that forced labor

is used to produce cotton in the xinjiang province. they are face ago firestorm on social media. beijing dismisses the allegations. >> reporter: allegation of forced labor in xinjiang is lies fabricate bid anti-china force toss smear china and disrupt xinjiang's security and stability. >> let's bring in our kristie lu stout, standing by in hong kong. this really seems to be exploding online in china. what's the latest here? >> reporter: yeah, exploding in a big way. in fact, the asso associated #isupportxinjiang cotton has been read 4.8 billion times in china. the communist youth league dug up an old statement from h & m and post it had on a popular social media platform in china.

in this statement h & m said it expressed deep concern over reports over the alleged use of forced labor in the production of cotton in xinjiang. when that was post it had went viral and this huge torrent of fury was unleashed directed at h & m with that hashtag being read some 4.8 billion times. this is huge as you can imagine, h & m has been hit hard, the world's second largest clothing retailer from sweden has been taken off and dee plat formed from major e-commerce sites in china. there are reports it has been scrubbed off of online maps in china. it is no longer seen on ride hailing services in china, celebrities have cut their ties with the retailer. h & m insists it has continued to be committed to the china market. it's not just h & m, it's nike, adidas, burberry, a host of big western brand names. i want you to listen to these angry chinese consumers in

beijing and how they support the boycott. take a listen. >> reporter: we should boycott them and let them know that china is not a country to be trifled with. >> translator: i resist any brand that has any bad comments about ore moreland. >> translator: this is our country. they should get out of china. we can choose not to use it, not to wear t it is not necessary for us. >> translator: i think you should respect our country. they won't have a future here if they try to smear china. >> now, xinjiang is a major point of friction between china and western powers. it was in december when the united states announced that it would ban the import of cotton from xinjiang over forced labor concerns. in the past week we have seen the eu, the uk and the united states put sanctions on chinese officials over human rights in xinjiang and china has

retaliated, slapping sanctions on eu accusing them of spreading lies and misinformation. >> thanks so much, kristie lu stout in hong kong. coming up, critics of the duke and duchess of sussex are pointing out contradictions in the things they told oprah winfrey. we will tell you what that's all about. stay with us. you're not using too much are you, hon? charmin ultra soft is so soft you'll have to remind your family they can use less. charmin ultra soft is twice as absorbent so you can use less.

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visit petmeds.com today. the duke and duchess of sussex grabbed headlines around the world with a series of surprising claims in their interview a few weeks ago with oprah winfrey but now critics are picking apart the royal couple's story as max foster reports, they say it was full of inconsistencies. >> reporter: whether or not you're team sussex it's hard to argue against the profound issues raised by the oprah winfrey interview, especially around suicide prevention and confronting racism wherever it may live, but critics of the couple are point to go inconsistencies in the tell-all interview starting with their choice of platform. a major u.s. network with the most established interviewer on the planet when they previously pledged to engage with grassroots media organizations and young up and coming

journalists. then there was this line -- >> no, i have never looked up my husband online. >> reporter: twitter blew up with genuine disbelief especially in light of what former best friend told the daily mail. she was always fascinated by the royal family. she wants to be princess diana 2.0. >> but you were certainly aware of the royals. >> of course. >> reporter: and what about critics' claim that meghan lied about when they were married. >> you know, three days before our wedding we got married. no one knows that, the vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the archbishop of canterbury. >> reporter: the son getting ahold of the marriage license showing the legally binding wedding was in the church not the backyard. a spokesperson clarified the couple exchanged personal vows a few days before their official/legal wedding on may 19th. the couple unknown for their

distrust in the tabloid media and voiced their frustration with how the palace tries to appease certain titles. >> the tabloids are hosted by the palace. the tabloids r there is a construct that's at play there. >> reporter: but tabloids reporters say they have no memory of such parties. russell myers tweeting meghan has claimed buckingham palace throw holiday parties for the tabloids and i'm wondering why i never got a ticket. >> were you silent or silenced. >> reporter: oprah's question has been the subject of countless memes but the answer has been dis constructed, too. >> i've advocated for so long for women to use their voice and then i was silent. >> reporter: is that true? palace insiders will point to many occasions that show that

meghan was a louder voice, they say, particularly on feminist issues. >> right now in the climate that we're seeing with so many campaigns, me too and times up, there is no better time than to really continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people really helping to support them. >> reporter: insiders will also tell you they showed full support in meghan, a junior member of her staff who has left the palace told cnn they belt over backwards as far as i could see, i think there was complete hospitality and kindness and grace. everyone wanted to make it a success a current royal source added, the queen's senior team were directed to avail themselves to make sure she had all the support you needed. >> unlike what you see in the movies there is no class on how to speak, how to cross your legs, how to be royal. there's none of that training. that might exist for other members of the family, that was not something that was offered. >> reporter: but cnn has been told the queen dispatched her

closest aides to ens i think ton palace to offer advice, guidance and tutelage to the duchess. royal aides say this was an unprecedented gesture of support for a new member of the family and every department of the queen's household was open to meghan. then there is the question of titles. >> they were saying they didn't want him to be a prince or a princess, not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol. >> reporter: the protocol the duchess referred to was issued by king george v and limits princely titles to children and grandchildren of the serving monarch as well as the first brown child of the prince of whales, none of which applies to archie though he will automatically become a prince when charles become king. max foster, cnn, hampshire, england. and finally the olympic flame has been lit in japan.

the torch rally began in fukushima thursday ten years after the deadly tsunami. athletes will carry the torch across japan before reaching tokyo for the opening ceremony on july 23rd. of course, the games were delayed a year due to the pandemic and there won't be any international spectators of the summer games because of ongoing concerns, but hope springs eternal. japan's famous cherry blossoms have bloomed early so i guess there's always something to be happy about. and that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. "early start" is next. my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching ...the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine.

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♪ don't feed a hungry voter in georgia, that's now a crime. a new restrictive voting measure signed into law. how it already led to one lawmaker's arrest. gun reform, climate change, immigration not priorities for now. where the president is focusing his agenda. and stuck rock solid, it could take weeks to dislodge a ship blocking the sue eds canal. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is "early start," i'm christine romans. >> good morning, i'm laura jarrett. it's friday, march 26. happy friday, everyone. it's 5:00 a.m. here in new york and we begin this morning with