devastating. excellent reporting as usual. i know you'll stay on top of this story. thank you very, very much. to our viewers, thank you for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." you can always follow me on twitter and instagram. erin burnett "outfront" starts erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "outfront," kevin mccarthy's idol, fearing the former president would stage a coup. plus, general mark milley with revelations about the final days in office. who is milley? why is he the favorite for a punching bag? and a major stepback against covid. in los angeles county, a requirement to mask again. is the rest of the country going in that direction? good evening. i'm erin burnett.

"outfront" tonight, american i idol. for kevin mccarthy, that's donald trump. today he's going to meet with trump at his golf club in new jersey. his office claims the two discussed upcoming special elections, the mid-terms and fundraising number. a source claims there was no discussion apparently about the elephant in the room which is mccarthy's current high stakes decision to name five republicans to the committee will investigate the january 6th investigation. he has to make that decision in the coming days. to state the obvious, the central of that investigation is donald j. trump. the meeting between mccarthy and trump as we are hearing some of the most disturbing revelations about the actions of his final days in office. specifically that the joint chiefs of staff, mark milley, feared trump would attempt a coup after the election. viewing him as the classic authoritarian leader with nothing to lose. that bombshell coming from "washington post" reporters in their upcoming book.

but none of that seems to matter to kevin mccarthy. he's embracing the man at the center of the investigation into the insurrection. a man whose latest whitewashing of what happened that day would be laughable if it weren't serious and deadly dangerous. >> the crowd was unbelievable. i mentioned the word love. the love, the love in the air. i've never seen anything like it. and that is why they went to washington. >> love was in the air. attacking officers, destroying u.s. government property, threatening the lives of countless men and women is love. surely, nobody would want to know what hate is. but trump hasn't even stopped there. this was just a few days ago. listen to the president talking about ashley babbitt who was shot and killed while trying to climb through a broken window leading to the speaker's lobby. >> i will tell you, they know who shot ashley babbitt. they're protecting that person.

i've heard also that it was the head of security for a certain high official, a democrat. and we'll see. because it will come out. it will come out. >> the usual we'll see. trying to accuse them of purposely assassinating one of his supporters? just to be clear, this is a lie. it is untrue. the law enforcement source claims it was a capitol hill police officer and that person was not part of a security detail for any specific member of congress. but the facts have not, never, frankly, stopped the president from trying to out in this case, the officer whose name has not been released. >> there were no guns in the capitol. they burned -- except for the gun that shot ashley babbitt, and nobody who knows that man -- why isn't that person being opened up? why isn't that being studied? they've already written it off. they said that case is closed. >> and facts, there were other guns. that case is closed.

well, the officer was cleared of any wrongdoing by federal prosecutors. the investigation into trump's actions that day frankly would just be beginning. and mccarthy should want to get to the bottom of what happened. well, of course, because he was there and also because of everything we are now learning about trump's final days and what was truly at stake on january 6th. we know much more because the justice department has released footage showing what really happened was way worse than you thought at the time. officers being attacked with kruxs, with flag poles. the video i want to warn you is difficult to watch. in that video, rioters can be seen dragging an office entire a crowd as you can see there. the officer was hospitalized. he had to have staples put into his head to stop the bleeding. from in, trying to make 30 into

the senate chamber, the offer who was beaten and had his hand sliced open told cnn he thought he was going to die. >> they called us traitors. they beat us. they dragged us. and i could hear them, we're going to shoot you. we're going to kill you. >> the fact that anybody wouldn't want to in a very serious considered way get to the bottom of what happened is incomprehensible. over at the pentagon, by the time these horrific acts were carried out that we're now learning more and more about, trump stopped generals who were increasingly concerned about the ideas that trump himself was putting out there. according to the "washington post" reporters, general milley was preparing for a showdown with trump for a kulemin and was determined to stop him saying they may try but they won't succeed. they can't do it without the military and the cia and the fbi. we're the guys with the guns.

