♪ live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and around the world, i'm kim brunhuber. ahead on "cnn newsroom" -- >> what the hell is going on in the united states of america? what the hell is wrong with us? and when are we going to come to grips with this? >> families and community members mourn the victims of another mass shooting in america. we're learning more about those killed and the suspect who worked alongside them. calls to cancel the olympics

grow lowered, another prominent group of doctors in japan are echoing the message. and this time in the fight between oil giants and climate activists, saving planet earth wins. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. our top story this hour is a tragically familiar one, a deadly mass shooting in the united states. just moments ago we learned that a ninth victim has died. this time it was in san jose, california, silicon valley's largest city, it was the 232nd mass shooting in the u.s. this year. maintenance workers at a commuter rail facility were getting the fleet ready on wednesday morning when one of their co-workers opened fire. police say the gunman took his own life as officers arrived. nine people were killed. the mayor said all of the victims worked with the gunman and knew him well. a memorial event a planned for thursday night. now, at about the same time

firefighters were being called to a two-alarm fire at the house believed to belong to the gunman. no one was inside but it was badly damaged and left uninhabitable. after the shooting the gunman's ex-wife who hadn't spoken with him in more than a decade talked to a local news outlet. she said when they were married he often complained about his bosses and co-workers and seemed to resent his job. we get more on this tragic event from cnn's josh campbell in san jose. >> reporter: an early morning massacre. >> we have eight victims that are pronounced deceased from today's incident. from gunshot wounds. we also have one suspect who is deceased as well. >> reporter: shots rang out around 6:30 a.m. at this sprawling san jose maintenance yard where commuter rail vehicles were being dispatched and serviced forts the workday. a law enforcement source tells cnn the lone suspect identified as sam cassidy was an employee. >> he was seen at that location working before the shooting.

it's clear the victims and all the colleagues there knew the shooter well. >> reporter: according to the sheriff cassidy continued shooting even as police arrived. >> i know for sure that when the suspect knew that law enforcement was there, he took his own life. our deputies were right there at that time. >> reporter: the sheriff's office says more deadly plans were potentially laid out in advance. >> we received information that there are explosive devices that are located inside the building. >> reporter: multiple law enforcement agencies including the bomb squad are on the scene beginning what is likely to be a lengthy and extensive investigation. >> we're so sorry this event happened. we are there for you. >> reporter: the head of the valley transportation authority emotional as he tried to comfort the surviving staff. >> dte is a family. people in the organization know everyone. this is a terrible tragedy. >> reporter: just eight miles away a neighbor took this video

of the suspect's home, billowing with smoke in a suspicious blaze. firefighters responded to the scene at 6:36 a.m., just two minutes after the first calls from the shooting at the rail yard came in. investigators are now on site at both locations searching for answers. while california's governor, has more questions of his own. >> what the hell is going on in the united states of america? what the hell is wrong with us? >> reporter: and the grim task continues here at the scene of this latest mass shooting in the united states, local, state law enforcement as well as special agents from the atf and fbi are processing the scene. we're also told they are at the residence of the shooter trying to glean any evidence to get to that motive and try to understand why he came here on wednesday and engaged in this attack. josh campbell, cnn, san jose, california. >> the white house lowered the u.s. flag to half-staff to mourn the victims. it was the fifth time since taking office that president joe biden has ordered the flags

lowered after a mass shooting. the president had a blunt message for congress saying the country has had enough. once again, i urge congress to take immediate action and heed the call of the american people, including the vast majority of gun owners to help end this epidemic of gun violence in america. on capitol hill republican senators are about to face a last minute push to support the creation of a january 6th commission. it will come from the mother of capitol police officer brian sicknick who died after the insurrection there. sources say gladys sicknick will meet at least 15 republicans thursday to make the case they should vote for the commission that would investigate the insurrection. in a statement sicknick said, i suggest that all congressmen, senators, who are against this bill visit my son's grave in arlington national cemetery and while there think about what their hurtful decisions will do to those officers who will be there for them going forward. cnn has reached out to all 50

