rely on the experts at 1800petmeds for the same medications as the vet, but for less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. a lead investigator in the derek chauvin case changes his mind on the witness stand about what george floyd said moments before his death. the former speaker of the house, john boehner, lays the blame for the capitol insurrection firmly at the feet of donald trump. and joe biden overturns a trump-era policy. the u.s. will give more than $200 million in renewed financial support to the u.n.'s palestinian refugee agency. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm paula

newton and this is "cnn news newsroom". ♪ >> so the ninth day of testimony is just hours away in the trial of former police officer derek chauvin for the alleged killing of george floyd. witnesses yesterday detailed what floyd may have said just moments before he died, both the defense and prosecution asked the lead investigator what he believes floyd was saying in a clip of police body cam footage. the answer wasn't all that clear. cnn's omar jimenez is following the case from minneapolis. >> you are still under oath. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: today's testimony, more cops taking the stand against former officer derek chauvin. >> in your opinion does defendant's use of force during

that time period need to be reasonable within the entire time period? >> yes. >> reporter: but one of the more significant exchanges came when special agent james ryerson took the stand that led the investigation into the events of may 25th. the defense played him video from the scene. >> publish exhibit 11007 and i' going to ask you, sir, to listen to mr. floyd's voice. >> did you hear that? >> yes, i did. >> did it appear that mr. floyd said "i ate too many drugs". >> yes, it did. >> but minutes later prosecutors played a longer clip from the same video. >> having heard it in context, are you able to tell what mr. floyd is saying there? >> yes, i believe mr. floyd was saying "i ain't do no drugs." >> so that's different than what you were asked about when we saw a portion of the video, correct?

>> yes, sir. >> reporter: a key moment as one of the defense's main theories is that floyd died largely from drugs in his system, combined with his medical history. earlier in the day sergeant jodie steiger with the los angeles police department was called as a use of force expert and testified that the use chauvin used on floyd was excessive. >> he was in the prone position, he was handcuffed, he was not attempt to go resist, he was not attempted to assault the officers, kick, punch or anything of that nature. >> reporter: but chauvin's attorney during cross-examination focused on what could have happened, specifically one of their central arguments, that the growing crowd became a perceived threat and distracted chauvin. >> and when someone starts threatening you it is a possibility that an officer can view that as a potential deadly assault is about to happen. that's what they're trained?

>> yes, that's what they're trained. >> reporter: but during prosecutor questioning -- >> i did not perceive them as being a threat. >> and why is that? >> because they were merely filming and they were -- most of it was their concern for mr. floyd. >> reporter: the defense also moved to show there were points where chauvin's knee may not have been on the neck but on some portions of the shoulder. prosecutors called the placement irrelevant. >> is the risk related to the pressure on the neck or the pressure on the body? >> the pressure on the body. any additional pressure on the body complicates breathing more so than if there was no pressure at all. >> reporter: in the final portion of the day forensic experts testified about drugs found in the police squad car as well as floyd's vehicle, including illicit drugs in pill form. >> and what were the results of the testing? >> the tablets contained methamphetamine and fentanyl. >> are you able at the bca lab to quantify how much

methamphetamine or fentanyl are in those pills. >> for methamphetamine yes, for fentanyl, no. >> reporter: we know based on the autopsy some of those same drugs were found in george floyd's system, but when you look at what's really important here, really the jurors were able to hear what was found at the scene in these vehicles for the first time and they are the ones that really matter in this. based on reports that we've gotten from inside the court it does seem that this week has been a little more difficult to give their full attention, especially when you compare this week's expert testimony with last week's more emotional testimony. nonetheless they do still seem to be taking notes, even conferring with one another at points and they all paid attention over the course of wednesday during that exchange about whether george floyd actually said "i ate too many drugs" or not. omar jimenez, cnn, minneapolis. so we learned a lot from omar's report there. what you need to know is that both sides in the chauvin trial

are attempting to establish a substantial causal factor which led to george floyd's death. that means outside of any other factors, what could have caused floyd's death just by itself. could derek chauvin's knee have done that, or drugs, or even something else? cnn legal analyst elliot williams explained the defense's strategy when he spoke with my colleague, chris cuomo. >> these are terms that mean -- make total sense to us in english but they're complicated legal terms. now, it doesn't -- under the law in minnesota it doesn't have to be the sole thing that caused an individual's death but the substantial causal factor. now, it's hard to watch that video from where we sit and see how chauvin's knee was not the substantial causal factor, but, again, what the defense has been doing is putting up any number of factors and this came up a lot today, this question of drug use and did he have drugs in his system, did he have drugs in the police car that might have complicated this question of what caused his death.