out front live, sometimes we know having these conversations and thinking about quotes like that, you have to take a deep breath and remind yourself that happened in this country about our government. and sometimes it's easy to just not go, wow. you have to take a moment to let that sink in. and i know you're learning more about the meeting between trump and mccarthy. mccarthy who will be naming people to this committee. if he was serious about what happened, he would care deeply about it. instead, choosing to meet with trump. >> and that january 6th special committee that will get going later this month will look into donald trump's role in all of this as well as the concerns around what happened here, as well as what happened with the house republicans, the majority voting to overturn the electoral results. and kevin mccarthy himself having frgss could with trump. undoubtedly, all of that will be a select committee that nancy pelosi has named eight members including one republican, liz

cheney. the five republican names are a big question about who kevin mccarthy will choose. will he choose loyal supporters of the president? will he choose people who voted to overturn the election? will he choose people who wanted an outside commission to go forward which didn't happen because they blocked it. a source claims that did not come up. also the select committee. mccarthy is contending in a statement tonight that he talked about the efforts to take back the house, the efforts to raise money and go after democrats, suggesting that they are in the same page as donald trump. and making a much different calculation than senate republicans. particularly senate republican leader mitch mcconnell who wants nothing to do with donald trump going for. wants the 2022 elections to be about them versus the democrats, them going after joe biden, checking on joe biden but a much different calculation from kevin

mckartsy. he sees the future alined with donald trump. >> thank you. i want to go out front to our correspondent, along with scott jennings, former senior adviser to mitch mcconnell, and republican former congressman riggleman. so let me start wuflt as a republican, and someone who wants to get to the truth, how does it feel to see trump again, kissing the ring this time with what is at stake about this january 6th committee on the line? >> i don't think it is that much of a surprise. it is very disappointing. we look at the polling, the stop the steal messages growing. i've seen so many misses, releases from president trump. it is like he's trying to start his own delta variant with the stop the steal message with. the fundraising and the polling, with mcconnell going out there, if they're in the right swim lane to win the mid-terms.

as you know, i still talk on a lot of members in the gop. a loss of individuals on the ground here in virginia and our fifth district and there are a lot of individuals who still believe the election was stolen and 2022 will write the ship and they have to do everything they can. and it shows former president trump is seriously considering running in 2024 and i think that's what you're seeing. i think you're seeing the start of that and the polling and fundraising is why mccarthy is out there. and it is a head shaker for people who deal in facts. this fantasy can carry the republicans to a 2022 victory in the house. >> this is the thing. the congressman is laying out the logic that mccarthy could be following. for political congratulations as opposed to some sort of moral clarity, or a sense of right and wrong, this is what mccarthy is

choosing to do. >> 100%. it is not surprising but it is so many things stunning. what are we seeing? kevin mccarthy is perpetuating the big lie for exactly the reasons you just mentioned. he wants to be speaker of the house. he thinks this is a way to win back the majority. but there's another reason here we can't forget. he is part of the big lie. in the weeks and months between the election and january 6th, he was talking to donald trump. if not every day, several times a week. he was perpetuating the big lie. and he may very well be called by this committee to ask him what he was doing. >> so scott, this is the thing. mccarthy could be called by this committee because he was on the phone with trump on the day of

the insurrection saying this is serious. what are you doing? and trump tries to say it was antifa. and mccarthy was saying, these are your people. call them off. so mccarthy cared in the moment. he knew the importance in the moment. since then he finds things out like the general was hearing that trump was going to stage a coup. he doesn't seem to care. >> it's an official action of the house. we can say that it is partisan and certainly the democrats have good political reasons to keep this in the news. they need to appoint members just like during the impeachment. i think a lot of republicans would look back and say the impeachment hearings would have gone much differently had republicans not been there to examine witnesses. so he should appoint these members. and he should certainly participate if he gets asked.