senate republicans to confirm their plans. some of them including minority leader mitch mcconnell reportedly offered sicknick only a meeting with their staffers. even though the insurrection threatened to put u.s. democracy at risk, the bill to get to the bottom of it faces a huge political road block. cnn's manu raju reports. >> reporter: senate republicans are poised to filibuster the bill to create a commission to investigate the attack that occurred on january 6 in this building, in the u.s. capitol, because of their concerns that in their view this would be a political investigation. that's what you're hearing over and over again. their larger concern is that this would essentially undercut their message heading into the 2022 midterms when they are trying to take back the house and the senate. some of them saying that very openly, even mitch mcconnell the republican leader, says that his concern is that democrats want to relitigate donald trump and not focus on the issues before the country, domestic issues, spending, infrastructure, the

economy. that is the big argument that republicans are making about why they will ultimately plan to block this commission going forward. now, there are some republicans who are willing to move ahead, one of them mitt romney, utah republican, who told me that if republicans do block this on thursday, then they will look like they are trying to hide the truth from getting out to the american public. some other republicans, including lisa murkowski, susan collins plan to vote to open debate but they need ten republican senators to break ranks and right now the math just simply is not there unless something changes dramatically. one thing that has changed over the last day the mother of the fallen police officer brian sicknick, gladys sick nick has requested meetings with all 50 republican senators urging them to vote for this commission, warning that blocking it would be in her view, quote, a slap in the face of all the police officers who braved fought and defended this building on january 6 but that is still

unlikely to convince enough republicans to break ranks. mike braun who plans to meet with gladys sicknick told me that's not going to change his vote at the end of the day, he believes the commission is unnecessary. expect democrats to lead the investigation once republicans do block this come thursday despite what everyone experienced here, this outside commission almost certainly doesn't appear like it's going to happen. manu raju, cnn, capitol hill. the u.s. president is ordering intelligence agencies to ramp up efforts to figure out where the coronavirus came from and he is expecting a report in 90 days. his administration is under pressure to get answers after new reporting from cnn and other news outlets indicates it's possible the virus escaped from a chinese laboratory. the u.s. intelligence report also found several researchers at china's institute of virology were hospitalized in november 2019, which adds to the mystery. kaitlan collins has details.

>> reporter: president biden now calling on the u.s. intelligence community to intensify its investigation into the origin of covid-19. >> this is incredibly important. >> reporter: biden demanding a firmer answer within 90 days after officials narrowed in on two likely scenarios, it passed from animals to humans or it was the result of a lab accident. >> that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion. >> reporter: the president has, quote, specific questions for china and told intelligence agencies to keep congress fully apprised. the directive is a sharp turn from where officials stood earlier this week when pressed on whether the u.s. should lead an investigation. >> what we can't do and what i would caution anyone doing is leaping ahead of an actual international process. we don't have enough data and information to jump to a conclusion. >> reporter: federal health officials renewed calls for further investigation after the world health organization faced criticism for initially dismissing the possibility that it came from a lab. >> it is certainly possible that

other options might have occurred, including a possible lab leak. we just don't have evidence to be able to say what that likelihood is. >> reporter: one of biden's top covid-19 advisers was harshly critical of the w.h.o.'s investigation with china. >> we need a completely transparent process from china. we need the w.h.o. to assist in that matter. we don't feel like we have that now. >> reporter: biden is also taking a shot at his predecessor, saying the failure to get our inspectors on the ground in those early months will always hamper any investigation. the new directive comes after sources told cnn that biden's team shut down a state department effort led by former secretary pompeo to prove coronavirus had originated in a chinese lab. >> i am confident that we will find that the evidence that we have seen to date is consistent with a lab leak and i'm convinced that's what we will see. >> reporter: and the state department is disputing the semantics of that story saying they did not shut down that investigation, it simply came to an end earlier this year, but i think the bottom line to take away from president biden's

