hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. appreciate your company. now, coming up here on "cnn newsroom." new evidence of the ever-growing danger from the delta variant. from rising-coronavirus cases, in the u.s., to japan banning spectators at the olympics. more than a dozen suspects arrested. several more believed to be on the run. all, involved in the brazen assassination of the haitian president. and joe biden defends the

u.s. troop withdrawal from afghanistan, even as taliban gains ground . welcome, everyone. covid-19 fears are ramping up, all over, again. as the highly-transmissible delta variant spreads across the u.s. and abroad. the world health organization says, the variant has now been detected in 100 countries, and in the u.s. it now accounts for more than half of all-new infections. now, that could be because the nation is, still, far from reaching herd immunity with less than half of the population fully vaccinated. and on top of all of that, pfizer now says it is seeing waning immunity from its covid-19 vaccine. the company telling cnn, it will seek emergency-use authorization

from the u.s. food and drug administration for a booster shot. but on thursday, the fda and centers for disease control and prevention issued an unusual-joint statement saying, americans who had been fully vaccinated do not need a booster shot, at least not now. meanwhile, there is growing concern that low-vaccination rates across parts of the u.s. could, potentially, wipe out much of the progress the nation has made in fighting the virus. cnn's athena jones with the latest. >> reporter: america's covid-19 crisis isn't over. infection rates, rising, in almost half the states. driven, in part, by the more contagious delta variant. low-vaccination rates, putting the country's progress fighting the virus at risk. the more unvaccinated people, there are, the longer this pandemic is going to be. this is not just about the individual. this is about our society. >> reporter: a georgetown university analysis showing five clusters of counties with low-vaccination rates and

significant-population sizes, stretching from georgia to texas to missouri. places that could become breeding grounds for more deadly covid variants. >> a stronger mutation will surface, and it will become predominant, unless we get vaccinated. >> reporter: new cases jumping more than 50%, week over week, in louisiana where just 35% are fully vaccinated. and tennessee, where it's about 38%. >> simply put, in areas of low-vaccination coverage, hospitalizations are up. >> reporter: with less than half the population fully vaccinated, nationwide, the white house ramping up outreach to pediatricians at workplaces and on school campuses. >> our job is to keep doing all we can to reach americans, where they are. to answer their questions, and to make it as easy as possible for them to get a shot, as soon as they are ready. >> reporter: and efforts to have doctors and religious and community leaders going door to door to answer questions for the vaccine hesitant. >> for those individuals or organizations that are feeding misinformation and trying to

mischaracterize this type of trusted-messenger work, i believe you are doing a disservice to the country and to the doctors, the faith leaders, community leaders, and others, who are working to get people vaccinated, save lives, and help end this pandemic. >> reporter: data show the pfizer, moderna, and johnson & johnson vaccines are effective, including against the delta variant. which now accounts for more than half of all new cases. >> please, get vaccinated. it will protect you against the surging of the delta variant. >> reporter: in maryland, every person who died of covid in june was unvaccinated. and as entertainers, like the rapper juvenile, try to appeal to young people, experts are hoping full approval for vaccines from the u.s. food and drug administration will encourage more people to get the shot. right now, the shots only have emergency-use authorization. meanwhile, mask mandates are back in california's state capitol, after an outbreak of covid cases among employees. as covid fears ramp up, all

over, again. and with this more transmissible delta variant spreading rapidly around the country, some experts say it may be important to start testing even vaccinated people to make sure this variant isn't evading the vaccines. in fact, pfizer said, thursday, it's seeing waning immunity from its covid vaccine and is picking up its efforts to develop booster shots to help protect people from the variants. athena jones, cnn, new york. now, concerning, new study shows the delta variant may be resistant to some monoclonal antibodies. an emergency physician at valley wise health medical center in phoenix, arizona, joins me now, live, from miami. doctor, good to see you, and thanks so much. what -- what do you make of this study that was published in the journal "nature" shows the virus variants can evade these monoclonal antibodies? and -- and, also, that one dose of pfizer or astrazeneca vaccine is way less effective than two doses. what does all that tell you?

