good evening. welcome to a very weird night. john berman here, in for anderson. and we end this week, possibly, the last-full week that liz cheney has a voice in the republican leadership. with her party fully embracing the man, who never won a popular vote, was impeached twice, and is incredibly unpopular according to all polls. and not only embracing him, but his violent rhetoric and conspiracies, as well. this is today's gop. to quote liz cheney in her op-ed in "the washington post" this week, a dangerous and anti-democrat cult of personality. just today, the congresswoman, who may replace cheney in leadership, elise stefanik, continued her rounds on far-right media with the sort of message, a congresswoman with a moderate's voting record has to preach in today's party. >> we need fighters. president trump is a fighter, on behalf of the american people. and voters want fighters to stand up for them. and that's what i am committed

to doing. to unify the message, to earn the support of our republican colleagues, and fight for hard-working american families. >> now, it's not necessarily a bad thing to be a fighter, in politics. it can be a good thing. it's the fight, this party wants to have, that are the problem. stefanik, herself, in that same interview, and for the second-day running on far-right radio, said she backed the arizona and we use this term loosely, audit. a giant-black hole of crazy, that lacks any kind of transparency. but has pulled the republican party into its orbit, despite questions about the auditor and shifting standards. and wait until we tell you about the new bamboo theory around the audit. i'm not kidding. and it would be funny, if it weren't dangerous. arizona's secretary of state, who has pushed back on the audit, now needs extra security provided by the state because the death threats against her are, quote, pouring in according to her press secretary. nice, huh? and this is all because of the big lie that's now the price of

entry into republican leadership. which by the way, the former president tried to push again, today, in a statement about two states he lost. but the statement is so -- we're not going to show it to you. everybody is in on this thing. two other big, so-called fighters for the former president. two members of congress, matt gaetz and marjorie taylor greene, are on tour right now. just a short time ago in florida flor, they kicked off their america-first tour. weeks after greene had to scuttle an america first caucus that was going to promote anglo-saxon political traditions. and a lot of other nativist crap. gaetz is under federal investigation after a series of potentially-career-ending allegations. and greene? well, her name is now synonymous with jewish space lasers thanks to a history of baited comments and outlandish conspiracy theories. and that is where we start this broadcast. again, welcome to a very weird, friday night. randi kaye is in the villages, in florida, with the latest on this america-first tour.

randi, what did representative gaetz have to say? >> well, john, he is still talking, actually. he made a speech. and marjorie taylor greene made a speech. and then, they -- the two of them came back on stage, together. and hthey've been sitting there together, just sort of bashing the media in this very casual conversation with the people who showed up here today. but this is the america-first tour. and i can't -- i lost count, actually, how many times matt gaetz said donald trump's name. as he started out. he immediately went to talk about crowd size. says that the only other person who could have had a crowd this large, would have been donald trump. he said that there were a thousand people waiting outside. he did talk about liz cheney. he said there is a lot of angry cowgirls in wyoming at her. he spoke about voter integrity. he said that is going to be a big part of the tour. but he did not nod to the allegations that he is facing, in terms of the alleged prostitution, sex with a -- >> we just seemed to lose randi

kaye's feed. marjorie taylor greene did, as well. randi kaye, our thanks to you for that. another, big fight republicans want to have in the wake of the former president's election loss. voting laws. today, texas advanced -- today, texas advanced a bill on new-voting limits. and democrats were successful in getting several of their amendments included. ed lavandera is in austin, texas, with the latest. ed, why don't you go into detail act what about what this new law says? >> well, there's -- right now, as it stands, there are a couple different versions of this bill. and this is going through the legislative process of essentially reconciling all of those differences. but broadly speaking, what is contained in -- in these measures is a curtailing of early-voting hours, prohibitions on election officials being able to mail out unsolicited-mail-in ballots. it can affect where ballot-drop boxes are located in various counties.

