hello, and welcome to all you watching here in the united states, canada, and all around the world. i'm ken brunhuber. ahead on "cnn newsroom," an emotional end to a divisive trial. kyle rittenhouse is free after being acquitted of all charges stemming from a deadly shooting at a protest. hear the response from the courthouse steps to the white house. plus, violent protests in europe over new restrictions aimed at combating surging covid infections. we're live in rome with the

latest. and a new twist on the disappearance of a chinese tennis star. china's state media releases new pictures claiming to show her relaxing . so far in the midwestern city of kenosha, wisconsin, appeals for calm following a closely watched and divisive trial are being heeded. this follows a jury acquitting 18-year-old kyle rittenhouse of all felony charges connected to the shooting deaths of two people and the injury of a third during racial justice protests last year. we have more on friday's decision and the reaction. >> reporter: an emotional day in court as a jury finds kyle rittenhouse not guilty on all five counts. >> not guilty. >> reporter: kyle rittenhouse now a free man.

>> not guilty. >> reporter: overcome as the jury acquitted him on all five counts in his homicide trial. >> verdicts -- is there anyone who does not agree with the verdicts as read? >> reporter: defense attorney mark richer saying the wait for a verdict had been torture, but his client is relieved. >> he wants to get on with his life. he has a huge sense of relief for what the jury did to him today. he wishes none of this would have ever happened. but as he said when he testified, he did not start this. >> reporter: the prosecutor responding, "while we are disappointed with the verdict, it must be respected." the family of one of the victims, anthony huber, saying "we are heartbroken and angry." >> they all have blood on their hands for the mishandling of the whole entire night. >> reporter: the governor has called for calm as a small crowd

in kenosha continues to react to the news. the unanimous decision does not come swiftly. weighing a life sentence for 18-year-old rittenhouse, the jury deliberated for almost four full days before delivering the verdict. >> members of the jury, it is for you to determine whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of each oft offenses -- >> reporter: the jury had to answer one question -- did rittenhouse kill two men and injure another as vigilante justice or self-defense. video shows rittenhouse shot and destroyed grosskreutz's right bicep. he said he was acting in sdoifrs. >> when you were three to five feet from him with your arms in the air, he never fired, right? >> correct. >> it wasn't until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him, that your gun -- now your hands down pointed at him, that he fired, right?

>> correct. >> reporter: we have briefly heard from kyle rittenhouse after the veri. he's been interviewed throughout this process by fox news, and what he has said in this short clip that has been put out is that the jury in his opinion reached the correct verdict. self-defense is not illegal. it's been a bumpy road, he said, but the worst is over. back to you guys. harry lipman is a former u.s. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general and joins me now from la jolla, california. he's also a legal affairs columnist for the "los angeles times" and host of "talking feds." thanks so much for being here to talk about this case. based on the arguments and testimony, are you surprised by the verdict? what do you make of it? >> i wasn't surprised by the verdict, especially the way it was going in the last week or so. very important thing to remember is that while rittenhouse was pleading self-defense, it was

nevertheless the prosecution's burden, and beyond a reasonable doubt the biggest burden in the law, the most daunting to show that he wasn't acting in self-defense. and the thing that the defense did successfully and the prosecution was not able to pary was make it about the nano second of the actual encounters with the three people that he shot. and when you looked at it that way, it was not surprising to me that the jury would conclude that it wasn't clear beyond a reasonable doubt that he wasn't acting in self-defense. of course both legally and even socially the focus could have been on his initial decision to come into the fray in the first place. that might have led to a so-called duty to retreat under wisconsin law. things would have been different

then. but begin the case the jury received from the judge, i was not surprised. >> that's one of the things that people are taking out of this, right, that some say the laws like wisconsin's need to change. that the idea of disproving self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt places too high a burden on the prosecution. >> you know, i hear that, and i used to be a prosecutor, but i don't think that's the problem. and i have no quarrel with the general imposition of that kind of high burden. now, what i think people who are concerned and distraught are saying is there are certain gun laws, there's a certain right now kind of championing of vigilanteism that resulted in sort of encouraging a kid, a 17-year-old kid to show up at a rally touting an ar-15, and terrible things could happen in that situation. and they did.

