water this winter is significantly rolling back the years' long drought we've suffered in the west. bad news, yet another atmospheric river is forecast to hit this state early next week. and right now we are in wattsonville, a small farming valley southeast of santa cruz. some have seen more than a foot of water. here in wattsonville, about 6 inches. and the rain here is not going to stop till the middle of next week. >> nick watt reporting for us, thank you very much. to our viewers, thank for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, trench warfare. new video into "outfront" takes us to the dangerous front lines as the mother of the ukrainian soldier killed speaks out. her son's brutal execution by russians that was seen around the world, and now you're going

to hear her first here "outfront." plus, the collapse of the second largest bank in american history that happened in the span of 48 hours and is affecting the entire banking industry and perhaps beyond. i'll speak to the ceo of a company whose money was with that bank, got a call from a panicked investor to get out now. you'll hear what happened. and the president of a little known group of islands calls out china's xi jinping accusing china of bribery, personal threats to his safety, all over xi's potential invasion of taiwan. good evening, i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, executed by russian soldiers. her son's death was seen around the world. she had to watch it herself, and the mother of that ukrainian soldier is now speaking out for the first time. the video of his death difficult to watch, but important to show the depravity of what's happening on the front lines. it sparked global condemnation. the ukrainian was executed after he said "glory to ukraine."

and then there was that barrage of bullets. erasing a life. his final words that mean so much to his mother. >> translator: i didn't sleep the entire night. it kept flickering before my eyes. but i felt some kind of lightness and some kind of ray of light when i saw how my son died. and it's so hard, but i really felt like i saw my son's character, so resilient, so unbreakable because he said, mom, i will never surrender to captivity. i kept hearing him repeat "glory to ukraine" throughout the night. he was such a warrior, so brave and fearless. you wouldn't even imagine. >> now, that soldier's identity has still not been confirmed. but the mother you just heard says she is sure that it's her son. this is a first-hand account, the intense fight taking place there. what you look at here is what

appears to be a rocket-propelled grenade launcher fired, followed by the deafening sounds of incoming and outgoing gunfire. and tonight we have new video of the attacks that russians are facing from the air. so what you're looking at here are wagner fighters. they're hiding in an abandoned home. and that home hit by a ukrainian strike, goes across. those that survived quickly run to take shelter in another building. that building then is also hit. as we always say here, each one of these is an individual life that should not be lost because this war should not be happening. but it shows the reality of what's happening on the ground. nato intelligence says that putin right now is losing five men for every ukrainian that is killed in the battle around bakhmut. five to one. and let me explain why the head of russia's private army is beefing up recruitment efforts. yevgeny prigozhin says there are new recruitment centers in 42 cities across russia. according to a published document, the majority of the alleged recruitment centers are

in moscow and st. petersburg. now, these are the areas that have sent the least amount of fighters to the front lines, the wealthier, the more elite areas. in the context of him this week saying he doesn't have any ammunition and that former russian military officials won't take his calls. he's been completely blocked. but as russia continues to struggle with manpower, they've also seriously depleted their supply of sophisticated hypersonic missiles. we know they've been using a lot in the ukrainian air force says that putin used nearly 40% of his kinzal hypersonic missiles since february. these are able to travel up to 1,200 miles and fly at ten times the speed of sound, which make it's virtually impossible for ukraine to intercept, unlike many of the other missiles, you can see intercepted by ukrainian's air force on wednesday night.

the hit and the interception. let's go to melissa bell. she's out front in kharkiv tonight. melissa, what is the latest on the ground tonight where you are? >> reporter: well, erin, a difficult day along those front lines in the eastern part of the country out here in kupiansk. but all along that front line seeing heavy fighting. and bakhmut the worst hit of all. and this of course just a couple of days after ukraine was hit by some of the worst aerial bombardments since this war began. those air defense systems severely tested. remember, systems that have had to adapt every step of the way over the course of the last year. every missile taken down means lives saved. here were the georgean

short-range gebhrard. >> translator: it's a pity that i didn't shoot down three. it's a shame that two got through. they hit civilian targets, all critical infrastructure facilities and people work there. >> reporter: these are ukrainian drone hunters, and day and night they scan the skies, eyes in the backs of their heads. their machine gun loaded onto an armored vehicle trading warmth for agility. >> translator: the trajectory of the missiles and drones are constantly changing, which means that stationary units were not enough. so we created mobile ones. >> reporter: most nights, this is what the skies above ukraine look and sound like. [ sirens ] and more than a year into the war, all that western equipment