and one of the provisions that is most startling to many voting-rights activists, is that it goes a long way in expanding the ability of partisan-poll watchers and what they can and can't do at polling locations. i'm not talking about the election-site workers. i'm talking about partisan-poll watchers being able to examine, and essentially get closer to voters as they are casting their ballots. if they -- if there is concern about, well, what kind of questions are being asked? or what might be going on? this is one of those issues that the voting-rights activists have been pointing toward as one of the most troubling things. and already, democratic lawmakers here, in texas, as it became clear that the house was about to pass its version of the bill this afternoon. this is how they reacted. already, threatening to take all of this to court. >> you have your vote. you have your majority. but, guess what? i look forward to seeing you in federal court. what i know from my days of voting rights in this chamber,

you may have the vote today. but we are, all, equal in federal court. and history's on our side. intent is on our side. so, please, do not delete any e-mails. >> john, republicans are saying this is to protect the integrity of the ballot. but the aclu says this is one of the worst voting restriction laws that is being considered, across the state right now. john. >> so, what happens next, ed? does it go back to the texas senate and when might governor greg abbott sign this? >> right. so, it goes back to the senate side of this. there's -- they have to come to, you know, democrats on the house side felt they were able to tone down some of the most restrictive language. but all of that can come right back up, once the senate gets its hands on it, again. so, then it might have to go to a conference committee, where all of those details are hammered out. but the bottom line here, john, is republicans control both

sides of the legislature. they have the governor's mansion. it is very clear that this is moving toward the governor's mansion, toward the governor to signing who's already signalled that he would sign it. but we should be crystal clear, here. this is all happening, as one democrat said, republicans are finding -- are fighting a phantom in this -- in this issue. there has been no evidence of widespread-voter fraud, in the last election. and democrats saying that these are republicans simply trying to suppress voter turnout across this -- across this state. especially, in the bigger-urban areas, that have trended democrat for the last-several cycles, now. >> ed lavandera for us, in austin. ed, we appreciate you. for perspective on what these changes mean, we speak to former congressman beto o'rourke, who says he is considering a run for governor in texas, in 2022. >> congressman, i know there are amendments and other steps to go through here. but just generally speaking, what's the significance of this

step today? where texas is headed? >> so, at about 3:00 a.m., this morning, the texas house passed sb 7, which is an extensive voter-suppression bill. that would make it even harder to vote in a state that's already the toughest to vote in, in the united states. it still has to be conferenced with a senate version of the bill. but it could be as early as the next-two weeks, that you have final passage. and it's on governor greg abbott's desk for signature. and then, you have a state that is 43rd in the nation in voter turnout. the toughest to vote in. it -- a place that will be even harder, especially for young people, african-americans, the disabled, and the very old, and those who live in big cities in texas. those are the populations that were targeted by this voter-suppression bill. #. >> you know, we see, obviously, in congress, the effect that trump's big lie is having. and now, we see in state after state passing these new laws.

these new-voter restrictions. i wonder, how deep or how widespread the former president's big lie on the election has -- has gone in texas? >> it's pervasive, throughout the country. everywhere that you have republican leadership in america, you have those who are trafficking in the big lie. we saw it in -- in its most violent form on the 6th of january when the united states capitol was successfully stormed for the first time since the war of 1812. you see it in more than 47 state legislatures, where there are 360 voter-suppression bills pending to root out voter fraud that, statistically, does not exist in this country. but -- but make no mistake. this is going to make it a lot harder for a lot more people to vote. and now, our attention and our hope turns to the federal government. we need the united states senate to pass the for the people act. it would do more than anything else to stop what's happening in georgia. what's happening in texas and

kansas and arizona. and so much of the rest of the country. and make it far easier for eligible voters to cast a ballot. that's what we need right now. >> you may think you need that. but there is no sign that you have the votes in the u.s. senate to get that. and you see state after state in republican control passing these new laws. i know, there's some people who have hope for the courts. but the courts have a lot of newly-appointed republican appointees sitting on the bench right now. so given all that, what can democrats really do? what can you really do about this? >> i really think, when those senators, especially the democratic senators, look at what's happening in state after state to our democracy. a democracy that's under attack, not just in the state legislatures but as we saw on january 6th in our u.s. capitol. when they realize the gravity of the situation, i think they are going to meet this moment by doing what is required of them. not for their party. but for our country and our democracy. so, i still think that we can do that. but the other thing, john, is that we absolutely have to win elections going forward.