so i think the broader argument is really more about, say, gun control, vigilanteism, and the like. why he was there in the first place. that the prosecution bears this burden -- you're right, kim, that not all state s -- not all states do it that way, but many do and they do it for defenses across the board. to me that's part of what's entailed in being a prosecutor and standing up and arguing for someone's liberty to be taken away. >> yeah. well, on the point of encouraging vigilanteism, i mean the implications -- i mean, california's governor tweeted today, america today, you can break the law, carry around weapons built for a military, shoot and kill people and get away with it. that's the message we've sent to armed vigilantes across the nation. hyperbole maybe, but does it seem to further enshrine the rights of vigilantes who perceive themselves to be under

attack and shoot and kill possibly unarmed opponents like we saw? >> yeah, i think that case does. you know, it's always fraught to try to take a specific dispute in the confines of a court with fact and law and make it into a broader social issue. but that's happening inevitably here. and yes, look, i have no -- i've said that from the standpoint of how it was tried, you can see what the jury did. but if we take a step back and look at what happened and what it might encourage, the notion that a 17-year-old should be taking this kind of weapon to what's already a conflagration and, you know, with an eye at least potentially to so-called protecting property, that's a bad, bad situation. and so we should be trying, we should for starters, kim, in me to way lionize or make a hero of

kyle rittenhouse. and yeah, we should be having laws in this country that make it harder, not easier for that situation to occur. >> harry, thank you so much. appreciate your insights. >> good to be here. and reaction to the acquittal of kyle rittenhouse was quick. in washington in a statement, president joe biden said the verdict left many including himself feeling, quote, angry and concerned, but he added that people must acknowledge the jury's decision. biden was also asked about the verdict after his visit to walter reed national military center. here he is. >> i just heard a moment ago. >> do you have any reaction? >> i didn't watch the trial. so i -- you know -- >> do you stand by your past comments equating him to white supremacy? >> well, look, i stand by what the jury has concluded. the jury system works, and we have to abide by it. >> on a tarmac in ohio before boarding air force two, vice

president harris responded, as well. here she is. >> the verdict speaks for itself. as many of you know, i've spent a majority of my career working to make the criminal justice system more equitable, and clearly there's a lot more work to do. thanks. >> and former housing and urban development secretary julian castro ftweeted, you know damn well if kyle rittenhouse were black he would have been found guilty in the heartbeat. and shot dead by cops on the street." kyle rittenhouse is not guilty, my friends. you have a right to defend yourselves. be armed. be dangerous, and be moral. >> now you may have noticed on the screen there a little graphic. hawthorne offering rittenhouse an internship, a proposal suggested by representative matt gaits before the verdict was even red. >> kyle rittenhouse would probably make a pretty good

congressional intern. we may reach out and see if he'd be interested in helping the country in additional ways. >> the white house might have doubted this day would come, but the second pillar of president biden's domestic agenda finally cleared its first major hurdle in congress. listen to this -- >> on this vote, the yeas are 220, nays are 212. the "build back better" bill is passed. [ cheers ] >> the sweeping legislation envisions nearly $2 trillion to prop up the economy, help struggling americans, and take urgent action on climate change. but republicans were having none of it. minority leader kevin mccarthy stalled a vote when speaking over eight hours, a record on the house floor. it touches on nearly every aspect from education to health

care and the environment. a sense of victory at the white house may be short-lived. the legislation is almost certain to be modified and trimmed in the senate where two key democrats still aren't on board because of the hefty price t tag. and with the senate evenly divided 50/50, the president can't afford to lose a single vote. more good news for the president -- according to his doctor, biden is healthy and remains fit for presidential duty. that's what biden's personal doctor wrote in a summary of a friday exam. it's being praised for its traps parliamentarians. now the -- transparency. the doctor wrote he suffered from acid reflux due to a hernia and the way he walked was stiffer and was said to have been taking medicine to lower triglyceride levels and received an exam at walter reed's.

while under anesthesia, joe biden temporarily transferred power to vice president harris. that made her for 85 minutes the first woman to assume presidential power. all right. still ahead, the raging pandemic in western europe has many governments taking drastic steps to get everyone vaccinated. we'll take you live to rome for the latest. plus, cdc weighs in on boosters for all adults. when those shots could start going into arms ahead. stay with us. achoo! probably covered in germs protection lysol to go kills 99.9% of viruses and bteria ... ... inuding the covid-19 virus. take trued lysol protection, now on the go. lyso what it takes to protect.

