you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business. rely on the experts at 1800petmeds for the same medications as the vet, but for less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. ♪ ♪ ♪

dozens killed and many more injured when a train derails in taiwan. derek chauvin's supervising officer tells the jury when george floyd should have been released from the choke hold as we enter day five of the trial that's gripped america and the world. and pfizer/biontech's vaccine provides at least six months of protection from covid-19. cnn has an exclusive look at how the shot is manufactured. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada and around the world, i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom." ♪ ♪ >> we begin with breaking news out of taiwan where dozens of dead after a train derailed. you can see rescue teams here in this video helping survivors

from the damaged cars, taiwan's government says at least 41 people were killed. we're hearing from the central news agency that the accident may have happened after a vehicle hit the moving train. let's go straight to ivan watson who is following the developments from hong kong. ivan, a tragic start to a holiday weekend in taiwan. what's the latest there? >> reporter: well, a desperate rescue effort, frankly, after this terrible and deadly train disaster where you have the premiere of taiwan now updating that up to 41 people are believed to have been killed in this accident, including the driver of the train. it was the number 408 train that was traveling down the east side of taiwan from taipei and it was entering a tunnel north of the city of huallen when the derailment occurred and continued inside the tunnel itself. the premiere has said that

though perhaps 100 people have been rescued, many injuries, scores of injuries, that there's still according to the latest figures some 200 people still to be rescued. so that's a tremendous number on a train that earlier we had been reporting for some 360 passengers, now it appears to be up to nearly 490 passengers who were on board the eight cars of this train. when you look at some of the footage here and the aerial footage, this took place on a stretch of track basically on the side of a steep mountain that leads down to the sea and there are skid marks that you can see from a road just above and it appears that some kind of vehicle fell down from the road and hit the train and caused this terrible disaster. so this is big news in taiwan. the president of the country has

tweet bd this, she said, quote, in response to a train derailment in huallen taiwan our emergency services have been fully mobilized to rescue and assist the passengers and railway staff affected. we will continue to do everything we can to ensure their safety in the wake of this heartbreaking incident. complicating matters here is the fact that several of the cars are inside the tunnel and that makes getting access with the kind of heavy equipment that you would need after a major train crash a much more difficult for the rescue crews. it's been i'd estimate a little bit less than eight hours since this accident did take place. kim? >> you mentioned almost 500 people on that train. i understand it was a holiday. is that what played a role here in the possible number of victims? >> reporter: sure, the beginning of a four-day-long weekend, the tomb sweeping festival. some survivors have said that they were on their way to their

home towns or to their families and may have contributed to the large number of people who are on the train at that time.uple taiwan state news agency that they escaped their train car by breaking through a window by bark it out with their luggage to try to get out. and we fortunately have seen footage of people walking away, some clearly not really injured, but judging by the numbers that still remain to be rescued there is a lot of work still to be done and we will have to watch closely at what happens here. it's not -- this may be one of the deadliest train disasters in taiwan's recent history. another one took place in 2018 in the northeast of the country where 18 people died in a derailment that happened at a train station. this much more challenging of course because of the topography

here and the fact that the train had its accident and these cars were basically smushed together inside a railway tunnel. >> unbelievable. let's hope the rescuers can get the rest of the passengers off safely. we will keep following the story. thank you so much, ivan watson in hong kong. testimony will resume in just a few hours at the murder trial of derek chauvin, the former police officer accused of killing george floyd during an arrest last summer. through emotional testimony and new videos prosecutors have been trying to paint a clearer picture of the type of man floyd was and describe what happened in his final moments of life. cnn's sara sidner reports from minneapolis. >> yeah, i was just kind of calling, have you come out to our scene here. >> reporter: the jury heard newly released audio of officer derek chauvin talking on the phone with his supervisor to explain his version of events on may 25th, 2020.

>> we just had to -- had to hold the guy down, he was -- was going crazy -- wouldn't go in the back of the squad. >> reporter: from the witness stand chauvin's police sergeant recalled chauvin's description of events omitted key details. >> did he mention anything about putting his knee on mr. floyd's neck or back? no. >> reporter: the sergeant says he soon arrived on the scene to talk to the police officers involved, then went to the hospital with chauvin and other officers to check on george floyd. >> someone approached me, let me know that he passed away. >> do you have an opinion as to when the restraint of mr. floyd should have ended in this encounter? >> yes. >> what is it? >> when mr. floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint. >> and that was after he was handcuffed and on the ground and no longer resisting?