directive today is they do believe there could be some credibility to that theory that covid-19 did come from a lab, a lab accident potentially and that's what he wants the intelligence community to find out within the next three months. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. meanwhile, china is slamming the lab leak theories, calling them smear campaigns. cnn's steven jiang reports from beijing. >> reporter: the chinese government has been saying for days that these latest allegations from washington are just another sign of a u.s. led smear campaign against china. their current line of argument is china has done all it can in terms of helping the world health organization in its origin tracing effort, now it's time to investigate other countries, especially pointing a finger at the u.s., but without providing any concrete evidence. so that partly explains their growing frustration or even anger at anyone who demands or suggests further investigations in wuhan in china because their

own line of arguments or counterattacks is simply not resonating with much of the rest of the world. now, the fact is a growing number of experts and scientists are saying based on the evidence they have seen so far they simply cannot rule out the lab leak theory, but they are also not ruling out other scenarios including the jump that's been considered most likely by a w.h.o. team that did go into the wuhan lab early this year. now, these scientists are saying these mention were not incompatible with each other, it's not an either/or question but what they have problem with is that the w.h.o. team that went to the wuhan lab said it was extremely unlikely the virus was leaked from the lab based on a conversation with the staff, not based on direct access to raw complete chinese data and samples. that's why the w.h.o.'s finding has not been very convincing to a growing number of experts and officials from around the world who are now calling on beijing to provide unfettered access to all of this data to independent experts.

but of course given how politicized this issue has become on both sides of the pacific it's increasingly unlikely if not outright impossible for the chinese government to agree to do so and for them of course it's not only a sovereignty issue, it's probably a loss of face issue not to mention this is increasingly a domestic issue given the narrative they've been feeding their domestic audience including over the top rhetoric against the u.s. steven jiang, cnn, beijing. a surge of covid cases in japan is forcing the government to consider extending a state of emergency. that's just the latest threat to the summer olympics. the games are scheduled to start in 57 days and union officials who represent doctors in japan are repeating their call for the games to be canceled. cnn's blake essig is live this hour in tokyo. how important is the opinion of that doctors union? does it carry much weight or is it -- it's significance more that it's just the straightest straw in a pile that seems to be

growing heavier and heavier by the day? >> reporter: all of the above, kim. i think it's very important, though. the fact that a doctors union in japan has called for the olympic games to be canceled because of an ongoing global pandemic should matter. while the union only represents a small number of doctors, about 130, the fact that they're speaking out in a country where that rarely happens is significant. they say holding an olympics in japan would be irresponsible for the athletes and can pose a great threat to the people of japan. they also warned of a virus -- of virus variants that could be brought into japan saying that if that happens that the games could be the target of criticism for the next 100 years to come. now, at this point covid-19 cases across the country remain high, fueled by the uk variant. in fact, the number of severe cases once again set a new record on wednesday. as a result the hospital bed capacity in many areas is either near or beyond capacity and leaders in tokyo and several

other prefectures are calling for a second extension of the current state of the emergency order that is supposed to end at the end of this month. under the state of emergency order the government is asking bars and restaurants to close by 8:00 a.m. and not serve alcohol, they are also asking residents to avoid travel and work from home if possible. to this point the state of emergency which started at the end of april has had little impact on slowing the spread of the virus. despite all that, olympic organizers remain confident in the anti-virus measures that they have put in place, saying for months that the games will go ahead this summer safely and on schedule, even if a state of emergency order is in place. while dr. michael ol ster holm an infectious disease expert is willing to give the games a chance he says the current plan in place isn't enough. >> there's virtually been no planning for how are we going to move people in buses or putting three people to a hotel room or where do they eat and what kind

of respiratory protection do they have? they noted each country should bring their own face masks. i think the approach they're taking right now is virtually a dangerous one. >> reporter: possible extension of the state of emergency order is expected to be announced tomorrow for nine prefectures including tokyo and could last until june 20th. if that does happen that's just a month before the olympic games are set to begin. >> unbelievable. thanks so much, blake essig in tokyo. european union foreign ministers discuss their next step as they mount a strong response to dell la ruse's forced landing of a commercial plane and arrest of a dissident journalist. and the u.s. president is speaking out about the latest atrocities in ethiopia's war torn tigray region. that's just ahead. stay with us.