as a political matter, he wakes up every day saying what do i have to do to get back and become speaker? that's his dream. and let's be honest. donald trump holds the dream of go kevin mccarthy being speaker in his hands. if donald trump decides he doesn't like him on that given day, he can crush those dreams by saying we need someone else. so i would expect them to remain totally aligned. as it relate to his official duties, he needs republicans on it. he needs to participate. he may not like it but that is the facts and i hope they appoint people to take it seriously. >> can i just jump in and say, i've spoken to a lot of members of the republican conference who believe that's exactly what's going to happen. that donald trump will turn on kevin mccarthy if they win the majority and he will not be the speaker if they win. >> which is pretty incredible, right? because mccarthy is doing the same calculus that so many have done with trump, right?

be nice, kiss the ring. and then trump turns on them and they're done. yet the next person comes in and doesett again. it is pretty incredible. are you hearing things like jamie is? >> yes. i may not, what's interesting, i had a call the other day like hey, kevin is doing the right thing for the 2022 mid-terms but it doesn't seal the deal to be speaker. when you're trying to keep everybody happy all the time, there will be cracks in that ship. so i don't think 2022 is catch the brass ring on this. i don't think that's the thing. and that's why i'm again very surprised. i don't know how to characterize like a hostage crisis in the republican party where they feel they have to be loyal to this certain individual. and as a 47 thinking individual, i have thoughts where liberty is the number one thing and constitutional rights, things like that, it is amazing that one man, that these people are

so afraid that they'll do a belly crawl to mar-a-lago or wherever he's going today. wherever trump is at, that's where the people will gather. and it is really something to me. for somebody who thinks they've been pretty conservative their whole life, i don't understand what that definition is anymore based on the republican party. >> to this discussion about kevin mccarthy, trump is angry about these book excerpts. i mentioned a couple of them. i do want to note, he sat dwounl the authors and spoke to them for hours. wasn't like he didn't have a say. he did. he can't stop himself. he loves it so much. so there is a lot from him in the books. in fact, one time he talked about people that he made stars. i guess one could say kevin mccarthy, you might want to listen to this line. trump that, many say i am the greatest star maker of all time but some of the stars i produced are actually made of garbage. forget about what this says about his hiring. this is how he sees some of them

who have been loyal to him. just garbage when something changes. >> yeah. he is showing time and again that he will turn on you. in a moment of anger, even if it is not in his best interests, to turn on that particular person. we've seen that again and again. kevin mccarthy is dealing we ever moment and playing whack-a-mole. the mole that has to be whacked every day, i have to try to stay in the good graces of donald trump because i need him to like me. i need to help me fundraise. i need him. a number of things trump could do to be helpful or hurtful. so mccarthy every day goes down that check list to do what he can to keep the whole thing on the rails. and it is a high wire act. >> i appreciate all of you. i want to clarify something. he did speak to the officers of the books for hours. that quote was what he put out

slamming the books today. talking about the stars he produced being made of garbage. next, general mark milley is now in the center of all of this. >> we are not going to be intimidated into making stupid decisions. >> so more on who he is, why he is such a political lightning rod in america. plus the largest county in the united states reinstating its mask mandate for everyone, regardless of whether they've been vaccinated. and did the u.s. take the group down? biden officials? ♪ lisa here, has had many jobs. she's worked in retail during the holidays. as a barista during rush hour. and a nanny to a couple of rambunctious kids. now, all that experience has led her to a job

