so the party that once compared itself to a big tent now looks more like the big top with members divided over what should be in the center ring and what belongs in the sideshow. john berman here in for anderson. today in a very stark statement, the senate's leading republican criticized his party's decision to censure congresswoman liz cheney and congressman adam kinzinger for serving on the january 6th select committee. he also made how he sees january 6th abundantly and unambiguously clear. >> is it appropriate for the

republican national committee to censure two sitting members of congress and use the words legitimate political discourse in talking about january 6th? >> let me give you my view of what happened january 6th. we all were here, we saw what happened. it was a violent insurrection. for the purpose of trying to prevent a peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election. from one administration to the next. that's what it was. >> a reminder, mitch mcconnell never says anything by accident. every syllable is carefully chosen. his use of the words violent insurrection is significant and carries with it potential legal implications because obviously it's against the law, but it's significant for other reasons too. there are anchors on other cable networks who launch into

soliloquies asserting you can't call january 6 an insurrection. welt, mitch mcconnell just did, and in doing so issued an explicit rebuke of the rnc party leadership, an explicit rebuke of house republican leadership, and an explicit rebuke of at least certain cable performers. you know who noticed? at least one person named trump. donald trump jr. exclaiming with republicans like this, who needs democrats? well, it turns out there might be a growing number of republicans like this. if not always for the same reasons. republican senators who think the rnc censure and claims of legitimate discourse are just bad politics. >> people are willing to have a difference of opinions. but i think that we as a party need to recognize that people are worried about the economy, they're worried about the continuing struggles with covid, they're looking ahead. and that's what they want us to do. >> so that's one view, that fixating on january 6th is simply bad for the republican party with what members believe is a winning case in other issues. which is true for even the

smaller number of republicans taking exception with the censure language, purely for what it says about a sad moment in this country's history. susan collins, for one, calling it absurd to suggest a mob of violent trump supporters who beat, tased, and bear sprays police officers were engaged in legitimate political discourse. in the next breath, she adds, an i'm quoting here, every moment that is spent relitigated a lost election or defending those convicted of criminal behavior moves us further away from the goal of victory this fall. so even for someone not up for re-election until 2026, electoral politics is never that far away, and the relentless focus by the rnc on the insurrection is a side show. just one problem, though. welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. >> if i run and if i win, we will treat those people from january 6th fairly. we will treat them fairly.

and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly. >> he is there still casting a powerful spell, it seems, over some. here is congresswoman elise stefanik, who got her title when liz cheney was bounced. she's okay with the legitimate political discourse, at least in so much as she equates the worst assault on american democracy since the civil war to something far removed from it. >> you think that position is problematic heading into a midterm election where republicans are looking quite good at this point? >> again, our position has been very clear. we condemn the violence on january 6th, just like we condemn the violence that happened all throughout 2020. that's what's different than our democrat colleagues who refuse to condemn the violence that happened in 2020. >> that's her take, which is so last march as talking points go. as for her boss, minority leader kevin mccarthy, here's what he came up with.

>> the rnc resolution last week referred to the events of january 6 as a legitimate political discourse. i want to know what you think about it. >> see, that's not correct about what the rnc was talking about. everybody knows anyone who broke in and caused damage that was not called for, those people we have said from the very beginning should be in jail. what they were talking about is the six rnc members who january 6th has subpoenaed who weren't even here who were in florida that day. >> so you're in support of that resolution? >> wait, what? okay, by that logic, when fdr said a date which will live in infamy, he wasn't referring to the japanese bombing of pearl harbor. he was talking about retirees in miami ordering a prune danish. cnn as subsequently learned that he was talking about current and former members on a list of people the select committee had targeted, some while looking into the fake elector scheme. which still doesn't make a lot

of sense. the rnc censure resolution doesn't refer to what mccarthy is talking about. it reads whereas representatives cheney and kinzinger are led in participating in a democratic-led persian constitution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and so on. congressman mccarthy once explicitly said the president bears responsibility for the attack on congress by mob rioters. a short time later, he flew down to mar-a-lago to make nice with nan and he's been doing everything to stay on his good side. he purged liz cheney. he's promising if republicans win back the house to put fringe members back on to committees, perhaps in his words, even better ones. those members are all in on side shows and he's signaling he's okay with it. mitch mcconnell and others are not. the former president is stirring the pot. just before air time, rnc chairwoman ronna mcdaniel put out a new defense of her censure resolution.