you could take your ulcerative colitis treatment in a different direction. talk to your doctor about xeljanz, a pill, not an injection or infusion, for adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis when a certain medicine did not help enough. xeljanz is the first and only fda-approved pill for moderate to severe uc. it can reduce symptoms in as early as two weeks, improve the appearance of the intestinal lining, and provide lasting steroid-free remission. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers, including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. you could take your uc treatment in a different direction. ask your gastroenterologist about xeljanz.

hi. i'm wolfgang puck when i started my online store wolfgang puck home i knew there would be a lot of orders to fill and i wanted them to ship out fast that's why i chose shipstation shipstation helps manage orders reduce shipping costs and print out shipping labels it's my secret ingredient shipstation the number 1 choice of online sellers and wolfgang puck go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free it's a simple fact: nothing kills more germs on more surfaces and wolfgang puck than lysol spray. it's a simple fact: it even kills the covid-19 virus. science supports these simple facts. there's only one true lysol. lysol. what it takes to protect.

foreign ministers are meeting in portugal where the response to the forced landing of a ryan airplane in belarus will be high on the agenda. eu leaders have been quick to criticize the flight diversion that led to the arrest of roman

protasevich. also today the international civil aviation organization will hold an urgent meeting on the matter. it says what happened goes against the agreements that govern the airline industries, but the growing international backlash and outrage over the incident hasn't shaken president lukashenko who is still defiant. >> translator: as we predicted our ill wishers both outside and inside the country it have changed their methods of at attacking the belarusian state. they have transgressed the limits of common sense and common morality. >> cnn's fred pleitgen joins us now from berlin. fred, the pressure is growing, what's the latest? >> reporter: the pressure certainly is growing on alexander lukashenko but certainly at this point in time he shows absolutely no will to back down in any way, shape or form. of course, one of the reasons for that is that he still does have the full backing of the kremlin, of vladimir putin. it was quite interesting to hear

yesterday, kim, that russian politicians, many of them, came out and said that they believe that all the explanations that they were hearing from belarus were, quote, reasonable. all this coming as alexander lukashenko after that speech in parliament he was saying a lot of things that seemed to contradict some of the first information that was coming out of belarus. he said the alleged bomb threat that made the belarusian authorities launch that aircraft and force that ryanair jet to land came from switzerland. they had said it came from hamas, the swiss denied the bomb threat came from their country as well. he also said that several other airports had refused to allow that jet to land, namely warsaw and lithuanian, the polish authorities told us they have absolutely no information of a plane wanting to land. a lot of the things there don't seem to add up and that seems to be one of the reasons why the european union is not buying any of the explanations that are coming there from belarus. as you mentioned today the eu

foreign ministers are meeting, certainly that's going to be on the top of the agenda. you can already see some of the measures taking hold. there was one bell avia flight where the poor passengers who were on that flight it took off from minsk airport, was supposed to fly to barcelona but then had to do circles over belarus for about two hours before returning back to minsk. certainly no fun for the motion who were on that flight. also a reflection of how things are going currently in air travel in belarus and over belarus. also the belarusian opposition leader told the eu parliament's foreign relations committee that the eu as she believes needs to take a tougher line against alexander lukashenko. listen in to what she had to say. >> now i call on the european parliament to make sure that the reaction of the international community is not limited to the

r ryanair flight incident. they must address the situation in belarus in its entirety or we will all face situations in the future as lukashenko is turning my country into a north korea of europe. nontransparent, unpredictable and dangerous. >> there you have it. she said that alexander lukashenko is turning belarus into north korea as she puts t there are some who are calling for new import bans by the european union of some goods from belarus, but the bottom line right now is still roman protasevich still no closer to being released, can i'm. >> thanks so much. fred pleitgen in berlin. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken has left jordan wrapping up his middle east tour. the trip aimed to shore up the ceasefire that ended 11 days of fighting between israel and hamas militants. blinken met with king abdullah in amman who welcomed the u.s.

