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 in the kpats and all around the world, you are watching "cnn newsroom" and i'm paula newton. the minneapolis police chief testifies against his former officer derek chauvin saying that the ex-cop broke policy when he put his knee on george floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. then the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention says 40% of american adults have had at least one vaccine dose, but will it be enough to ward off another wave of covid-19?

and jubilation as the baylor bears win their first men's ncaa championship and, of course, dramatic fashion, upsetting a team that had been in pursuit of a perfect season. ♪ >> so the man who was with george floyd before he died and even before police were called on that fateful day last may is set to appear before a judge. maurice hall was a friend of floyd and was in the passenger seat of the car when confronted by police but the public may not hear hall's unique perspective in the trial of ex-minneapolis police officer derek chauvin. his lawyers say he will plead the fifth amendment to protect against self-incrimination if

called to testify. now, it comes on the heels of monday's testimony from chauvin's former boss who says the former police officer's actions absolutely violated department policy. cnn's sara sidner breaks down what we've learned so far. >> reporter: the prosecution's 21st witness and former officer in derek chauvin's murder trial was his ultimate boss, the chief of police. >> what is the officer supposed to do to a person in crisis? >> to attempt to deescalate that situation. >> the chief testified he first learned of the severity of his officer's actions against george floyd by a community member. >> close to midnight a community member had contacted me and said, chief, almost verbatim, but, said, chief, have you seen

the video of your officer choking and killing that man? >> reporter: the chief testified chauvin violated the department's neck restraint policy and he detailed its use of force policy, which also takes into account the severity of a potential crime. >> clearly when mr. floyd was no longer responsive and even motionless, to continue to apply that level of force to a person proned out, handcuffed behind their back, that -- that in no way, shape or form is anything that is by policy, it is not part of our training and it is certainly not part of our ethics or our values. >> reporter: we also heard from the emergency room doctor who treated floyd when the ambulance dropped him off at the hospital unresponsive. >> did you pronounce him

formally dead? >> yes. >> did you receive a report that he had received cpr from any of the officers who may have been on the scene on may 25th, 2020? >> no. it's well-known that any amount of time that a patient spends in cardiac arrest without immediate cpr markedly decreases the chance of a good outcome. >> reporter: dr. bradford langen felled testified he believes george floyd died from hypoxia or a lack of oxygen, the prosecution is trying to prove it was from the 9 minutes 29 seconds chauvin had his knee on lloyd's neck, the defense is trying to say it is illicit drugs in floyd's system coupled with his medical history. >> certain drugs can cause hypoxia, agreed? >> yes. >> specifically fentanyl? >> that's correct. >> how about methamphetamine? >> it can. >> combination of the two? >> yes. >> reporter: but the doctor

testified paramedics normally report to him drug overdoses or extreme agitation. >> did they say to you for purposes of caring or giving treatment to mr. floyd that they felt he had suffered a drug overdose? >> not in the information they gave, no. >> reporter: the commander who was in charge of police training back in may testified what she saw chauvin do to floyd was not consistent with their training. >> and how does this differ? >> i don't know what kind of improvised position that is. so that's not what we train. >> reporter: it was another extraordinary day because we heard from the chief of police. you don't often hear from so many officers and certainly the chief of police in this case standing very strongly against the kind of force that his former officer, derek chauvin, used and he went down a list of what the reasons are for using force and they were pretty clear. it was whether or not the officer or others were in

potentially grave danger. whether or not he was actively -- and that's an important word -- actively resisting arrest or attempt to go evade arrest. and then lastly the police are supposed to consider the crime that the person is being accused of. if you look at that in its totality the chief said this was absolutely unnecessary to be on his neck with your knee for more than nine minutes and it went against not only their policy, but their ethical rules as well. sara sidner, cnn, minneapolis. now as you can imagine we've had significant reaction here on cnn to the minneapolis police chief's bombshell testimony. an attorney for george floyd's family highlighted one of the most important parts of that testimony. >> george needs to be controlled momentarily, maybe a knee is okay momentarily, but what the chief is telling us is, you know, we watched george lie there lifeless for minutes.