this is what happens when we lose. there's a trifecta of republican power in texas that allows them to run not only over democrats but over millions of voters in this state. so, 2022 is an incredibly important midterm. not just for our party, but for our democracy. >> i got one more question. it's not texas based but i think it's representative of what is going on. florida governor ron desantis, a republican. when he signed the florida bill into law, similar to the texas bill. he didn't do it in public. he did it in a fox-news exclusive. a fox-news exclusive. so, what does that tell you? >> it's interesting. when -- when you look at where the governor of georgia, brian kemp, signed their voter-suppression legislation. it was in a closed room, with other white men, under a picture of a plantation. and literally, an african-american legislator was dragged off, in cuffs, by the police for trying to witness that.

you have ron desantis giving an exclusive to fox news to witness that. and here, in texas, the legislation passed at 3:00 a.m. this morning. when literally, everyone is asleep, and no one is watching. they do not want us to know what they are doing to our democracy. and that's why it's so important for us to make sure that we reach people, on tv, through the internet, and at their doors, when we go to register them. and explain to them, what is happening to them and their ability to vote in the next election. i think that's what it's going to take for us to overcome it. >> former congressman beto o'rourke, i do appreciate your time. thanks so much for joining us this evening. >> thank you. we have rescued randi kaye from the tv ether. her shot is back up from the villages in florida with the latest. on this rally with matt gaetz and marjorie taylor greene. so, randi, if you can hear us, what did gaetz say? >> he said quite a bit. as i mentioned, i'm not sure

where you lost me there but he talked quite a bit about donald trump. but he also did make a nod to the allegations that he is facing. the -- the allegations of prostitution and sex with a minor. he said that i am -- i'm a marked man in congress, and cancelled in parts of the internet. and then, he tried to make light of it, given that today is his birthday. he said that some of the headlines would be that matt gaetz has a wild party with beautiful women here in the villages, which happens to be a retirement community. so he was trying to make light of the allegations against him. but he did talk quite a bit about donald trump. he repeated, many times, that donald trump is the undisputed leader of the republican party. listen to this. >> we have never abandoned trump, and he has never abandoned america. he is still fighting for us. he will continue to fight for us. and we're going to have his back, when he does. >> am i tagging this? or he is going to bring me in? so now, the two of them are on stage. they are talking quite a bit about the media. in fact, they took a page out of donald trump's book by pointing the crowd towards the media. they all pointed their fingers

at us. and they have continued to bash the media throughout the night. talking about leaks and lies spread by the media. john. >> so what about marjorie taylor greene? >> she spoke. she came out before matt gaetz did. she -- she sounded pretty hopeful when she started. that they're going to bring hope back to america. they are going to put america first. that's the -- that's the title of the tour. but then, it just took about-two seconds for her to start asking the crowd who the president is, and everyone here, of course, shouted donald trump. so, she was, right away, just spreading that -- the big lie, once again. she told the crowd that you are being controlled by the government, who wants to take away your freedoms. she plans to impeach joe biden, she says, and stop the spread of socialism. and she wants to get back to america first and stop globalism. here's what she had to say. >> we're coming out strong. and we are coming out very loud and very proud.

and we are coming out, like we did for president trump at all these rallies, because we have a message for the democrats and the fake-news media. you are not gonna destroy our country. you are not gonna shame us for being proud-american patriots. you are not going to put us down for loving president trump, and what he did for the past-four years. >> usa! usa! >> you can hear the crowd here, john, they just stopped cheering usa but it's really the only way to describe this has been a love fest, between matt gaetz and marjorie taylor greene. they are fast friends. they have the same mission to put america first. and it sounds like, to get donald trump re-elected, once again, in 2024. john. >> randi kaye, we appreciate you being there. thank you very much. just ahead tonight. more on the republican fight over voting laws, and what one

observer of the arizona audit says is a hunt for bamboo in the ballots. it's insane. and you'll definitely want to hear all about it. and later, legal analysis of those new-federal indictments handed down today for the officers, including derek chauvin, involved in the death of george floyd. how his conviction may affect them, all, when "360" continues.