plan to reopen its consulate in jerusalem to help americans outreach to the palestinians. the u.n. human rights council is holding a special session at pakistan's request. muslim countries are calling for an investigation into possible war crimes and human rights violations before and during the recent conflict. the u.s. president is calling for a ceasefire in ethiopia's tigray region as well as full access for humanitarian aid. joe biden released a statement saying i am deeply concerned by the escalating violence and the hardening of regional and ethnic divisions in multiple parts of ethiopia. the large scale human rights abuses taking place in tigray including widespread sexual violence are unacceptable and must end. the u.s. recently imposed financial sanctions and visa restrictions on ethiopian and eritrean officials as reports of new atrocities emerge. witnesses tell cnn that in camps for those who were forced from their homes hundreds of young

men have been rounded up by soldiers reportedly shouting we will see if america will save you now. cnn has investigated a wide range of atrocities being committed in the tigray region. here is just some of a report from the reporting on the story. >> reporter: the sudan ethiopia border the last leg in the journey to safety. in the first weeks of the conflict thousands of refugees from ethiopia's tigray region crossed daily. now the figures are dwindling day by day. those that do make it here come bearing scars and testimony. this man says he fled a city near the ethiopia eritrea border. he says the soldiers beat them with machine guns, lay them on the ground and put weapons in their mouths. he said if you showed fear they would kill you but if you were brave you escaped with your life

and the scars on your back. this woman arrived in sudan with a newborn. she fled through back routes giving birth in a field. she tells us only she and her mother-in-law made it to safety. >> that was cnn's neem in a he will bagger reports. still to come, donald trump left the white house more than four months ago but he didn't leave his legal troubles behind. we will have new details on those intensifying investigations. plus the british prime minister is lambasted by his former ally. why his former adviser says the uk could have saved thousands of lives. we are back after a short break. stay with us.

do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. our friends sold their policy to help pay for their medical bills and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned that we can sell all of our policy or keep part of it with no future payments, who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have one hundred thousand dollars or more of life insurance you may qualify to sell your policy.

don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit conventrydirect.com to find out if you policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. so it's another day. yeah- that's what most people think. but in business it's never just another day.

every day is the day. there's the day your store has its biggest sale. the day you have a make or break presentation. and the day your team operates from across the country. but there's also the day you never see coming- the day when nothing goes right. see- that's the thing. you never know what the day might bring. so whether you do business on wall street or main street you have to be ready. with the power of the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses. the freedom to control that network from anywhere. and advanced cybersecurity to help protect every device on it. all backed by a dedicated team 24/7. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities.

♪ there are new indications that investigations in involving donald trump are intensifying. a source tells cnn that prosecutors investigating the former u.s. president have been formed at least one witness to prepare to testify before a grand jury. cnn's paula reid has the details. >> reporter: cnn has learned that new york prosecutors investigating the trump organization and the former president have told at least one witness to prepare for grand jury testimony. the move suggests the probe is advancing as the manhattan da is moving to present witness testimony to the grand jury. the "washington post" reported that manhattan district attorney cy vance has convened a special grand jury to help decide whether there is enough evidence to bring an indictment against the former president, his

company or others involved. the grand jury will be made up of as many as 23 randomly selected citizens. their work will be done in secret and reportedly they will be meeting three times a week for at least the next six months. prosecutors have already used a grand jury to issue subpoenas for documents and will be able to present charges which would only require a majority of grand juries to deliver an indictment. the wide ranging investigation includes whether the trump organization improperly valued assets in financial filings, something former trump attorney michael cohen testified to. >> it was my experience that mr. trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes. such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in forbes. and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes. >> reporter: cohen has met with investigators several times, but legal analysts say fraud

requires specific evidence. >> what you're going to need is a witness who discussed the fraudulent scheme with donald trump and can say, i committed fraud and i did it at the direction of my boss, donald trump. and if you don't have that witness in this case i think it's very difficult to charge donald trump. >> reporter: that witness could be the trump organization's long-time cfo. >> placing george this week is my chief financial officer allen weisselberg. >> reporter: he handled the trump organization's finances for 40 years and was even left in charge of the company when trump became president. weisselberg is under investigation himself for his own taxes, a pressure that could lead him to agreeing to cooperate and help investigators understand the inner workings of trump's company. his former daughter-in-law has provided documents to investigators and she thinks weisselberg will cooperate. >> will allen weisselberg flip on trump? >> yes. >> reporter: former president

