>> boris, got you covered. >> thanks, coy. >> coy wire, thank you so much. the next hour of "new day" starts right now. ♪ good morning. and welcome to your new day. i'm boris sanchez. >> good morning to you. i'm amara walker. there are growing concerns of a nuclear disaster in ukraine as russia stages attacks from a power plant only a few hundred feet from a nuclear reactor. the pressure coming from the international community to allow inspectors in. plus, the white house is rolling out a new strategy to combat monkeypox amid criticism. their plan to vaccinate large groups in at risk communities starting this weekend. plus, combatting the teacher shortage. how districts are rolling out the perks to attract teachers as more students head back to the classrooms. and democrats are feeling optimistic about their chances in the midterm elections after a string of wins. how republicans plan to counter

that and the potential for the former president to influence the races. ♪ good morning, everyone. happy saturday and welcome to your new day. it is a good day. saturday, august 20th. good to be with you, boris. >> always a pleasure. good to be with you, amara. we begin with the concerns about a nuclear power plant on the front lines of russia's war against ukraine. fighting around the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has intensified, so much so that now there are concerns about a possible nuclear disaster. >> cnn first reported new satellite images contradict russia's claims about the facility. they say there is systemic shelling there, but the images just don't show that. vladimir putin accuses the

ukrainian military of conducting repeated military strikes at the plant. a special adviser to ukraine's armed services chief says moscow can't be trusted. >> russia always tells two truths and a lie. you can't believe anything they say. ukraine is not firing at their own nuclear plant within their country. russia is. that's basically called a false flag attack. the worry is instead of dropping a nuclear weapon, he would actually just hit the -- just have a meltdown. >> the u.s. is closely watching the situation at the nuclear plant. a senior u.s. defense official says russia has shown a complete disregard for the security of ukraine's nuclear facilities. let's get the latest now from ukraine. cnn senior international correspondent sam kylie live from zaporizhzhia. sam, we should mention that phone call that french president macron had with vladimir putin in which he reportedly agreed to allow the nuclear watchdog group

to visit the plant. the question is will russia follow through with that. >> reporter: it's a repeat indeed of the russian position that's been around for several weeks now that they welcome the ieae just under circumstances that in the past were unacceptable to the ukrainians such as having to get there through occupied territory, territory in ukraine occupied by russia. that may or may not have been sorted out. essentially vladimir putin is playing nice on the basic principle that the ieae might at some future date get access. this is on the front line position, being used as a front line position by russia. and therefore even getting inspectors in there is fraught with difficulty not only in terms of the diplomacy but also in terms of their own physical safety. so, i think we have to see it in that context. at the same time, there's extremely inflammatory language

being used. we heard one of the advisers to the president suggests that they might try to -- the russians might try to substitute a nuclear weapon with blowing up a nuclear power station. that's science fiction stuff. there's no indication that the russians would be considering that. it would be in the words of the u.n. secretary general, a suicidal action. it would be uncontrollable mess that could as much affect russian troops and russian-held areas in ukraine and indeed the russian country, motherland proper in the event of a nuclear catastrophe is in nobody's interest to spark one. people don't always behave rationally in these circumstances. amara. >> sam, ukraine accuses russian forces of storing heavy weaponry inside the complex and using it as cover to launch attacks. has there been any confirmation of that?

>> yes. we have been able to confirm that directly. seen with our own eyes the results of rocket strikes very clearly identify bli you can trace back the trajectory of rockets on this -- on the government-held side of the dnipro river in villages close to the nuclear power station have been hit by rockets that have been fired from that location or in or near that location. a second level we know the russians are in military occupation. they don't deny it. indeed, yesterday they said they were going to be increasing the level of their military in and around that location. they deny using it as a fire base, but that would be difficult thing to deny in the face of at least 13 dead in the city just across the river where last night there's been a reported -- yet another round of rocket strikes. there's no real question that the russians are using as a fire base. there's very little to no evidence that ukrainians are shooting back. but there is every concern there could be catastrophe in this