>> correct. >> reporter: the tears were immediate for thursday's first witness, courteney ross. >> when was it that you first met mr. floyd? >> it's one of my favorite stories to tell. >> reporter: she testified the first time she met george floyd she was upset and he, then a stranger, consoled her. >> he had this great, deep, southern voice, raspy, he was like, sis, are you okay, sis? and i wasn't okay. >> reporter: ross eventually became george floyd's girlfriend. >> we had our first kiss in the lobby. >> reporter: in their nearly three-year relationship she testified they both struggled with prescription pain pill addiction. >> floyd and i both suffered with an opioid addiction. we got addicted and tried really hard to break that addiction many times. >> reporter: the defense honed in on where the drugs came from

and the timeline of their drug use, including an overdose and hospital visit for floyd two months before his death. >> you did not know that he had taken heroin at that time? >> no. >> it was your belief that mr. floyd started using again about two weeks prior to his death, correct? >> i noticed a change in his behavior, yes. >> reporter: in redirect prosecutors highlighted floyd's history and built up tolerance for opioid pills. >> when he took those obviously he didn't die, right? >> no, he did not. >> he was okay after using them? >> yes, he was playing football, hanging out, eating. >> reporter: this video introduced in court showed the moments paramedics loaded floyd into their ambulance. paramedics and firefighters testified they had initially been called to respond to a nonemergency patient with possible intoxication and a mouth injury. >> the information you had as you were initially responding was that there was a mouth injury, correct?

>> yes. >> reporter: the call was later upgraded and when they arrived floyd was unresponsive. >> i thought he was dead. >> reporter: what is remarkable is that even though those two paramedics thought that george floyd was certainly unresponsive and maybe dead, even when they got there derek chauvin was still on the neck of george floyd when he simply wasn't moving for several minutes. sara sidner, cnn, minneapolis. after hearing the testimony from chauvin's former supervisor the floyd family attorney spoke with cnn about how much of an impact it could have had on the trial. listen to this. >> i think it's devastating to the defense, erin, when you hear his sergeant, a person who knows the policies and procedures intimately of the minneapolis police department, to say him keeping his knee on george floyd's neck after he was

restrained and facedown was inappropriate. it's very important that this is all consistent with our principles of common sense and decency and most of all humanity. you don't treat anybody like that if you have one ounce of humanity. obviously derek chauvin had no humanity and we believe the jury will see that and come to the conclusion that brandon, his family and everybody in america who has seen this video have come to the conclusion he was killed from an overdose of excessive force. >> and as the trial pushes ahead at some point the current minneapolis police chief is expected to testify. most people around the world celebrate easter this weekend. health experts in the u.s. and elsewhere are urging people to keep wearing masks and avoid crowds. for those who have been vaccinated, well, there is this

encouraging news, the makers of the pfizer/biontech vaccine say people who have received the first doses six months ago are still showing strong resistance to covid-19. we get the latest from cnn's nick watt in los angeles. >> reporter: pfizer's vaccine is highly effective for at least six months and the study is ongoing. >> it could be a lot longer than that, but at least for six months and that's great news. >> reporter: bad news, human error ruined a batch of the johnson & johnson vaccine during a test run at a plant not yet fda authorized. so no issue with doses already out there, but -- >> it's really quite unfortunate that about 15 million doses are now not going to be able to be used. >> reporter: apparently j&j's delivery schedule remains on track. >> we have been assured that we -- that they expect to meet those deadlines. >> reporter: and the white house goal of all adults eligible by may 1 remains. nearly one in three americans

have already had at least one dose and if supply here in los angeles county meets projections -- >> we can expect to reach 80% vaccine coverage for people 16 and older in just 12 more weeks. >> reporter: so could be herd immunity in l.a. by july 1st, but many states are relaxing restrictions already. some fans in the stands for opening day. >> opening day is always special. this is a little more special. >> reporter: expect some bumps mets/nationals postponed due to covid case. meantime, march confirmed as the busiest month of air travel since the pandemic began. >> we needed to get our daughter out of the house, she's been stuck at home for so long. >> reporter: but the covid-19 death toll isn't falling much anymore, hospitalizations are creeping up. in michigan average new case counts up over 50% in just a week.