in it, she makes no mention of the intraparty criticism she's getting. she does, however, attack the media. as for her party, it's up for grabs. perspective now from commentator and former special adviser to president obama, van jones. also former republican national committee chief of staff, mike shields. mike, as a republican, i'm curious. why do you think mitch mcconnell felt the need to be so forceful in rebuking the legitimate political discourse notion and do you agree with him? >> well, look, i think that this was a resolution passed at the rnc that's not binding. it doesn't carry the weight of law. they passed four other resolutions that day. when it was passed in the room, none of the reporters in the room thought that they were talking about the violent part of january 6th. but afterwards, a reporter said, hey, we could make this connection, and now here we are on day five, mitch mcconnell is asked about it, we're talking about it. it's not the position of the republican party. the rnc has said many, many times including today, including yesterday that they condemn the violence. okay. that there is a difference between the rioters and the

people that are protesters. it was a study in december that showed 90% of the subpoenas that are public that this committee has issued are for people who weren't even in washington. that's what the resolution was talking about. but now it's been turned, a "new york times" story said they're saying the rioters were legitimate political discourse, so now we have a fabricated scandal that we're still talking about. just remember, i want to add something here. the rnc had a bomb placed at it. okay. a bomb. was placed at the rnc by these bastards who should all be in jail. every republican knows that the legitimate political discourse is not talking about it's okay to put a bomb at our headquarters. >> resolution didn't say that. and mitch mcconnell apparently doesn't feel the same way you do. >> well, the resolution also didn't say. >> hang on, mike. let me get van in here. van, what do you think of what mike's saying here? >> i think he's -- you know, mr. fantastic from the fantastic

four, he's stretching so far, his limbs are off the screen. listen, there's no way to get around the plain language of this resolution, and regardless, you are taking on, you say it's not binding. it's a censure against sitting elected officials in your party who have done nothing but try to get to the bottom of what you say is a violent despicable act, and they have been censured by their own party. the only good thing about this is that somebody has finally drawn a line. now, the line is at the far edge of sanity, just saying you can't defend what happened on january 6th, and that person is mitch mcconnell. so it is a good thing that republicans are starting to speak up and they're starting to be very clear and very forceful that this has gone too far. and the rnc is off the rails, in the ditch, upside down with the wheels spinning and somebody has to drag them back on the road. trying to pretend what the plain language is different than what it is doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

>> mike? >> i mean, the language is pretty clear. it does not refer to the violent protesters. look, here's what this resolution was about. the rnc is a bottom up grassroots organization. right? the local grassroots folks are frustrated with a partisan committee and the fact that two republicans went to work with nancy pelosi on that partisan committee. and they censured them. that happened all the time. >> this is what mitch mcconnell said about that. let's listen. >> the issue is whether or not the rnc should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority. that's not the job of the rnc. >> so mcconnell says no, van. >> look, that's 100% correct. and what's happening is the goalposts are being moved. you said at the beginning of the show that it used to be a big tent, and now it's becoming the big top. i don't think there's a clearer explanation of what's going on.