there's no police purpose in holding somebody under your knee, asphyxiating them once they're lifeless. they can't resist when they are dead. >> and cnn's chris cuomo spoke with legal analyst elliot williams. williams said the chief's appearance in court is so significant because a more credible testimony may be hard to find. >> even starting with the fact that the chief of police is even testifying in the first place is itself significant. very rarely does someone at that level of the police force ever testify in a criminal trial. so number one, that's profound, and then of course the fact that he laid out what the standards and policies were for the minneapolis police department so that they were clearly violated is itself significant. as you have and i have talked about, this is early, the defense still has to present their case and we're just seeing the prosecution's case here, but

i have a hard time believing that the defense could at any point put forward a witness as certainly not the chief of police or a witness of that level of stature. so this was big. >> now, more important testimony also monday came from the doctor who pronounced george floyd dead. you will want to listen to this. cnn's anderson cooper spoke with a forensic scientist about the doctor's findings and where they are so important at this point to the case. >> he concluded that it was due to hypoxia, which is a result of asphyxia. asphyxia can come about for many different reasons and that really is the crux of the matter. so that's where we have to answer the question is what led to the hypoxia? was it due to the positional asphyxia? was it a compression asphyxia? was the airway blocked?

and that is resolved in the autopsy report. >> you've, i believe, looked at the autopsy report. is that resolved? >> well, the autopsy report, as you know, goes through the body from head to toe and it's various abrasions and bruises to the face, to the shoulders, to the arms are described. they also describe problems that were of natural cause, in other words, mr. floyd had coronary artery disease, there was a narrowing of the vessels, he had hypertension, he had an enlarged heart, but, you know, remember that a medical examiner also brings into the conclusion reports of the police and videotapes as well before any conclusion is reached. so it does look like the medical examiner agrees that it is asphyxia. >> now, of course, we will

continue to bring you the latest on the trial of derek chauvin when court resumes later today. so more good news for the united states in its fight against the coronavirus. the cdc says more than 40% of adults and 75% of seniors have now received at least one dose of the vaccine. now, the white house says the u.s. will have enough vaccines for all americans by the end of next month. americans are ready to get moving. cnn's alexandra field has more. >> reporter: air travel up more than tenfold from a year ago on sunday. the surge fueled by the holiday weekend and an itch felt everywhere to get back out there. >> i feel like because people are probably like just tired of being at home. >> reporter: as so many rushed to put the pandemic behind them new covid-19 cases are rising across the country for a fourth week running according to the

cdc. >> we know that these increases are due in part to more highly transmissible variants. >> reporter: but health experts are still divided over whether we will see a true fourth wave. >> we really are in a category 5 hurricane status with regard to the rest of the world. at this point we will see in the next two weeks the highest number of cases reported globally since the beginning of the pandemic. >> reporter: the spread of infection in the u.s. now happening among young people. >> what we're seeing is pockets of infection around the country, particularly in younger people who haven't been vaccinated. >> reporter: dr. scott gottlieb confident the increasing rate of vaccination will head off another surge. >> i don't think it's going to be a true fourth wave. >> reporter: but that doesn't mean it's time to let up on the precautions. >> do your part. wear a mask. socially distance. get vaccinated when it's your turn. >> reporter: more americans are. for the first time over the weekend more than 4 million shots were reported administered in a single day. nearly one in four adults are

now fully vaccinated. for them dr. anthony fauci says updated guidance on what you should and shouldn't do will come when the data is in. >> you're protecting yourself and you very, very unlikely will get sick if you get vaccinated, but also it will give you a freedom of getting back to some degree of normality. >> reporter: long awaited but amid so much suffering still. a new model estimates covid-19 has taken a parent from nearly 40,000 u.s. children. >> reporter: the disproportionate impact on the black community. black children make up 14% of the children in the united states, they make up 20% of children who have lost a parent to covid-19. alexandra field, cnn, new york. in england it is getting ready to ease covid restrictions next week. starting april 12th the country is moving to stage 2 of its

so-called roadmap when shops, gyms, hairdressers and outdoor hospitality areas can finally reopen. prime minister boris johnson explained how he was going to mark the occasion. >> monday the 12th i will be going to the pub myself and cautiously but irreversibly raising a pint of beer to my lips. we think that these changes are fully justified by the data which show that we're meeting our full tests for easing the lockdown. >> now, we will have more on that from salma abdelaziz standing by in london. first we go to melissa bell, she has new details on a probe, an actual probe, launched by french officials into apparently elite dinner parties flouting covid rules. melissa, you and i both know nothing can bust a lockdown quicker than that feeling that it is not being applied equitably. what's going on here? >> reporter: that's right, paula.