>> number one, we've got a high proportion of variants and that means coronavirus spreads faster. >> reporter: the national average daily case count up over 60,000 again. >> which puts you at considerable risk of rebounding up, essentially what they're seeing in europe. >> reporter: another wave there fueled by the variants france just reintroduced at least a month-long limited lockdown. nick watt, cnn, los angeles. most of the european union is in some form of lockdown for the easter holiday for the second year in a row. two big factors, the eu's poor performance in getting people vaccinated and a surge of new infections. riot police in belgium had to clear out springtime revelers in violation of the lockdown there. several injuries and arrests were reported. the event started online as an april fools' joke. nobody was supposed to show up. now, overall at least 27 eu

members have imposed full or partial lockdowns on their citizens to discourage large gatherings, especially during the holiday. germans were facing another lockdown before chancellor angela merkel abruptly changed her mind. let's bring in cnn's frederik pleitgen in berlin. i saw a report which found only a quarter of germans have faith in the government's vaccination strategy. confidence there seems shaken to say the least. >> reporter: yeah, i would say exactly that, kim, i think confidence is shaken and i think that it's probably getting worse by the day here in germany. it's not only confidence in the general efforts to try to stem the pandemic it's also confidence in the government at large. about two thirds now according to a recent poll that actually saw this morning do not have confidence in the government at this point in time. clearly alarm bells going off for angela merkel. as you correctly said, there are new tighter lockdown restrictions in place here over the easter holidays and beyond.

now, the main thing that germany is hoping for now and most of the european union is to get more vaccine, to be able to get more vaccine more quickly and the main company they are counting on right now is biontech and pfizer. biontech just managed to open -- or to get approval for a new factory in the town of marburg that's going to start pumping out and delivering vaccines very, very quickly. i was able to get into that factory and got auto tour around and here is what we saw. >> reporter: this is the heart of biontech's production, a bio reactor that produces mrna, the building block for the pfizer/biontech vaccine. >> we start with manufacturing the drug substance, this is a biochemical process that happens basically in every cell, but here we have shifted to a bio reactor and this takes roughly one day, one to two days. >> reporter: the head of

production at biontech's new production in marr berg, germany, was just certified and she tells me the staff are already ramping up production. >> we all have friends, we have family, we have, you know, a lot of people that are affected by this pandemic situation and we all want to come out. so we are very happy that we can actively do something against the situation we are living in. >> reporter: the bio reactor is operated in a special clean room. it might not look huge, but can produce enough mrna for about 8 million doses every two days biontech says. the company hopes to produce a billion doses within a year at this plant alone. vaccine that's badly needed. right now there's massive demand for vaccines against the novel coronavirus, much more than there is supply around the world. that's why it's so important for plants like this one to not only get up and running but to get up and running at full speed as fast as possible. while countries like the u.s., the uk and israel are

vaccinating their populations quickly, the eu and much of the rest of the world are suffering from severe vaccine shortages. that's despite the fact that so far biontech and pfizer have exceeded the amount of vaccine they promised to deliver. the company's co-founder telling cnn they are constantly trying to increase production. >> this is new technology, you cannot just repurpose vaccine facilities which are there and you can also not train people very fast so we are working and turning every stone basically to upscale and roll out our capa capacities. >> reporter: and the company hopes to further pick up the pace with sites like this getting into full swing. of course, biontech and pfizer in general have now said they want to produce 2.5 billion doses of their vaccine for this year, which is a lot more than they had earlier predicted.

so a lot of european countries counting on that, of course, counting on all the other vaccines out there as well. there have been some hitches along the way with the astrazeneca vaccine, personally here in germany with verbal knee now changing the recommendations to say it should only be given to people who are above the age of 60. so certainly the germans very important to get their hands on other vaccines as well to try to make sure they can get their population quickly inoculated and finally get that vaccination campaign rolling because it still is very, very sluggish here in this country and of course in many other eu countries as well. >> great reporting as always. thanks so much, fred pleitgen in berlin. u.s. president joe biden has revealed his jobs cabinet. they will be in charge of selling his new $2 trillion infrastructure plan and that will probably be as hard to do as it sounds. we will explain. and north dakota is facing a wildfire emergency with an entire town forced to evacuate. that's ahead. stay with us.

lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of illness-causing bacteria detergents leave behind. proven to kill covid-19 do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. our

friends sold their policy to help pay for their medical bills and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned that we can sell all of our policy or keep part of it with no future payments, who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have one hundred thousand dollars or more of life insurance you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit conventrydirect.com to find out if you policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance.

u.s. president joe biden held his first in-person cabinet meeting since taking office, naming five cabinet members to work on his for than $2 trillion

infrastructure plan, but not all democrats are fully on board as cnn's arlette saenz reports. >> reporter: president biden surrounded by his cabinet for the first time and handing out assignments. >> working with my team here in the white house these cabinet members will represent me in dealing with congress, engage the public in selling the plan and help work out the details as we refine it and move forward. >> reporter: the president tasking five of his cabinet secretaries as his so-called jobs cabinet, leading the push on his $2.25 trillion sweeping investment in the country's infrastructure and climate initiatives. >> my buy american standard. >> reporter: the president also instructing his cabinet to make sure agencies buy american made products. >> i will ask you all to report back to me at the next cabinet meeting. >> reporter: the president and his historically diverse 24-member team spaced out in a

socially distanced east room, a break from the traditional sit downs in the cabinet room in pre-covid times. >> we have a lot of business to do. >> reporter: getting in a infrastructure bill through congress will be a heavy lift. the senate's top republican calling the price tag and tax hikes a big mistake. >> i'm going to fight them every step of the way because i think this is the wrong prescription for america. >> reporter: the bill also presents a unity test for democrats with the white house aware of the moderate and progressive divides. >> what we are looking for is proposals of alternatives. we feel there are a lot of areas of agreement and the president will certainly be inviting republicans and democrats here to the oval office to have discussions and meetings about the path forward to hear their ideas. >> reporter: the white house says those meetings are set to start after the easter holiday and this is similar to the approach the president took with the american rescue plan when he invited democrats and republicans into the oval office to hear their ideas before ultimately going it alone

without gop support. white house officials acknowledge that this process will be a longer one as they are looking to get the measure passed by the summer. arlette saenz, cnn, the white house. the number of children in the custody of u.s. customs and border production dropped on wednesday. it seems that the biden administration is transferring more of these children to shelters better suited for them operated by health and human services. new facilities for them are opening in texas. now, this night vision video here shows smugglers dropping two small children over a border fence between the u.s. and mexico. the two little sisters just three and five years old we're told are now in u.s. custody. the governor of texas says drug cartels are trying to recruit smul letters publicly on social media. listen to this. >> a concern that we have is how brazen and open the drug cartels are getting in trying to recruit

people here in the state of texas to assist them ithese crimes. i was provided these -- i want to show you these two pictures if you can zoom in, these are two pictures from tiktok and these are ads or videos and things that are being run by cartels on tiktok trying to recruit people in texas to assist them commit their crime. >> so what is u.s. congress doing about the border crisis? well, some lawmakers in the house have introduced a bipartisan bill that would provide a $1 billion fund and resources to address the problem. here is what democratic senator joe manchin says about it. >> we should be able to go through the process of -- the sovereign process of vetting them and doing all of the things necessary before they come here. this would be safer, it would be

much more humane, it would be much more cost-effective for each one of them, the sacrifices they make. it's something that we should be doing. how is that going to happen? well, we are going to have to be what some people might interpret as being very difficult, very strong, very tough and by being tough we're going to be tough on crime. >> all right. there is much more ahead for you on cnn, including a look at proposals coming from republican legislators across the u.s. that would limit people's ability to vote. plus a new watchdog report slams u.s. capitol police for lack of preparation ahead of the deadly january 6th insurrection. stay with us.