and finally, mcconnell and hopefully others, chris christie and others, are going to say listen, guys, we're willing to make room for all kind of weird people on the other side, but you have to make room for everybody or you're not going to have a party. once you start having purges, the next step from a censure is to try to purge people. and liz cheney has already been purged from her leadership position. you're starting to have the kind of stuff that republicans used to balk at. where is the republican party who stands up for individual liberty, for rugged individual lymph, for people taking a stand in what they believe in. that party is dying, and instead we're getting -- it's not just a bottom up thing, i appreciate you trying to say kind things about the rnc, but it doesn't matter if it's bottom up, top down, inside out, it's wrong to attack people who are trying to get to the bottom of the worst attack on our country since the civil war. >> van, if i thought they were trying to get to the bottom of it, i would actually agree with you. that's not what's happening. this is a partisan committee, it has issued 90% of its subpoenas aren't even for people at the riot. it's gone far beyond its scope. we all know it's a political

committee because when kevin mccarthy, the house republican leader, offered to put members of congress on it, nancy pelosi just said no, you can't have those members that you have chosen. first time in history that a select committee has been chosen that way, so when adam kinzinger and liz cheney say we want to get to the bottom of things rather than working with their party and saying if you're going to have nancy pelosi get rid of our members, we're not taking part in it, no, we're going to join in. >> to be fair, to be fair to speaker pelosi, there two members that kevin tried to put on were actually involved in what turns out to be participate a part of the planning for the event. you can't have people on the committee investigating themselves. we could play these games and these word games. i think you're troubled, i think i'm troubled, a lot of people are troubled we're now having to debate whether or not someone like a liz cheney from a family like hers should be being purged and persecuted from her own party for the high crime and misdemeanor of saying she'll work with anybody, republican or democrat to get to the bottom of this. >> so mike, let me ask you this.

can i ask you, mike. >> sure. >> mcconnell and others clearly think what the rnc did, what mccarthy is doing and others, is bad politics. it's just bad politics if your goal is to win. do you at least agree with that? >> look, i think this is something we're talking about for four or five days and it will be the end of it, and liz cheney is probably going to lose her primary in wyoming and adam kinzinger is retiring, and in october, when this commission is going to start issuing things before the election because they're going to try to change the narrative, and it won't matter. no one is going to cast a vote based on anything this commission does because what they care about are inflation, china's strength, the fact that kids are still wearing masks in schools, a really ineffective foreign policy from joe biden. that's what the election is going to be about. that's what we're going to talk about the rest of the year. democrats are going to keep trying to bring this up, though. >> van, what about that? how much of a role do you think that this will all have in the midterm elections?

>> well, i mean, i don't disagree. people who feel strongly on both sides are going to go vote anyway. people in the middle probably don't care as much. that doesn't mean that just because it's not politically important in the midterms it's politically important to the country and to a democratic republic and to our system of government that when there is this sort of an attack on the nation's capitol, we figure out some way to get to the bottom of it. i don't think it's fair to blame pelosi or the democrats and say that they're putting forward a partisan committee. leave leave -- i know kevin. you know kevin. if he wanted to put forward a sensible set of republicans to be part of the process, he could have done so. he put forward people who are implicated in the plot itself, and those are rejected. as they should have been rejected. >> mike, we're going to leave it there. sorry. i didn't mean to cut you off. >> wasn't trying to filibuster you, mike. sorry about that. >> mike, van, i didn't mean to cut you both off. we're going to go to break. i thank you for the heated discussion, the inspired discussion. i should say. >> next, breaking news, where what we're learning about the

bomb threat at a washington, d.c. school. the second gentleman was visiting. >> also, the latest on canadian truckers protesting covid regulations occupying ottawa and now bringing traffic across a vital link to this country, to a stand still. we'll have a live report from the detroit windsor crossing, and later, more breaking news on covid itself. new reporting on big changes coming tomorrow in new york's mask mandate. we'll get a former top public health official's take on it. and whether the same could soon be coming to the rest of the country. enamel in its weakened state. it's innovative. my go to toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. at fidelity, your dedicated advisor will work with you on a comprehensive wealth plan across your full financial picture. a plan with tax-smart investing strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. this is the planning effect. certified turbocharger, suspension and fuel injection.