is helping. on wednesday night, over 90 missiles and drones were detected. of those, more than 30 missiles and four shahids were intercepted, says the ukrainian military. here in the front line town of kupiansk, you can see what more than a year of heavy artillery and mortar fire have done. it was, again, the case on wednesday night. there's not much air defense can do about that. on the whole, what the ukrainian military says is that with western help, its air defense systems have actually been remarkably efficient, and from the very start of the invasion. >> translator: we would probably not be talking to you now and there would be no such country as ukraine. thanks to the air force we really manage to hold the keys to the sky. >> this is a rare close-up look at iran's technology of death.

a shahid drone. at its head, it would've carried 50 kilograms worth of explosives. this is what 20 kilograms looks like. and this is what that looks like on the ground. part of russia's devastating war of attrition with civilian casualties on most nights, way beyond the front lines of the east. beyond the direct casualties, we're only just getting power restored here to the wider kharkiv region. no electricity for all that time. and that's part of this war of attrition. >> absolutely. melissa, thank you very much there. i want to bring in now the former u.s. ambassador to russia, john sullivan. and, ambassador, you saw there melissa standing with that

drone, and the pay load of the drone as she was showing you sort of what half of a pay load would look like. but we're talking about 110 pounds. in the context of the reporting here that ukraine is saying that russia's used 40% of its highest-end missiles, the kinzal hypersonic missiles. why would putin use so many of his best missiles in one attack at this point? >> well, thanks, erin. good to be with you. when they use a missile like the kinzal, which can't be intercepted by the ukrainians, that means they definitely want to hit the target they are aiming at. they don't want to run a risk that the missile that's heading for that target is going to be intercepted. the tradeoff they make is that it's a very expensive and sophisticated weapon system, which is why the ukrainians can intercept it. why in yesterday's attack this was payback for what happened in

russia last week when elements crossed the border from ukraine into russia and launched an attack. >> so today prigozhin, the wagner group chief, of course, announced he's opening these new recruitment centers across russia, eight in moscow alone, which of course as i mentioned is home to the wealthier citizens, really which has not sent many soldiers to the front lines, although someone was telling me the other day that sometimes now you go down to the subways and there are people waiting to talk to men and to bring them to mobilize them. does this move the needle at all, this sort of recruiting, these recruitment centers? >> in my opinion, absolutely not. this move indicates that prigozhin's prior recruitment efforts and also in the russian prisons have been closed off to him. russian men know if they wanted to volunteer for wagner, wagner would've already opened a headquarters in st. petersburg. people know how to volunteer for

wagner. this is more public publicity for prigozhin. >> i know there's been this ongoing fight between him and the regular military. he's saying he has no ammo, can't get in touch with anybody, nobody will take his calls. >> you call the minister of defense and the chief of the general staff traitors, i'm not surprised no one will take his calls in the russian military establishment. >> so, earlier this week i spoke with a russian journalist, and he had some really strong reporting, exclusive look at putin's lavish life with his reputed girlfriend, the former russian olympic gold medalist. a reporter showed these pictures reportedly of putin's home. he said that's the exterior, and he also had the interiors decked out in gold, all sorts of different rooms. and he was showing us all of this.

now, the mansion is about half a mile away. if this is the way putin lives -- and we understand that he may still be spending a lot of time there -- do you think putin's lifestyle has been affected by the war or not, ambassador? >> well, i mean, from what we have seen, his lifestyle has been affected in the following since, erin. he can't travel by air anywhere close to in southwestern russia in getting to sochi, for example, one of his most favorite places to go, he can't travel there by air. he's now traveling more by train. he's concerned about his own safety. as for the economic impacts, if the question is more about supporting his lavish lifestyle, i don't think that's much of a concern as concerns about his own safety. >> but amazing on that just on that issue of the actual lifestyle itself, with all of the sanctions we hear about, you think that that would be barely untouched at this point. >> i would think so. if money's going to go to anybody in that system, it's going to the guy at the top. and he's got plenty of it.