♪ welcome back to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and around the world, i'm kim brunhuber and you're watching "cnn newsroom." here is the latest on our top story, the deadly train derailment in taiwan, the number of people killed has gone up to at least 48. dozens more are being treated in at least six nearby hospitals. the train derailed in a tunnel making the rescue operation more complicated. we will keep you up to date on the story as we learn more. republican lawmakers across the u.s. are pursuing hundreds of potential changes to america's election laws. the measures introduced many new impediments to voting and at least one business leader says they are a response to donald trump's repeated lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

dianne gallagher has the latest. >> 18 ai's and 13 nay's the bill is passed. >> reporter: the texas state senate swent a sweeping bill on how people in the lone star state could vote. >> it's easy to vote and hard to cheat. >> reporter: senate bill 7 seems to target voting in the recent democratic stronghold the harris county, home to houston, one of the country's most diverse cities and democrats say that it will make it harder for people of color to vote. >> every minority member of the texas senate, all nine of us, believe that this bill will impact minorities negatively by making it more difficult for african-americans and mexican-americans to vote, making it easier for them to be harassed by overzealous poll watchers and diminishing the likelihood that election outcomes will represent the preferences of we the people. >> reporter: a new talley by the left-leaning brennan center for

justice finds that 361 bills with provisions that would restrict voting have been introduced in 47 states as of march 24th. that's a 43% jump in the number of bills since brennan released its last report a little over a month ago. most of the bills target absentee voting, nearly a quarter seek to impose stricter voter id requirements, a handful of states have already acted including georgia where some are calling for economic consequences in response to the state's new voting law. >> this boycott is against coca-cola, delta airlines. >> reporter: including pulling the mlb all-star game set for july out of atlanta. the commissioner says the timing would make that difficult but president joe biden says that if the players want to change location, he supports it. >> i would strongly support them doing that. the very people who are victimized the most are the people who are the leaders in these -- in these various sports and it's just not right.

>> reporter: georgia's business leaders under public pressure are now speaking out. >> let me be crystal clear and unequivocal, this legislation is unacceptable. >> reporter: the ceo of delta, the state's largest private employer, blasting the law as based on a lie of 2020 election fraud. saying in a memo, it's evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives. that is wrong. in response the georgia house passed an amendment rejoking delta's jet fuel tax break. >> we're going to start taxing jet fuel after july 1st, 2021. >> he took away the delta tax exemption as a retaliation. >> reporter: but the effort died when the senate failed to take it up. governor brian kemp says the companies are caving to public pressure, claiming these concerns were not raised during conversations with delta before the bill was signed. >> i'm not going to be bullied by these people but i'm also not

run ago public corporation. they will have to answer to their shareholders. there is a lot of people that work for them and that have done business with them that are very upset and i will let them deal with that. >> reporter: meanwhile, in michigan republicans have introduced nearly 40 bills that could make it harder for people to vote, even raising the possibility of trying to sidestep an all but certain veto from the state's democratic governor. >> the fact of the matter is this is a solution in search of a problem and it is unacceptable and so if and when those bills get to my desk and they are aimed at making it harder for people to vote they will get vetoed. >> reporter: how exactly could michigan republicans get around a potential vet toe from governor whitmer? there is this quirk this michigan law that allows the legislature to enact a measure without the governor's signature if they can obtain 340,000 signatures. democrats have already warned that if they try to force through restrictive measures, there will be legal challenges.

>> that was dianne gallagher reporting there. you will remember a black lawmaker in georgia was arrested outside the governor's office as he signed the state's new law. democratic representative park cannon was led away in handcuffs after she knocked on the governor's door during the bill signing. she faces two felony charges. she talked to don lemon about her traumatic experience. >> i was afraid just like many americans are when they come into contact with law enforcement that there would be a need for me to protect myself, but instead i was able to just continue to think about the world was watching, people could see, and it was so very terrifying in that moment i was hopeful that people would see that i was being nonviolent and even as we speak right now the legislative session is over, the

pen strokes have been made but the people's voices have not been heard. >> the video is up now of you being arrested as you were knocking on the door there, two troopers there, one now and then another one walks in. have you had a chance to look at that video and if you have what do you think when you see it? >> yes, and it makes me wonder why. why were they arresting me? why were they doing this? why did the world have to experience another traumatizing arrest? >> attorney grigs, let me bring you in now. thank you for waiting patiently. let's talk about the charges against the representative here. two felonies. how can knocking on a door in a place that you work result in a potential eight years in prison? it's just unfathomable to think about. >> yes, definitely unconscionable. to merely be asking for transparency and to be present