nuclear power station. >> sam kylie reporting from zaporizhzhia, ukraine. thank you so much. meantime, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says that he is thankful for the latest aid package from the united states. he calls it another step toward defeating the aggressor. >> the u.s. is providing another $775 million in military aid to ukraine. cnn pentagon correspondent oren lieberman has details on what this latest package includes. >> reporter: boris and amara, this is the 19th draw down of weapons for ukraine pulled from u.s. inventories. it now means, according to the defense department that the u.s. has committed more than $10 billion in security assistance to ukraine since the beginning of the biden administration. and this has some new equipment, although part of it follows much of what we have seen in the past. the u.s. providing more ammunition for the high mars system, that gps guided artillery rocket system that a senior defense official says proven devastatingly official

against russian forces. ukraine using it very well to hit command posts, logistic ce center and posts. the defense official says they have use what had thaef very effectively and this has been one of the key weapons. in materials of what else is going in, there are a number of smaller 105 millimeter howitzers going in, more anti-tank weapons such as javelins. for the first time, toe missiles slightly a longer range anti-tank missiles. there's also an emphasis here on a new capability and that is mind clearing. defense official says russia has heavily mined southern and eastern ukraine, so they'll need that sort of equipment to be able to clear that area for civilian use or if they want to carry out their own operations there. then there are also a number of reconnaissance drones going in, hum humvees, night vision goggles and communication equipment. this is what the u.s. is providing now. volodymyr zelenskyy saying he was very thankful for the latest equipment given the numbers we're seeing here, it's a clear

indication that the u.s. and ukraine and the west for that matter don't see this as a fight that's ending any time soon. boris and amara? >> oren, thank you so much. so this week the white house has been defending their response to the spread of monkeypox across the united states. the biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency on august 4th, after facing criticism for not moving faster to address the crisis. now, i spoke with white house deputy monkeypox response coordinator yesterday who defended the response saying that health officials have reacted to the virus's trajectory. >> we know what we've got in terms of this outbreak. it is acting differently than any monkeypox outbreak we have known before. it's clear the epidemiology, it's clear what strategies need to be implemented to be able to control the outbreak. and it's also clear which populations we need to focus on. so i think really it's more about the right time as opposed to there being a delay. >> so health officials are going

to be administering monkeypox vaccines at different events that focus on individuals that are at risk, including charlotte's pride festival this weekend. >> part of a new strategy to get ahead of the outbreak. includes boosting vaccine supply with an additional 1.8 million vaccine doses. making anti-viral treatments more readily available. and reaching out to at-risk communities. cnn's jacqueline howard has more. >> reporter: this weekend appears to be the start of the biden administration's new monkeypox response strategy. and that includes ramping up vaccinations. so, some states are already participating in these efforts. in north carolina, a pilot program from the white house and cdc is under way to distribute monkeypox vaccines at charlotte pride events this weekend. and this comes at a time when the united states is home to about a third of the world's monkeypox cases. let's take a look at the

numbers. so, there are more than 14,000 cases in the u.s. and more than 40,000 in the world. when you think about it, the u.s. makes up 4% of the world's population, but based on these numbers, about 35% of the world's monkeypox cases. and the hope, among health officials, is for the new u.s. response strategy to get the virus under control. back to you. >> jacqueline howard, thank you so much. amid a surge of violent threats against law enforcement as a result of the fbi search at mar-a-lago, the house oversight committee is asking social media companies to take immediate action. top democrats on the panel asked the companies to identify and document online extremists and then report them to law enforcement. >> the fbi and the department of homeland security recently issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning of violent threats against federal law enforcement after the search.