the defense has a very high burden. the dense doesn't have a burden but the defense's work is cut out for it in light of the video. >> that was cnn legal analyst we will i don't tell williams. chauvin has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces. let's take a look now at what's driving covid-19 case numbers in the united states. data from johns hopkins university indicates just five states are reporting almost half of the country's new cases. new york, michigan, florida, pennsylvania and new jersey and they account for less than one quarter of the u.s. population. the cdc projects as many as 588,000 americans will have lost their lives to the coronavirus by may 1st. now, as horrible as that is it's fewer than earlier estimates because the cdc is now expecting the death rate to slow down during the next few weeks.

the number of people who have lost their lives to the virus each day here is, in fact, 22% -- pardon me, down 22% last week over the week before. now, the cdc director credits vaccinations but has a warning. listen. >> in the context of vaccination we still need to have our case counts be really low to stop circulating virus, to stop the emergence of variants, to stop hospitalizations and ultimately to stop deaths. i'm really encouraged by these decreased numbers of deaths that i believe to be an impact of vaccination, especially the vaccination of our elderly communities, but i think we are way too high to be thinking that we have won this race. >> now, the u.s. is seeing a surge in covid-19 cases among young people. america's top infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci spoke earlier with cnn's anderson cooper and explained how vaccinations are now playing a role. >> when you look at the entire

population, there's relatively more protection among older individuals as opposed to younger individuals. so what we're seeing now is what appears to be, but it's actually the leaguity of a disproportionately more infections in younger individuals. you combine that with what you just mentioned what dr. walensky said about clusters of cases in day care as well as school sports, particularly team sports which people engage in close contact without masks, i think that is what is explaining these surges of cases in young individuals, driven by the var variant. okay. there are new setbacks for the oxford/astrazeneca vaccine as the uk's drug regulator says there is a possible link between the shot and rare cases of blood clots. health officials say more research must still be done but for now the uk's vaccine committee is advising the astrazeneca shot not be given to

those under 30 years old. the uk health secretary looked to reassure the public that the vaccine rollout was moving forward in, quote, the safest way possible. meantime, regulators in the european union also found a possible link between the inoculations and the very rare blood clots, but they concluded the benefits of the vaccine do still outweigh the risks. cnn correspondents have been tracking these developments, salma abdelaziz is in london but we begin with melissa bell standing by for us in paris. melissa, the word from the eu seems to be less definitive really than most wanted and hardly the vote of confidence that this vaccine needs right now. >> reporter: that's right, especially after several weeks where national european member states, national health agencies, have been changing their advice pretty regularly. remember that to begin with just after it was approved by the european medicines agency the advice had been that it should only be used for younger populations then to be paused all together, that is the

rollout of the vaccine, only now for a number of european countries and a growing number after that announcement yesterday announcing that it should be restricted and only given to older populations. that plays out on a continent that is famous for its vaccine hesitancy, here in france in particular when all of this began polls showed only one in two people intended to get vaccinated. one of the big questions will be what impact this has on actual vaccine rollout. when you look at the french figures, about 9 million doses of the pfizer vaccine have been delivered, 2.5 million of the astrazeneca. part of that is because of the delivery shortfalls of the european union have complained about, they badly impacted the supply of the astrazeneca vaccine, but there is the question of how much is down to vaccine hesitancy and choice. a newspaper reported based on anecdotal evidence speaking to doctors that doctors are reporting that up to 30% of their astrazeneca appointments