>> yeah, no, i think it's a fascinating basic-science study that honestly jives with what we are seeing clinically. monoclonal antibodies are fine but really what's important in beating this disease is vaccination. and so, this study suggested that one dose isn't nearly as effective as two. but the full-vaccination dose requires two doses. you know what's even worse than one or two doses of the vaccine? is natural infection. and immunity that provides. so vaccination is just definitely the better route to go. better than natural immunity. better than one dose. two-full doses provides quite a bit of protection. >> and to that point, i mean, half of the u.s. is not fully vaccinated. i mean, the problem is that the unvaccinated are -- seem to be clustered, primarily, in republican states and areas. and -- and more than 80% of unvaccinated republicans do not trust the federal government on covid. speak to the problem of vaccinations being a -- a political, rather than health,

decision, apparently, for so many people and how to fix that. >> yeah. i don't know how the world came to this. i mean, i wouldn't ever have an accountant take out an appendix. they do great accounting but i don't think anybody would want an operation from them. and i don't know why people think they should get their medical management advice from politicians, rather than physicians. it didn't used to be that way just a few years ago. clearly, things have changed a lot. everybody, supposedly, has become an expert. listen. we don't make any money off of giving any information. we are just trying to help people. that's our job. when public-health experts and physicians say that vaccination is the best treatment, it really is. if you are a hermit, in one of those red states, that's fine. but clearly, people aren't hermits. they're interacting with each other and that's why you were seeing the virus spread so rampantly. it is among the unvaccinated. those are the people i see in the hospital. >> and -- and -- and, you know, people -- people can't just look at those clusters and say, well, that's them. i'm vaccinated, right? i mean, the unvaccinated, as one

doctor put it, are factories for variants. which could put even the vaccinated at risk, right? >> i mean, that's right. we're all in this, together. as you can see, based on what's happening globally. with the olympics and all sorts of events is that when people aren't vaccinated, variants spread. and right now, the vaccinated have a decent amount of protection. clearly, the more unvaccinated people that remain, the more variants that will be created. that will lead to more misery for everyone. >> it's interesting, pfizer now talking about this booster dose to protect against variants. do you see, down the line, covid shots being, like, flu shots in the future as sort of annual event? >> well, it is a possibility. i do know this. the coronavirus will be back. whether it will be this much of a pandemic or not is, of course, yet to be told. do i think it will be as common as the flu? as of now, probably not. but again, this is -- these

are -- these are new grounds. nobody really knows the answer to that. currently, the cdc and the fda say that the two shots are sufficient protection. and indeed, that seems to be the case. will that continue to be the case for covid-19 remains to be determined and, in particular, will there be covids that aren't covid-19 but covid-22s for example, that also is yet to be determined. >> great analysis. good to see you, doctor. thanks so much. >> thank you for having me. stay safe. now, authorities in haiti are ramping up the investigation into the president's assassination there. haiti's police chief says there are now 28 suspects. most of them, colombian. two of them, haitian-american. at least 17 of the alleged attackers in custody were put on display in front of the cameras. cnn has not spoken with them, nor with their lawyers. we are told that security forces are hunting for at least eight more alleged attackers after

reuters reports they killed three other suspects in a shootout. meanwhile, haiti remains under a state of siege, as people demand answers. the country's u.s. ambassador says he believes the killings were -- the killing was politically motivated. but evidence of that remains elusive. cnn's matt rivers picks up the story. >> reporter: arrests on the street thursday after an army police operation against heavily-armed mercenaries. mercenaries that authorities say are responsible for the brazen assassination of haiti's president, jovenel moise, early wednesday. haitian police say they have detained at least 15 colombians and two haitian-americans suspected to have been involved in the attack. police say, the men who posed as u.s. dea agents to gain entry to the private-presidential residence included foreign nationals. this audio circulating on social media purported to be of the time of the assassination, with