just last week, an armed man tried to breach an fbi field office in cincinnati. >> let's bring in cnn contributor garrett graph to discuss these threats. he's also a contributing editor at wired magazine. good morning, garrett. grateful to have you. help us understand what's driving these online threats? kwho are these extremists? and where do you find them most often? >> yeah. so i think it's important to say that the people who are driving this level of extremism right now are the leadership of the republican party. you know, this is the president -- president trump and other senior gop officials who are stoking this rhetoric, stoking this extremism in the same way that we saw leading up to and now have a much better understanding of the events leading up to january 6th. president trump and his supporters are hoping that the threat of further violence from their supporters will chill the

federal law enforcement investigations of president trump's criminal behavior. >> i wanted to ask you about something you wrote "the new york times" this week. you write, quote, of all the weird and historically distorted moments and news stories of the donald trump era, few seem stranger than watching the former president and his allies demonize the fbi as some sort of rogue, woke democratic deep state mob. almost nothing in the history of the fbi, garrett, would lead one to believe it's a woke institution, right? >> absolutely. the fbi is one of the most conservative institutions in the u.s. government. conservative even by the standards of law enforcement. so much so that no democratic president has even felt emboldened to appoint a democrat to head the bureau, to sort of make a finer point on that. every single director of the fbi has been a republican official going back to jay edgar hoover

himself. when i was researching that piece this week, i figured out that the fbi is the last of the top 12 or even 15 top federal law enforcement agencies that has never been led by a woman or person of color. so, every fbi director in its history has been a white republican male. >> so garrett, you made the case that obviously the rhetoric is out of control and clearly not based on fact. the question now is what can be done so this house panel sent these letters to social media companies. ultimately how effective can social media companies be in reporting these extremists when it's in their interest to spark engagement online and some of these radical folks are the most active on social media. >> yeah. i think it's important to think of the social media companies as effectively being the wildly

enforced firefighters in this. you know, their job in this is to extinguish and minimize the blazes, but they're not the underlying arsonists. so the house oversight committee in that letter that you mentioned at the top is working to try to encourage the firefighters to fight the fires more aggressively, but politically and for our demo democracy, we need to keep our attention focussed on the underlying arsonists here. >> notably vice president mike pence said at a political event this week that republicans should hold the leadership at the justice department and elsewhere responsible without going after rank and file agents. mike pompeo the former secretary of state made the same argument on fox news recently. what do you make of that messaging on this issue? is that enough? >> i don't think it necessarily is. one of the cases that we have actually seen this week was

twitter permanently suspending a republican candidate for the florida legislature who put out a tweet calling for a plan or proposing a plan by him that would allow floridians to shoot federal agents on site. when he was permanently banned for threats of violence from twitter, he came up with an excuse that it was all about a piece of legislation that he hoped some day to introduce to sort of force floridians to authorize federal law enforcement activity in their own state. but that's not how the government works. it's a case sort of like that old saying, you know who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes? >> garrett graff, we have to leave the conversation there. always appreciate your perspective, thanks. >> thanks, boris. >> of course. still to come this morning, many school districts across the nation are starting the new year down teachers.

and it's forcing some districts to get creative. next, we'll talk to the richmond school's superintendent on the incentives they're offering to get teachers in the classroom. plus a tropical storm warning in effect for parts of texas and mexico bringing much-needed rain to the drought-stricken state. we're tracking it for you ahead. ♪ real good. all of knonorr's high quality pasta and rice sides are now made with no artificial flavors or preseservatives. knorr. taste for good. migraine hits hard, so u hitack with ubrelvy u level up u won't take a time-out one dose of ubrelvy works fast it can quickly stop migraine in its tracks within 2 hours without worrying if it's too late or where you are