have been canceled since the beginning of april. that gives you some idea of some of the fear that appears to be setting into european populationes. >> very stark that statistic you just gave given how urgent it is for everyone to get a vaccine. i appreciate that update. we go to salma. you heard melissa talk about the fact that there is that hesitancy. the guidance in the uk has changed, that's a fact. even if this is being super cautious, i would imagine it is unnerving. >> reporter: it is absolutely a bit worrying, paula, to say the least. the uk health secretary was just on air a short time ago saying that this shows that the mechanisms, the safety procedure, the processes behind vaccine approval are working, the fact that they were able to identify this very, very, very rare incident just to give you an idea, again, 79 cases out of over 20 million people that received this vaccine, 79 people had these very rare blood clots. unfortunately 19 of them died.

but, again, it gives you an idea of just how rare it is, how difficult it is to even study this one uk health official describing it as vanishly rare. watching that press conference yesterday where officials were saying if you are under 30 we recommend you take a different vaccine. people asking what if i'm 31? what if i'm 32? what if you're pregnant? that means there's more debate, more controversy, more people picking up the phone to call their grandparents and figure out their history and call their gp and figure out whether or not they should take that vaccine. all of that creates a delay, creates hesitanchesitancy. these vaccines are rolling out at breakneck speed and this could cause people to take a step to pause to slow down. >> a reminder that the vaccine isn't even approved in the u.s. and yet the u.s. has millions of doses waiting to be dispatched if and when it is approved. i want to thank both you,

melissa bell in paris and salma abdelaziz. appreciate it. u.s. president joe biden is set to announce his first executive actions on gun control. the measures are expected to tighten restrictions but they fall short of the sweeping actions he promised on the campaign trail. phil mattingly has details. >> reporter: well, in the wake of multiple mass shootings causing significant death, particularly in the places of colorado and georgia over the course of last several weeks president biden made clear he wants action. he's pushing for action on legislative proposals to expand background checks on capitol hill, but his administration has also been working for weeks behind the scenes on taking executive action, unilateral actions the president can take to try to address at least a small part of the gun violence issue. now the president is ready to roll those actions on. he is expected to roll out a series of executive actions underscoring something he said in the wake of the shooting in boulder, colorado. take a listen. >> i don't need to wait another

minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save the lives in the future. >> reporter: the details of those actions are still somewhat unclear. one thing administration officials have been working on behind the scenes is declaring so-called ghost guns, guns that can be assembled without serial numbers as firearms, therefore, making a background check a requirement. something to keep an eye on that may be coming forward. the administration is expected to roll out several different executive actions. it's not the full answer white house officials and gun control advocates are looking for here, that can only come from capitol hill and right now there is no path forward, at least none that can be seen to 60 votes in the united states senate to pass any type of sweeping background checks law. democrats are certainly working towards that proposal, the president is pushing for that proposal. so for now unilateral action from the president. a promise he made that he would come through on starting that process on thursday. as to what comes next, well, that's largely in the hands of

lawmakers. phil mattingly, cnn, the white house. president biden is also set to nominate a gun control advocate to lead the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. david chipman has a long history at the agency tasked with enforcing the nation's gun laws. he spent 25 years as a special agent there. he has also worked as a senior policy add cipher of a gun control founded by gabrielle giffords. he would be the agency's first permanent director since 2015. a republican former speaker of the u.s. house is now blasting donald trump for his role in january's capitol riot. hear what john boehner is saying about the former president. that's next. plus, donald trump is also responding to new reports that congressman matt gaetz asked for a pardon. we will explain. surfaces erms on more than lysol spray. it's a simple fact: it even kills the covid-19 virus.

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a scathing rebuke of former president donald trump from republican former house speaker john boehner. according to a copy of his new

book boehner says trump incited the bloody insurrection at the u.s. capitol and says his false election claims cost republicans control of congress. cnn's jessica snyder has more. >> reporter: former house speaker john boehner getting candid and unleashing on the former president from his own party in his new memoire, writing that trump incited that bloody insurrection for nothing more than selfish reasons, perpetuated by the bs he had been shoveling since he lost a fair election the previous november. the excerpts were obtained by "the new york times" and boehner blasts trump's insistence that the election was rigged writing, he claimed voter fraud without any evidence and repeated those claims. trump shot back in his signature style, calling boehner a swamp creature through his spokesperson in a statement to cnn. boehner's biting remarks were