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the second gentleman had only been there for a few moments before he was called out, ushered out by secret service after a bomb threat the been called in at the school. you are right, the secret service is very hesitant to offer a lot of details because they don't want to reveal how they get a lot of information, but they did say right now at this time, there's no information to indicate the threat was directed toward our protectee, referencing the second gentleman. just to give you a sense of how quickly they moved, he was at that school in washington, the bomb threat was called in about 2:15 p.m. he was out of there by 2:18 p.m. they also evacuated the students and the staff and as a sign of precaution. it does speak to the level of concern that they had that he was there. just to give you a sense of how protective they are, when they released the schedule for the second gentleman of the united states, they did not say which school he was going to. that's often something they tell reporters when you're on the way there.

clearly, you can see why they have some concerns when it comes to movements like this as it happened today. >> do you know where vice president harris was as this was happening and how is the second gentleman doing tonight? >> we believe she was here at the white house. of course, working. we were told pretty soon after we had found out from reporters traveling with doug imhoff that he the been in touch with him, checked on him. she believed he was okay and he got a statement from his communications director saying he was safe, evacuated and he resumed his schedule, and seems to be doing fine, john. >> kaitlan collins, thank you so much for that. >> now, something you might hear on the radio but not see much on this program. a traffic report. since late last month, canadian truckers have been filling highways and more recently occupying the capital city ottawa in protest of canada's covid regulations. starting yesterday, parts of

what's billed as the freedom convoy tied up traffic on the ambassador bridge which connects windsor, ontario, to detroit. this is a vital commercial link between the two countries. by some measures, the busiest crossing on the continent. cnn's miguel marquez is there for us tonight. miguel, what's the latest from the border? any signs of this letting up? >> yeah, it looks like it might be letting up just a little bit. we're on the detroit side of that border that's ontario, windsor, just across the way there. and there's been since about noon today, there's been a trickle of commercial traffic coming over that bridge into the detroit area on the u.s. side, they basically shut down the bridge until the canadians are able to deal with it. i want to make one thing clear. yes, there are a lot of truckers involved here. but on the bridge at least and blocking access to the bridgeton canadian side, it appears to be a lot of people in their regular vehicles, pickup trucks, small cars and the like. so it is not clear, moving from

different parts of canada into ottawa and now here at the bridge, police in windsor trying to deal with the protesters as best they can, making arrests where they can, trying to reason with them, essentially. and keep them cordoned off so they can keep the access points open. the traffic is starting to flow, but it's very slow. all the other commercial traffic and noncommercial traffic now going through other crossings nearby. >> how critical is this bridge economically? for both countries? >> enormously. it's 40,000 cars, commercial and noncommercial, every day. it's over $300 million in goods that come over the bridge every day. they can do it for a while. it's been about 24 hours now of this. they can do this for a while without sort of damaging things, but it takes a lot. they have to go up to port huron, a tunnel they can get through for noncommercial vehicles. but it is difficult on an ongoing basis to see that this bridge staying closed won't have an effect on the economies on both sides of the border.

>> so you made a point of noting it's not just truckers. i think that is important to note. so who are the others involved here? are these anti-vaccine groups? >> it's anti-vaccine, interestingly, all of this happening as governments everywhere are starting to bring down a lot of the coronavirus mandates. so it's anti-vaccine, anti-mandate, anti-mask, a little bit of everything. it's also invited a lot of the very far right, the neo nazis and others who have, there were people who were dancing on the tomb of the unknown soldier in ottawa, and people who have just taken, you know, the opportunity to act out in any way they want over their frustrations with the government. so it's also attracted a lot of attention from around the world, and so it has grown. it has grown since it started in january. it moved to ottawa, it was very loud and boisterous there. now it's here. it's not clear how much more gas

this protest has in the tank and how much longer it will go. >> miguel marquez, thanks so much for being here for us. appreciate it. >> you got it. >> so bizarre comments from russian president vladimir putin seeking to undercut ukraine and apparently even the manhood of its president. garry kasparov joins us to dissect beauty tin's game, when we return. don't settle for products that give you a sort-of white smile. try crest whitening emulsions... ...for 100% whiter teeth. its highly active peroxide droplets... ...swipe on in seconds.

