welcome to all of our viewers joining us here in the united states and around the world. i'm robyn curnow. just heed, u.s. president joe biden vowed to work with republicans and now his promise is being tested with a massive infrastructure bill on the table. and as pandemic restrictions are being lifted, we're seeing more and more violence across the u.s. and a rash of mass shootings from coast to coast. and as the u.s. begins to meet afghanistan, the taliban seizing the opportunity to gain more ground, what this could mean for the country as america's longest war winds

down. so it is 4:00 in the morning in washington where in just a matter of hours the senate will hold a procedural vote on a sweeping voting rights bill, part of a critical week for president biden's legislative agenda and his efforts to secure a bipartisan agreement on another key issue, which is infrastructure. sources tell cnn that there is optimism around the talks with the president already sitting down with two democratic senators as he pushes for a path forward. phil mattingly is covering all of this and he has the latest. >> i think the president having served 36 years in the senate, he is always going to be deeply involved. >> reporter: president biden with his legislative agenda hanging in the balance now pushing to close the deal. >> he is always going to roll up his sleeves and want to know

every detail of what is being discussed. >> reporter: or at least a deal, a bipartisan one, on infrastructure. where 21 senators including 11 republicans are signed on to a trillion dollar framework that would include $579 billion in new spending, a path way for biden's hopes that burst into the open while he was traveling through europe last week. >> we're making progress particularly on key investments that we need to build out our nation's infrastructure and prepare for the clean energy economy that is coming. >> reporter: biden looking to capitalize on that progress this week with calls and in-person meetings likely to occur according to white house officials. >> i suspect that he will have members here over the next couple days to have those discussions in person. >> reporter: but while white house officials have cautious optimism, there are still plenty of road blocks ahead. most notably how to pay for the plan with biden dead set against

increases to the gas tax. >> the president has been clear he just is not willing to do raising taxes on middle class families. >> reporter: the stakes enormous, the clock ticking. >> it is not weeks in his view in terms of moving forward and seeing if there is a bipartisan path forward. >> reporter: but while officials say that they see multiple pathways to enacting the economic agenda, and democrats already at work on the painstaking process to unify around a measure to move without republicans, whether the bipartisan deal is clinched or not. >> that is what majority leader schumer and i are working on right now. and it is not he easy. we have 50 different democratic senators in the caucus and each have their own priorities, but we have to bring people together. >> reporter: but republicans urging biden to urge quickly and sign on to the bipartisan talks. >> if you want to work with republicans to spend a trillion dollars on infrastructure, it is available to you.

>> reporter: white house officials i've spoken to firmly believe that there is time to pursue the bipartisan deal and they firmly believe that there is a possible deal to be had. however, they are keenly aware of the anxiety levels on capitol hill amongst democrats particularly progressive democrats who want to stop the negotiations now and just move along on their own way. it was something that kind of came to pass in a call, a private call, between president biden's top legislative affairs officials and senior staffers for house democrats earlier on monday. legislative affairs officials making clear the dual track process is one that they are on right now, however the top legislative affairs official for the white house saying on that call, we are not going to waste our time, making clear that they are willing to pursue the bipartisan deal if for now, but won't forever. >> thanks for that. in the coming hours the senate is set to vote on a major

reform act. and the prospects don't look good for republican support, something the white house press secretary doesn't expect to change. >> is the democratic party united? we weren't as of a couple steps forward. that is a step forward. and as i will acknowledge, we don't expect there to be a magical 10 or more republican votes. >> all eyes are now on the moderate democrat from west virginia, senator joe manchin, despite previously opposing the bill, he could possibly support a new version of it. but it won't come cheap. he wants states to require identification to vote and that is a hot button issue. and so job one for chuck schumer is to unify his party, but he is noncommittal about whether he is there yet. >> have you gotten a commitment that manchin and sinema would