echoed by russell honor ray in an event tuesday night. honor ray said the capitol attack was as a result of a disinformation attempted by donald trump. >> people who wanted to believe that message that the election was stolen they rode with it and continue to ride by it. i think we've been had by propaganda, an offensive weapon to shape people's minds. tell them a little bs about what they hear, sliver of truth. >> reporter: ten members of congress who were in the house gallery when the capitol was breached have joined a lawsuit against trump and rudy giuliani and the far right extremist groups the oath keepers and proud boys accusing them of conspiring to incite the insurrection. it was filed in february by top democrat benny thompson.

now ten more democrats are sharing their stories of how they fled the house floor and huddled in their offices for hours. steve cohen described bluchg a baseball bat in his pitch black office preparing for the worst. as i sat in my office on january 6th with rioters roaming the hallways i feared for my life and thought i was going to die. the civil lawsuit is seeking unspecified money damages from trump and the other defendants. trump's spokesperson previously said trump played no part inciting the riot at the capitol. more than 300 people have been charged for their role in the capitol attack and they're still appearing in court almost daily, but prosecutors have told a judge they are close to a plea deal with at least one defendant, john shaffer. >> my name is john shaffer, i'm from indiana. >> reporter: a 53-year-old heavy metal guitarist with ties with extremist groups. he is still sitting in jail.

we've learned at least one defendant has flipped against the proud boys agreeing to provide information that could allow prosecutors to bring more severe charges against the extremist group's leadership. several members have already been charged with conspiracy. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. former u.s. president donald trump released a statement wednesday saying that republican lawmaker matt gaetz never personally asked him for a pardon. now, two people familiar with the matter tell cnn the congressman privately asked the white house for a preemptive pardon for himself for the end of trump's presidency at about the same time the justice department was just beginning to investigate whether the congressman had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. something he denies. the sources also tell us that the request wasn't taken seriously really because the white house decided preemptive pardons were off the table. cnn's ryan nobles picks up the story.

>> reporter: tonight embattled congressman matt gaetz in search of support and getting a returned favor from the man he spent years defending and praising. >> president trump sometimes raises his voice and a ruckus. he knows that's what it takes to raise an army of patriots who love america and will protect her. >> reporter: in his short time in washington the florida congressman has gone out of his way to attach himself to trump, as demonstrated in the 2020 hbo documentary "the swamp." >> hey, mr. president, it's matt gaetz. i don't need anything, sir, just calling to tell you you did a great job today. don't let these people get you down, we're going to keep fighting for you with all we've got. >> reporter: gaetz defending trump, even when some republicans were unwilling. >> my fellow patriots, don't be shy and don't be sorry. join me as we proudly represent the pro-trump america first wing of the conservative movement.

>> reporter: the congressman so connected to the former president, he even met and then proposed to his fiancée ginger lucky at trump's mar-a-lago club surrounded by trump allies. it's not just the former president but his children as well. gaetz spending a lot of time cozying up to ivanka. >> these are ivanka's favorite. she told me she liked my shoes. wore them to the white house. >> reporter: and don jr., like he did when he traveled to wyoming to attack fellow republican liz cheney who voted to impeach trump after the insurrection. >> a man who loves wyoming, who loves to hunt and fish, how about a word for donald trump jr. >> reporter: while gaetz has done everything he can to support trump the former president's support has been less than passionate. none of the trump children have offered public support for gaetz. sources telling cnn trump himself is being advised to stay away from the gaetz scandal.