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the tense diplomatic standoff to averta further russian invasion into ukraine has taken a bizarre and decidedly undiplomatic turn courtesy of its leader. on monday putin was talking about the minsk agreements which was supposed to end the flight years ago. there's been disagreement, and he took a disparaging shot at ukraine's president and even his manhood, saying like it or like it, it's your duty, my beauty, which seems quite possibly to be a comment loaded with sexual, even misogynistic implications. ukraine's president responded, saying ukraine is a beauty. and the quote to take it, ukraine is a very patient because that's wisdom. again, this is the state of affairs as more than 100,000 russian troops are amassed near ukraine's border. i'm joined by garry kasparov, a

russian pro-democracy leader and former world chess champion. thanks for being with us. these comments, this language from vladimir putin, what's he trying to do here? what kind of head games is he trying to play with zelensky? >> first of all, this is not unusual for putin. it's the first time that it was translated to english and other languages, but otherwise, putin has been using this language in russia for more than two decades. that's a typical slang, criminal slang, but this one, very specific one, contains profane language. you translate only the second part, but the first one sounds much worse. but that's putin's view about ukraine. actually read a good article on cnn.com, who explained that putin never accepted ukraine's sovereignty. for vladimir putin, russian dictator, democratic successful ukraine is a mortal threat to his power in russia.

so that's why we should give him credit, he was very consistent. and since his infamous speech in munich in 2007, february, 15 yours ago, he has been pushing this idea that we had to in turn, and of course, ukraine and other former soviet republicans, independent states now, they should be under direct control of russia, and of course, ukraine is the biggest prize for putin's imperial fantasies, and since 2014, he has been invading ukraine. minsk was not an agreement to resolve the conflict becauseputep was never willing to negotiate the return of crimea back to ukraine. it was putin's attempt to get legitimize his cronies in eastern ukraine in a small part de facto occupied by russia and to make them ukrainian politicians. and through this to have a veto right over any attempt of ukraine to integrate into european union or nato.

>> so the question is how do you stop him? the german chancellor apparently agreed behind closed doors that nord stream 2 may be the key to reaching putin. do you think it is? if not, how would you get putin to listen? >> well, the only way to talk to mafia boss is to make sure that he will pay very high price. unacceptable price for his criminal actions. the cost of invasion must become prohibitive, and it's getting there, but it's too slow. you have to arm ukraine. ukraine has a pretty big army and they can inflict serious damage to invading troops, but the key, not tanks but banks. while we heard that behind closed doors the german chancellor agreed with president biden about sanctions against nord stream 2, but he dodged the question publicly. and of course, the fact that french president emmanuel macron was in moscow and is now doing

this diplomacy, that adds to putin's confidence and his arrogance. what are they discussing? is macron trying to buy ukrainian return to the minsk agreement by offering them 1.2 million euros or whatever the amount, to make zelensky more receptive to the idea? i don't think it will happen. ukrainian people rejected minsk, and zelensky is the president of the country. >> you called putin a mafia boss. why? >> because that's the way he rules russia. i always say that every country has it own mafia. russia has its own state. putin was in power for more than two decades. he's not going anywhere. it's a new type of dictatorship, unlike the ideological representation of 20th century, it's based on the control of money. putin controls more money than any other individual in human history, and everything he does is to secure his control of his