men shouting they are drug-enforcement agents, in english. but the audio cannot be authenticated by cnn. police seeming to acknowledge the rising tide of anger in the wake of the attack are urging citizens not to take the law into their own hand. >> we have the obligation to protect the people we have caught. we cannot practice self-justice. >> reporter: still, many in the haitian capital are asking just how such a bold attack could have been allowed to happen? >> where'd it come from? what country sent them? who brought them over here? how the guns got transfer here? how they got all these ammos? >> reporter: in an interview with cnn, haiti's acting-prime minister did allude to the context surrounding the assassination but stopped short of outlining a motive. >> we all know that president moise was really committed to some, i will say, some actions against the oligarchs in haiti. so, we know that, in the last

days, he spoke about the consequences that those actions can have on his own life. >> reporter: already, a nation rife with political instability, gang violence, and a humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic. fears from neighboring nations that the presidential assassination may push haiti over the edge. but haiti's interim prime minister insists that upcoming elections will, still, take place, despite the nation's upheaval. >> the constitution is clear. i have to organize elections and actually pass the power to someone else. who is elected. >> reporter: but with so much uncertainty in the wake of a coordinated hit on the president, and so many questions left to be answered about just who is responsible. whether or not haitian officials can keep the nation on track for a peaceful transfer of power remains an open question. matt rivers, cnn, porto prince,

haiti. jacqueline charles is the caribbean correspondent for "the miami herald." she joins me, now, from porto prince on the phone. jacqueline, thanks for doing so. what -- what do haitians make of the fact that these assailants were able to do this? break into the president's home. shoot the president 16 times. what does it suggest, in terms of how he was protected and the access these shooters were able to get? >> you know, haitians feel a sense of violation, right? regardless of how they felt about jovenel moise. and there are a lot of strong feelings, on both sides. people who supported him. and those who, you know, did not. because of governance issues. i mean, the economy is in the dumps. i mean, we've got a humanitarian crisis and we have a gang problem, you know, in this country. it's surging. although, they've been quite down these last two days and we are hoping they stay that way. but they feel violated. the fact that, you know, people came from the outside, from

other countries into their country, and assassinated their president. when i left the police-press conference, the crowds were out and they had captured two-additional foreigners, who they presumed to be the assailants, you know, in this attack. but a lot of this has happened because the population -- earlier this morning, you know, the population found two individuals hiding out and they basically tied them up with rope and they dragged them to the police station. and then, a mob waited outside. they were angry. they burned cars. and they were demanding that the police turn them over because they basically wanted to take justice in their own -- own hands. so, yeah. >> yeah. it's -- it is an extraordinary situation. i'm just curious, in the bigger picture, and you cover the region, full time. when -- when you look at the -- the plight that haiti is in. what can the international community do to help? i mean, the -- the international community has pumped $13 billion

of aid into the country over the last decade. what -- what is there to show for that? the accountability? where has it helped the haitian people? what's going to happen? >> you know, last year was the tenth anniversary of the 2010 earthquake. and i researched this. i investigated. and what i found was a lot of the aid, the billions of dollars in aid that was promised to haiti by the international community never materialized. i mean, the general -- france and the united states along with haiti said they are going to build them a new hospital. can you imagine, covid is surging and that general hospital, still, is not completed. ten years after the earthquake. and i think it's very symbolic in terms of the international community. i mean, they have provided aid but that aid has not gone to the haitian government. yes, there are allegations of corruption and that has to do with $2 billion from venezuela and haiti's own spending but for the bulk of it, most of the money, more than 10 billion that was promised, it never -- it never arrived. the international community. i mean, lately, you know, they

have equated democracy with elections. i mean, the lecture coming out of washington is that haiti needs to hold elections and what haitians on the ground feel is is that washington and others have not been listening to them. that, you know, there's a group here, grassroots activism, that is saying we need to do something about corruption. you wanted to go into elections. we need to do something about the voter rolls. there is about 7 million registered voters and only 4 million people have registered. you know, what about that? i mean, but the biggest thing is there's a security problem. there is a gang -- there's gang violence. since june 1st, more than 16,000 haitians from poor and working-class neighborhoods in the capital have been forced out of their homes. and people cannot get to the southern region of this country. four regions of this country are cut off because of gang territory. a nurse riding in an ambulance, just a few days before the president was killed. she, herself, was killed. a bullet in the head. so, people are saying, how are we supposed to go and vote?