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as we mentioned before the break, the congresswoman, whose fealty to the former president has made her the odds-on favorite to replace liz cheney in republican-house leadership. said again, today, she agrees with the so-called audit in arizona. the same day that the office of to arizona secretary of state, katie hobbs, says that death threats against her are quote

pouring in. she now has a full-security detail. both, hobbs and the justice department have raised questions about the conduct of this recount in the state's largest county. one person observing the process spoke to a local-cbs affiliate. he says that one accusation they are investigating is whether there is bamboo in the ballots. here's why. >> there's accusations that 40,000 ballots were flown in. >> to arizona? >> into arizona. and it was stuffed into the box. okay? and it came from the southeast part of the world. asia. okay? and -- and what they're doing is to find out if there's bamboo in the paper. >> so, we should point out, he was not endorsing this accusation, just explaining it. we should, also, point out, it is freaking bonkers. some much-needed perspective on all the voting fights going on now, from chris krebs, former top-cybersecurity official at the department of homeland security and partner at the krebs-stamos group. so, chris, you see what is

happening in texas and florida with these election bills but this situation in arizona's maricopa county. man. this is something completely different. there are security flaws in the audit process, itself. the justice department has issued a warning the audit could be in violation of federal voting and civil rights laws. what do you make of it all? >> well, john, first, i'd be careful in characterizing this as an audit. the arizona senate, the republicans at least in the senate, may want to call this an audit. but in no way, does it comply with standard-audit practice that are performed by election-administration officials across the country. so -- so, this is not an audit. it's not a recount. it is a -- just one more performative-politic play by those that are carrying on the big lie from last fall. >> so, cnn is reporting, tonight, that arizona secretary of state katie hobbs has received death threats amid her criticism of this audit. i will put it in air quotes

there. how worried should people be that this sort of thing is happening in the united states? >> well, it's -- i think, this is the tragedy or one of the many tragedies of the last-several months. is that we have, again, professionals that are doing their jobs. they were elected. katie, secretary hobbs, was elected to do this job. this is, in fact, the second time that she has received death threats. and -- and the governor has had to deploy security -- security controls. but -- but it's -- it's ultimately going to have a chilling effect. and i think we're already starting to see that. and election officials are retiring, at an historic rate. and there is a legitimate question about whether we are going to have enough election officials in the next cycle to actually administer elections. but -- but ultimately, again, it's a national tragedy that we have individuals that are just trying to help everyone.

help us, as citizens, perform our most-sacred duty. and that's to vote. and they get threatened and death threats. it's downright unamerican. >> so as we mentioned, one of the people behind this audit, again in air quotes, says that workers are inspecting ballots with special cameras to see if there are any traces of bamboo in them. bamboo. because of this completely-baseless, whack-o conspiracy theory, that 40,000 ballots were, somehow, smuggled to arizona from asia. and because of that, somehow, there'd be bamboo in them. what's your reaction to that? >> i -- it's just -- it's beyond belief, right? i mean, it's -- well, first off, it's flat-out racist that, because it comes from southeast asia, it's got to have bamboo. i mean, it's insanity. but more broadly, it's just a continuation of the asymmetric nation of the big lie. and that they can throw a thousand different claims that are incoherent.

that make no sense, whatsoever. and ultimately, they're not trying to convince you that, in fact, there is bamboo. they are trying to confuse. they're trying to undermine confidence. and so, then they run back to the one person that they all believe in, and that's former-president trump. and he can continue the narrative that it's a stolen election. so, this is just a continuation of, really, what started even years ago. that this election would be rigged. and that it was, you know, fraudulent ballots. and -- and all that. so, we -- we have to figure out a way to move past this, and it starts with the -- the former guy. the former president just coming clean, and admitting, if it's even within his character, that he -- he lost a fight, fair and square. >> chris, i was talking to the republican secretary of state from washington a few days ago. who said no matter what happens, in maricopa county, it set this dangerous precedent. where now, forevermore, people will think they have a right to these partisan recounts.