it isn't simply about the injustice of the wealthy or the elites having access to these restaurants, according to the allegation that is came out of this undercover report, but the fear that some ministers might have been involved because then of course you need to add the accusation of hypocrisy. restaurants in france have been closed since october. what this undercover report that appeared on french television over the weekend shows, apparently are restaurants opening their doors with people dining inside without wearing masks and the maitre de clee clarg there is no covid here, asking her to take off her mask. this has been the subject of investigation. one of the people seen in the report, one of the owners claims that ministers had dined at his restaurant the week before. so one of the big questions is who those ministers might be and that will be part of the subject of the investigation. it will be looking, paula, both into who might have held such dinners, who might have secretly opened their restaurants and who might have attended.

minister after minister have come out on the media saying any such flouting of covid-19 rules would be unacceptable and anyone involved should be punished to the full extent of the law but clearly this is a story that has gripped france because ordinary french men and women haven't been able to dine in a restaurant since the very end of october. >> end of october. melissa, i'm not even french and i'm floored by the details you just gave me. incredible. now to salma, we just heard boris johnson talking about putting a measly pint to his lips and yet even in his announcement today quite a note of caution. why? >> reporter: absolutely, paul l.a. i mean, there was a bit of heartbreak yesterday to be honest because there had been more expected from this announcement. we already knew about the april 12th date, that was almost a reconfirmation of the fact that nonessential shops will reopen next week. what everybody was holding their breath for was more information about international travel and information about when mass gatherings, mass events, night

clubs, sports events, when that can resume, when you can begin to inch towards normal life. the prime minister taking a very cautious approach on international travel, saying that we have to be aware, we have to be realistic about what's happening in other countries, a reference to europe there, and the spikes that you're seeing in france and in italy, lockdowns and restrictions being rolled out in some parts of europe dealing with a third wave. the prime minister saying these destinations may very well cause the virus to be reimported to the uk. it's too early to tell when we can restart international travel. we will aim for may 17th but a lot of work to be done there still. there is a global task force, task force for the government that will be assessing that plan. the other plan that there was a lot of anticipation around was the covid status certifications, essentially what we call vaccine passports. that was supposed to be the gateway, the ticket into going into a sports stadium or going back to a nightclub or attending a comedy night. again, on that the prime minister saying early stages,

there is a lot of controversy around t paula, and i think that's why you're hearing such a cautious approach on that item in the agenda because members of his own party saying that this could be divisive, this could be discriminatory. one member of parliament saying that it would create a two-tier britain. so he is dealing with some push back in getting these measures through, paula. >> still a lot of controversy there. just lifting the restrictions. salma, i appreciate that update from london and melissa bell in paris. india is in the grip of a second wave of the virus with more distressing case numbers every day. it reported more new infections than any country in the world last week and on monday became only the second nation to report more than 100,000 new cases in a single day. we want to go live to new delhi. the raw numbers are alarming enough. does there seem to be a strategy here in place in order to try to mitigate the spread?

>> reporter: i'm glad you asked me that question because news is just coming in that the union territory of delhi in which the capital of india also lies, new delhi, there is going to be a -- enforced until the end of april. this is because cases have been going up here, almost 3,500 cases in delhi itself. if you remember maharashtra in which the financial capital of india lies, mumbai, has reported 50,000 cases and 7,000 cases. in maharashtra there are complete lockdowns on the weekends until the end of the month. you will see the same thing in delhi from today. there is this fear there could be more cases, restrictions are being put in place, the prime minister on sunday held a high-level meeting. there will be more government meetings that will be held over

this weekend and the next to make sure that more of these kind of measures can be put in place. we cannot rule out the possibility of more partial lockdowns across india especially in those states which are heavily affected by covid. the testing has been quite good across maharashtra as well at this point which has stopped the charts ever since covid hit india. at this point in time it is important to also note that gatherings in places are a huge reason for these cases going up along with religious festivals, one of the biggest festivals across the world, not only india is under way and we are expecting hundreds of thousands of people to converged within the next one month until the end of april, rather, at this place. so that is going to be a huge worry if it turns into a superspreader. we also have elections in five states across india. there have been addresses being made by politicians to people in these five states who have been

gathering at these venues, which is another worry, paula. >> right. and so recapping the news there, a curfew for where you are in new delhi coming soon. we appreciate the update. skill to come for us, north korea says it will not compete in the tokyo olympics later this year. we will tell you why. and celebrations, you know it, in texas as baylor stuns the basketball world to win the ncaa championship. we will tell you how it was won.