>> our ryan nobles reporting there. now, moving on from the trump era, joe biden's team makes a shift in u.s./middle east policy. the reasoning and the regional reaction next. and a painful royal rift. jordan's king finally speaks out about the plot allegedly involving his half-brother. 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

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viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm paula newton and this is "cnn newsroom." the biden administration is reversing one of donald trump's major foreign policy moves. it's resuming financial aid to

the u.n.'s palestinian refugee agency. now, a total of about $200 million will go toward the economic development and humanitarian needs of the palestinian people and bolster covid-19 recovery efforts. secretary of state tony blinken says the more serves u.s. interests. hadas gold has reaction from the region. what does the policy change actually mean subs tant ifl but also politically. >> reporter: it's a clear reversal from the trump administration policy and shows that the biden administration is going to be approaching the relationship with the palestinians different than the trump administration did. you will recall and you the trump administration the official relationship with the palestinians seized in 2017, palestinians cut off relations after the trump administration recognized jerusalem as the capital of israel, also the trump administration cut funding to palestinians, also closed the

u.s. consulate in jerusalem that served palestinians. this is a clear change. the reaction from the israelis today has been slightly muted. they are not criticizing the biden administration directly they are focusing their criticism on that agency. the israeli foreign ministry said israel's position is that the organization in its current form perpetuates the conflict and does not contribute to its resolution. israel is critical of unrwa. it was created for palestinians who left or were forced out of their homes in the 1940s and the palestinians say they have a right of return under u.n. law to return to their homes in what is now israel. palestinians say it's not only those refugees but also all of their descendents who are eligible. for israel that's a problem

because that is now 5 million people and that could change the state of israel as it is today. the palestinians and unwra have welcomed to decision from the united states, saying it will contribute to providing education and health to hundreds of thousands of students and million of people who live in palestine and other neighboring countries and the aid to the gaza strip and west bank. the most important part is showing how the biden administration will be approaching the relationship with palestinians much differently. this is probably the biggest change for how the biden administration is approaching this region, this situation with the palestinians. it's a very notable move and i'm sure it will be one of more that we are expecting to be seeing in the next few weeks. >> quite a change that people were predicting now that the biden administration is in office. had da, i want to thank you for that update. jordan's king has now broken

his silence about the royal family drama following reports of an alleged plot to destabilize the country involving king abdullah's half-brother prince hamza. jomana is live following all of it. the king speaks now but he is not speaking with a lot of clarity i would say. exactly what is he saying about his half-brother? >> since those events over the weekend that have been unsettling for the population in the country that have never experienced anything look this in the country's recent history they wanted to hear from their king, they wanted reassurance and to understand what has unfolded in this country. hearing from the king was something they wanted to get, but i don't think it answered many of the questions that

jordanians have been asking about the details of this alleged plot and what happened. what they heard was the king telling them that this was, what he described as sedition. that it has been nipped in the bud as he said in this letter to the people. not a televised address as some would have liked to see. he also said that this challenge was not the most difficult or the most dangerous his country that is faced, but for him personally he said it was very painful because it came from within our own home, as he said, and from outside the country and said that he was shocked and angered by this, really backing the government's version of events here accusing his half-brother, prince hamza, of being part of this alleged plot to destabilize the country, something that the former crown prince has denied. they didn't get the answers about the specifics of what

happened, leaving a lot of speculation out there. you know, in recent days people have been wondering about the whereabouts of the former crown prince since those videos that were leaked over the weekend where he said that he was basically effectively under house arrest and over the past couple of days there have been a lot of questions on social media, a trending hashtag where is prince hamza and the king seemed to address that in his letter saying that prince hamza is in his family with his family, quote/unquote, under my care. not clear what that means but very clear message, paula. the leadership in this country wants to put this situation, this crisis, behind them. they want to move on. try and restore the image of this stable country that has been incredibly damaged over the past few days, paula. >> jomana, we thank you for that. appreciate it. now violence is breaking out

again in northern ireland. protesters set a hijacked bus on fire and attacked police with stones in a pro-british area of belfast. dozens of officers have been injured in nearly a week of trouble now. it comes amid growing tensions over northern ireland's brexit protocol and the union's frustrations over the frustration not to charge members for allegedly breaking covid restrictions. the uk and irish prime ministers have condemned the violence. boris johnson saying the way to resolve differences is through dialogue not violence or criminality. now, israelis paused for two minutes a short time ago to remember the terrible toll of the holocaust. sirens blared across the country on this holocaust remembrance day which honors the 6 million jews murdered by the nazis in world war ii. benjamin netanyahu was there laying wreaths at the holocaust memorial museum in jerusalem. six holocaust survivors also

each lit a torch in memory of those who were killed. myanmar's ambassador to the uk says he's been locked out of the london embassy by officials loyal to the military. the ambassador tried knocking on the door wednesday, but got no response. he was called -- he has called for the -- a spokesperson for the ambassador urged the uk not to recognize the military's en envoy. >> we have faith not to follow the military counsel request to install -- but to stand with the democratically elected government of myanmar and its people, people of myanmar. >> now, a debate is under way in