these partisan audits, after fair elections. >> i -- i think that's right. you know, never mind the fact that states all over the country, already, conduct transparent, bipartisan audits, both, before, during, and after elections. and those have just been tossed by the wayside, apparently, in arizona. i mean, look at what happened in georgia. where they counted the vote three times, and got to the same result. you know, i think, really, one of my fears here. and i think a number of other election officials share it is that they are going to manufacture some anomaly in arizona that they're going to export to other states. like -- like, georgia or michigan or wisconsin. and try to conduct this same sort of, you know, whatever this is in arizona. and it just -- it's -- it's unfortunate. the big losers here, above all, though, are us, the voters, because what it's doing is casting a pretty long shadow

over confidence in american elections. and it's going to take a long time, i think, to recover and restore confidence. >> chris krebs, we appreciate your time. thanks so much for joining us tonight. >> thanks, john. up next. why a federal-grand jury has indicted derek chauvin and three former-minneapolis officers in connection with the death of george floyd. tonight, i'll be eating a pork banh mi with extra jalapeños. [doorbell rings] thanks, baby. yeah, we 'bout to get spicy for this virtual date. spicy like them pajama pants? well, the top half of me looks good. no wonder we still single. hello lenny28. wait a minute, i know a lenny28. ooo...lenny is cute! can i get some privacy, please?

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a federal-grand jury in minneapolis has indicted four former police officers including derek chauvin in connection with the death of george floyd. alleging the officers violated floyd's sicivil rights. this comes after chauvin was found guilty of murdering floyd. the grand jury, also, charged chauvin in a separate incident in which he allegedly used unreasonable force on a minneapolis 14-year-old in 2017 by allegedly holding the teen by the throat. and striking his head, multiple times, with a flashlight. joining me now, cnn legal analyst, areva martin, civil rights attorney. and elie honig, former federal prosecutor with the southern district of new york. areva, derek chauvin, obviously, you know, awaiting sentencing, at this point. he is in prison, right now, awaiting sentencing. the other officers set to stand trial, on the state level, already. so, in light of that, how significant are these federal charges? >> these charges are very significant, john. one, they send a very serious message that the federal government has an interest in

the death of george floyd. and we know that merrick garland made a commitment to pursue charges, civil-rights charges against officers to hold them accountable. and this is a big step towards that commitment that the department of justice, now the attorney general, made. and not only, as you said, is chauvin facing civil-rights violations with respect to george floyd. the justice department is looking back, to 2017, for an incident involving a 14-year-old. i think, what's so disturbing about the indictment involving the 14-year-old is that the minneapolis-police department, obviously, knew what happened to that 14-year-old boy. but yet, derek chauvin was allowed to remain on that force. to remain on the street. to remain patrolling the streets of minneapolis. and then, we see him engage in very similar conduct, as it relates to george floyd. so, this is a big day in terms of the justice department sending a message, that police accountability is the order of the day. >> elie, we saw a lot of evidence and witnesses during

the chauvin-state trial. how much of that might resurface in the federal case? and would you expect any sort of different evidence prevented in the civil-rights case? >> yeah, john. so as areva just laid out, the charges in this federal case are actually, technically, legally different than the state charges. the state charges were murder and manslaughter charges as we remember from the chauvin trial. here, federally, the charges relate to deprivation of civil rights. however, the bottom line, factual questions are going to be similar. did derek chauvin use excessive force? did that excessive force medically cause george floyd's death? the additional question here in this federal case will be was there a deprivation of civil rights? with respect to the three other officers, the way this has been charged is that they deprived george floyd of his civil rights by failing to intervene. by failing to stop derek chauvin from putting his knee on the neck, which is interesting and a different theory than the state is using. and with respect to all-four officers, that dthey failed to give him medical aid. that is count three of this