how are our candidates supposed to campaign? so i think this is a moment where the international community really needs or at least haitians are hoping that they listen to them. >> as -- as always, it's the people who -- who suffer. fascinating analysis. thank you so much, jacqueline charles, appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. and coming up here on the program. joe biden on the defensive. the u.s. president explains why, after 20 years, the time is right to bring american troops home from afghanistan. plus, olympic athletes will now complete -- compete in near silence, as organizers tighten covid restrictions ahead of the tokyo games. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪ ♪let's make lots of money♪ ♪you've got the brawn♪ ♪i've got the brains♪ ♪let's make lots of♪ ♪uh uh uh♪ ♪oohhh there's a lot of opportunities♪

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i will not send another generation of americans to war in afghanistan with no, reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome. u.s. president joe biden there, vehemently defending his decision to pull all-american troops out of afghanistan by the end of next month. the 20-year war has killed more than 2,300 u.s. service members and cost more than $2 trillion.

now, critics of the withdrawal say it is allowing the taliban to capture more territory. practically, unimpeded. now, that map there shows areas controlled by the militant group shaded in black. it is a large amount of the country. now, mr. biden says he has confidence in the afghan military, and it is time for the country to control its own future. cnn's kaitlan collins reports from the white house. >> reporter: with the taliban surging as the u.s. withdrawals from afghanistan, president biden is vowing to press ahead. >> our military mission in afghanistan will conclude, on august 31st. >> reporter: biden defending his decision to withdrawal and saying he had no, other option. after his predecessor struck a deal with the taliban, to pull troops out, by may. >> that's what i inherited. once that agreement with the taliban had been made, staying with a bare-minimum force was no longer possible. >> reporter: reports of violence on the ground are growing more

dire, by the day, as the taliban gains more territory. >> i made the decision with clear eyes. and i'm briefed, daily, on the battlefield updates. but for those who have argued that we should stay, just six more months or just one more year. i ask them to consider the lessons of recent history. >> reporter: the president arguing that america's longest war could not be won, militarily, as was proven by his predecessors. >> we did not go to afghanistan to nation build. >> reporter: it's one of the most significant decisions of his presidency. and a drawdown, he advocated for, long before becoming commander in chief. biden making clear, he doesn't view this as a mission-accomplished moment. >> there was no mission accomplished. >> reporter: the president also telling reporters that the decision to withdrawal was the right one, and long overdue. >> given the amount of money that has been spent and the number of lives that have been lost. in your view, with making this decision, were the last-20 years worth it?

>> you know my record. i can tell, by the way you asked the question. i opposed permanently having american forces in afghanistan. no nation has ever unified afghanistan. no nation. empires have gone there, and not done it. >> reporter: biden also promising to evacuate thousands of afghan nationals, now targeted by the taliban for working closely alongside u.s. troops. >> our message, to those women and men, is clear. there is a home for you in the united states, if you so choose, and we will stand with you, just as you stood with us. >> reporter: but it's, still, not clear how many the u.s. will evacuate, or which countries they'll go to while awaiting decisions on u.s.-visa applications. >> i think the whole process has to be speeded up, period. in terms of being able to get these visas. >> reporter: and the president was defiant, in his defense of why he thinks that now is the

time to withdrawal. saying that he cannot justify staying, and he said, quote, i will not send another generation of americans to war in afghanistan, with no reasonable expectation of achieving a different outcome. kaitlan collins, cnn, the white house. a surge in covid cases derailing the olympic hopes of thousands of japanese fans. coming up, why tokyo 2020 will take place in a surreal setting. athletes competing in stadiums almost empty of people.