money inside russia, or to protect the funds, and we're talking about a couple trillion dollars removed from russia to other location, mostly in the free world, from potential actions of the democratic government. that's where you can hit him. if he understands it will be his cronies will be subject to prosecution and laws telephone free world aimed at moneylaundering, if russian gas and oil export is under threat, then he'll start thinking about hiss actions. otherwise, he doesn't see any real incentives to stop his provocations and aggressions. dictators never ask why. always ask why not. >> i am curious, you said putin has always been clear about this. right? he's always been clear about what he wanted to do with ukraine. why is it only now that he's putting 100,000 troops on the border? what does he see that lets him think this is the time to do it? >> look, again, he started his aggression against ukraine eight

years ago. and his original plan was to carve a large piece of ukraine into new russia. he thought about a new chunk added to russia, russian empire, from eastern ukraine all the way to the south to odessa, also connected to the russian controlled anklet in moldova, basically cutting ukraine from black sea. it failed because he overestimated the willingness of russian-speaking population in ukraine to become putin's subjects. and now, he decided it's time to actually force ukraine's hand because ukraine walked away from minsk. ukraine didn't want to become putin's puppet through this minsk agreement. and also, putin lost very important alley in europe, former german chancellor angela merkel. and he also lost another potential ally, donald trump. so putin thought it's time for

him to solve ukraine problems once and for all, because situation in russia is getting worse and worse. and if ukraine escapes from putin's spell, and becomes successful, he knows that will be a very good example, a very tempting example for russian people to end putin's dictatorship. >> garry kasparov, always an education. thank you so much for joinling us tonight. >> thank you for inviting me. >> one more blue state governor is reportedly ready to end a mask mandate, and just as the cdc director says now is not the time to do that. the back and forth over mask mandates when we return. we're carvana, the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate

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xfinity mobile. it's wireless that does it all and saves a lot. like a lot, a lot. more breaking news this evening. "the new york times" is reporting that tomorrow, new york state will become the latest in a stream of blue states to end a mask mandate. according to the times, the states will let its indoor mask mandate lapse on thursday when it expires. and yet, despite this rush to normalcy, the director of the cdc said the complete opposite during a radio interview today, that now is not the time to stop masking up.

and she specifically mentioned schools in her comments. dr. rochelle walensky cited the high number of hospitalizations and deaths from covid, quote, we're not quite there yet. i'm joined by dr. richard besser, pediatrician and former acting director of the cdc. rich, great to see you tonight. now that the cdc and dr. walensky weighed in to continue masking in schools, what's your take? >> you know, john, these periods of transition are extremely challenging. and it's also very challenging when you're making policy recommendations for the entire nation. you know, the four states that you lifted up were hit very early and very hard by omicron. and are now seeing pretty dramatic declines. declines in cases, declines in hospitalization. and there's a desire to try to get to a more normal life. as a pediatrician, there are a couple things i keep in mind. one is the desire to reduce as much as possible the burden from omicron.

and thankfully, young children are at the lowest risk for severe infection for hospitalization and for death. they're not at zero risk, but they're at very low risk. but you have to balance the measures that we're asking children and families to do to prevent omicron against some of those costs. and the costs are real. the surgeon general today was talking about the mental health costs. what will it take for children to get back to a normal where they're no longer needing to be afraid of each other, to be afraid of contact? for children who speak another language, when will they be able to see a teacher's mouth so that they can more easily learn a language? these things are real, and i think that the balance that states and localities are trying to make between reducing covid as low as possible but also trying to get children back to being able to be children, that's what we're seeing play out now, and hopefully we'll learn from states that are doing different things in different

places and that will help guide other states trying to make the same decisions. >> how about what's reportedly about to happen in new york with the governor hochul about to announce she's about to drop the indoor mask mandates for businesses and customers to show proof of full vaccination. is now the time for that? >> well, you know, a couple things that you want to ask, and i think this is what they're asking in new york. they're asking in new jersey where i am. is what's happening in the hospitals? dr. walensky lifted that up. you wouldn't want to reduce your masking or your other measures if your hospitals don't have capacity. but if you do, that will factor in there. what's happening in terms of your testing capacity, your ability to get medications to people who need it? these are things you all want to weigh in there. and what is the cost in terms of people not being able to get back to their normal life? so the other piece of this that i'm not hearing the governors lift up enough is that the reduction of these public health