trump has previously denied any wrongdoing. >> this is just a continuation of the witch-hunt. >> reporter: saying in a statement tuesday, it began the day i came down the escalator in trump tower and it's never stopped. cnn has learned that investigators have told one witness to prepare for grand jury testimony. even with a grand jury there is no guarantee the former president or anyone at all will be charged in this case. though a former prosecutor tells current it would be very rare to convene a special grand jury in manhattan that did not at least consider charges. paula reid, cnn, washington. now to a warning from a federal judge nearly six months after the capitol riot. she says the, quote, steady drum beat of donald trump's election fraud claim could still inspire some of his supporters to take up arms as they did on january 6th. as part of a legal decision judge amy berman jackson wrote, quote, six months later the

kennard that the election was stolen is being repeated daily on major news outlets and from the corners of power in state and federal government not to mention in the near daily if you will minutations of the former president. members of parliament in the uk got quite a show on wednesday as prime minister boris johnson's former top aide for into what he calls the government's, quote, disastrous handling of the coronavirus. once an influential member of johnson's inner circle bluntly detailed the prime minister's supposed negligence, he specifically describes hearing mr. johnson say he'd rather see, quote, bodies piled high than impose another lockdown. listen to this. >> did you hear him say let the bodies pile high in their thousands or it's only killing 80 year olds? >> there's been a few different versions of this, of these stories knocking around.

there was a version of the -- of it in the sunday "times" which was not accurate, but the version that the bbc reported was accurate. >> and you heard that? >> i heard that in prime minister's study. >> cnn's bianca nobilo joins me from england with the latest. the allegations are serious and explosive. what's been the response? >> reporter: incendiary. that clip you just played that purports to corroborate the story of the prime minister boris johnson being so callous and flippant about the extreme death toll as a result of coronavirus is just one of the many, many things said by his former right-hand man and adviser in a seven-hour-long testimony yesterday. in fact, it's just the number of claims was so astonishing, kim, that individually all of these things would probably get a lot more attention, but because they

fell upon the political community, the country, journalists in one fell swoop, we're just trying to work our way through them. but the government are in damage control mode this morning. there were many claims leveled against the prime minister's fitness for office. his former adviser who helped him get into office said that he shouldn't be there and that it was a symptomatic of the failure of the british political system that he was. that he didn't take the pandemic seriously. and the prime minister yesterday spoke to the house of commons chamber denying these allegations. let's have a listen. >> i take full responsibility for everything that has happened and i've said -- as i've said before, and he will recall, both in this house and elsewhere i am truly sorry for the suffering that the people of this country have experienced, but i maintain my point that the government acted throughout with the intention to save life,

particularly nhs and in accordance with the best scientific advice. that's exactly what we did. >> reporter: so, kim, yesterday the prime minister and his team would not be drawn on the individual allegations that were made by dominic cummings but this morning a cabinet minister has been doing the media rounds and his key defense is the fact that the government did not have all the facts at the time that dominic coupling was discussing, mainly february 2020, that they didn't know what shape this pandemic was going to take. that's what they're saying. perhaps the most vicious and damaging charges were made against the health secretary matt hancock because dominic cummings accused him of having o 15 to 20 things which would really parent him being sacked from his government role. he said that he lied publicly, that he was single handedly responsible for a lot of failures which led to tens of thousands of lives lost in britain. so it will be interesting to see what the prime minister says later. we are expect to go hear from him. he is out visiting a hospital today and the health secretary

will make a statement to the nation addressing these claims and he's likely to explain the fact again that the government say that they didn't have the facts that were required. that at this point, kim, it's -- it's interesting to note that potentially even if the prime minister did have reason to be concerned about the behavior of the health secretary or any other reasons to see him leave his post and we don't know that, that if he was to remove him from his post or if the health secretary was to resign, it does appear to corroborate what was said by dominic cummings. now they are in a difficult political position because any action that's taken appears to acknowledge the validity of what his former adviser said. >> we will see what the remember percussions of all of this this is. thank you so much bianca nobilo in england. appreciate it. a bad day for big oil. david beats goliath in one fight against climate change, but there's actually more than

america's largest oil company being challenged by a tiny hedge fund. a lot more and we will bring it to you. stay with us.