indictment. that's also, theoretically, distinct from the state charges. so the bottom line facts here will be largely the same. but the legal questions will be a bit different. >> any harder to prove, elie? >> yeah, it is, because this idea that the violation is based on an affirmative duty to intervene is very different than what we saw in the state case. for example, in the state case, the three other officers, are charged with aiding and abetting, meaning helping derek chauvin commit that murder. that's not what they are charged with here. they are charged with failing to intervene, failing to render medical aid. >> so, areva, what does the fact of these charges, the existence of them, tell you about the merrick garland led justice department? and perhaps, tell you about how issues surrounding police violence will be handled going forward? >> it tells us, john, that there's a big pivot, away from how the justice department was run under donald trump. we know that donald trump's

justice department retreated from these kinds of cases. they had a policy, an affirmative policy, not to intervene. they believed that, somehow, it was not the province of the department of justice to oversee what happened at the state level and at the local-policing level. what we see under the biden depart department of justice and merrick garland is a very different approach. more akin to the approach under eric holder and president obama that says police officers, police departments, have to be held accountable. not just at the state level and not just with state prosecutions. but with federal civil-rights prosecutions. and we should note, john, that not only are there indictments against the four officers involved in george floyd's murder. there is a complaint that has been filed, in terms of a pattern-and-practice investigation, that's going to take place with respect to that minneapolis police department, as well. >> elie, talk to me about the sequencing of the additional-state trials. also, the appeal in the state trial. and the federal cases. do you think that this is

something that the federal prosecutors will want to take all the way to trial? or is there a chance, maybe, for pleading out? >> a lot of moving parts here, john. the next thing that's going to happen is the state trial of the other three officers that's set for august. now, this changes the strategic calculus, a bit, i think for both sides. if you are on the defendant's side now, you are thinking wow. we have got to win our state cases and derek chauvin, of course, has already been convicted. and then, we have to beat these federal cases. it's already hard enough for a defendant to get a not-guilty verdict. a healthy majority of cases that go to trial result in guilty verdicts. and if you get convicted at trial here as one of these defendants, you are going away for decades. so there may be some incentive for these defendants to come to the table and say how can we plead to ail these charges at once? we call it a global-plea deal. wrap it up. if prosecutors are looking at this case, they have to understand that the case against the other three defendants is not going to be as strong as the case against chauvin. that's just reality.

and so, prosecutors may have some incentive here to talk about a potential plea with the other three, as well. >> areva martin, ellie honig, great to see you both tonight. thank you so much. >> thanks, john. so, heads up. a chunk of chinese rocket is hurdling towards earth. it's only hours away from reentry. the question is where will it land? the latest, next. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google, turn up the heat. ♪ ♪ ♪ hi guys! check out this side right here. what'd you do? - tell me know you did it. - yeah. get a little closer. that's insane. that's a different car. -that's the same car. - no! yeah, that's before, that's after. oh, that's awesome. make it nu with nu finish.

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for the same medications as the vet, but for less with fast free shipping. visit petmeds.com today. there will be a lot of nervous eyes looking to the sky this weekend. part of a chinese rocket, as big as a ten-story building, is expected to plunge down to earth as early as saturday. but where? more now from cnn's david culver. >> reporter: what goes up, must come down. the question is where? scientists say, they will not know the exact-entry point of the 22-ton chinese rocket, until it's so close it's only hours away from reentry. experts say, don't panic. this is not like the hollywood blockbusters where the impact of something from outer space threatens to end the world. but uncontrolled-space junk crashing back to aerlearth is a growing concern. what's expected to hit earth this weekend is the empty core of a rocket that's been losing

orbit since its launch. much of which, should burn up in the atmosphere. but some pieces could get through, like last year, when the largest piece of space debris in 30 years landed in the atlantic ocean and over parts of africa. remnants of a similar-chinese rocket. >> the chinese have this new type of rocket called the lone march 5 b and unlike other big rockets, it litters space by leaving its big, 20-ton core stage, in orbit. american rockets, russian rockets, european rockets don't do that. >> reporter: the risk of it hitting a populated area are low, and suggest it may fall at international waters or burn up on reentry. a fair guess, since more than 70% of the planet is covered in water. the united states is tracking its course, and says right now it has no plans to shoot it down. but with a cloud of 9,000 tons of rocket boosters, dead satellites, and other hardware floating above. there are growing calls for more regulation of what gets sent up to space and how it returns.