and the russian people themselves are aware of this. they've seen through navalny's organization the billion-dollar palace he's got in sochi. so, this isn't a surprise to anyone either. but it's very interesting to see the photographs that are actually documented. >> it certainly is great reporting. thank you so much, ambassador sullivan. i appreciate your time. >> thanks. all right. and next, the second largest bank collapse in american history, and it has happened over the past 48 hours. the u.s. government now in control, clients unable to get their money right now. i'm going to talk to the ceo of a startup who had a lot of money with silicon valley bank. so what happened, and what does she do now? plus, ron desantis in iowa tonight testing his bid for the white house, a bid that has been leaning heavily and proudly on culture war. >> you can't just say let it go, because then we're going to be living under an oppressive

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we gotta go again. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ tonight, collapse. the biggest bank collapse since the 2008 financial crisis. and it shut down today. it's called silicon valley bank, and it is one of the tech industry's largest lenders, also lends to individuals across the country. it is now under control of the

federal government. it was a sudden implosion, and it came after a run on deposits. so the bank stock lost 80% of its value this week. 60% in one day alone, yesterday. this morning shares halted. it was over quickly. and then police showed up at the bank headquarters. customers reportedly lined up on park avenue in new york city. the nypd showed up there. those customers demanding their deposits back. to be clear, silicon valley is a huge bank, and its customers include individuals as well as household names you may know, like airbnb, and cisco. the entire banking industry is feeling the impact. u.s. banks at one point had lost over $100 billion in stock market value in just two days. and there are fears now that this could spread beyond banking to other parts of the economy. >> this is like the crisis in the '80s. >> we're not talking about a failure of this bank but that banks could fail.

that's not out of the question. >> this is clearly an example of something breaking. we can assume that there is serious contagion here. >> okay. so when you use the word contagion, it begs the question, why could this happen at other banks? for one basic reason, silicon valley bank was doing what a lot of other banks are doing right now. svb took customer deposits and they went and invested that money in other things like u.s. government debt and mortgages. and they had been doing that for quite a while. well, when the fed started to hike rates aggressively, that meant that silicon valley bank immediately lost money on those investments. at the very same time as they were losing money as interest rates rose, those bank customers needed to withdraw more money. so svb started to sell assets, losing money just to raise the money needing to make good on deposit withdrawal requests. and that raised fear, the run on the bank. and yesterday afternoon, the ceo of silicon valley bank greg geker hosted a call with clients

and said, quote, my ask is to stay calm. the last thing we need you to do is panic. well, when that's the ask as a bank you're toast. and one person familiar with the situation asking me the hypothetical question tonight, what prevents runs on a whole bunch more banks next week? unclear. it is an important moment, and tonight the deputy treasury secretary is trying to calm fears in an exclusive interview with cnn. >> federal regulators are paying attention to this particular financial institution. and when we think about the broader financial system, we're very confident in the resilience of the system. >> allison greenberg is outfront and is the ceo of a maternity care that has deposits in silicon valley bank. you are right in the middle of this. let's just start with when you realized, you're a startup,

you've got money at this bank, you're using that money to make payroll and other things. when did you find out something was wrong? >> so, my co-founder and i received an email from one of our investors. the email seemed cryptic, it was strange, it was urgent, it was not like the other emails he sends. and we were in meetings, you know, we run a busy maternal health startup. we have so many concerns every day that this email just didn't make sense. so, a few hours later i called the investor and i said, hey, what was this email about. he was out of breath. like, he had just run a marathon. and he said, take your money out of svb, go into your account, take your money out as soon as possible. and, you know, as a business owner, my co-founder and i constantly think about two things. we think about our team, the people we employ and their families and we think about our patients, the mothers and the families that we support and their families.