obama says he's hopeful for change in the criminal justice system one year after the killing of george floyd, but he also admits he wasn't able to fully speak his mind after the deaths of trayvon martin and michael brown while in office. martin was an unarmed black teenager killed in 2012 by a neighborhood watch volunteer. brown also unarmed was killed two years later by police in ferguson, missouri. >> the criminal justice system in this country has never operated in a color-blind fashion and that the consequences for families and communities has been

devastating. >> he also says real change will take a lot of work and time but that he's seeing some of that work being done. an education bill in texas could soon impact how students are taught about current events in relation to slavery and racism. if passed it could ban schools from teaching critical race theory and academic concept about systemic racism. earlier don lemon spoke with a member of the texas state board of education who described the impact the bill could have in the classroom. >> the real world impact of a bill like this is requiring teachers to teach the fine people on both sides theory. imagine teaching the fine people on both sides of the indian removal act or the fine people on both sides of slavery and lynching and jim crow or the fine people on both sides of the massacre of 15 mexican-american men and boys being shot to death in the middle of the night by texas rangers.

where are the fine people on both sides? >> supporters of the bill say the goal is to keep personal biases out of the classroom but opponents say it's an attempt to whitewash history. the white woman who called police last year claiming a black bird watcher was threatening her is suing her former employer for firing her after the incident. amy cooper claims the company franklin templeton didn't adequately investigate the incident. it happened in new york's central park. a spokesperson for the company told cnn it stands by the decision. cooper claims in the lawsuit her call to police wasn't racially motivated. she is seeking lost pay and emotional damages. well, you could say it was a bad day for big oil and potentially a turning point for the climate. first an unprecedented setback for america's biggest oil company. two exxonmobil directors have been ousted after a battle with an activist. investor engine number one, the hedge fund has won at least two

seats on the board, another two are too close to call. it says exxon is dragging its feet on the climate crisis. and in what some are calling a historic decision a court in the netherlands is ordering shell to cut its carbon emissions more aggressively than planned. shell says it will appeal. shareholders also have a warning for chevron, a majority of them voted in favor of a proposal to cut emissions generate bd i using the company's products. meteorologist derek van dam is here to break it all down for us. a trifecta of losses for the oil industry. how big are these developments for those fighting climate change? >> these landmark decisions against exxon, chevron, as well as shell couldn't have come a moment too soon or any sooner because we are edging, the planet, closer and closer to that 1.5 degree celsius agreement set in 2015 back in paris. what you are looking at behind me is a graph with the temperature trends, the global temperature trends in the white

kind of squiggly line overlaid with what is the global carbon dioxide emissions. what you are seeing is the parallels between the two. carbon dioxide and temperature go hand in hand. when we pump more c02 into our atmosphere by burning fossil fuels the temperature on earth goes up. and we're seeing that especially as we start to spike and see unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide over 420 parts per million occurring now within the planet detected just within the past month. someone has to pay the bill here. we have all got skin in the game, right? we look back at billion dollar disasters over the past few decades and you can see that number, the number of events occurring more frequently and more numbers. when you start totaling these up someone has to pay for it, generations to come will have to pay for the act of indecisive decision-making within the past several decades. you look at just 2020, for example, there were 22 billion

plus disasters that totaled $95 billion. that eclipsed some of the previous records back in 2011 and 2017, namely last year's wildfire season. you look at what's happening already this year and we are not even into the heart of the dry season over the western u.s. and we are already starting to see that unprecedented breakneck pace for another very difficult wildfire season over the state of california in particular. seven of the warmest years have occurred since 2014, there's the trajectory we're concerned about. 2050 according to scientists we need to cut emissions of c02 by 100% to reach those 1.5 degree agreed upon goals back in paris in 2015. kim, lots to digest there, but very important information. >> absolutely. so much at stake there. tanks so much derek van dam. appreciate it. the latest shot in the media streaming wars has hollywood buzzing. amazon has announced it's buying the legendary hollywood studio