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support your digestive health with align, the #1 doctor recommended probiotic. try align today. and try new align fast acting biotic gummies. helps soothe occasional digestive upsets in as little as 7 days. angry protests have erupted over new restrictions aimed at stopping a devastating wave of covid infections. riot police used water cannons and fired warning shots after protesters torched vehicles and threw rocks. at least seven people were reported hurt. western europe is seeing some of the highest numbers of infections since the pandemic began. austria will impose a total lockdown beginning monday and says every eligible person must be vaccinated by february 1st. germany just recorded more than

60,000 new cases for the second time this week. the state of bavaria has canceled its famed christmas markets as it did last year. vendors say their financial losses will be enormous. for more on the escalating covid crisis in europe, let's bring in our cnn contributor live from rome. we're seeing extreme measures to fight the spike. what's the latest? >> reporter: well, you know, i think we're going to see more and more of these targeted lockdowns, these sort of measures that restrict those people who have not been vaccinated yet. those are the people that are causing the greatest risk right now. and we see these protests, the people are out on the street, not vaccinated, protesting these measurements. they're actually causing superspreader events among themselves. that is concerning. as you see the number rising across europe, nobody wants to have the kind of lockdowns we had last year. anything they can do to avoid that these governments are trying to do now, kim. >> you referenced those protests, turning violent sometimes. countries like austria cracking

down on things like mandatory vaccination. how bad are you expecting the pushback to get? >> well, i think we're seeing some level of protests across all of europe, even here in emro this afternoon. they're expecting some people to gather, not big protests. the people who want their voices to be heard that don't believe that required vaccinations are just, that they -- you know, they are against civil liberties of a lot of people. but you have to look at this in the big picture. these governments are really feeling a lot of pressure, and they're losing their patience. while people are not getting vaccinated, they're trying very, very hard to get these booster programs across europe going so that the vaccinated can get their boosters if they want. all the while struggling against those who refused to be v vaccinated in the first place. when you look at the fact that there are no travel restrictions between any of the countries, people can move from a high-level country like germany where there are all these cases to italy where we haven't seen as many, that's concerning, too, to a lot of governments going

forward. >> thank you so much, appreciate it. now, here in the u.s., if you are at least 18-years-old and six months past your second dose, you're now eligible for a covid booster. cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta has details on why that's so important. >> reporter: with the fda authorizing boosters and the cdc now formally recommending them, boosters are recommended for all adults in the united states. that is something that is now available to people right away. people can go to their pharmacies, doctor's offices. a couple things -- first of all, even before these most recent recommendations, most adults in the country were eligible for boosters because if you had a pre-existing condition such as diabetes or heart disease or moderate asthma or obesity, you were already eligible for a booster. what is now different is that basically it's a blanket recommendation for all adults across the country. i should point out there was also a second vote on boosters saying that people over the age

of 50 should get a booster. people under the age, they say's recommended. for people over the age of 50, they strengthened the language saying they should get a booster. let me show a couple of reasons, couple of pieces of data that were driving this. first of all, in the united states, we've seen what has happened up until september here. if you got covid, you ended up in the hospital, it was almost always in someone who was unvaccinated. if you look at that green line at the bottom, it was pretty flat, but it started to trend up a bit. if you go look at some of the data in israel going up until of in 1st, you saw a very interesting picture emerge. same story in that most of the people who were developing severe covid were still unvaccinated. look at the middle graph there. about close to ten per 100,000 people were people who, in fact, were vaccinated. they were still getting severely ill. but if they got boosted, you could see how significant the numbers dropped. so a lot of protection for the