>> as we think about launching thousands of objects into lower orbit here, we need norms of behavior so that everybody's playing off the same sheet of music. and everybody is -- is focused on safety of flight. we just don't have that sort of thing, right now. >> reporter: until then, all eyes are on the skies, this weekend. with the questions of when, where, and how much debris will fall, still, up in the air. david culver, cnn, shanghai. >> joining us now for more insight into this falling rocket is astrophysicist, neil degrasse tyson, director of new york city's hayden planetarium. and author of star talks guide who we are, how we got here, and where we are going. on that subject, neil, you heard david culver. when, where, and how much are the questions of this hour for the chinese rocket. why -- why is it so hard for scientists to pin this down? >> oh. because the -- this piece of debris is not sort of a

perfectly-modelable, spherical object. and when you have something that is highly angled and highly non-aerodynamic. you have no idea, especially going at the speeds that it does, you have no idea where it will ultimately land until it's kind of -- till you're close enough to that ultimate point where you say, okay, now i got this. but until then, the tumbling object becomes very hard to predict. >> one of the things that i think is most interesting about the discussion here is the difference between the fact that it's incredibly unlikely that anyone will be hurt by this. and the fact that it -- it's a non-zero chance, though, that someone could be hurt by this. so, you know, explain that. >> well, so -- so, as was noted in the graphic, more than 70% of earth's surface is water. so, you -- you're doing good there. and half of all the world's population lives in cities, hovered together around very small pockets of area. on earth's surface. and so much of what is land is

uninhabited. you know, so much of siberia and central china and, you know, the pacific -- the -- the southwest and canada. so, you -- and -- and the outback of australia. so, it is true that the chances of getting hit are very low. but that, there's a bigger question here is, if you are going to send things up into space. and you know they're going to come back. you want to have a controlled reentry, not an uncontrolled reentry. and it's not that hard to do. one-third of all longitudes is spanned by the pacific ocean. that's the great-toilet bowl of the space program. right? you can -- you can de-orbit something with very high uncertainties, and just land it there in the ocean and not hurt anybody. and that's not what the chinese have been doing. >> why? i mean, that was my very next question. this is a up conncontrolled ree. why is it the chinese, who have a very active space program, keep designing it this way? >> yeah. i can't get inside people's

heads. i don't know. but it won't be the first country who had something fall back to earth, in an uncontrolled way. i'm old enough to remember skylab. that fell out of the sky in an uncontrolled way. and it ended up scattered, if i remember correctly, in the australian outback. and it didn't quite make it into the pacific ocean. so -- but, if you know, in advance, that you are going to have a piece of hardware that's got to come back. and in this case, just imagine a greyhound bus falling out of the sky. yes, it is true. we expect a lot of that to burn up. but pieces, within pieces, and denser bits, no, they're not going to burn up. and so, this is part of the precautions we are going to need to take. but really, what it says is, as we go into space, and space becomes this domain. this international domain. we need international cooperation to keep space clean. otherwise, you can't conduct business there. and you're not playing well in the sandbox, and that's a problem. >> pretty big sandbox but when you keep putting big things up

there, it could get dangerous very quick hi. as the chinese space program accelerates, is there a chance we will see more of this? >> yes, unless they do something about it. and by the way, the last booster that puts your object into orbit. it is, also, in orbit. and so, that needs fuel to slow it down in a controlled way. and that's what all nations have to end up making sure that their boosters have. and spacex there, too, their initial boosters, they stick the landing each time. there is still a later booster that burns up in the atmosphere, later. but yeah, you got to aim for the pacific. if not, you got to get out of the sandbox. >> neil degrasse tyson. we really appreciate talking to you. thank you so much. >> thank you. up next wihat president bidn had to say about the dismal jobs report issue today. we'll check in with the white house, when we continue. on all. let me break it down. you got your new customers — they get our best deals. you got your existing customers — they also get our best deals. everyone. gets. the deals. questions?