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and welcome back to our viewers here, in the united states, and all around the world. thanks for your company. i'm michael holmes. you're watching "cnn newsroom." now, we are just two weeks before the tokyo olympics are set to begin. and a key element of the games is, now, being eliminated. organizers say spectators will no longer be allowed to attend the events held in and around tokyo. that means the athletes there will be competing in almost-empty stadiums. the decision was made, shortly after japan's prime minister declared a state of emergency in the capital because of surging-covid cases. for more, cnn's will ripley joins me now, live, from tokyo. the -- these moves, not entirely unsurprising. and they, essentially, come down to numbers, right? >> yeah, numbers going in the wrong direction, michael. the numbers needed to go down in order for the staldiums to fill up and tokyo had lowered its state of emergency to a quasi-state of emergency, which organizers say would have

allowed them to have up to 50% capacity. 10,000 spectators. but now, that the city is about to enter its fourth state of emergency lasting through the duration of the games, and well after, actually, till august 22nd. it just isn't going to be feasible or safe to have people inside watching these events, aside from a handful of handpicked vips and a few, other journalists and whatnot. but what about getting all of the athletes and the vips and the dignitaries? you you are still talking about thousands of people from hundreds of countries around the world. we wanted to document our journey to show you the logistical hoops that you have to go through, just to get inside this country to cover this global-sporting event. the first thing people ask when i say i am going to the summer oly olympics, is that still happen something the second thing they ask. is it safe? my team and i are traveling to tokyo to find out. our journey begins four days before we fly. two tests for covid-19.

96 and 72 hours before departure. already, there has been tons of paperwork to fill out. lines to wait in. just to get to this point. we can only go to testing centers approved by the japanese government. this is, by far, the most documentation i've needed just to get on a flight. processing my pile of paperwork takes nearly an hour, at the airport. >> this is the moment of truth. they are checking my documents. i think i prepared them correctly. they have now brought in a man i. >> he tells me i need to download an app, fill out an online-health questionnaire. >> i have never been more grateful to get a boarding pass. >> reporter: only a few dozen passengers on my trip from taipei to tokyo. many airlines are cancelling empty flights. or suspending service, altogether. athletes from fiji have to fly on a cargo plane that usually hauls frozen fish. i'm just grateful to have a window seat. this is my first trip back to

japan since the start of the pandemic. tokyo's haneda airport, eerily quiet. >> as you can see, i don't have much company. >> a handful of passengers. a small army of health workers. pouring over my paperwork, scanning my qr code, ordering me to spit in a cup. the first of many, daily covid tests. social distancing? not a problem. as i wait for my results. >> negative. >> negative. >> reporter: being here for the olympics feels surreal and sad. japan invested billions to host the games. banking on a tourism boom. this is not what anyone had in mind. the pandemic makes you appreciate life's little victories, like the moment i get my olympic credentials. >> wow. there it is. it's official. >> reporter: i clear customs. and see an old friend. our longtime-tokyo bureau

driver, mr. o'connell. >> he was the very first face i met in tokyo. >> yes. >> reporter: as we leave the airport and head to the hotel, it finally feels real. we made it to japan. the process, surprisingly, smooth, overall. even as the japanese capital fights a fresh surge in covid cases. so now that we're here, we're getting daily-covid tests. we are working in a bubble for the first-few days. then, we have limited access to olympic venues and other prearranged locations. our phones have gps-tracking apps on them. we have to register our health condition, every day. but will all that be enough to stop what epidemiologists warn could be a superspreader event? or even worse, the delta variant combining with other variants to create something even more contagious and more dangerous. that's the kind of legacy they are trying to prevent, at this olympic games, which is why they're not having spectators. and why they are screening