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there is a new name on the men's ncaa championship trophy, baylor. yes, baylor, stunned the previously undefeated gonzaga to win their first basketball title. andy scholes tells us w all went down. >> what a performance by the baylor bears in this final four. they dominated houston and then just crushed gonzaga's dreams of a perfect season and now for the first time ever they can call themselves national champions. this title game really was over from the start. the bears veteran guards,

mitchell, butler and oteef bouncing on the zags. they were knocking down shot after shot, playing stifling defense. baylor up 19 points halfway through the first half and never looked back. the bears winning in dominant fashion 86-70. >> unbelievable players, the people that have come for 18 years and put in work, our fans that have been with us for the lean years, the good years, they all deserve this. the city of waco deserves this. texas, we've got a national championship, too. the state deserves it. >> this was one of the greatest turnovers for a program in basketball history. 18 years ago baylor was reeling from theurder of patrick den a he by teammate dotson. the program was severely penalized for years. baylor was at the absolute bottom. enter coach drew. he turned baylor into a

perennial powerhouse and the bears are now on top as national champions. >> our thanks to andy scholes. south korea is expressing regret over a decision by north korea to drop out of the tokyo olympics over the coronavirus concerns. cnn's will ripley has been following the developments over the last few hours. will, prizing in a way and yet i know how closely you follow this. given how north korea has been handling the virus, it was really predictable in a way, especially given the way cases are going now. >> reporter: yes, i mean, north korea is essentially more her medically sealed and isolated because of the pandemic than they have ever been before. most foreign diplomats left the country and the diplomats who remain as foreigners are treated as if they have covid even though they have been in isolation for more than a year. if they are going to act that way towards foreign diplomats it's hard to imagine a scenario

where they would send their athletes to tokyo which is grappling with a possible fourth wave with an even more infectious and possibly vaccine-resistant variant and put those athletes at risk of becoming infected and coming back into the north with its dilapidated health care system and absolutely no ability to help people in the event of a major pandemic. they just don't have the resources. so there is the public safety aspect of this. north korea doesn't want to expose its athletes saying that there is a global health crisis but there are also politics at play. ever since diplomacy collapsed between the former u.s. president donald trump and kim jong-un the north has shown zero interest in officially talking with either south korea for the united states. back in 2018 at the pyeongchang winter games it was a different story, north korea had wrapped up a round of provocative weapons testing including an icbm launch, they imposed this

moratorium, kim jong-un sent his sister to the opening ceremonies and that opened the door for an inter-korean dialogue and later the summits with the united states that have now brought us back to this. north korea not going to the games and less than two weeks ago they launched two ballistic missiles in their first direct challenge to the new u.s. president joe biden. history certainly repeating itself but i have to say, paula, north korea has not missed a summer games since they boycotted the seoul olympics back in 1988. so certainly a set back for south korean president moon jae-in. near the end of his term, this probably would have been the last opportunity to get something going for the north koreans. >> it did seem like an opportunity there and will not come to fruition. thanks for the report. president joe biden is keen to push forward with his infrastructure plans. coming up, we tell you why it isn't just republicans who have a problem with it.