boosters in terms of severe illness. again, mostly the unvaccinated, but you did see some waning of that overall efficacy of the vaccines. now one thing to point out, this is a big discussion at this time because as we go into the winter season one of the big concerns is that if there are more and more people in the hospital, it's not only covid that would be impacted but also other illnesses, as well. take a look. if you start to see surges here, say 75% capacity for icus, that leads to lots of other patients potentially not being able to get care and, according to the modeling studies, maybe 12,000 excess deaths over the following couple weeks in the country. if icus become completely full, it could lead to 80,000 excess deaths over the next couple of weeks. that's what they're trying to mitigate. that's what they're trying to avoid, and i think that's part of why these boosters are now recommended again for all adults, all adults may get a

booster. people over the age of 50 should get a booster. again, those messages coming from the fda and the cdc. >> a board certified internal medicine specialist and viral researcher joins me from los angeles. thank you so much for joining us, doctor. just broadly, concretely here, what difference will this make as we head into the winter? >> well, if we're talking about the boosters, i think it will make a huge difference. as we're already seeing, more people are becoming infected who have been fully vaccinated and are ending up in the hospital. so we've known for a while that the immunity seems to wane in the pfizer and the moderna vaccines after approximately six months. and even earlier in j&j. so getting the boosters should bring people's immunity back to at least where it was where their first two shots if not

even higher. >> what do you make of the differing sort of instructions based on age? that those over 50 should get a booster, and those who are 18 and older, you know, may opt for one. do you think the language should be stronger, that everyone should get one? >> yeah, absolutely. absolutely. and i think -- i thought that today the cdc had clarified that a little bit. in my opinion, eventually every human who gets vaccinated should get a booster regardless of age. they're just looking at the information as it goes along. i thought it was always a little bit lacking, you know, to say that only a certain group should get it because immunity will wane in everybody. and yes, certain groups are at higher risk of getting sicker. and obviously we have to protect those people that are older, have underlying diseases first because they're a greater risk. eventually i think it's going to be about how long it's been since you've had your last vaccine, and everybody should

get revaccinated. >> if we knew that we would get here eventually by, you know, basically allowing everybody to get this, why didn't we just do that right away, as soon as the first boosters were authorized? i mean, there was so much confusion initially over who should get it based on how old they were, where they lived, what they did for a living. it seemed like a missed opportunity here for clarity. >> well, i think in retrospect -- which, by the way, the retrospective scope is always 20/20. looking back it seems clear what should have been done. in real time as information comes out, you have to weigh the pros and the cons. you don't know the negatives of having a booster. you only know that it will protect you. so i think that they're walking a very thin line in making sure that above all else they do no harm while they protect people. you know, so what america and what the world is seeing now is science as it happens. and it's not as clear as we

think. by the time people would get information, it's because it has been tested and retested. and now we are all learning as it happens. and that's why it seems confusing. >> dr. jorge rodriguez, thank you so much for being here. appreciate it. >> thank you, and happy thanksgiving. israeli medical experts are keeping a close eye on new cases there as the covid transmission rate increases. the r rate as it's called has risen to one which means in simple terms every ten people with covid will infect another ten. new infections are still far lower than in early autumn. but officials are taking no chances. children aged 5 to 11 can begin getting vaccinated on tuesday. health officials hope that will keep the transmission rate in check. all right. still ahead the defense prepares for its final pitch to jurors in the trial of three suspects accused of killing ahmaud arbery. what one attorney still makes a push for a mistrial and talks about lynching and mob violence.

plus, chinese state media have claims -- claims to have proof missing tennis star peng shuai has been at home. they say she will return to the public eye next. stay with us. 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 p performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. our friend sold their policy to help pay their medical bills, and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset

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to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. welcome back to all you watching us here in the united states, canada, and around the world. i'm ken brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom." while scattered protest against the acquittal of kyle rittenhouse have been largely peaceful, authorities in portland, oregon, declared a riot after protesters smashed

windows and attacked a television news crew. most demonstrations looked like this one in new york with protesters gathering so their frustrations could be heard. protests are planned there weekend in cities across the u.s. friday afternoon, kyle rittenhouse was acquitted of five felony charges. it took four days for the jury to reach its verdict which can't be appealed. closing arguments are expected to get under way monday in a high-profile trial here in georgia. it involves the killing of ahmaud arbery, a black man who prosecutors say was chased down and shot by three white men while he was jogging last year. the incident was captured on video. but after ten days of proceedings, one defense attorney raised tension in the courtroom again, making a last-minute push for mistrial while reportedly trying to cut a plea deal behind the scenes. ryan young has the story. that's [ bleep ]. >> reporter: william bryan's attorney arriving to court denying he attemptsed to reach a