people so carefully coming into the country, michael. >> going to be a very, very strange olympics. will ripley, in tokyo. good to see you. thanks for that. now, surging coronavirus numbers are causing seoul, in south korea, to raise distancing measures to the highest level, beginning on monday, private gatherings of more than two people will not be allowed after 6:00 p.m. most public events will be banned, and weddings and funerals may only be attended by family members. south korean officials say the delta variant could become the dominant strain in south korea, by august. and sydney, australia, also, tightening measures as the delta variant spreads there. people must now shop for essentials, alone, and cannot travel more than 10 kilometers from their home, unless absolutely necessary. now, the delta variant is, also, seen as a ticking-time bomb in africa. the continent saw more than a quarter-million new cases, last week, which was, according to

the w.h.o., the worst week for africa, since the pandemic began. but the variant is now present in at least ten countries, while vaccination rates are, still, low. so, the w.h.o. says things will get worse, before they get better. >> for africa, the worst is yet to come as the fast-moving third wave continues to gain speed. and new ground in countries. the -- the challenge is that, as this variant spreads to more and more countries, geographically, they will also take off in terms of the speed, of the increase in number of cases. so i think we're in for some weeks of a very difficult situation. of an increase in the -- in the -- in the number of cases. a third wave, which by now, has already overtaken what we saw previously in the region. >> on the upside, vaccine shipments to africa are starting to pick up. so, some good news there.

the tennis star, naomi osaka, stepped back from news conferences over her concerns about anxiety. that isn't stopping her from making her views known. we'll have that, coming up, here on "cnn newsroom."

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♪ dream on ♪ ♪ dream on ♪ - yes! ♪ ahhhhhhh ♪ ♪ dream until your dreams come true ♪ a terrifying scene in northern california. this huge column of smoke and flames is called a fire whirl. the u.s. forest service says it's as intense as a small tornado. let's have a look at those images there. it's part the tennant fire, one of several wildfires burning in the region. the tennant fire covers about 4,300 hectares. officials say it is more than 80% contained. the japanese tennis star naomi osaka is speaking out about her controversial exit from the french open ands and is calling for changes to address

athletes' mental health. in an op-ed in "time" magazine, the world number two defended her decision to skip news conferences at roland-garros, citing great anxiety. and allow athletes to occasionally skip media scrutiny, as she put it, for the sake of their wellbeing. she ended her letter by encouraging people to discuss the issue more openly, writing quote, i do hope people can relate and understand it's okay to not be okay. and it's okay to talk about it. one of the biggest names in k-pop is back. the highly-anticipated single from the south korean boy band, bts, is finally out. the trailer for "permission to dance" released earlier this week. the already-trending song was

co-penned by british songwriter ed sheeran. now, permission to dance will be included in the band's upcoming four-track cd along with their popular single "butter" which is currently in its sixth week atop the billboard hot 100. the cd will be released later today. i'm michael holmes. for our international viewers, world sport coming up next. for everyone else, i'll be right back with more "cnn newsroom." (announcer) carvana's had a lot of firsts. 100% online car buying. car vending machines. and now, putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your down payment and monthly payment. and these aren't made-up numbers. it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. whether you're shopping or just looking. it only takes a few seconds, and it won't affect your credit score. finally! a totally different way to finance your ride. only from carvana. the new way to buy a car.

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officials say four more victims were recovered from the collapsed condo in surfside, florida. that raises the confirmed-death toll to 64. 76 people, still, classified as, quote, potentially unaccounted for. search teams paused for a moment of silence, wednesday, just after the painful decision to shift search efforts, from rescue, to recovery. crews, still, working around the clock to find every-last victim. now, cnn has obtained a document that shows how badly the surfside condo needed repairs. and how little money there was to do it.