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we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business. there's a new divide and a growing debate in the united states over so-called vaccine passports as millions of americans get vaccinated each day there are some who believes proof of vaccination is needed to safely get back to normal. but not everyone agrees, including the governor of florida. randi kaye takes a longer look. >> reporter: at rocco's tacos in delray beach, florida, customers are returning and with them talk of so-called vaccine passports. owner rocco has been vaccinated and would like others to do the same, but he's not in favor of

requiring it at his restaurants for staff and customers. for him it's about freedom of choice. >> requiring people to have a vaccination card, to come into the restaurant or a vaccination app or a passport i think it infringes on their rights. >> reporter: that tracks with florida governor ron desantis' view, it's part of why he issued an executive order banning vaccine passports in the state of florida. desantis has dismissed vaccine passports in the same way he did men other measures during the pandemic. like mask mandates and lockdowns. all in the name of protecting rights and in this case privacy. >> do you think you would get more business or see more business if a vaccine was required here? >> i think quite the opposite. if we required it, that would be a perception that we're trying to govern them. >> reporter: desantis argues that vaccine passports reduce individual freedom and would create two classes of citizens

based on vaccination. according to the executive order businesses in florida are prohibited from requiring customers to provide documentation certifying a covid-19 vaccination or post-transmission recovery in order to gain access to that business. desantis' order puts him at odds with those who believe they are included in the order and are planning for or at least considering requiring a vaccine passports. like this center for the performing arts in tampa. >> it's really critical to our reopening and eventually to get us to 100% capacity. >> reporter: ceo judy lisi says she's surprised by and disappointed with the governor's decision. >> if you think about mass gather places like theaters and stadiums and arenas, we're sitting right next to each other so it becomes really important to have a vaccine program as an option for our guests and for our artists. >> reporter: at nova

southeastern university in ft. lauderdale proof of covid-19 vaccine was going to be man for for staff and students in the fall semester but when i alerted the university's ceo to the governor's executive order banning vaccine passports -- >> i will change what is necessary to comply with the law and to the governor's executive order. >> reporter: the popular south beach wine and food festival may also now have to change its plans to require proof of a vaccine or a negative covid test to enter next month's event. >> we will be constantly reevaluating up until the last second but for now this is the plan we have in place and the plan i hope stays in place. >> reporter: rocco says he doesn't think a vaccine passports would make his restaurant any safer than it already is. >> people make a choice and people need to make hopefully a choice that they are not going to put other people at risk. >> reporter: there is concern with these bans on these vaccine passports and the attitude

against them that we could see a spike in vaccine hesitanchesita. this poll from last month showing about 47% of those people who supported donald trump were against getting a vaccine. so there is concern that that attitude could actually delay or maybe even prevent us here in the united states from reaching herd immunity. so as more and more republicans here in florida and of course the governor in texas as well and other areas speak out against these vaccine passports and make it a wedge issue with the democrats, we could see a rise in vaccine hesitancy. randi kaye, cnn, palm beach county, florida. india's worst hit state is facing a vaccine shortage as that country deals with a surge in new covid infections. in afghanistan, bangladesh and thailand cases are up more than 50% compared to the previous week. for the second day in a row south korea is reporting its biggest daily jump in

infections. it's one of the many countries in the is that-pacific region now struggling to keep the virus under control. blake he is he go is live for us in tokyo. blake, it seems to be a stark reminder in most parts of this world this pandemic is just getting started. >> reporter: you're absolutely right, paula. for the is that-pacific region this region was the first to bear the print of the coronavirus 15 months ago. when you talk about the virus variants that are kind of running rampant across this region, the pandemic fatigue has absolutely set in and has really plays a role as to why we're seeing that case count accelerate in so many different places. governments across the region have limited restrictions allowing people to gather in places, there have been festivals, we had the cherry