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bounce forward, with comcast business. now to the biden administration's attempt to get its massive infrastructure plan through congress. republicans are attacking it saying democrats are putting a lot more in that bill than just infrastructure. one of the president's top cabinet picks transportation secretary pete buttigieg is tackling that issue head-on. >> i know there's a lot of quibbling over the definition of infrastructure, i've been puzzled to hear a lot of republicans express a view that things like water and wastewater pipes don't count as infrastructure, ng this he do and they're very important for us to be able to live and thrive and have a strong economy. same thing with broadband. i know brond band is not traditional infrastructure, but railroads weren't traditional infrastructure until we built

them. part of good infrastructure policy is thinking about the future. >> now, the biden administration faces an uphill battle to get the legislation through and not just from republicans as kaitlan collins explains. >> reporter: president biden is defending his proposal to revamp the nation's infrastructure against republican attacks. >> i think the definition of infrastructure has changed, but they know we need it. >> reporter: republicans say biden's $2 trillion plan goes far beyond what most consider to be traditional infrastructure, like roads and bridges, by funding other democratic priorities, like child and elderly care. >> they're trying to take 70% of this bill and call it infrastructure in a new way than we've ever talked about infrastructure before. >> reporter: republicans have also criticized how biden wants to pay for his plan by raising

the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. >> i can't imagine that's going to be very appealing to many republicans. >> reporter: but there are also cracks within biden's own party. the white house is defending the corporate tax rate raise even as a critical democratic vote, senator joe manchin, says he won't support it. >> some think it's too small, frankly there have been folks who have come out on both sides. >> as the bill exists today it needs to be changed. >> reporter: some progressive members of the party say the package itself isn't big enough. >> in order for us to realize this inspiring vision, we need to go way higher. >> reporter: as that debate plays out on capitol hill president biden is weighing in on another. >> i would strongly support them doing that. >> reporter: the white house says biden supports a decision by major league baseball to move its all-star game out of georgia after republicans in the state passed a new voting law. >> that was their decision. they made that decision and as he stated earlier, he certainly supports that.

>> reporter: biden has been extremely critical of the new law calling it a 21st century version of jim crow but faced criticism himself after he falsely claim the law ends voting hours early. >> you can't do that. come on. or you're going to close a polling place at 5:00 when working people just get off. >> reporter: the white house acknowledged it doesn't change election day voting hours today. >> the president does acknowledge that the new law doesn't change election day voting hours, right? >> well, look, kaitlan, it also doesn't expand them for early voting and makes early voting shorter. so there are a lot of components of the legislation he is concerned about and that's what he was expressing. >> reporter: the president also is pushing back on republicans who say that by raising the corporate tax rate it's going to drive these businesses to leave the u.s. and head quarter their corporations elsewhere. he says there is no evidence of that, but of course we should note it also came on a day when the treasury secretary janet yellen called for there to be a

global minimum tax rate as well. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. u.s. congressman matt gaetz says he is absolutely not resigning. the justice department is investigating the republican lawmaker over allegations involving potential sex trafficking and prostitution. cnn's paula reid reports gaetz is taking new steps to clear his name. >> reporter: today congressman gaetz published an op-ed where he tried to frame the ongoing criminal investigation as another political witch-hunt. he also denied allegations of prostitution and sleeping with an underaged girl, writing, first, i have never ever paid for sex. and second, i, as an adult man, have not slept with a 17-year-old. one thing gaetz did not address in his op-ed is the separate set of allegations first reported by cnn that he was showing nude pictures of women he allegedly slept with to other lawmakers, including when he was on or near the floor of the house.

that conduct is not under criminal investigation, but it's another in a series of escalating scandals surrounding the lawmaker. even as he denies the allegations in that op-ed, cnn has learned gaetz is building a legal team to defend him as this moves forward. his lead attorney has added another lawyer with experience in white collar crimes. it's not clear when the second attorney was added but it suggests they may be preparing to possibly have to defend against financial transactions in addition to any specific sexual encounters. we were also hearing from a former gaetz staffer who said the fbi reached out to him. the staffer is nathan nelson, he is gaetz's former director of military affairs. in a florida press conference he said two fbi agents questioned him at his house last week about gaetz's alleged criminal conduct. they apparently asked him if he left his job working for the congressman because of this type

of behavior. now, nelson denied having any knowledge of any illegal activities, he said his departure from gaetz's office last fall was not related to the federal investigation, but don nelson is one of the only people who has come out to defend gaetz, but when actually pressed by reporters on the specifics of the criminal allegations, nelson said he didn't actually have any specific knowledge of the investigation and he actually hasn't even spoken to the congressman in months. >> our thanks to paula reid for that update. now, a prominent kremlin critic speaks out about his health and conditions at the prison where he is incarcerated. the latest on the alexei navalny.