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when you're entertaining, you want to put out the best snacks that taste great, and come straight from the earth. and last time i checked, pretzels don't grow on trees. just saying. planters. a nut above. tonight lashing out at general milley, fearing trump could attempt a coup in his final days in office. trump denying the reports saying if i was going to do a coup, one of the last people i would want to do with it is general mark milley. as cnn learned that milley convened a meeting for two days and gamed out what to do if trump did not leave office. warren lienorman is out front. >> reporter: the nation's top general thrust into a political battlefield of which he wants no part. general mark milley made no

mention in his public appearances today of his former clashes with former president trump. for the first time inned month earn history, he planned a plan because he feared a coup attempt after trump lost the november election. according to an upcoming book from the "washington post." the fears came to a boiling point around the january 6th capitol riots. milley told his staff he believed trump was stoking unrest, possibly to call out the military. he found himself increasingly at odds with the man who appointed him. >> all levels of leaders must be prepared to resign and walk at a moment if there is a moral or ethical or legal challenge. >> reporter: milley's 40-year career has taken him to garnls, iraq, somalia and more. he is a student of history. but one who can be quite blunt. >> we are not going to be intimidated into making stupid decisions. we will give our best military

advice regardless of consequences to ourselves. >> reporter: as a leaders, he's tried to keep the military firmly out of politics. but one defense official that he is not going to sit in silence while people try to use the military against americans. >> we do not take an oath to a king or queen, a tirnlt or dictator. we do not take an oath to an individual. no. we do not take an oath to a country, a tribe or religion. we take an oath to the constitution. >> reporter: it is a refrain the 63-year-old general uses often. a statement of fact about the oefth service but it has taken on a political overtone in this charged environment. during racial injustice protests, he was often the lone voice of opposition in the trump white house, according to a separate book from michael bender trump wanted to use force saying crack their skulls or just shoot them. milley pushed back saying it was a law enforcement issue.

not a military one. >> reporter: the most public split came last june 1st at lafayette square. law enforcement cleared the square of protesters before trump's photo op. milley walked beside him. >> i should not have been there. my presence in that moment. in environment, created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics. >> reporter: it is a perception that he can no longer shake. in hearings on capitol hill, he has verbally sparred with some of those most loyal to trump like matt gaetz over extremism. >> i personally find it offensive that we are accusing the united states military, our officers of being, quote, woke or something else because we're studying some theories that are out there. >> the quote made him a favorite target of the right. >> he's not just a pig. he's stupid. >> he's a total partisan at this point. >> in the final chaotic days of the trump administration, a

defense official tells cnn that mark milley and the other joint chiefs had one common goal. get to the date where joe biden was sworn in president and became commander in chief. on that day donald trump was no longer in charge of the military and couldn't try to bend to it his will. >> thank you. and i want to go straight now to retired army general paul eaton. he knows general milley and he was part of a group called the integrity project which gamed out if trump lost the election and would not leave peacefully. so trump is denying these reports. they're not a surprise to you, given what you were spending your time on after the insurrection. you've spoken to active duty soldiers as well. and what you've heard lines which have been reported in this book about milley. tell us about that. >> erin, thank you very much. there is no surprise in this book to those of us who have lived through this.

like any professional person, soldier, we remain connected to our institution. and with active duty and retired. we were hearing things. the rumors were alive and well. they became more alarming when we saw some interesting personnel moves. notably the secretary of defense. the judicial attacks on the election, the lead-up to the insurrection. i just have to tell you that i'm not surprised by what i have heard, seen in this book, and the rhetoric that continues, and the rhetoric out of the former president is also no surprise at all. >> the general isn't publicly saying anything about this. as you just heard laid out, milley is at the center of several of these new books on

trump's final days as one of the few people willing to stand up to trump in a very meaningful way. you know milley. tell me about his character. >> i first met general milley when he was colonel milley, commanding a brigade in the tenth mountain division. one, any commander in the tenth mountain division has a very tough job. that's a great unit, light infantry. and to be a brigade commander in that kind of organization, you have to be one of the very best. when i met him, i found him very strong. he tends to physically impress. he is obviously well educated, well read. and i was struck by how he can carry an argument in a very blunt, yet professional manner. really impressive guy. when i watched his performance with the disrespectful seditious

congressman, and how he took them to the intellectual woodshed, i was just delighted, impressed and proud to know that man. >> well, i appreciate your time very much. thank you. >> my pleasure. next, dr. fauci says the vaccines are, quote it's as good as officially approved. what is the difference between an official fda approval and an emergency authorization? this has become essential to some of the debate over vaccine mandates. plus, hackers have crippled america's infrastructure and they're setting their sights on every day americans now. >> we were just sitting at our computers. we were all operating and then everything was gone. a fast walk. thanks, gary. and for unexpected heartburn... frank is a fan of pepcid. it works in minutes. nexium 24 hour and prilosec otc can take one to four days to fully work. pepcid. strong relief for fans of fast.