plea deal with the prosecution. ahmaud arbery's mother c confirming she got the same news. >> what did they tell you about the possibility of a plea offering? >> that roddie bryan was trying to get a plea for lesser charges. >> denied, denied, denied. i don't know what you all are talking about. >> no plea agreement? >> you ask whoever your source is. come on, guys. come on. let me through. >> reporter: but kevin goff also irritated by the massive prayer vigil outside the court on thursday. the defense lawyer voiced his frustrations in front of the judge. >> this is not 1915. this is not 1923. there are not thousands of people outside with pitchforks and baseball bats. but i would respectfully submit to the court that this is the 21st century equivalent, but still third parties are influencing this case. they've been doing it from the gallery in this courtroom. they've been doing it outside. this is what a public lynching

looks like in the 21st century with all due respect. they don't have to have 10,000 people outside. perception is reality. >> reporter: goff continued to make his inflammatory statements in court. >> just because they haven't put a gallery up, what do you -- they haven't put a podium up outside with a hangp dshangman' doesn't mean this isn't a trial despite the best efforts of this court, this isn't a trial that's been infected by mob violence. >> reporter: and again calling for a mistrial citing prejudice and influence on the jury due to the demonstration and because several pastors accompanied the arbery family in the courtroom. >> this is an event that is literally, literally at the courthouse door with more people than i can count. we've got multiple black voters matter signs outside and the black pastors matter signs. >> reporter: the judge once again denying the motion. the lead prosecutor calling goff

out for his motion. >> your honor, mr. goff is a brilliant lawyer. on november 12th, he stood up in this courtroom, knowing full well he was on television, and made comments about al sharpton and then black pastors and colonel sanders, all knowing full well it was being broadcast on television. that is good lawyering right there because now he's motioned for a mistrial based on something that he caused. >> reporter: cnn, brunswick, georgia. yet another racially charged trial, this case involves a civil suit against the organizers of the deadly 2017 unite the right rally in charlottesville. one person was killed and dozens injured in the rally that was to protest the removal of a confederate statue of robert e. lee. 14 people and ten white supremacist organizations are

being sued by rallygoers saying they suffered life-altering injuries. the jury finished the first day of deliberations yesterday without reaching a verdict. in colorado the $15 million settlement with the family of elijah mclean has been finalized. the 23 died after a confrontation with police while just walking home two years ago. protests led to a re-examination of the case. [ chants ] an investigation found the police had a pattern of racially based enforcement and that mclean was put in a now-banned choke hold that cuts off the blood flow to the brain. the three officers and two paramedics have already been charged in his death. in a statement, an aurora official says no amount of money can change what happened or erase the pain and heartbreak for the family. as calls from the international community grow louder, demanding answers on the whereabouts of missing tennis

star peng shuai, the editor-in-chief at the state-run newspaper "global times" says peng will appear in public and participate in activities soon. he said she's been at her home freely and claims to have confirmed through sources that recent photos of peng shared by a state media journalist depict her current state. cnn hasn't confirmed when the photos were taken, nor if they're from her. cnn's paula hancocks is following the story from seoul. enigmatic statements coming out there. what more do we know? >> reporter: well, at this point, everything that we are learning and hearing is all from chinese state media. we are hearing nothing from peng shuai herself, and that is why the calls to hear from her are becoming louder across the world. now what we heard on friday was from a chinese state-run media journalist, cdtn, who had tweeted photos of peng saying that she had posted them on we

chat, the platform, and had said happy weekend. now we don't know whether or not she had posted those photos. we don't know where they're from. there is many questions surrounding them. but certainly there's nothing directly coming from her. and as you say, then a "global times" op-ed saying that she would be in public soon. there would be public activity. she'd been at home and wanted to stay at home. again, there is all coming from chinese state-run media. now we heard from the head of the wta, the women's tennis association, earlier last week saying that he had tried to get in contact with her directly but had not been able to do so. now there have been an amelpurported to be from peng -- emed me-mail purported to be frg saying she's fine, she walks back accusations that she had made against the former vice premier in china of sexual abuse