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says sanctions will be discussed at the nuclear talks beginning today in vienna. cnn's frederik pleitgen is there for us. fred, good to see you. the biden reset the way it's being called may still be a long way off here and the point is there are no direct talks. how is this all going to unfold? >> reporter: it's going to be really complicated, paula. you're absolutely right, this is really at this point yet not really a reset but just the two sides feeling each other hout through intermediaries. you have several venues here in vienna why discussions led by the europeans will go on separately with the iron yan delegation and also with the delegation from the united states as well. they're going to discuss varying topics. the iranians poured cold water on the possibility of direct negotiations. the u.s. says they are still up for t the iranians are saying if the u.s. wants to get back into the nuclear agreement they need to get into full compliance with the nuclear agreement and drop all of the sanctions against

iran. you just said it there, the u.s. saying that is absolutely not going to happen. what's happening here is that there's separate negotiations going on, especially with the other partners of the jcpoa of the iran nuclear deal with the iranians about how iran can come back into full compliance because of course the iranians have now enriched more uranium than is allowed under that deal, enriched at higher levels and conducted sophisticated research as well. so the europeans negotiating with them on that level and then also shuttling back and forth with the american delegation about what can be done with sanctions relief. again, the iranians for their part are saying they believe that these negotiations could be very quick and very easy, they say the u.s. just needs to get back into full compliance. obviously the americans are saying that's not that easy saying they want to see moves by the iranians as well or at least simultaneously. what both sides are saying is they believe that the deal should be salvaged, all sides should get back into full compliance, the u.s. she had get

back into the nuclear agreement, who is going to go first and what steps will be taken, that is a very, very difficult question. >> and still significant that they are of course back at the table. fred pleitgen will update us on everything from vienna in the coming hours. appreciate it. now, kremlin critic alexei navalny is vowing to keep up his prison hunger strike even though he says he's sick with a high fever and bad cough. this is newly obtained video reportedly shot on march 26th by the pro-russian government media, that's important, and it's meant to illustrate what it calls the exemplary conditions where he's being held. it is said to show navalny in a prison room without any obvious signs of discomfort. state media have accused him of faking medical problems to try to stay in the public eye which he and his allies deny. imagine catching coronavirus on your way to get vaccinated. that was the frustrating reality for one patient in michigan and he's not alone as the state battles a covid spike.

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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. we will return to a story we're following here at cnn. matthew chance joins us now from

outside the prison where alexei navalny is being held, hehe is in terms of following this story, matthew, we have this release of this video that we showed earlier and of course it's state media essentially saying that, look, alexei navalny is just nine, but what's behind the release of this video and what more do we know now about alexei navalny's condition? >> reporter: well, look, there have been a couple of releases on state media or on pro-government media in this country of alexei navalny being shown sleeping in his bed, that being woken, he alleged he was being woken every hour, there's been video of him sort of walking around carrying a cup of hot drink, speaking to a prison guard as well, that was a couple days after he complained that he had a terribly bad back and that the pain had spread to both of his legs where he had lost sensitivity, the attempt being to show that perhaps alexei

navalny is exaggerating the afflictions with which he says he has fallen down with, but there is genuine concern about the health of alexei navalny, he has spoken about his bad back and about his lack of sensitivity in his legs. you have to remember that this is an opposition figure who was poisoned with a suspected nerve agent back in august. horrific images we all remember so well of him sort of howling in agony on an airplane before it made an emergency landing in siberia. so there is a possibility that some of these symptoms could be caused -- have been caused by neurological damage. that's why alexei navalny wants to get a specialist doctor into these gates of this penal colony here and i'm standing in front of it now, you can see the police have sealed it off, not letting us get any closer towards these gates, that's why he wants his own doctor to come in to give him an examination and to see exactly what's wrong with him. there are some other complications as well. first of all, he has gone on an hunger strike and apparently according to his team he has

lost about 13 kilos in the past eight days since he was on that hunger strike. he's also got a high temperature we're told on his social media platform and a cough and obviously in the age of covid that's a real concern as well. alexei navalny through his social media platform saying there's actually an outbreak of tuberculosis inside this penal colony as well. there are all these sort of various factors being sort of brought into this idea that alexei navalny's health is potentially at risk and that's why later on today n fact, within the next few minutes we're supposed to be seeing a protest by doctors coming here to this prison to demand that alexei navalny get proper medical attention. paula? >> and we're glad you're there and will continue to update us throughout the day. now, the u.s. state of michigan is seeing a jump in covid cases with at least 81 new clusters or outbreaks in just schools across the state. one hospital has even had to reform its covid unit after