back reconciliation? >> i won't get into my individual talks. we all know we have to come together. >> that was manu raju interviewing chuck schumer. the senate vote is later on today. on police reform, republican senator tim scott says he aims to have a republican bipartisan framework by the end of the week when lawmakers leave for the fourth of july recess. he told reporters on monday democrats and republicans are pretty close to getting on the same page. many americans however are concerned about the uptick in crime across the country. president biden is expected to discuss his administration's crime prevention strategy this week including way it is keep u.s. cities and neighborhoods safe. there was certainly gun violence over the weekend and monday night, three killed, four injured in a shooting in st. louis. amara walker reports on why the u.s. is seeing a rise in violence crime as the pandemic winds down. >> reporter: while americans emerge there one pandemic, what the white house calls a public

health epidemic of gun violence is surging. at least ten mass shootings happening in thine different states over the weekend leaving seven dead, 45 others injured. several occurs where crowds gathered including in aurora, colorado where a group was celebrating the new juneteenth federal holiday in a shopping mall parking lot early sunday. one person killed, four injured. >> eager to get out, have some fun, tired of being cooped up. >> reporter: around same time, another june tcelebration in indiana. and gunshots rang out in a crowd of 5,000 people near lake merritt. and this dallas, texas, a 10 and 15-year-old among the eight injured in a shooting. former philadelphia police commissioner and former d.c. police chief charles ramsey weighs in on one factor contributing to the rise in violence. >> you have guns in the hands of

people that should not have guns. and congress is doing absolutely nothing. some state legislatures are doing absolutely nothing. texas just passed a law letting anybody carry a gun that wants to. which in my opinion is exactly the wrong way to be moving right now. >> reporter: there have been nearly 300 mass shootings so far this year according to the gun violence archive, that is a 39% increase compared to the same time period in 2020. cnn defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot, not including the shooter. some law enforcement officials say they are concerned about the violence spiking further during the summer months as they try to understand the root of this crisis. >> we're trying to determine what are the ramifications of coming out of a pandemic. what are the frustrations that americans are feeling, how are we dealing with mental health, with some of the stressors related to unemployment in this country. and so these are the things that i think that we have to wrap our

heads around. >> reporter: there is also that debate over bail reform where we have seen several states eliminating cash bail all together for certain offenses and whether or not that is contributing to this rise in gun violence the united states is currently experiencing. statistics show major u.s. cities are grappling with an uptick in homicides and so shootings including right here in the atlanta area. in fact just last week, a cashier at this big bear grocery store just northeast of atlanta was shot and killed during a face mask dispute. amara walker, cnn. california's long time ban on assault weapons will stay in place for now. on monday a u.s. federal appeals court blocked an earlier ruling. they have been banned in california since 1989. earlier on this month, a federal judge ruled that the ban was unconstitutional and compared an ar-15 to a swiss army five.

north korea appears to be ridiculing u.s. optimism for talks last friday. kim said they should be prepared for dialogue and confrontation. and his sister warns of a greater disappointment if the u.s. interprets the comments positively. paula hancocks is in seoul and monitoring this. how do you dissect the language that we're hearing from pyongyang right now? >> reporter: well, compared to what we've heard in the past, it is fairly innocuous what we're hearing from kim jung-un and his sister at the moment. but as we have seen in the past as well, when kim jung-un is speaking recently, it is generally to caution the optimism felt either by the united states or by south korea when it comes to dialogue being reengaged with north korea. so although the words are not particularly strong, it is still

a rebuke for the united states pointing out that the optimism that the national security adviser jake sullivan appeared to show in an ansbc news intervw saying that the biden administration was waiting to see what an answer would be from north korea as to whether there would be dialogue, it appears that the answer is right now that is not going to happen. that is not particularly surprising when you consider that north korea really has an awful lot of things to be concerned about and a relationship with washington appears to be fairly low down the priority list as well. we heard from the north korea leader kim jung-un just last week at the workers party meeting that the situation was tense and there have been concerns about the amount of food within the country given the fact that there were typhoons and flooding last year, they have shut the border since january 2020 due to covid concerns. so they are not having food aid coming in, not having imports

from china. so it appears that that is the biggest concern for north korea at this point. but then on the side as well there is still time for pyongyang and specifically for kim jung-un to try to caution the optimism the u.s. feels about any potential discussions. so the special envoy for north korea for the united states is here in seoul at the moment, he has been having meetings, he has repeated the fact that he is willing to meet anywhere anytime with north korean officials. but that really seems to be falling on deaf ears at this point. >> thanks so much, paula hancocks. history making moment in professional sport. american football player with the first active player to announce that he is gay. the defensive lineman for the las vegas raiders shared the news on monday saying it took him years to feel comfortable making the announcement. >> i'm a pretty private person, so i hope you know i'm not