at that post had been taken down within about 30 minutes of it being published on november 2nd. and she has not been heard from directly since. but he said that he had emailed directly back to her and had heard nothing. so he believed that that statement was not from her, was not accurate, and said that he has been trying to get in touch with her also, in touch with counterparts at the chinese tennis association, but nothing directly. so this is why we are seeing even more voices come out. tennis associations from around the world are calling for more information about where she is, about how she is. we're also hearing from dennis stars like serena williams, novak djokovic, calling on china to support her and to say exactly where she is. so of course, the longer it goes that we don't hear directly from the tennis star herself, the more the concerns are growing.

now at this point, what we've heard from the foreign affairs ministry on thursday and again on friday saying this is not a diplomatic affair and it's not for them to talk about it. kim? >> all right. thanks for keeping on top of this troubling story. cnn's paula hancocks in seoul. appreciate. the u.s. secretary of state, antony blinken, is in africa and sounding the alarm about the conflict in tigres. the dire warning when we return. stay with us.

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u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is warning that the war in tigre has launched ethiopia on a path to destruction. blinken will wrap up his three-nation tour in the coming hours. he's currently in senegal's capital. he spoke with cnn earlier and

called on the ethiopian prime minister to bring the warring sides together. we're join now with more from nigeria. stephanie, what more did he tell you? >> reporter: so kim, secretary blinken at the end of this five-day trip, currently in senegal. we spoke in a wide-ranging interview in particular about ethiopia, the urgent need for peace talks and cease-fire and the humanitarian crisis there. take a listen to what he had to say. >> this has to happen as soon as possible. with every passing day what we're seeing is an increase in communal tensions that really risk ripping the country apart and spilling over into other countries in the region. so there's tremendous urgency which is why we are engaged every single day in supporting efforts by the african union, by others, engaging directly ourselves to try to bring people

together, to actually start talking. >> many people have called for prime minister abbey to be stripped of the nobel peace prize. what's your view? >> those kinds of decisions are up to the nobel committee, but that's really not the issue. i think the issue now is and as the duly elected leader of the country for the prime minister to play the role that is so vital which is to try to bring the country together, and to, again, end the violence and deal with the profound difference that's have emerged over the last year. and also to make sure that people are getting the help and assistance they need. that's his responsibility as the leader of the country. but it's all incumbent upon everyone else involved to do the same thing, to engage in good faith. there's no military solution to the challenges in oath joeia,

none of the different -- eth ethiopia, none of the different parties can prevail by military means. that's a path to destruction for the country and misery for the people of ethiopia who deserve a lot better. i hope all of the leaders starting, again, with the leader of the country, the prime minister, will do that, bring people together, and work through these problems politically. >> the biden administration seems to be taking a very different approach than the trump administration when it comes to africa. so explain how is it different and how is that change being received there. >> reporter: yes. you're right, kim. during this trip, secretary blinken announced a u.s.-africa summit, a date which we don't know yet. but many are saying that it signals an intention to really boost cooperation between

african countries and the u.s. where for so long african leader have been saying it's an unequal partnership. they have not been treated as equals, and they have looked to china everywhere you look on the continent, you can see a sign of china's huge influence with huge infrastructure projects. so many are saying it's about time that the u.s. is signaling strong intention to bring partnership and cooperation on this continent. and nigeria's foreign minister actually said during a press conference with senator blinken that they feel like an attractive bride with many suitors who are bringing many gifts, and they are going to take as much as they can from these suitors. so it's really a powerful position for africa to be in right now. and being recognized as a major geopolitical player. kim? >> yeah. i hate that was a colorful -- i thought that was a color quote

when i read that. stephanie, thank you so much, appreciate it. all right. still to come -- >> i feel like people see my dark skin and have been here for years -- >> reporter: hear from dozens of women like sophie by their experience of colorism. cnn launches a new series. please do stay with us. two loads of snot covered laundry. only one will be sanitized. wait, what? adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of bacteria detergent alone, can't.