measures, we can't continue to see it as a one-way street. if a new variant were to arise, if the number of cases or the burden on the hospital system were to go in the wrong direction, people need to be ready to know that these measures could be put back in place. and throughout this pandemic, i think there's been a misconception that things go in one direction. cases go up, they come down, and then we remove these barriers, and there's no discussion that we're doing it because of what's happening with the pandemic and there's a chance we may need to put these back in place. that goes for what's happening now in schools. that goes for what's happening with indoor mask mandates. we have to be ready for the potential things can go the other way. >> people make the same type of argument flipped around which is when things are getting better, you have to reduce some of the restrictions, else you're never have the credibility to put them back in place later on. you have to react to things when they're better as well. >> well, and i think this is very different from a year ago,

when restrictions were removed, in that there are vaccines. there are vaccines available for any parent who wants to vaccinate their child, who is 5 years and older. there's vaccines for adults. we need to do more to encourage people who are 65 and older to get their boosters, because that is the group that is bearing the greatest burden in terms of hospitalization and deaths from omicron. and the u.s. lags other welty wealthy nations by a large margin in vaccination in that population. but for younger people, you're right. as the numbers are coming down, as people are vaccinated, allowing people to do more and showing that you are responding to the situation, i think, is something that we're seeing many states consider, and i think it's a realistic thing to consider doing. >> dr. richard besser, always a pleasure to speak to you. nice to see you. >> thanks, john. >> up next, a different view of covid and to the question dr. besser just asked, what's

happening in the hospitals? 360's gary tuchman takes us inside a south dakota hospital fighting a brutal surge in covid hospitalizations. ♪ ♪ feel stuck with student loan debt? move to sofi and feel what it's like to get your money right. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ move your student loan debt to sofi—you could save with low rates and no fees. go to sofi.com to view your rate today. ♪ ♪

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how much their accident case is worth.h barnes. t ouour juryry aorneneys hehelpou as several states are moving to relax mask mandates amid a decline in covid cases, some areas are now experiencing a surge in hospitalizations. 360's gary tuchman traveled to rural western south dakota where covid hospitalizations are being fueled by low vaccination rates and other factors and the situation could become dire. >> reporter: inside this intensive care room at this south dakota hospital, this woman in her 60s is unresponsive. she has just been hooked up to a ventilator after spending two weeks in a regular hospital room. >> she kind of came in traditional of someone that got the virus at home, wasn't feeling well, decided they need to come to the emergency

department, tested positive, requiring a lot of oxygen. >> reporter: her condition just continued to deteriorate. so after two weeks, this patient, whose face we're not showing to protect her identity, was brought to the intensive care unit and intubated. she is not vaccinated. >> she doesn't have a good prognosis from this point. >> reporter: moments later, we see a stretcher being wheeled by nurses. another patient being rushed from a regular covid room to intensive care in a hospital that is over capacity. >> absolutely we are in the omicron surge. >> reporter: covid hospitalizations are decreasing in many parts of the united states. but here in pennington county, south dakota, in the mostly extremely rural western part of the state, low vaccination rates and an increase in cases at the beginning of the month are now creating a surge of hospitalizations. this doctor is the chief medical officer of monument health rapid city hospital. >> we are seeing a rise in the range of 60% increase in

hospitalizations here at monument health, and that is worrying. this is a trend that is a warning to us, a dire warning that we could be at capacities that we never imagined. >> reporter: none of the covid patients in the icu today, an icu that has had to be expanded, have been fully vaccinated. throughout this pandemic, the governor of south dakota, kristi noem, has refused to implement basic covid health and safety precautions used in other states. >> my people are happy. >> reporter: although she does say she is vaccinated. while south dakota isn't at the top of per capita covid deaths, it is comfortably in the top half at 20. in neighboring minnesota, which has had a full complement of covid precautions, has a death rail about 26% lower than south dakota. monument health doesn't rely on the governor to be the chief covid safety spoke. >> we've been the main spokesperson. it's been left to the health system, to the doctors, to the