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richmond public schools in virginia. superintendent, thank you so much for joining me this morning. obviously it's very concerning. first off, when does school start for richmond public schools. i understand you have 140 vacancies for teachers from preschool to high school. what are you doing to try to attract teachers to fill these jobs? >> good morning. well, school starts on monday, august 29th. we're very excited to welcome everybody back. we are now done to about 120 classroom teacher vacancies. one of the things that we have done is offer some pretty robust incentives. so anybody moving to richmond, teacher with experience will receive $10,000 to come here and to teach at richmond public schools. new teachers moving to richmond, $8,000. so, we are advertising all across the state, all across the

eastern sea board to bring qualified educators here to ric richmond. in the meantime, we're working hard to identify really strong long-term substitutes. these are people who are close to getting their teacher credential. they may need just a couple more classes just to take the exam. we are filling up classrooms with them as well. so that every classroom will have a qualified educator on day one. >> you used the word qualified two times. desperate times call for desperate measures. we have been hearing about some of the school districts in states allowing teachers without bachelor degrees or without teaching licenses. in arizona they're allowing college students to take teaching jobs. one chicago charter school not requiring a college degree or teaching license. you guys are not at least at the richmond school level not taking any shortcuts in terms of the quality of teachers. are they all required to have at least a bachelor's degree when

you hire them full time. >> that's correct. and i don't support some of those other measures. i don't think we can gamble with our kid's future. and while i think there are a lot of talented college graduates, talented veterans and so on, i do believe we need to maintain a minimum expectation for the individuals we put in front of our children. i think that's absolutely critical. >> you know, randy a few weeks ago said in an interview, president of the american teacher's federation, this is the worst teaching shortage she has ever seen. to find a lasting solution as opposed to a temporary fix, we have to obviously understand the origins of this shortage. what are you hearing in terms of why teachers are leaving the profession or why some people are hesitant to even get into it. >> i would agree this is the worst i have seen it in about 25 years in education. i think it's the accumulated

stress, kpugs and feexecution a feelings of disrespect the teachers felt over the last two, three years of pandemic. it's not just localities struggling to find folks. the entire field has contracted over the last year or two. i think really going forward we're going to need much greater investment in teacher preparation and support once teachers come into the classroom, it's certainly pay but so much more than that. better professional support training, better support for principals to cultivate teacher leadership in their buildings. i really believe we need a plan coming out of the pandemic to support the development of teachers and, of course; our students. >> yeah. i think a lot of parents would say this teacher shortage is concerning, especially if unqualified teachers are coming in teaching students who have learned for a couple of years

virtually and, of course, the pandemic disrupted so much socially and educationally for them. they need a lot of attention. superintendent, appreciate you joining us. thanks and good luck to you. >> my pleasure. thank you. overnight flooding scrambling rescue crews to zion national park. we have a look at the flood threat across the southwest when "new day" continues. in a buttery brioche roll. made fresh, to leave y you... speechless. panera's s new chef's chicken sandwiches. $1 delivivery fee on our app. ♪ ♪ ♪ voltaren. the joy of movement. ♪ you're making all the difference out there kid. next big american. pressure, pressure? pressure, pressure. so where do you think this pressure's coming from? everyone.

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different systems that will be bringing rain across texas. here is a look. this is potential tropical cyclone four currently sustained winds at about 35 miles per hour. but we have started to notice in the last couple of hours a lot more of that convection, that thunderstorms really beginning to build. the question is does it have enough time to strengthen before it's expected to make landfall? likely somewhere right around the texas/mexico border in about the next 24 to 36 hours. now, if it does get named, the next name on the list is danielle. regardless of whether it gets named or not, though, it is still expected to bring a tremendous amount of moisture into texas and even some states to the east of it including arkansas and louisiana. but really look at all of that moisture here. but again, this is just one system. we also have a secondary system that will bring flooding across the state in the coming days. right now that system is located across portions of arizona and new mexico. but in the coming days, it's going to shift to the east. for today, we have flood watches in effect for arizona, new mexico and portions of extreme

western texas. but that is likely to expand off to the east as the system itself begins to move east ward. here is a look at today. again, notice a lot of that heavy rain, especially across the southern portion of arizona, areas pretty much widespread across new mexico and by sunday and monday you really start to see that rain pushing back into the panhandle of texas and then across east texas. overall, really the next three days, you're talking widespread yellows, oranges and reds you see on the map, indicating 3, 4 even 5 inches of rain. it's not out of the question for some of these areas to pick up 6, 7 even as much as 10 inches of rain over the next several days from those two systems. as we mentioned, yes, the state of texas is in a drought. but again, when you get in such high doses in short periods of time, it can lead to flash flooding. guys? >> and dangerous conditions that come with it. allison chinchar, thank you so much for that. so, we're fewer than 80 days from the midterm elections and