and so for us it was, do this now or else. >> okay. and this was what, yesterday, or the day before? >> this was yesterday between the hours of noon and 3:00 p.m. >> okay. yesterday between the hours of noon and 3:00 p.m. you get this. so then you go -- and how does that happen, they actually give you the money? these are the three hours before the world fell apart. so what happened then? >> well, we were incredibly lucky to have that news early from an investor. we didn't withdraw the money immediately. you know, we're conscientious business owners. we spoke to other investors and friends. this is like calls going off the hook for the last 36 hours. when we felt confident that this was going to be a crisis, audrey acted fast. and this is the kind of fear that actually incites focus. we withdrew the money through transfers and wires as soon as possible. i mean, she was withdrawing small amounts, big amounts, just to not set off an ai that might limit our withdrawals. and we were able to remove -- this was not our only bank

account, but we were able to remove the majority of the funds so that what was left when the website crashed was below the $250,000 fdic -- >> so you have money there. and i know the fdic -- obviously you had a lot more than that there. you were able to get that out. the amount that you have that's insured by the fdic, the 250,000, your understanding is you're going to get that pretty much right away? >> what we're hearing is by monday. >> if you're under the limit, it gives you -- is holding strong on this. so greg becker had that call that he sold nearly $3.6 million in stock less than two weeks ago. that's obviously worth zero tonight. i know you don't necessarily know the circumstances of that and i'm not trying to say it was nefarious. just what's your action when you hear that? >> my reaction is that this is so much bigger than a bank. i run a nationwide telehealth company. we serve, you know, prenatal and

postpartum patients. i have friends in healthcare tech, in financial tech, in property tech. all of us see the impacts on human life. and, so, for us, a call with the ceo of the bank is not our first priority. our first priority is securing those funds and making sure we can meet payroll on the 15th. so, the human impact of this, i think, is something i cannot underscore enough. and my heart goes out to so many business owners, not just startups but small business, agriculture, all the kinds of companies that bank with svb where their founders and owners are struggling right now trying to make ends meet. >> and so you fear and what you see -- we're not even talking about other banks. we're talking about svb itself but that the impacts of this are significant. >> i mean, they will affect everyday americans. they will not just affect ceos like me. we have team members in arkansas, north carolina, washington state, minnesota. those people would be affected, too had we not gotten those

funds out in time. >> and of course so many didn't. well, thank you so much for telling us exactly what happened here in these just past hours. and you heard what she said, two hours yesterday, she spent a decision to pull all of your money out of a bank. when you hear allison's story, it sort of brings this home of what this has been a frenzied and foreignetic and systemically terrifying for many 36, 48 hours. >> it has been, and, unfortunately when the financial system wobbles like this, it can be that quickly. no one was really somewhere, but most weren't really focused on silicon valley bank maybe monday or tuesday of this week. and it really just comes out that quickly when we operate a financial system on confidence. confidence can be lost fast. and that's what we found out in the last 48 hours. >> and, jim, i'm thinking about

what is to prevent something like this from happening next week. right, what's to stop that and the kind of hypothetical answer was unclear. what do you say to that? >> yeah, it could happen again because, again, we're operating on confidence. but i also think that one of the other bigger issues that the entire banking system has been facing is, as the federal reserve has been raising rates and now some short-term interest rates are near 5%, banks largely have not been raising the interest rate they pay on their checking account or savings account. they're still around half a percent. investors are waking up and saying i should just move my money to a brokerage account and buy a money market mutual fund or buy a treasury bill directly. i could get 5% versus half a percent. banks are hemorrhaging money because that shift has finally started to take place. a simple fix for them is for them to raise the interest rate that they're giving their

customers. but that cuts into their profitability. so they don't want to give away their profitability. they have to find that fine line. i think that the problem with the silicon valley bank, and silvergate, they were too slow to act on this. they were too worried about their profitability, and their customers felt not necessarily in fear but more cheated. and i'm going to go somewhere elsewhere my money's treated better, and now that is really in full flight. and the banking system has to figure out a way to reverse that. and the simple answer is you're going to have to reduce your profitability a little bit by raising your deposit rates. >> right. of course everyone starts suddenly doing that on monday. that also creates its own fear. it's a delicate moment, i suppose. thank you very much, jim. i appreciate your time. , and next, live pictures of ron desantis, he is right now in iowa rallying support ahead of his expected 2024 presidential bid. tonight, he is promising that he will have more culture wars.