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breaking news. los angeles county, the most lous reinstating its mask mandate with cases up 500% from last month. all residents vaccinated or unvaccinated will be required to wear a mask indoors starting

this weekend. local officials warning, quote, anything is on the table if things continue to get worse. this comes as we see a nationwide surge. cases up now in almost every single state across america. miguel marquez is out front. >> reporter: the latest coronavirus surge hitting hospitals across louisiana. patients struggling to breathe, now younger, sicker and staying in the hospital longer, say doctors treating them. >> something new that i'm having to struggle with is now having to tell 4, 5, and 9-year-olds about their loved ones ever one and not being able to get them home to see them. that's difficult. and i don't want to go through that over and over again. >> reporter: doctors and nurses stressed, a long year, getting longer. lafayette's our lady of lourdes has had the highest number of covid cases in the state. >> we'll exhibit now more stress on the system, on us as we're having to take care of these

patients. once they arrive, they're in the hospital for weeks and months. >> reporter: now entering the fourth coronavirus surge driven by low vaccination rates. currently only about 36% of residents here are fully vaccinated, and the rapidly spreading delta variant, accounting for nearly 60% of infections here. >> how fast is the virus growing in the community? >> right now we have the highest number of new cases. almost 2,000 new cases today than we've had going back three or four months. delta variant until last week was double every two weeks. >> reporter: in monday row, in northern louisiana, street francis medical center has admitted the second highest number of cases in the state. >> we're seeing patients in their 30s and 40s. 99% of the patients presenting are unvaccinated. people that are having symptoms to the emergency rule. >> reporter: the hospital now expanding its capacity for covid-19 patients.

the doctor is in an icu that usually cares for patients getting out of surge. it has been emptied. and it is again being prepared for coronavirus patients. >> we know that our area has about 25 to 30% influx of the delta variant. we expect every seven to ten days for that to increase 10% to 12%. we're concerned over the next three to six weeks, that the lourdes majority of the virus in louisiana will be the delta variant. >> reporter: one vaccination clinic here putting a couple dozen shots into arms daily. they were doing hundreds a day a few months ago. they say overcoming anti-vaccination conspiracies, the hardest part of their job. >> seeing people see their loved ones, seeing people they know and trust receive it, and seeing that they are perfectly fine. i think that is what it really takes, making it personal. or someone in their family becoming very sick. then makes it a priority.

>> reporter: health officials believe there is a large number of people out there who can be persuaded to get the vaccination. their best advice, if you are vaccinated and someone you know or love is not. don't mock them, don't tease them, just keep giving them good information, keep encouraging them on get vaccinated and keep working on them. thank you. out front, professor of global health law at georgetown university. we're just getting this news out of los angeles county tonight. that the mask mandate is coming back. cases up 500%. do you think we could see other places follow as cases climb? >> well, i appreciate you having me. it's a wise decision in l.a. county. because apart from vaccines, masks are our best public health tool. but the problem is that masks have become a social and

political fault line in america. we seem to have two americas. and some of the states that need the masks most because they have such a low vaccine rate, won't do it. so some states will. but i'm afraid that we'll still see this major divide in the united states. >> so the number of vaccine doses administered are dropping significantly, as the number of cases surges. we're down to 530 doses -- 530,000 doses a day, a huge drop. less than half the u.s. population is fully vaccinated so that's well below what anyone's definition of herd immunity would be. do you think that we need to get real? and possibly admit that the only way to get more people vaccinated is through mandates? >> i don't think it is the only way but i think it is a very highly effective tool.