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republican party that's eager to capitalize on an energized base. we have two of our own cnn political commentators to duke it out. karen finny, former spokesperson for hillary clinton's 2016 campaign and scott jennings shaking his head, former special assistant to president george w. bush. thank you both for sharing part of your weekend with us. karen, let's start with you. some good news recently for democrats that are campaigning this year. but they are running as president biden's approval rating remains below 40%. how do they contend with that? >> well, actually we have seen a little bit of a bump in president biden's numbers. and in the generic ballot, democrats are running ahead. you know, we have the opportunity to talk about the inflation reduction act, lowering costs for the american people. and a slew of other accomplishments, including infrastructure, which we have been trying to get done and gun safety measure. so democrats are able to run on

those things. at the same time, we're seeing a better climate in that inflation seems to be cooling off. but democrats aren't taking anything for granted. that's why you're seeing cabinet members, president biden and the vice president out across the country very aggressively in the coming weeks talking about our accomplishments but also talking about the american people made it happen. they turned out in record numbers. so this is their victories too. they return democrats to power, will keep it going. >> scott, i want to play sound from your former boss mitch mcconnell. this is something he said just this week. listen. >> i think the -- there's probably a greater likelihood the house flips than the senate. senate races are just different. they're statewide. candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome. right now we have a 50/50 senate in a 50/50 country.

but i think when all is said and done this fall we're likely to have an extremely close senate, either our side up slightly or their side up slightly. >> candidate quality. your party's hope of retaking the senate relies on a lot of candidates that were hand picked by former president trump, several of them appear to be struggling in recent poll. what are your thoughts on candidate quality? >> well, he's telling the truth about the nature of the political landscape. candidate quality in senate races matters because as he said, you're running statewide in the house districts. it's far more likely republicans run the house because the districts are tailored for one party or the other, whether it be democrat or republicans. the nature of your candidacy matters a lot less than the overall trends in the country. in these senate races, you have to be the kind of candidate that can appeal to more than just a narrow band of primary voters. and what's also true about these candidates is several of them, dr. oz in pennsylvania, jd vance

in ohio, blake masters in arizona, they came out of very, very brutal primaries, lots of negative ads poured on their head. they won but it took a toll on their image. to me, candidate quality means a lot of different things. still a long way to go. the environment still gives republicans a good chance to win several of these races. but i think if we're going to be honest about it, yeah. we have a few issues out there on the mat. these states are purple. pennsylvania, arizona, georgia, wisconsin, all very, very close states in the last couple of cycles. and so it's not like they're heavily red states which republicans are running. >> well, but -- sorry, boris. >> go ahead, karen. >> i was just going to say, let's also remember, though, candidate quality, yes. and when mitch mcconnell and republican leadership had an opportunity to move their party away from trump, they didn't take it. they instead let the party lean in in the republican primaries to trumpism, conspiracy theories, grievance politics. so now in a general election

contest, that also means for democrats, while republicans have to defend and talk about donald trump because let's be honest, he's not going anywhere, democrats get to talk about the economy and reproductive freedom. as we saw in kansas, a red state, where the ballot measure failed in red counties, in red districts, this is a very important issue for the american people that i think is going to be critical in this election. >> notably scott before i let you respond, i want to point out, it was the democrat that brought up donald trump first. how much is he going to play a part in republicans campaigning? it seems like many of them want to avoid saying his name at all. >> yeah. depends on your jurisdiction, of course. some places where he's more popular than others. and of course there will be a lot of democrats who don't want to have anything to do with joe biden and wouldn't want him anywhere near their district either. the reality is leader of both of these two parties are both pretty unpopular and the american people would wish they would both move on ahead of