disbanding it months ago. cnn's miguel marquez has more. >> reporter: fred was on his way to get vaccinated. >> i was going there and i didn't feel right. >> reporter: he got a covid-19 test instead, it was positive. >> you were right at the finish line. >> there was a lot of -- there was a lot of emotional baggage that went with that. >> reporter: he says he got it from his 19-year-old son andy, his wife betsy was fully vaccinated with the moderna vaccine, she, too, got covid-19 with only minor symptoms. the virus hammered fred, 54 years old and no underlying conditions. >> i felt like i went ten rounds with mike tyson. i was absolutely physically exhausted. i mean, i felt like i had been beat up, i had felt like i had been in a car accident, i mean,

it was crazy. >> reporter: tina thinks her son's soccer club brought the coronavirus into her home. >> even though we were all masked up, we are on the sidelines, everyone is yelling. >> reporter: her boys levi and jesse got it with no symptoms. her husband jason got a bad case, hers was worse. >> they said, yeah, you have pneumonia caused from covid. so we're going to admit you and here i am. >> reporter: how surprised are you to be in this bed? >> very shocked. >> reporter: the 44-year-old mother of two with no underlying conditions, outdoorsy, active, never sick, adhered to coronavirus guidelines, never thought she would get covid or that it would hit her this hard. >> it's weird. it's almost like you feel like you're suffocating a little bit. i don't know. it's hard to explain because you get really light headed and you're just like clammy. >> reporter: two cases of thousands in the wolverines

state now in its third coronavirus surge. >> we are not to where we were back in november/december but i would say that the rate of increase seems more drastic than it did back then. >> reporter: at lansing's sparrow health system covid-19 admissions have risen 600% in a month. >> we're trying to see where we can pull extra staff from. >> reporter: the hospital had disbanded its covid incident command center with cases piling up they are reestablished it. >> in december we had a high of close to 150 patients, right now we have 95 and at the rate it's going if it doesn't abate we will be at 150 patients in 15 days. >> reporter: 15 days? >> yes. >> reporter: do you know where the top of the curve is? >> we do not know where the top of the curve is. >> reporter: this doctor specializes in caring for patients at covid at beaumont health royal oak, part of the largest health care system in michigan. covid tests of some patients sent for dna analysis indicate a

worrying sign. sharp increase in the new more contagious possibly more lethal b.1.1.7 variant. >> right now the regular covid test we do is still just showing covid/no covid. we send a lot of those out to the state and are seeing 40% of our patients b.1.1.7. so a big percent. >> reporter: as older michiganders and those are underlying conditions get vaccinated hospitalizations for that he is have plummeted. now the hospitalized younger and healthier. >> each surge has brought different challenges, when we address them we felt very strong that we had this disease under attack, but then we get thrown a curveball. >> reporter: for health care workers an exhausting year, getting longer. >> the first day i came in and saw that our unit was full of covid patients again it was really difficult. i had tears in my eyes. >> reporter: 22 years a registered nurse? >> yes. >> reporter: how hard was the last year been? >> harder.

>> reporter: why? >> because are dying -- i'm sorry. >> reporter: why is this so hard to talk about? >> because i just saw it yesterday. >> reporter: what did you see? >> i had a patient that passed. >> reporter: the weight of so much sickness and death, that burden getting only heavier. miguel marquez, cnn, michigan. >> it's been quite a burden for so many around the world. i want to thank you all for watching. i'm paula newton. "early start" is up next. you are watching cnn. try our new scented oils for freshness that lasts.

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it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. welcome to our viewers in the united states and and all around the world, this is "early start," i'm laura jarrett, christine is off. tuesday, april 6, 5:00 a.m. here in new york. president biden set to speak this afternoon on all the progress that's been made vaccinating americans to stop the spread of coronavirus. just before that the president will see for himself how mass vaccination is working at a site in alexandria, virginia. the white house still confident the u.s. will have enough doses for all americans by the end of next month, that despite the loss of 15 million doses