itting it for attention. but i think that representation and visibility are so important. i actually hope that within day videos like this and the whole coming out process are just not necessary. but until then, i'll do high bes hmy best to cultivate a culture that is compassionate. >> and he is donating $100,000 to a suicide prevention organization for lgbt youth. for more on this and other news res , visit cnn.com. time now for a short break. still ahead, the u.s. justice department share as new video of the capitol riot, what they say it shows about those who planned the insurrection. but first as the u.s. draws troops down from afghanistan, the taliban is certainly gaining ground. the latest developments in a live report. freshness that lasts.cented or crafted to give you amazingly natural smelling fragrances, day after day... ...for up to 60 days.

give us one plug for freshness that lasts. use a single hr software? nope. we use 11. eleven. why do an expense report from your phone when you can do it from a machine that jams? i just emailed my wife's social security number to the entire company instead of hr, so... please come back. how hard is your business software working for you? with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software.

visit paycom.com for a free demo. hon? first off, we love each other...

did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. it then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. prilosec otc.

one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. welcome back. i'm robyn curnow live in atlanta. local officials in northern afghanistan say that the militants have taken over dozens of districts across several

provinces. one official says nine districts fell to the taliban in just one would week, almost without a fight. and this is also ahead of the september 11 deadline for u.s. troops to leave the country. president biden is set to sit down with their president on friday. and here is how the press secretary described conditions on the ground. >> every day the situation in afghanistan changes as the taliban continue to conduct these attacks and to raid district centers as well as the violence which is still too high. >> and nic robertson is joining me live from london with more. certainly not unexpected. >> reporter: it is not. what was hoped for was that the taliban and afghan government would negotiate a peace, a truce deal between them. and that hasn't happened. this was sort of the united

states organized its own truce with the taliban so it could pull out forces, nato forces, as well. but what has happened is that the taliban seem to be taking military advantage on the ground, no surprise at all, taking advantage of the fact that there aren't air strikes now to support or far, far fewer coalition air strikes to support afghan forces on the ground. which has been one of the key things that has held the taliban back from taking territory in the past. so now the taliban are taking areas in the north of the country. i think, you know, when you stand back and look at why the taliban are taking areas in the north of the country, because that is not naturally their ethnic heartland, that is the south and east, these are areas that back in the 1990s, and i covered the taliban and afghanistan back then, these are areas that it took the taliban many years to take control of. for whatever reason, they are accelerating their attacks in these areas to the point that overnight they appear to have

taken an important border town to the north of afghanistan. and so these taking roll of district centers is something that the afghan government says that it will fight back against. it won't be easy. i talked one afghan commander in the north of the country yesterday who said that it could take weeks to roll the taliban back from some of the district centers in his province. overnight the taliban have taken more district centers. so this is a fight tipping towards the taliban in the north of the country at the moment. >> thanks to nic robertson there live in london. earlier i spoke with the former adviser to the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. and i asked him how the withdrawal is affecting afghan forces. >> as the withdraw continues and as we see the afghans breaking in some areas, being unwilling to fight, some places are turning their posts over, it is

concerning. we've seen some of this before, but what is perhaps more concerning right now is just how it has happened quickly. the afghan forces, they have suffered a lot of punishment over the last few years, and our departure comes as a bit of a shock. >> thanks for that. and the storm system named claudette is in the applitlanti associate. and before it moves ashore, it lifted a trail of destruction across the u.s. southeast. in southern alabama, at least 20 people were injured on saturday when then tropical storm claudette moved through and spawned a tornado. and in louisiana, fierce, fierce winds and heavy rain drenched parts of the state including this neighborhood near new orleans. the cnn weather center is