nurses to be the spokesperson. so in a way, the burden is on us to make sure that folks understand the gravity that we're in, the pandemic. >> reporter: the governor turned down a request to talk to us on camera, but her communications director told us in part, governor noem en has provided her people with up to date science facts and data and then trusted them to exercise personal responsibility to make the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones. this is jerry morgan, an 87-year-old covid patient at monument hospital. >> you're feeling good? >> they've treated me pretty well here. >> oh, good. >> reporter: he had a high fever, had trouble breathing, was shaking, and came here to the hospital where he tested positive. one day later, he feels much better. no intensive care unit needed for him. he is fully vaccinated and boosted. >> i feel a strong sense of relief. i am almost positive that if i hadn't had those, i'd have been probably gone. >> reporter: jerry says he wishes vaccines weren't so political. his brother, he says, died from

covid and wasn't vaccinated. and now jerry is also a spokesperson. >> in the united states, 80% of people would have got the shots, it would have been a lot easier to control. >> gary joins us from the state capital. gary, i assume the state's health systems are continuing to prioritize getting people vaccinated? >> reporter: yeah, it's still a high priority getting people vaccinations, but it's an uphill battle. case in point, the black hills stock show and rodeo, great event, big event, yearly event in rapid city. lasted nine days, just ended this past weekend. more than 300,000 people showed up. so the medical authorities had a great idea. let's set up a vaccine booth at the rodeo and give covid shots, give shingles shots, give flu shots. well, the nine days came to an end. they totaled up all the covid shots they gave, and they gave a grand total of 12 shots. just one or two per day. >> 12 shots with thousands and thousands of people?

>> reporter: 12 shots. i mean, listen, people made their decisions. they've had plenty of time to get shots, and it is a rodeo. it's not necessarily considered a pro-vaccine crowd. that being said, 12 is an extremely low number with 300,000 people showing up. >> gary tuchman, thank you so much. a suspect is arrested in connection with that no-knock warrant that led to the deadly police shooting of amir locke last week. we have details ahead. this is how it feels to have a dedicated fidelity advisor looking at your full financial picture. this is what it's like to have a comprehensive wealth plan with tax-smart investing strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. and set aside more for things like healthcare, or whatever comes down the road. this is "the planning effect" from fidelity. omega-3 from fish oil is an important nutrient for heart health. qunol's ultra purified omega -3, is sourced only from wild caught ocean fish,

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attend all treatment appointments. with once-a-month cabenuva, i'm good to go. ask your doctor about once-monthly cabenuva. a 17-year-old has been arrested in connection to the search warrant that led to the death of amir locke, a 22-year-old shot and killed by minneapolis police officers executing a no-knock search warrant. body cam footage released late last week shows officers shooting locke after entering an apartment while locke was apparently asleep. police say he had a gun. according to the court documents, the 17-year-old was locke's cousin, and he's a suspect in a homicide in st. paul, minnesota. police were looking for the

teenager and two others in connection with the crime during the deadly incident that took locke's life. the news continues. let's hand it over to laura coates, and "cnn tonight". >> thank you, john. i am laura coates. this is "cnn tonight." as you know, elections have consequences. i mean we should all know that very well at this point. you hear it all the time. they can have impact on who sits on the highest court in the land, who then can go on, as you know, to make very consequential decisions that will impact our elections, the same that have consequences. that's exactly what just happened with a new controversial supreme court ruling, one that delivers yet another and this time a major blow to the voting rights of minorities in alabama and arguably elsewhere. we're going to take a deep dive into why exactly that is the case tonight and frankly how it could impact the midterm elections that are exactly nine months