in the moment when this bill was being signed so that you can witness it on behalf of 4.5 million georgians that will be affected and so that you can report back. as representative cannon said, for the last five years she's always been present to witness the bills and that's all she wanted to do that day and i think it's horrendous that an individual would be subjected to the potential of being incarcerated for over eight years for something that she's routinely done for many years and just demanded transparency in this moment. in a scathing new report the government watchdog for the u.s. capitol police is laying out the agency's failures leading up to the january 6th insurrection. five people were killed and nearly 140 law enforcement officers were injured during and as a result of the riot. cnn's brian todd has details. >> reporter: a u.s. capitol police force overwhelmed and its own inspector general now says

woefully unprepared for the january 6th violence. a source familiar with a new preliminary report from the department's inspector general tells cnn the report says the capitol police had intelligence as early as december 30th suggesting the protesters may have been inclined to become violent, but that the department did not prepare a comprehensive department-wide plan for demonstrations planned for january 6th. >> you would like to think that with adequate planning and preparation you could have done a much better job to keep them from at least getting inside the capitol. >> reporter: the inspector general also criticized the capitol police for not passing around information from outside agencies, like a memo from the fbi's norfolk field office that was disseminated the day before the riot warning of a war at the capitol. the new report says a capitol police intelligence officer sent that fbi memo around internally, but the current and former capitol police chiefs have said it never got to their level and they were never warned about the potential scale of the attack.

>> no credible threat indicated that tens of thousands would attack the u.s. capitol, nor did the intelligence received from the fbi or any other law enforcement partner indicate such a threat. >> they've got to look internally at their intelligence capabilities, communications, their preparation, certainly there's already been talk about a rapid deployment force and so forth. >> reporter: meantime, the attorney for two u.s. capitol police officers who are suing former president donald trump has spoken to cnn. officer sydney hem bee says he was crushed against doors, sprayed with chemicals. officer james blasingame was slammed against a stone column. they said they suffered the injuries because trump allegedly inflamed, incited and directed the mob. >> they were attacked over and over and over by people who told them, hey, we came from the president and you should join us. >> reporter: the former

president has denied inciting the riot. this comes as prosecutors have charged rioter daniel rodriguez with eight counts including assaulting an officer for the attack on d.c. metropolitan police officer michael fanone. they say rodriguez tased officer if a known, beat him with a flagpole. if a known was dragged down the steps of the capitol. if a known did tell cnn some rioters tried to help him but -- >> i think the conclusion i have come to is thank you, but [ bleep ] you for being there. >> reporter: officer fanone suffered a heart attack as well as a concussion and posttraumatic stress disorder. brian todd, cnn, washington. more canadians are ending up in intensive care because of covid-19 and they're getting younger as well. we will show you what's behind

this alarming case surge. and lockdowns, curfews and closures, europe is preparing for another major holiday under heavy restrictions. ahead what can and can't be done this easter weekend.

hi sabrina! hi jen! hi. so you're the scientist here. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. really?! this prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. impressive! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.

see every delivery... every yikes... and even every awwwwwwww... wait, where was i? introducing self protection from xfinity. designed to put you in control. 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.

the canadian province of ontario says variants are spreading at alarming rates and it could be weeks before new cases and hospitalizations ease up. so officials are taking emergency action and shutting down for at least a month. cnn's paula newton has details. >> reporter: the province of ontario in canada is now announcing an emergency break or shutdown for at least the month of april. at issue are menacing variants that continue to spread throughout the province and really the concern is the amount of hospitalizations and icu admissions among younger people. the province already saying that icu capacity is at a historic

high already. at this point they say they cannot afford for case toss continue to increase and canada's top doctor has also indicated that most of canada is now in what they're calling a third resurgence. while about 15% of canadians have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the vaccine rollout is still far too slow in canada at this point in time to try to mitigate any of the hospitalizations or icu admission that is would happen in this so-called third wave. paula newton, cnn, atlanta. the centers for disease control and prevention has some good news for fully vaccinated americans. they can celebrate easter indoors with no masks, but for those who haven't been fully vaccinated the cdc says they should stay home or celebrate outdoors while socially distancing. michael holmes look at the restrictions in europe where cases are surging again.