tracking the movements. pedro, what can you tell us? >> it is now a remnant low, last update from the national hurricane center had winds of 45 miles per hour. and it is quickly moving away from the united states. and it is being guided away by an incoming frontal boundary that could prompt an additional round of rainfall where this particular storm claudette left behind. so notice along portions of the southeast, parts of the gulf coast as well getting some thunderstorms here with flooding potential pretty high in this region. back towards areas of themidwesn u.s. where severe weather has been in place, upwards of 299 severe wind gusts coming in right on the eastern third. and then notice one report of a tornado and ten reports of large hail as well. and around the western u.s. of course we've talked about the extensive heat. from june 10 to june 19, some 5600 record temperatures were

absorbed, about 260 in the monthly record category. 70 plus records that were all-time hottest ever observed around the western u.s. and with all that said, not surprising to see the fire season getting under way, some 46 large active fires scattered about the western u.s. and of course we know about 90% of the western u.s. experiencing drought. so they need the rainfall that is happening on the eastern side of the u.s. and how about these temperatures? middle 60s in cleveland, about 78 in minneapolis this afternoon. and in portland, oregon high temperatures right around 84 degrees. >> thanks pedram javaheri. so one of those wildfires that is certainly raising concerns in arizona has grown to around 20,000 acres. it was found friday and threatening several communities near flagstaff and officials warn to be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice.

it is believed to be sparked by lightning. and still ahead here, cnn and other news organizations went to court to get access to this video, how the justice department is using to prosecute people who stormed the u.s. capitol. plus new york city's bruising mayoral primary is going down to the wire. coming up, we'll take a look at the contentious final days of the race as voters prepare to cast their ballots. t in his roo. ♪ dad, why didn't you answer your phone? your mother loved this park. ♪ she did. 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. -hey. -hi. whoa, nice car. thanks, yeah. i actually got a great deal on it too, although my interest rate is awful. have you checked your credit? i got like a free score from some app or something like that. but lenders don't even use that score. creditrepair.com has a free credit snapshot that can show you exactly what's happening with your credit score. and killing my interest rates. well, great seats though. -thank you. -like really. just knowing your score won't improve it. instead, work to actually fix your credit with creditrepair.com.

talk to me. what do we got? when you have xfinity xfi, with blazing speed... [ screaming ] a powerful connection. that's another level. and ultimate control. power us up. you can do more than you ever thought possible. yes! hold on. get a powerful and secure connection you can count on. only with xfinity xfi.

and see f9 only in theaters. ♪ ♪

welcome back. i'm robyn curnow. we're getting our first look at some newly released videos from the u.s. justice department showing what role a leader of the proud boys played at the capitol insurrection. a warning this report from paula reed certainly contains graphic language. >> reporter: these videos are the first related to a major planning conspiracy case in the capitol ryes investigation. charles donahoe is accused of organizing the proud boys, he coordinated group chats and was a trust ed senior lieutenant wh gave directions to others and cheered on proud boys even obtaining the police riot shield during the siege. now, we have a longer clip where you can see donahoe, his face covered with a striped bandana, but you can see him look on as

others take down four police officers blocking a stairwell into the capitol. let's take a look. >> way to fight back! [ crowd noise ]

[ bleep ]. >> prosecutors have made it clear they believe this was a key moment as the pro trump crowd violently broke the police down to move further into the building. mr. donahoe is seeking to be released from jail, he has pleaded not guilty. and important to note these videos were only released after a coalition of media outlets including cnn sought access to the tapes which had previously not been made public. paula reed, cnn, washington. legal analyst elie honig had this to say about the newly released videos and how prosecutors are using them in court. >> they are highlighting who the defendants are who are charged

in this case, also trying to establish straightforward truth here. i mean, look, there is strong evidence, there is smoking gun evidence and then there is this. i mean they are as guilty as we can see on that video. that is as straightforward as it gets. and it is so important that the justice department collects this evidence and puts it out because there needs to be a record of this. and those people sure as heck do not look like tourists to me. they are all going to get convicted i predict, most will go to prison. just a question of whether they flip on one another first. >> charles donahue is not accused of entering the u.s. capitol, but prosecutors say that he coordinated group chats and gave direction to others on january 6th. new york city democrats will head to the polls today to cast their votes in the mayoral primary. they face a long list of candidates in the voting booth and a brand new way of casting their ballot. here is athena jones. >> reporter: from the phrenetic