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woke goes to die. >> when republicans, extreme republicans, these maga republicans don't agree with an issue or with policy, they don't bring forth something that's going to either have a good-faith conversation. they go to this conversation of woke. but that is not actually policy. what that turns into is hate. >> jeff zeleny is "outfront" in des moines covering desantis. >> reporter: florida governor ron desantis on his maiden voyage to iowa. >> i bring greetings from the free state of florida. >> reporter: riding a wave of lofty expectations to the state that opens the republican presidential contest in less than a year. people lined up to catch a glimpse of the governor, who technically is promoting his book. >> this is the number one best-selling nonfiction book in the country. >> reporter: but actually is testing the white house bid that

he intends to make official by summer. >> welcome to iowa. this is your first trip. >> reporter: desantis has told advisers he will wait until the florida legislative session ends so he can campaign to an even bolder agenda, one that is delighting supporters and alarming critics. >> i always tell my legislators you watch iowa, watch these -- do not let them get ahead of this on any of this stuff. so we've got our legislature in session now, so buckle up, the next 60 days should be fun in florida. >> reporter: he's stoking the culture wars in schools. >> we're also leading on ensuring that our school system is focusing on educating our kids, not indoctrinating our kids. >> reporter: and beyond. >> we've got to fight if we see it in medicine or the universities or the corporations. you can't just say, let it go. because then we're going to be living under an oppressive woke-ocracy. >> reporter: holding up his record is a blueprint for a national platform and presenting

himself as a doer, not a talker. >> we don't have palace intrigue, we don't have any drama. it's just execution every single day. i'll build the wall myself. i'll do it. just let me at em. we'll get it done. >> reporter: that was a subtle yet unmistakable distinction with donald trump who visits iowa on monday. the 2024 republican campaign is intensifying, with former south carolina governor nikki haley urging iowa voters to keep an open mind. >> whatever the polls tell you today, that is not where the polls are gone withab a year from now. >> reporter: but for many republicans, the florida governor stands as a beacon of hope for those who admire trump but are eager to move octn. >> reporter: becky was among those eager to see desantis close up. >> president trump has been an amazing president, but he alienates too many people with what he says. and i think governor desantis is doing a good job at appealing to

americans. >> reporter: now, the florida governor just finished shaking hands here and left the room. and, erin, i can tell you republicans had high expectations coming into this day, and they are leaving it having those expectations met. one republican voter here who said they're looking for a change described the florida governor as very impressive, a straight shooter. of course this is probably the easiest trip he will take to iowa. he had no arrows coming his direction. he's heading to nevada tomorrow, another early-voting state. this is all before he announces that he's going to run. but i am told that is expected to come in may or early june. >> all right, thank you very much, jeff. and let's go now to former trump press secretary, worked on mitt romney's presidential campaign as well. along with the former communications director for the dnc. desantis is heading to nevada.

you're in kansas, deep red state. you've been talking to a lot of voter there's about trump and desantis. what are you hearing there? >> you know, it's almost verbatim what the woman that jeff interviewed just a second ago said. when i first got here, it was not just deep red kansas, it was trump country. and i'm hearing over and over again people telling me they still like trump, they still -- they love the things he did in office. but exactly what she said, we need a new face for the republican party, somebody who's not as divisive, doesn't have the never-ending dishonesty, corruption, legal battles following him all the time. >> and of course, karen, desantis has had no problem being divisive on cultural issues, woke issues, as he's been appealing more to the gop base at this point. today, he had his push for tennis super star novak djokovic to be allowed to play in the miami open. he's been pushing for that. djokovic currently is not allowed to play because he's not vaccinated against covid-19. so here's what desantis had to say about that.

>> they are trying to keep djokovic, the great tennis player, out of our country because of the shot. they say if you come in on an airplane, you can't -- so i wrote joe biden and a letter and i said, please stop with this antiscientific nonsense, drop this mandate. if djokovic wants to meet us in the bahamas, we'll get him over here by boat, get him to the state of florida so he can compete. >> reporter: on this one, it's more broadly appealing in some sense. i say that because less than 20% of adults have gotten their booster shot, their most recent one. and 65% of all americans support lifting all covid restrictions, and of course if you were an american and unvaccinated, you're allowed to do whatever you want. so this is an inconsistent policy when it comes to djokovic. all that being said, do you think this is a winning issue for desantis or not? >> well, i think this particular gimmick was very effective because it gave him an