there is a lot of evidence that requiring vaccines at work or in schools really increases vaccine coverage. and most americans actually want the feel safe and secure in their workplace or their college dorm room. it is really important to them. >> so let me ask you. some companies have hesitated. they encourage but they don't mandate. new york's governor cuomo said he can't mandate the vaccine until it is fully approved by the fda. so this is an interesting point here and i wanted to get to the bottom of this. the vaccines are being administered under an emergency use authorization. it is short a full approval. we know tons of conspiracy theorists have seized on this. here's what dr. fauci recently said about it. >> so these vaccines are as good as officially approved with all

the i.'s dotted and the t's crossed. it hand been done yet because the fda has to do certain things. but it's as good as done. >> okay. as good as done but yet it is not done. so professor, i believe you can explain why it could make a huge difference. in whether public and private employers can mandate it. how come? >> yeah. states can't mandate it while it is just under an emergency use. so governor cuomo, for example, is right. he can't do it. employers and colleges and university can do it. the equal opportunity employers commission has already stated it is lawful, even under an emergency use authorization. here's the problem. there are large swaths of americans who think this is an

experimental vaccine. but the truth is that it is one of the safest most effective vaccines i've ever seen in 30 years of working in public health. as safe as small pox vaccines or polio, which eliminated those scourges from the earth. so it is all but done. but the fda really needs to move quickly because american lives are at stake. >> all right. thank you very much. i appreciate your time. next, the u.s. surgeon general an important message for vaccine skeptics. but fox news didn't air it. did the right people even hear it? plus a russian hacking group appears to be gone. tonight the biden administration is mum on whether they're behind the disappearance. which saved investors over $1.5 billion last year. that's decision tech. only from fidelity.

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tonight the biden administration warning that misinformation is slowing vaccinations in the u.s. and leading to unnecessary deaths and calling out technology companies for their role in that. >> modern technology companies have enabled misinformation to

poison our information environment with little accountability to their users. >> it's not just technology companies. look who wasn't covering the surgeon general's briefing, as other networks took at least part of it live. the box that looks different at the bottom is fox and they are talking about black lives matter. this is important because we know 47% of republicans say they aren't likely to get vaccinated compared to 6% of democrats, according to a poll. and 93% say fox is their source of news. so many of the people the white house needs to reach likely didn't hear it. oliver darcy is our senior media reporter and he's out front. so fox didn't take this live. instead, they were choosing to do a segment about black lives matter. they came out of commercial as the surgeon general finished and noted this report on misinformation was released.

that was all them. is there any indication from what you can see, oliver, that this campaign is reaching the audience it needs to reach? >> yeah. it's less about whether it is reaching the audience that they need to reach and more about whether it is resonating with that audience. and i can tell you confidently that it is not. i was watching fox before coming on with you. the badger head line said something of, the white house wants to censor you over public health. that's how many americans are hearing about today's news. not that misinformation may have misled them into believing things about the vaccination that aren't true but the white house is trying to control you. they've been wrong in the past and now they want to censor you. so i'm not really quite confident that anything they announce today will really change any minds among the people that they need to persuade. >> of course, part of the issue for fox is if they were to air that, it would go against what people hear day in and day out

when they hear fox. so it is calling out fox as disinformation itself. just take listen to this. >> the idea that you would force people to take medicine they don't want or need, is there a precedent for that in our life times? i think it is the greatest scandal in my lifetime. >> there is nothing more anti-democratic than pushing an experimental drug on americans against their will. >> that's having an impact. this is what our report he heard on the ground from republicans he's talked to. and you've highlighted some of these exchanges. let me play them for viewers. >> you treat people for coronavirus and you won't get vaccine. >> i don't need the vaccine. >> you're not getting vaccinate either. >> even though it is the trump vaccine? >> i don't care. >> so you're very tuned in to what's being said in the media that people like that are