mgm to bolster its own streaming platform. brian stelter has more on the blockbuster deal. >> reporter: instead of bond, james bond, this is bay zoez, jeff bezos. the pham zon ceo who is stepping aside this summer is making a big purchase acquiring the movie studio mgm for $8.4 billion this deal by amazon is another landmark moment in the streaming wars or the streaming olympics, these big media and tech companies are trying to get bigger, trying to bulk up with more content, more movies and tv shows to keep all of us watching. this is one of the biggest acquisitions that amazon has ever made and if it receives regulatory approval, it means that franchises like the james bond films and television shows like the handmade's tale will be under the amazon roof even though those films and tv shows are distributed in a variety of ways right now. amazon says that deal is an

attempt to own more intellectual property or ip for short. bezos saying in a statement the acquisition basis here is simple. mgm has a vast, deep catalog of much beloved intellectual property and with the talented people at mgm and amazon studios we can reimagine and develop that ip for the 21st century. taking old movies and old tv shows, remaking them and finding new ways to stream them. that's what this deal is all about. but time will tell whether amazon is overpaying, paying more than $8 billion for the studio. and time will tell whether amazon really knows how to run a storied hollywood studio. brian stelter, cnn, new york. all right. just ahead, it was a rough night for the nba's washington wizards, especially their superstar russell westbrook who wasn't exactly showered with affection from the fans in philadelphia. i will explain coming up. stay with us.

isn't it disappointing when your plug-in fades? once that freshness goes away, you're left thinking, “okay....now what?” febreze fade defy plug works differently. it's the first plug-in with built-in technology... to digitally control how much scent is released... to smell 1st day fresh for 50 days. it even tells you when it's ready to be refilled. upgrade to febreze fade defy plug.

the french open starts on sunday and while you can see naomi osaka on the court don't expect to hear anything from her. the tennis star says she won't take part in any news conferences in an effort to

protect her mental health. a look at the day's other headlines here is patrick snell with a minute in sports. well, we start with the nba playoffs here in the u.s. with the philadelphia 76ers beating the washington wizards on wednesday night, but there's one moment in particular attracting headlines right now, wizards star russell westbrook suffering an injury and while limping to the locker room tv images showing a fan pouring popcorn on westbrook infuriating the star player there. elsewhere the new york knicks beating the atlanta hawks at madison square garden the host much to the delight of the 50,000 fans in sight level the first round playoff series at one game apiece. congratulations to spain's via real who is basking in glory after a historic win for the club in poland last night over manchester united. the match decided on a dramatic penalty shootout 11-10 via real.

unfortunately, though, we have to report the ugly side of football seen post match and online. mark russ rashford reporting he received at least 70 racial slurs across his social media accounts. highly durkin deed. kim, back to you. imagine hitting jackpot just for getting the covid shot. the winners and the prizes in ohio. >> two lucky ohioans are about to go big and i do mean huge winners. finally the wait is over. we are ekts sighted to announce the first winner. abigail from silver ton you just won $1 million in the vacs a million give away. our lucky ohio student winner is is joseph cost low from inglewood. congratulations. >> that last prize is a full ride scholarship at a public university including tuition, room, board and books. it's ohio's first vax a million

drawing. the governor says it has encouraged for people to get covid-19 vaccinations so in the end everyone is a winner. that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. "early start" is next.

marcus rashford.

welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. we have reports this morning from san jose, taiwan, mexico city, shanghai, capitol hill and tokyo. this is "early start," i'm laura jarrett. >> all around the world as only cnn can. good morning everyone i'm christine romans. it's thursday, may 27th. 5:00 a.m. in new york. it is 2:00 a.m. in san jose, california, that's where we begin. nine more victims, nine more funerals, nine more broken families and a numb nation moves

on