2024. if i might respond to karen, though, on the merits of the argument for the general election, you can always tell people who don't have confidence in their policies when they completely lie about what they're calling them, the inflation reduction act. that's the label they put on this bill that they now placed all their hopes and dreams for the general election. not a single, nonpartisan credible analysis of this bill says it will reduce inflation. it is going to raise taxes and hire a bunch of irs agents and going to spend a bunch of money we don't have. but they called it the inflation reduction act. anybody who has been to the store lately knows that's a bunch of garbage. so i'm just saying, karen, if you're going to run on a bill, call it what it is, the democrat wish list act. nothing to do with inflation. >> it was build back better up until, what, a couple weeks ago? >> up until they changed the title of it so joe manchin could lie to the people of west virginia. that's what it was. >> karen, go ahead. >> we're talking about serious deficit reduction. we're talking about lowering

costs on things like energy costs. we actually seen gas prices coming down. and the inflation reduction act we're also talking about lowering the cost for health care. republicans voted against l lowering the cost of insulin. talk about that, scott. if we're going to fair monger, i could say you know a party is worried when they have to do disinformation and fear mongering. the reason we'll see changes at the irs is so that big corporations will actually pay their fair share. as you know, no one who makes under $400,000 a year is going to pay more in taxes. so let's just be honest, i understand why you don't want to have to talk about donald trump and why you don't want to have to talk about -- >> karen, i have a serious question. serious question. do you dispute, do you dispute the congressional budget office analysis which says taxes are going up for people who make under $400,000 and it will have no meaningful impact on inflation. do you dispute the congressional

budget office yes or no? >> that's not quite what they said. quite frankly. i think if you look at the bill and a number of analyses of the bill, taxes not going up for anybody who makes under $400,000 a year. but more importantly this election could very well be more about donald trump than it is about joe biden. and i think republicans want to get away from that, just as democrats want to keep talking about the things they've accomplished for this country. and by the way, it's about keeping promises again, not just the inflation reduction act. let's talk about gun safety. let's talk about help for veterans. let's talk about infrastructure. all of those things are part of the conversation we're having with voters. >> and all ideas that republicans support it and helped get across the finish line. i agree, those were interesting ideas and they passed. everything you just said passed with some republican support specially in the senate. so i think you'll have republicans out there talking about, hey, we can govern the country on ideas where we agree. what we're not going to go along

with an extreme partisan ideology in the -- >> you make my job so easy. you go on by yourselves. quickly, i want to get your thoughts on the race in wisconsin, which scott mentioned. karen, the candidate there surprising some folks mandela barnes leading sitting republican ron john son by seve points. >> the key to that race is going to be turnout. it will be about grass roots work, getting to the voters, getting his message out. his fundraising has been very strong. ron johnson is a flawed candidate with a number of challenges, including supporting a total ban on abortion. so, again, it's about having a clear message and getting to voters. >> and scott? >> yeah. i think ron johnson every six years we say ron johnson will

lose and he ends up winning. i think we'll have strong rural turnout in wisconsin. ron johnson has proven himself to be an extremely resilient campaigner. joe biden ain't any more popular in wisconsin than he is anywhere else. referendum on the biden presidency if i were ron john. >> scott and karen, love that conversation. thanks for being with us. >> thanks. >> thanks, guys. i want to have what they're having for breakfast. up next, america's roads becoming more dangerous with deadly crashes hitting a 20-year high. cnn is looking into why next. bl. the most epic sandwich roster evever created. ♪ it's subway's biggest refresh yet! (vo) at viking, we are proud to have been named the world's number one for both rivers and oceans by travel and leisure, as well as condé nast traveler. but it is now time for us to wo even harder, searching for meaningful experiences annew adventures for you to embark upon.