consuming. just how pervasive is the anti-vaccine rhetoric? >> it is extremely pervasive. and it has been for some time now. this isn't anything new. this has been going on for months and months and months. it is great that the white house is finally recognizing that they have this huge information crisis on their hands. that it is preventing people from seeking out vaccines which can save their lives. where were they six months ago? it is will like they're fighting a war that they've largely lost at this point. >> all right. thank you very much. i appreciate it. >> thank you. next, not exactly the place you would expect a russia linked cyber crime to attack. plus, one of the most controversial cities. [ringing] ♪ ♪ ♪

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russia. one expert saying the group, called revel, has conducted some of the most ruthless attacks on global meat suppliers and major software companies. in their latest strike, the hackers targeting small towns here in the united states. alex marquardt is out front. >> reporter: eon the banks of te potomac river, not the kind of place you would expect to be hacked by russian hackers, but that's exactly what happened as the fourth of july weekend started. >> we were just sitting on our computers and all of a sudden everything was gone. >> reporter: michelle that be administrator of leonardotown for 20 years and says it's been chaotic. >> they said shut everything down. >> reporter: she was one of the up to 1,500 victims of a massive ransomware attack carried out by our evil.

they attacked an american company whose software used around the world. in the town hall of leonardtown, the wi-fi went down and the computers were locked up. email and data unaccessible. >> i'll email it to him once the system is back up and running. >> reporter: they couldn't process permits or payments and had to resort to writing everything out. or using the office's one typewriter. >> just everything you can imagine that you would start to do, you realize wasn't available. >> reporter: in sweden, 800 grocery stores shut down. in new zealand, schools and kindergartens were knocked off line. the white house argued that the national impact was small since critical infrastructure wasn't hit. but the pain was deeply felt by small companies like sha sha real estate consulting, which we visited with joshua justice, whose company, just tech, is the i.t. provider whose systems were

locked up by the hackers. >> we prepared for the worst and we happened encrypted backups of everyone's data in case the worst happens. we never envisioned this and having to bring up so many clients up at one time. >> reporter: just tech shut everything down in only eight minutes. but the damage was done. >> over 1,000 devices infected in that short period. >> reporter: thanks to the just tech backup system, none of their clients had to pay the $45,000 per computer demanded by the hackers. but their business essentially ground to a halt. >> it's been pretty bad. yeah, it really hurt us. >> reporter: harry thought his company with just four employees had all the protection they needed. >> who would have thought that that would happen? i could see this on a tv program but i never thought that would happen. >> reporter: back in leonardtown, michelle mckay says this has been a major lesson,

one she hopes others will learn from, that attackers thousands of miles away are wreaking havoc on towns like hers. >> it's just a small town, rural area. but it just goes to show no one's really safe from this. >> it took that i.t. firm just tech about ten days of working around the clock to get their clients back up and there's still work to be done. both the mayor of leonardtown and the real estate company say they want president biden to be more aggressive and go after these attackers overseas. that may have happened in this case but we don't know. the biden team says they're leaning on the kremlin to crack down on hackers based in russia. that remains to be seen. >> alex, thank you. next, a first look at cnn's original series on the city that is at the center of faith and fury. for mac. who can come to a stop with barely a bobble. lucia. who announces her intentions even if no one's there.

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conflict across the sages now a focus of a new cnn original series. >> jerusalem is the center of national aspiration of two

communities. that adds another layer of complexity. >> it's impossible to imagine fixing the present and building a better future for jerusalem without understanding the many stories of its past. >> "jerusalem" pooermz sunday at 10:00. anderson starts now. good evening. when we left you last night, we just brought two excerpts from carol leonnig's new book might trying to launchar inspire a crew. it took 44 presidents of all strifes, good and bad, until this president today became the first former president ever to deny such a thing, to deny planning to launch a coup. even as he issued that unprecedented denial, even as book after book with page of