blossoms here that were blooming over the last two weeks and going to the river and looking at them you just see hundreds -- i mean, thousands of people gathering to look at these cherry blossoms. again, when you have virus variants -- the pandemic has not gone away and the virus variants running rampant you're giving the opportunity for this virus to spread faster and that seems to be the case what have we're seeing in japan, 3,000 cases today, that's the highest case count in two months. india, there was nearly 127,000 cases reported today, another 700 in south korea. the philippines is struggling, bangladesh, all over this region countries are struggling to c contain the virus and part of the problem the vaccine is not as readily available as places like in the united states and united kingdom.

here in japan .2% of the population has been vaccinated. in south korea and the philippines it's less than .1%, and in india the vaccine factory of the world it's .8%, so less than 1% of the entire population that has been fully vaccinated. while this pandemic has been going on for 15 months, it really is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. paula? >> and surprising, really, that mass vaccination hasn't taken off more in some of those countries you just mentioned. thanks so much for the update. the l.a. county sheriff's office has revealed the cause of tiger woods' car crash. we will tell you how fast the golfer was driving and why apparently he did not hit the brakes. stay with us. water each time.ns of finish quantum with activblu technology has the power to remove the toughest stains without pre-rinsing for dishes so clean they shine. join finish and skip the rinse to save our water.

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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. sheriff's department says tiger woods' car crash was caused by excessive speed and his snablt to navigate the curve in the road. now, the golf legend suffered serious leg injuries when the suv he was driving ran off the road and rolled down a hill back in february.

the sheriff's department says the speed limit is 45 miles an hour but woods was going 87. >> the data recorder also recorded braking. there was no evidence of braking throughout this collision. it is speculated and believed that tiger woods inadvertently hit the accelerator instead of the brake pedal causing that 99% rating on the accelerator pedal. >> the sheriff had earlier said it was an accident and woods would not face charges. he is recovering at home. now, also recovering from covid-19 will likely be the biggest economic challenge of the coming years and a truly global one. the imf is suggesting some countries put special so-called solidarity taxes on those who can afford them to help level the playing field. john defterios is live for us from abu dhabi to explain. this is part of a larger effort to introduce global taxes for the post-pandemic world. >> reporter: yeah, paula. we have talked about this in the past because it's a very painful

road to recovery economically and the international monetary fund is making recommendations here. this is not policy, but suggesting they should come in the form of higher taxes at the higher end of personal income and even corporate levees for a period of time like we saw in germany during the reunification in 1990-1991 and that process of spending there. the imf is saying that inequalities have risen because of the pandemic and it's necessary to take action, particularly in the developed economies. let's take a listen. >> preexisting inequalities have made covid-19 worse, but at the same time covid-19 has aggravated inequalities. such a vicious circle threatens to open a seismic crack in the social fabric. >> and that's the same view in the united states, the u.s.

treasury secretary janet yellen is pushing for a minimum tax for corporations around the world of 28%. that's the same level they put in because of $5 trillion of u.s. spending and there's support through the oecd and developed economies like france and italy. they're also targeting, paula, which i think is interesting, companies like apple, google, amazon which park some of their earnings in the tax havens around the world and don't bring it back on shore to the united states. i remember during the money laundering legislation that was eventually pushed through the oecd it was the u.s. leading the way. there is a lot of momentum here post-pandemic. >> they will want to seize on some of that momentum going forward given the economic recovery still ahead. thanks for that. and that wraps up this hour of "cnn newsroom." i am paula newton. "early start" is up next.

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it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. ♪ good morning. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world, this is "early start." i'm laura jarrett. it's thursday, april 8th. it's 5:00 a.m. here in new york. president biden set to take his first steps to address gun violence. later this morning he will unveil series of executive actions that he can take on his own. he's going to tighten up restrictions on so-called ghost guns which are homemade or assembled from kits without serial numbers, he's also going to restrict stabilizing braces that make it easier to manage a gun's recoil. he will direct the