>> reporter: inside the named notre dame cathedral a holy week mass is nearly empty as catholic leaders across paris prepare for another easter in a pandemic. this weekend france enters a third lockdown, restricting movement, limiting domestic travel and continuing curfews. in the vatican a similar pandemic holiday is ahead. easter crowds won't throng st. peters square this year, instead pope francis will hold a sparse mass in the basilica as the vatican follows italy's nationwide lockdown. they are among millions of europeans bracing for a somber easter weekend as governments try to control rising infections while vaccinations sputter across the eu. in germany chancellor angela merkel walked back plans to extend a national lockdown through easter, but she issued a

public appeal. >> translator: it should be a quiet easter with those closest to you with very reduced contact. i rj you to refrain from all nonessential travel and that we uphold all the rules. >> reporter: though a hard lockdown was averted, national curbs on social contact and gatherings remain as the country battles a third wave of new cases. amid restrictions at home tens of thousands of germans planned easter getaways in the sun flocking to the spanish island of mallorca, but span cards themselves can't do the same while much of the country remains open travel between regions is large largely banned. social events are also limited during holy week. on sunday worshippers can attend church but most large easter celebrations are canceled. soo, too, in the uk, residents there will spend easter under a second phase of lockdown but easter restrictions are offering

renewed optimism. performing a streaming good friday service written's royal opera chorus hoepts to greet audiences in may. >> it's only, you know, about the springtime and celebrating coming out of the lockdown and luckily we got a little bit of sun and it's about greeting, you know, easter time and greeting the world, you know, after lock down. >> reporter: glimmers of hope for a new future as another pandemic holiday comes to pass across europe. michael holmes, cnn. a tourist town in north dakota has started to evacuate as the entire state faces a wildfire emergency. we will have a live report from our meteorologist next. stay with us. 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.

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

rely on the experts at 1800petmeds for the same medications as the vet, but for less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. north dakota's governor has declared a wildfire emergency for the entire state. the measure allows the state's national guard to be deployed to blackhawk hooems to fight the flames. the fire forced the evacuation of the entire town of medora in

the western part of the state. let's bring in meteorologist derek van dam. what can you tell us? looks very serious, obviously. >> well, kim, conditions on the ground are like a tinderbox just like much of the western u.s., the great basin in particular, but now this drought weather has also spread to much of the northern and central plains. look at the conditions that they have to deal with, forcing the evacuations across this t smalltown in the southwestern part of the state. today we have elevated fire conditions which means that the combination of stronger wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour, the low humidity and the extremely dry vegetation means that all the ingredients are necessary for the fire weather conditions to continue. look at the red flag warnings that are extending from the dakotas all the way to the texas and oklahoma panhandle, anywhere you see that shading of pink. high pressure firmly in control

of the weather, that suppresses cloud cover, allows for sunshine to come out in maximum force, you couple that with the above average temperatures even across the dakotas right now several record high temperatures possibly being broken through the course of the day today. unfortunately looking ahead our forecast radar imagery is not showing much in the way of moisture, no rain in this forecast, in fact, we will stay high and dry for the next seven days across southwestern north dakota and much of the west for that matter, but here is a look at the seven-day forecast for medora, north dakota, you can see dry as a bone right through the weekend, cooling off only somewhat by monday and tuesday of next week. kim? >> thanks so much, derek van dam. appreciate it. and that perhaps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. "early start" is up next. many plug-ins are stuck in the past.

they release a lot of scent at first but after a while, you barely know they're working. new febreze fade defy plug works differently. it's the first plug-in with built-in technology to digitally control how much scent is released to smell 1st day fresh for 50 days. it even tells you when it's ready to be refilled. upgrade to febreze fade defy plug.

♪ when mr. floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint. >> a big setback for derek chauvin's defense, his supervisor and other witnesses leaving little doubt he went too far. vaccinated americans can celebrate easter together indoors without masks, new guidance from the cdc on how to celebrate easter. and another shoe drops in the investigation of congressman matt gaetz. what sources tell cnn he showed lawmakers on the