opportunity to both criticize joe biden and push back on the attack that he received from donald trump about covid, and to sort of push his, you know, covid agenda, his drop all the mandates agenda. so i think from a tactical perspective, that was effective. but, look, i think, overall, most people don't think that politics in sports, in this instance, should really mix. and i think most folks probably wouldn't want to be exposed to somebody unless they knew that they were negative, covid-negative. so, we'll see. again, the restrictions are going to lifting, i think, americans' attitudes and our culture is going to be shifting around this one, too. >> here's the thing we hear from a lot of people who know desantis. they say that he can be reserved and dry, a former republican congressman called him that. others who know him, it's very consistent. but he has been making a point now about talking about his family, about his wife

specifically, casey and her battle with breast cancer. he showed today two pictures he took from his inauguration in 2019, and in 2023 obviously between the two she had breast cancer, and he's been talking about that. here he is. >> she got diagnosed with breast cancer in october of 2021. and she went through all of that, and really it was tough, but she handled it remarkably. and on my second inauguration day, we did a picture, we created frames side by side so you see 2019, 2023. and after all she went through -- and i'm not just saying this because i'm the husband. you guys look yourself. she's prettier in 2023 than she was in -- i don't know how you pull that off -- [ applause ] but i can just tell you i'm a lucky guy. >> now, stephanie, is that handling of that situation something that resonates with people or not? >> oh, i think definitely.

first of all, i noticed him earlier today. he was very conversational, and he wasn't wearing a tie at one point. so i think he's showing his strength in that way, but also he can be casual. with regard to casey, i think it's very much showing that they're a team. i think it's very obvious that she is invested in his success and that they are going to do this together. i had the opportunity to work with her when i was working for melania trump. she was always very loving about her husband, talked openly about him. you can tell she'll be a big part of being on the campaign trail if and when he does announce. and i think that will be a big help to boost him and boost him as a family man regular guy. >> well, we'll have to continue this conversation because obviously this is going to be a crucial part of this campaign, as it seems at this point. thank you both very much. and, next, what's behind the sudden spike of new bills targeting drag events? well, look at this. >> i don't even want to imagine a life where i can't be the person that i worked so hard to

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tonight, west virginia asking the supreme court to uphold a state law that bars

transgender women and girls from playing public school sports. it's the latest escalation in a broad crackdown on lgbtq rights. it comes as nearly 20 states, most of them gop led but not all, consider laws to restrict drag shows. potential consequence of violating some of these laws if they pass, felony charges. lucy kafanov is "outfront." >> drag actually saved my life. >> reporter: for timothy, drag is more than just a job. >> i feel beautiful. i feel ethereal, i feel colorful, i feel bright. >> reporter: he left a teaching career in dallas to perform full time as kylie. >> kylie showed me who my true voice was. >> reporter: but that voice could soon be silenced in texas, which is considering at least four bills seeking to restrict drag performances. >> if these bills become law, my entire livelihood is at risk. i don't even want to imagine a life where i can't be the person that i worked so hard to finally

figure out who i am, to fully have all that just ripped away, it would be soul crushing. >> grown men dancing in their underwear in front of children asking for money. >> reporter: texas state representative brian slayton says the bills are designed to protect minors. >> i think it's important to protect children from any adult that wants to sexualize them. right now the only group of people that's trying to sexualize children are the drag performances. >> reporter: drag has become a target amongst conservatives, with shows and even literacy events like drag queen story hour sparking protests and targeted attacks from right-wing extremist groups in some states. >> the book is called "love the world." >> reporter: texas is just one of at least 18 states seeking to restrict drag. the rights groups say it's part of a broader attack on the queer community. >> we're seeing states across this country in a race to the bottom in terms of attacking lgbtq+ folks. over 400 bills attacking our

community have been introduced. and it's only march of this year. >> reporter: many of the proposed bills would make it illegal for an establishment to host a drag show unless it's classified as a sexually oriented business. >> if somebody came in and said today you're a sexually oriented business, that would be it. >> you'd have to close your doors. >> reporter: jay anderson runs a distillery and grill near fort worth, texas. his business has already taken a hit when an attempt to host a family friendly drag brunch featuring his son as a performer resulted in protests. >> i'm here to support people that don't indoctrinate and groom little 8-year-old kids. >> this map tracks basically all the death threats that we received. >> thank you guys again. >> this drag show causes me to close my business, and i lose all the money i put into it, but i save one kid who didn't kill himself? i don't care. >> reporter: some critics say