leyla santiago with the details on that. >> reporter: a new report. an independent review of champlain tower south budget. the review done just over a year before the building collapsed wasn't a good one. the 99-page report underscores the building's anemic financial reserves combined with the need for structural repairs. the review included a diligent visual inspection of the building incorporated with an engineering analysis done prior to the reserve report. it shows that several components of the building had zero years of remaining useful life, including the entrance deck and garage where some experts have said concrete spalling may have contributed to the fatal collapse. news like this for the families, whose loved ones haven't been recovered, not easy to hear. >> i don't understand how that happens with a building that collects so much maintenance fees, every single year, over 40 years. how -- how does that even

happen? >> reporter: also, significantly detailed in the report was the fact that the facade and balconies of the building had concrete deterioration and if left untreated, small problems can develop into major issues, over a relatively short amount of time. >> the amount of deterioration that we saw at champlain tower south made me wonder how much of that was visible, five, 10, 15, or 20 years ago? >> reporter: robert, the ceo of association reserves, which prepared the budget report for the condo association, says a gap in funds is not unheard of. >> about three out of ten associations across the country are in a weak-financial state with respect to reserves. >> reporter: the champlain tower south association was projected to have a little over $706,000 in its reserves as of january, 2021, according to the report. well, association reserves recommends it stockpile nearly $10.3 million to account for necessary repairs. just 6.9% of the funds it should have had. he says that he believed his

company's report was a wake-up call for the condo board. spurring the assessment residents were levied in april of this year, totaling $15 million. >> my mom was very strong willed, as we talked about. and she would be yelling at the top of her lungs to make sure that anybody that was responsible for this is held accountable. >> reporter: a spokesperson for the champlain towers south condo association did not provide comment about the budget report. attorney peter sachs specializes in condominium law in florida. >> buildings need to be maintained, on a regular basis. they need to be checked. they need to be fixed. they need to be brought up to standard. and that's best done, over the course of time in a planned-out manner with funds on hand. >> reporter: and records show that the association struggled to get loans. it was denied by two lenders. now, they cited that -- that the association was considered high risk, at least in part because of the low funds in the

reserves. they, eventually, did secure a $12 million loan for -- for repairs. but that didn't come without those complications, at least in part due to the reserves. leyla santiago, cnn, surfside, florida. some 20 million people are under tropical-storm warnings along the east coast of the u.s. elsa, first, hit florida on wednesday. one person killed in jacksonville. tornados reported across the state, as well as parts of southern georgia. well now, the powerful storm is making its way towards the northeast. joining me, now, meteorologist, karen mcginnis. what are you seeing out there, karen? >> yes, this is very interesting, now, because elsa is now moving into high density. high population areas. along that i-95 corridor into the northeast. but what is interesting here is there is a lot of dry air intrusion. meaning, there is dry-edge air that's moved in across the southern and western edge. but this is moving so quickly,

now. it's not poking along, like it was. moving at about 14 miles per hour. b but now, it's racing to the northeast at 25 miles an hour. it's position right now puts in a del mar peninsula so as it continues to move, now we are looking at areas from around philadelphia to new york city. eventually, towards boston and into down-east maine. and that's where we have got the highest risk of severe weather. . we could see two to four inches of rainfall, some isolated amounts, up to six inches of rainfall. some gusty winds. generally speaking if you're viewing us from new york city, you're looking at 25 to 35, possibly 40-mile-an-hour winds. visibility is going to be reduced. a lot of people trying to get out of the city, headed someplace for the weekend. but it's going to be fairly soggy, fairly windy. late in the day thursday or into friday, you'll start to see it clear out. the good news is it's moving very quickly now, so we're

minimizing kind of the impact from elsa. >> some good news, yeah. it stuck around for a while. karen maginnis, good to see you. thanks for that, karen. a special legislative session on voting called by texas governor greg abbott kicked off on thursday. the proposed legislation taking aim at, among other things, convenient stuff like 24-hour voting and drive-through voting. democrats say the measures amount to voter suppression. they blocked a similar attempt five weeks ago to adopt these sorts of measures, but texas republicans say the legislation would improve election integrity. vice president kamala harris spoke out on the importance of voter rights while visiting her alma mater, howard university, a historically black school. >> this is the fight of our lifetime. this is the fight of our lifetime. we all stand on the shoulders of