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there is a growing concern for u.s. drivers coast to coast. federal officials say the number of americans killed in traffic accidents the first three months of this year hit a 20-year high. >> yeah. a third of those crashes were caused by impaired drivers. cnn's pete muntean has more. >> reporter: the headlines are relentless and indiscriminate. in indiana, four dead including a member of congress. in los angeles, five dead.

in illinois, eight dead. including all six members of the debose family. the losses tell the story of what safety advocates call a crisis on our roads. >> the overall numbers are still moving in the wrong direction. >> reporter: new data from the national highway traffic safety administration shows 9560 people were killed on u.s. roads in the first three months of this year. that is a 7% jump over the same period last year and the highest for a first quarter in 20 years. >> we hope these trends were limited to 2020, but sadly they aren't. risky behaviors skyrocketed and traffic fatalities spiked. >> reporter: virginia saw one of the biggest increases nationwide with traffic deaths spiking more than 70% in the first quarter. last week, near richmond, triathlete jonah holland say she was hit and killed by a suspected drunk driver while cycling. thursday, fellow cyclists held a benefit ride in her honor.

>> i'm just really sad that we have all of this because of a death. >> these are not accidents. we have a preventable public health crisis. >> reporter: amy cohen lost her 12-year-old son to a car crash. now as the cofounder of families for safe streets, she says the goal is not just fewer deaths but zero deaths on our roads. safety advocates put the onus on governments and automakers to attack the angle from all issues. pete buttigieg says redesigning roads to be safer is a top priority for the biden administration. using funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law. >> it is as if we were living through a war. we cannot and must not accept that these fatalities are somehow an inevitable part of life in america. >> reporter: the latest federal data says a third of motor vehicle deaths are caused by

impaired drivers. the insurance institute for highway safety says alcohol detection systems that stop people from drinking and driving could save 9,000 lives each year. just one way to help solve an epidemic on the roads that got worse with the pandemic. >> this is preventable. we just need our leaders to have the political will to put in place solutions to save lives. >> reporter: what's interesting about this is this is very much an american problem. transportation secretary pete buttigieg says in canada the traffic fatality rate is about half of ours in the u.s. in europe, it's about a quarter. here is who is being hurt the worst, according to secretary buttigieg, those in low income and rural communities. especially people of color. boris and amara? >> pete muntean, thanks so much. still to come this morning, the biden administration is rolling out part of its new monkeypox plan this weekend. offering vaccines at charlotte pride events. some worry the messaging

surrounding the virus is doing more harm than good. we'll take a closer look just ahead. but first in today's the human factor, a woman who was given about two months to live is still climbing mountains four years later. from biking across the country to epic adventures with each of her five children, she's an athlete who won't let cancer define her. ♪ >> so often you just assume you can't do something. and i think when someone shows you that you can do it, it can inspire other people to try. i was diagnosed with stage 4 nonsmall cell lung cancer. whence i was originally diagnosed the cancer had eaten up my say scrum in lower spine. once the cancer treatment started killing the cancer, i was able to start rebuilding bone and part of that is walking. and so my son and i actually walked the camino. i'm not doing anything fast.

but i am still doing. and that is important to me. i went with four of the kids to do an ultra race in mongolia. and then did the korean iron man with my second son. my daughter and i climbed the highest mountain in south america. i have a nonsmokers lung cancer. it's an issue that society is oblivious to. that is what led to the bike ride across the country for nonsmokers lung cancer. so we rode from san diego to st. augustine, florida. and the goal was less about fundraising and more about spreading awareness. i never, ever wanted to find myself as a cancer patient. and i don't want my cancer to define me. ♪

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♪ good morning, everyone. and welcome to your new day. i'm amara walker. >> great to be with you, amara. i'm boris sanchez. the white house is rolling out a new strategy to combat monkeypox amid criticism. their plan to vaccinate large groups in high risk communities. growing concerns of a nuclear disaster in ukraine as russia stages attacks from a power plant only a few hundred feet from a nuclear reactor. pressure growing from the international community. plus, deeply concerned. the new cnn reporting shedding light on how worried some in the biden administration are about classified documents ending