final days in the race to lead new york city -- >> i never had a doubt, not one day, that we were not going to win this. >> reporter: brooklyn borough president eric adams whose scant public polling suggests is the frontrunner in the race, keeping focus on public safety. >> i'm not going back to the days where our babies were waking up to gunshots and not alarm clocks. >> reporter: meanwhile in a last minute twist, two of the other leading democrat being mayoral candidates, former sanitation commissioner katherine garcia and businessman andrew yang making a series of campaign stops together. >> today we're campaigning together. >> so thrilled to be campaigning with katherine garcia. >> reporter: the push coming as voters make their picks under a new system that allows them to rank up to five candidates in order of preference. to allows for instant runoffs if as expected in one in the crowded field wins horn 50% of first choice ballots.

and it means being someone's second or third choice could make a difference. but while yang has repeatedly asked his voters to rank garcia lgarcia -- >> please have katherine also on your ballot. >> let me be clear, i'm not co-endorsing. >> reporter: still thjoints appearance drawing ire. adams' campaign retweeting daughter of al sharpton who suggested that the paiapparent alliance was aim at disenfranchising black voters. >> they are saying that we can't trust a person of color to be the mayor of the city of new york. >> reporter: yang responding -- >> i would tell eric adams that i've been doing this my entire life. >> reporter: mya wiley also weighing in saying rank choice voting oral alliances formed fr

it is not voter suppression. >> and this new voting system is not the only curve ball. voters are also struggling to just choose a favorite. harry enten breaks down the polling. >> reporter: just look at the polls, the limited data that we have, eric adams up at 24%, but that was taken a few weeks ago. katherine garcia, 17, wiley 15, yang 13, that is well within any predictive margin of error as i look back of historical accuracy of polls. but also take a look at this, let's put adams' number in historical perspective. 24% for a top choice, that is the lowest for any frontrunner in a democratic primary dating back all the way to the end of the last century. someone like bill thompson at this point was 49%. so 24%, awfully weak for a frontrunner. >> thanks, harry.

still to come, we'll find out how world health organization is taking steps to make covid vaccines more available on the african continent. and plus why a battle is brewing over the great barrier reef. ahhh, enjoy 30 days of open-road freshness. febreze car.

are your hr processes weighing down your employees? on to quarterly projections! expense report! if you're using multiple systems, re-entering data over and over time sheet! using email and spreadsheets to manage information and approvals, then your hr systems are a drag on productive time. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in a single, easy-to-use software. visit paycom dot com and schedule your demo today. do they know this door is locked

welcome back. infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci is fighting back against critics who say that he flip-flopped on wearing masks. in an episode of the podcast sway, he explains why his opinion changed. >> the people who aare saying that fauci misled us, first he said no masks, then he said masks. well, let's me give you a flash. that is the way science works. people who then criticize me about that are actually criticizing science.

it was not a change because i felt like flip-flopping. it was a change because the evidence changed. the data changed. >> and dr. sanjay gupta dwefendd his comments explaining how recommendations changed as hnew data began to emerge. >> biggest change with regard to masks was the realization that this was spreading primarily asymptomatically. and that is when it became clear that look, you may not know that you have the virus, you may not have any symptoms, you may not have been able to get tested, but you need to wear a mask because you could still be spreading the virus. nobody knew that at the beginning. but as we learned this, i think that that is why the recommendation changed. >> and that was of course dr.

sanjay gupta. thounow, some experts are calling covid the forever virus saying it won't disappear because of its changing nature. for many former covid patients, the same is true about symptoms and side effects caused by the virus, called long haulers and they have been left with medical issues long after their initial covid infection. one long hauler was heidi, a mother and hollywood screen writer, after fighting constant other symptoms, she died by suicide late in hey. earlier i spoke with her husband who described her struggle. >> for her, it was multiple syndromes. she had the equivalent of ddoctr e e e ex-crush greating neuropathy all day, and she had a lot of pain as well in her intestinal track. digesting food was extremely