giants. we will always remember our history. we also understand their legacy and that we are a part of that. >> now, despite the legislation, there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in texas or elsewhere for that matter in the presidential election. a new reckoning over america's painful relationship with native americans. just as it happened in canada, many indigenous children here in the united states were taken from their families and tribes and sent to boarding schools to indoctrinate them into white christian culture. now a federal investigation is going to look into this dark chapter of american history. cnn's martin savidge reports. >> reporter: on the sioux reservation in south dakota, america's nearly two-century effort to eradicate native languages and cultures continues to traumatize.

was it a hard day? >> yes, it was. >> reporter: in 2015, mallory arrow went to washington, d.c. with her tribe's youth council. they stopped at a former native american boarding school in pennsylvania. >> getting there, i didn't feel anything. i didn't. like i felt like i was supposed to feel getting to the school. but it wasn't until we got to the grave sites. >> reporter: they found graves of native children their age from their lakota tribe, taken from their very reservation more than 100 years ago. >> we all started crying. like we all felt that energy there. >> it's like mourning a relative you didn't know you had. >> reporter: they left with one question. >> why don't we bring them home? we don't have an answer for that, you know? why don't we bring them home? >> reporter: during the 19th and much of the 20th century, generations of indigenous children in the u.s. were forced

into boarding schools, many run by religious organizations or the federal government, part of a campaign to assimilate them into white christian culture. >> take the indian out and save the child was kind of the -- the talk back then. >> reporter: many children suffered sexual, physical and emotional abuse, malnourishment, and disease. no one's really sure how many died. but the more than 900 unmarked grave sites found near just two canadian schools is a grim indicator of what could be found in the u.s. >> if you look at the numbers here from the united states, we had twice as many schools. you can basically just estimate that our numbers will be double what they found in canada. >> reporter: many tribal leaders believe the generational trauma from erasing people's identity directly relates to the chronic issues on reservations today -- poverty, addiction, suicide. so no one went untouched? >> no, no one went untouched. no family went untouched. we need to find out the truth. >> reporter: finding that truth

is what the federal investigation is all about. but it's likely to be uncomfortable. as for those children, mallory and her friends found in that graveyard years ago, they are coming home. in the largest repatriation of its kind, the remains of nine lakota children from that former pennsylvania boarding school will begin the journey back next week. >> we saw a change that we needed, so we became the change. >> reporter: the young lakotans -- ♪ >> is it the end of something or really just the beginning? >> it's the beginning. there is so much more boarding schools that we have yet. this is just a start. >> reporter: they know much more needs to be done. many more children need to be found. >> you look at it as, why do these schools with, you know, a

lot of the white children got to attend schools with playgrounds. our children had to attend schools with graveyards. it should be a wake-up call now. >> reporter: this is the veterans cemetery on the sioux reservation. this is where those children will finally be laid to rest on their own land. as for the investigation, tribal leaders here and many tribal leaders across the country support it, but they worry that those records from those boarding schools may have been lost long ago or maybe even intentionally destroyed. and they worry also that this investigation will only attempt to locate the possible sites of mass graves for children but not actually recover them. bringing the children home is what they really want. martin savidge, cnn, on the rosebud six reservation, south dakota. >> thanks for spending part of your day with me. i'm michael holmes. i'll have more "cnn newsroom" in a moment. l of this.

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♪ hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holmes. appreciate your company. coming up here on "cnn newsroom," pfizer says it is seeing waning immunity from its covid-19 vaccine. we'll tell you what it's seeking and why two key u.s. federal agencies don't seem to agree. plus a fragile nation on edge after its president is assassinated inside his own home. we'll have new details on the suspects. and it's up to them. president biden's stern message to afghanistan as he fac