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a dismal jobs report released today. just 266,000 jobs were added to the u.s. economy in april. normally that might not be bad. it might even be good. but it is far, far less than the million or more jobs than economists predicted.

the unemployment rate rose to 6.1%. cnn's kaitlan collins at the white house for us tonight. kaitlan, how's the white house responding to these numbers? >> reporter: president biden is saying it's all about perspective. he is talking about the deep hole that's created by the pandemic, an economic hole. president biden is saying it's going to take time to climb out of that. i think what you've heard so much from the president and his aides is it's volatility. they're hoping it's temporary, it's just a one month change, aberration in what's been going on in the trends from january, february and march. that's what they're counting on, saying it's an unpredictable time and period. that's why you saw such a drastic drop off in what happened today and what is the expectation from economists, which is going to be a million jobs than the 266,000 that we got. so, they are hoping it's an aberration. president biden was saying today look at the jobs that have been created since i took office. 1.5 million jobs.

that's where we're headed. we're still working on this. but he was saying it is a long road to that recovery. >> some republicans and conservative economists suggest the enhanced and action tended unemployment benefits work as a disincentive to sway people who are out of work from trying to get a new job. >> president biden pushed back on that specifically. he was calling it loose talk earlier today when he was addressing this grim jobs report. they look at the data. they don't see evidence that this is actually what's causing out of work americans to stay home. this enhanced unemployment benefit that he had extended when he signed that covid-19 relief bill in march gives people an additional $300 per week. and they said that looking at where people are coming back into the work force and the travel and leisure industry, that is a sign they believe this is not what's causing people to stay home. and he said this is proof that people are still out there looking for work.

but i do think this is posing a challenge to the white house, kind of a test of their strategy to revive the economy and what it's actually going to look like because you are hearing this from republicans and critics of this administration. but you're also hearing it from other experts, economic experts who are questioning whether or not this is something that needs to change. that includes people who are on the ground involved in this, business owners who are saying we need to come up with a solution where people can keep the enhanced unemployment benefits but they need to be encouraged to come back to work, keep that even if they come back to work and commit to coming back to work for the rest of the year. what the solution looks like, it remains to be seen. this is something that is under discussion at the white house. i think they're waiting to see is this a pattern or a one-off really, john. >> makes the june numbers very much more important. kaitlan collins, thanks so much. nice to see you. coming up, one ground break album, and 5 years later its more activists.

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oh, that's awesome. make it nu with nu finish. this sunday night at 8:00 eastern join don limitation of motionen don lemon for a look at marvin gaye's release. hear from others who know him best, and others inspired by his work and see why it has become an anthem for a new generation.

♪ mother, mother ♪ ♪ there's too many of you crying ♪ ♪ brother, brother, brother ♪ ♪ there's far too many of you dying ♪ >> marvin gaye's groundbreaking "what's going on." >> it's the first time i understood poetry. >> it's one of the greatest albums ever made. >> his melodies were like a voice of cry. >> he created something that will last. ♪ what's going on ♪ 50 years later. why is it an anthem for a new generation? >> prophecy, man. >> what do you think he would think about what's going on? >> cnn special report "what's going on: marvin gaye's anthem for the ages" sunday at 8:00. >> cannot wait to see that.

so, the news continues. want to hand it over to michael smerconish who's in the anchor chair tonight for cuomo prime time. thank you. welcome to "prime time." chris will be back on monday. two of the most controversial figures in the gop kicked off their joint tour in florida pledging allegiance, again, to the most controversial president in modern day history. one of the lawmakers is under criminal investigation for sex trafficking, prostitution crimes and possible sex with a minor. the other lost her appointment committee assignment for wild statements and conspiracy theories. >> there will be many more of america's greatest president and the undisputed leader of the republican party, donald j. trump. we might join him. >> the democrats impeached president trump over a perfect phone call, by the way