that bills are too broad and could target transgender people by defining drag as the act of appearing in public in a gender different than the one assigned at birth. >> the problem is that a lot of the public, especially in republican states isn't able to make the distinction between what a drag queen in and what a trans woman. because i'm trans and can be perceived as a drag queen in a public space, what does that mean for my gigs? >> reporter: dahlia is a dallas-based pop singer. she worries the broadly-written legislation would categorize her as a drag performer simply because she's a transgender woman. >> i'm not impersonating a gender, this is my gender. the idea that i have to perform at sexually oriented businesses whenever my act isn't sexually oriented, it's just, like, absurd. >> so it's not just about drag? >> no. this is just the tip of the iceberg. they're trying to eradicate

transgender people from the public eye. it's not a debate whether or not i exist. i do exist. like, i'm here, and the message that i'm receiving is that i'm not wanted here. >> reporter: lucy kafanov, cnn, denver. , and next, fear tonight of another lockdown in china, and not because of covid. a new video in tonight of the four americans taken just before the kidnapping in mexico. experience the capabability of the complete line of suvs at the invitation to lexuxus sales event. ♪ ♪

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♪ upset stomach, diarrhea. ♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief... when you need it most. tonight the president of micronesia, a group of small pacific islands standing up to china. in a scathing 13-page letter, the president said china is preparing to invade taiwan and goes on to say, quote, one of the reasons that china's political warfare is successful in so many arenas is that we are bribed to be complicit, and bribed to be silent. selina wang is out front in beijing. these are incredibly strong words from the leader of a small nation, right, who's standing up to this chinese juggernaut. how is china responding? >> yeah, erin, this was an explosive letter, and china responded by dismissing it as summaries and accusations.

the foreign ministry said they've always respected how micronesia chooses its on development. david panuelo also revealed he had considered switching diplomatic recognition to taipei. his term in office is set to expire in just a couple of months. he's been the president since 2019, and this is not the first time he's spoken out before on china's growing influence. the context of this letter is increasing fears from regional powers about exactly that, military strategists see the pacific islands location as this key connector between the u.s. territory of guam and australia and both the u.s. and australia are concerned about china's more asse assertive, increasingly assertive and aggressive posture in the south china sea as it's been extending its reach further west into pacific waters including towards micro nesia. the island nations themselves, they don't want to be upon this greater power struggle. china has become a key trading partner for their economies, and

has backed some major projects in some of those countries including highways in papua new guinea and bridges in fiji. >> it is sbinteresting to see that, he's leaving power. what does this signal and the fact that he would call it out and put it out there for all these other countries around the the world? there's also growing concern of another lockdown in china where you currently are today, but not because of covid? >> this time, erin, it's for the flu. so the chinese city of she yan has published an emergency response plan that says if community spread reaches an acute level, officials can use lockdowns, school, and business closures. this has led to significant backlash on chinese social media. it's only been a few months since china dropped zero covid, and the city of around 13 million people went through a brutal lockdown in 2021. it is important to mention that this emergency plan, tit's not

unusual for local governments to lay out plans like this to handle flu strains, and plans like this have been made before even before the covid pandemic. those fears on social media, they really reflect the trauma that so many went through during years of restrictions and it's a reminder that they could lose their freedoms again in the name of health and safety. >> thank you very much, live from beijing. and next, more arrests in connection to the kidnapping of four americans. immune cells and sustain tissue health. ensure with twtwenty-five vitamins and minerals, and ensure complete with thirty grams of proteinin. no, it's literally never crossed my mind. what if we live to like 100? that's 35 years being retired. i don't want to outlive our money. ani have been eating all these stupid chia seeds! i could totally live to be 100! why do i keep taking such goocare of my- since we started working with empower, we're able to get all our financial questions answered, so we don't have to worry. so you never- no. never.

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and finally tonight, new video of the four americans taken in mexico just hours before they were kidnapped. the video shows the four shortly after crossing the border. we believe this video was taken around 9:18 a.m. at 11:45 a.m. on that disturbing video that you've seen the cartel confronts the americans and begins shooting. two americans died during the kidnapping, and tonight mexican authorities announced they've arrested five more people in connection with the deadly kidnapping. thanks for joining us, "ac 360" starts now. good evening, this was a good week for people who lie being revealed as people who lie who then g