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a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! in a new six-month series called "white lies," cnn's as equals investigates the world of skin whitening. the series aims to expose the underlying drivers of colorism, the discrimination against dark-skinned black people within the same racial or ethnic group, and to hold those involved in the skin-whitening industry accountable. cnn spoke with people of color from around the world about how the industry and perception of beauty has impacted them. >> it came to a point where i thought my skin tone was a

problem because it was an ongoing joke all the time. >> she immediately said, oh, wow, you know, your daughter is much darker compared to the rest of the family members. i mean jokingly said, where did you find her? >> when i walked into the living room and she looked at me, she was like, why is this one so black? >> it was -- you want to be successful, you want to find a partner, you want to find someone, you know -- you're going to have a life marred with this extra melanin, stay out of the sun and protect your skin. they would say, oh, you look so dark. you look like you've been burned. so please don't go out and play in the sun. >> people would always say to you don't be under the sun. you know, you'll get -- you're already dark, and you're going to get dark. >> i wasn't a child that was swayed by much, you know. what you thought of me didn't really bother me, but that

really bothered me. >> i want to go back and give that little dark girl a big hug. >> i'm the color i am, brown basically. but you want me to be darker so it fits into your narrative of what you think a person of color should be. >> i think especially when i was younger, i always had foundation shade that was like four shades lighter than me. >> i actually would use products like fair and lovely or things like that because i wanted to present myself to be light. >> my dad's from india, my mother's white, an american. i would check my skin tone against the side of the fair and lovely package to see where i was. i started to realize really young that i had skin that many women were trying to achieve. >> it's called whitening or lightening or brightening or removing dark spots. but the whole emphasis is on the fact that if you are not light enough, you're not beautiful enough. >> at the end of the day i feel like people make it seem like dark-skinned women just are now existing when we've been here for years. >> we need to challenge what we consider as beautiful.

we need to challenge the roles that we allow certain darker skin-tone people to play, as well. >> that is where colorism plays in and where we've got a long way to go, where women can be seen equal, equally beautiful, equally bright, equally intelligent, irrespective of their skin taupe. >> one popular tool among especially young women is the power of social media. >> i am -- when i look at the younger generations, they get it, they get how people, you know, are -- >> feel radical every time i sit out in the sun. it's a big act of rebellion to sit out on the beach. so yeah. >> now two of the people you saw in the report referenced the unilever product fair and lovely, a cream well known for skin lightening and which received widespread criticism. unilever has acknowledged the

brand suggests a singular ideal of beauty and renamed the product. sky watchers just had an outof this world experience that hasn't happened -- nearly 600 years. have a look at that when a partial lunar eclipse turned the moon blood red. the sun, earth, and moon were in near perfect alignment with the sun blocking the sunlight on the moon. the eclipse lasted more than three hours and was the longest lasting since the 1400s. all right. so if you've ever wondered what exactly makes for a good hug, well, researchers at the university of london have the answer. they examined the emotional embraces and found log hugs, five to ten second, more pleasant than one-second hugs and credits-cross hugs are more common than neck-waist hugs and

that carhriss-cross hugs are mo between men and women than mixed pairs. and it's hoped this and future study will help get a grip on what is called an understudied human behavior. can't imagine why that's understudied. all right. we want to leave you with a story of triumph over adversity. straight russian dog named monica -- stray russian dog named monica has a fresh shot at mobility after a brutal act. rescuers think someone caught off her paw the to be cruel. she ended up at a clinic where a veteran fitted her with prosthetic paws. a doctor says monica's bones will grow and adapt to the artificial titanium limbs like antlers on a deer. and once recovered, she'll be able to walk into her new home.

i'm ken brunhuber. i'll be back with more on "cnn newsroom." please stay with us. for people who could use a lift new neutrogena® rapid firming. a triple-lift serum with pure collagen.

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and even save with special offers just for movers. really? yep! so while you handle that, you can keep your internet and all those shows you love, and save money while you're at it with special offers just for movers at xfinity.com/moving. ♪ live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here, united states, canada, and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom." we the jury find the defendant kyle rittenhouse not guilty. >> a controversial verdict i