painful. she had neurological tremors in her upper body and vibrations within her chest caused by the neurological issues that kept her from sleeping at night. she said it felt like my chest is vibrating and i have like a fizzing feeling in my veins. and it was extremely distracting. and when you add on just the discomfort of not sleeping, we all know what that feels like to get a bad's night sleep, get 30 in a row and see how you feel with everything else. >> and other long haulers are calling on the u.s. government to allocate resources to study post-covid symptoms. the cdc says there isn't enough data yet to know how many people it affects and how it affects them. the world health organization is concerned over the lack of access that poorer countries have to covid vaccines. they are planning to address the issue on the african continent by partnering with companies to boost vaccine production there. david mckenzie is in johanj

johannesburg with more on this. >> reporter: and it is certainly a long awaited move and it is made morer urgent because of t stark inequality of access access, production and even just technological know how has been made much worse by this pandemic or at least illustrated. what is happening is that there is a technology hub that will be started here in south africa where messenger rna technology famously behind the pfizer and moderna covid-19 vaccines will be shared from biotech companies with local companies to ramp up production and know-how. the problem with this, it is a step as authorities at the w.h.o. said, but it is just a first step. it could be at least a year before vaccines roll off the pipeline. in the immediate few months, we are dealing here on the

continent with very significant surge of covid-19 while much of the rest of the world sees easing off because of vaccine availability. some 40% increase in just the last week across the african continent. you have countries leook here where i'm in johannesburg dealing with a devastating third wave. uganda, other countries in east africa. and that lack of vaccines is a real problem. i put the question to the head of the w.h.o. emergency response what they are going to do in that short term. and he called the globe's response a catastrophic moral failure. take a listen. >> we have a very, very short window of time to get our most vulnerable protected. and we haven't done it. we have not used the vaccines available globally to provide global protection to the most vulnerable.

>> reporter: dr. ryan was specifically speaking about the delta variant which he said is so far the most efficient variant of this virus. he said that vulnerable people in his words could be picked off if vaccines aren't widely available. and they are asking for those countries not just to share excess doses, but also to share doses before they vaccinate their young and healthy. something probably unlikely to happen because we're not seeing an easing off of vaccine nationalism, but the overall impact on this pandemic will be devastating. >> thanks for that live report from johannesburg. so still ahead on cnn, college sport is certainly big business in the u.s. why the supreme courts haven't their fair share. plus a lineman for the raiders makes history as the nfl's first active player to announce he is gay. how the league and others are

reacting to his coming out. 's n's fault. simply add finish jetdry 3in1 to rinse, dry and shine your dishes. solve 3 problems at once with finish jetdry 3in1.

our new scented oils give you our best smelling scents. now crafted with more natural ingredients and infused with essential oils that are 100% natural. give us one plug and connect to nature. tony here from creditrepair.com taking

to the streets to talk about credit. can you repair your credit yourself? yes. -great. how? uhhh... how long does credit repair take? i don't know, like 10 years. what? are you insane? what's a good credit score? go. 600. maybe if you're trying to pay thousands extra in interest rates. cut the confusion, get started with a free credit evaluation at creditrepair.com. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. it's a simple fact: nothing kills more germs on more surfaces

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. a battle is certainly brewing over one of the world's great natural wonders.

unesco is recommending that the great barrier reef be listed in danger due to climate change. but australia is strongly opposed saying it spent billions of dollars to protect the reef and the country is appealing that recommendation. ivan watson is following this from hong kong. why is australia pushing back on this? >> reporter: this is unusual, a government like australia taking aim at unesco with the environment ministry accusing unesco of a back flip and of surprising the australian government by trying to put -- proposing to put the great barrier reef on a list of endangered world heritage sites. i think that everybody gets that the great barrier reef is a treasure. it is nearly 350,000 square kilometers in size, a marine habitat, immensely rich and diverse, bigger than italy.

and it has been on the world heritage list since 1981. but its incredible coral forests have been dying due to the rising temperatures of the ocean. there were bleaching events in 2016, 2017 and 2020 that were killing off huge amounts of the coral and the habitat for all the marine life there. unesco has downgraded the health of the great barrier reef from poor to very poor. and australia has been working with uhe nenesco to try preserv. it has invested money in it. but evidently the australian government does not like a formal endangerment categorization of the great barrier reef. such that the environment minister and the foreign minister of australia called the director general of unesco and complained about it and went on to say, quote, i made it clear

that we will contest this flawed approach, one that has been taken without adequate consultation. i agree that climate change is the single biggest threat to the world's reefs, but it is wron t best managed reef in the world for endangered listing. but environmental groups have welcomed unesco's proposal and some of it has to do with this kind of tension in the australian government. it is trying to save this environmental treasure but it is also a country that exports some of the most coal in the world and those exports are expected to grow over the next five years. and that directly contributes to global warming, to climate change, which is helping kill this treasure. >> okay. thanks for that ivan watson live in hong kong. student-athletes have just won a huge victory at the u.s. supreme court. justices say they deserve more than a free education for their services and the decision wasn't

even close as jessica schneider tho now reports. >> reporter: this unanimous ruling will allow schools to give money to athletes for education-related expenses beyond the free tuition and room and board that they already get including things potentially like computers or even s scholarships or paid internships. even though these are not direct cash payments, this does amount to a tremendous breakthrough in the long running fight to get student-athletes paid. and what is especially interesting here is the concurrence written by conservative justice brett kavanaugh, he talks about the fact that he believes the fight here is far from over. he says that there are serious questions about other restrictions the ncaa places on students making money and he slammed the organization's justification for those restrictions because the ncaa has argued that paying athletes would dilute their amateur status. they even say fans prefer student-athletes not get paid, but in the majority evidence

they said there wasn't that much evidence for that assertion. so justice kavanaugh writing nowhere else can a business agree not to pay a fair market rate on the theory that the product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate. and it is not evident why college sports should be any different. the ncaa is not above the law. justice kavanaugh pushing back on this idea that tradition and history should hamper the right of student-athletes to at least get some compensation especially when the ncaa and the colleges and coaches are making millions and millions of dollars every year. the ncaa issued a statement saying while today's decision preserves the lower court ruling, it also affirms the ncaa authority to adopt reasonable laws and remains free to articulate what are and are not truly educational benefits consistent with the ncaa's mission to support

student-athletes. but six states will allow student athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness. and then california has a law set to take effect in 2023 that will allow athletes to sign endorsement deals. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. the sports world reacts to an nfl player's coming out and plus a stunning upset in the euro 2020 tournament. don riddell has the sports. >> carl nassib has drawn praise and love from all corners of the sports community. the nfl commissioner said the nfl family is proud of carl for courageously sharing his truth. while the tennis icon billie jean king quoted that the ability to live an authentic life is so important. representation and visibility matter. the delayed olympic games are now just over a month away and the organizers in tokyo have announced that fans will be

allowed to watch the action despite warnings from health experts about the perils of the coronavirus pandemic. local fans will be allowed in to the arenas, but attendance will be capped at 50% capacity or maximum of 10,000 people. meanwhile the games will be historic because a transgender athlete will be competing for the first time. new zealand has selected the 43-year-old weight lifter laurel hubbard to compete, and she will be the hottest lifter at the games. and it was a day of really high emotion at the european football championships where the win against russia carried danes into the next round. this is just days after christian erickson had to be revived from cardiac arrest on the field. seems like a miracle that he sur survived. millions will be rooting for denmark. and so social media influencer is paying it forward to help youth in the lgbtq

community. on one occasion diners left a church pamphlet instead of a tip. steele is no stranger to differenting large amounts of money collected from her hundreds of thousands of online followers. and she knew this was a perfect opportunity to do it again. but steele ended up collecting more than she expected, so they decided to share the wealth. >> when i gave the server his gift, i said to him i'd really like to use a portion of this to donate to equality. and they have a camp for teens. and the server was like this is awesome, definitely something i soo support. >> and she is spending 40 lgbtq youth to a week long leadership camp. thank you very much for watching. connect with me on twitter and instagram @robyn curnow cnn. "early start" is up after this

short break.

re-entering data that employees could enter themselves? that's why i get up in the morning! i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember approving my time off. let's just... find that email. the old way of doing business slows everyone down. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo.

new york city heads to the polls today, local politics with national implications. democrats hope for a unified front today, a big test ahead for voting rights. what happens when it fails. and for the first time in nfl history, an active player says that he is gay. why he chose to speak out now. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm laura jarrett. >> and i'm christine