been in history? >> zero, from our understanding. look how many zeroes there are. there are 18 zeroes. one in 9, and then 18 zeroes. quintillion, that is way less than your chance of winning the mega millions, which is one in 303 million. how about getting a reflection? poker it's one and 650,000. getting a perfect ncaa bracket, if you get, that you've done amazing stuff. >> well, gonzaga. >> okay, there you go. >> harry, thank you. and if you are really smart, folks, you will not take our advice anyway. harry, thank you for playing. thank you for watching. be sure to catch all of the march madness men's tournament action on our sister networks, tbs, tnt, and trutv, as well as on cbs. good luck with your brackets, and goodnight.

>> good evening, welcome, i'm earth nature. just ahead on cnn newsroom, russian warplanes are accused of taking down a u.s. drone over the black sea. it's a potentially dangerous escalation at a critical moment in moscow's war against ukraine. we are tracking two major coastal storms in the u.s.. more flooding in california, and a nor'easter dumping feet of snow in new england. plus, coming soon to florida beaches, a giant blob of stinky seaweed. around twice the width of the united states and visible from space. i'll speak to a leading researcher about the dangers it poses on sea and on land, the impact would have on tourism, and what it will take to clean up the mess. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom was rosemary

church. >> good to have you with us. while, the u.s. air force says american and allied jets will continue to operate in international airspace after a confrontation with russia over the black sea near ukraine. the u.s. military says russian fighter jets intercepted un-american servants thrown on tuesday, hitting its propeller and forcing it to crash. the air force reports the drone was a complete loss. u.s. european command says the drone was conducting routine operations over international waters. and the white house calls the actions of the russian pilot reckless. >> i mean, somebody could have gotten hurt. nobody wants to see that happen. and it could lead to miscalculations between, you know, two militaries that are operating, not obviously in ukraine together, but certainly in proximity in the region. and we don't want to see this war escalate beyond what it is

already done to the ukrainian people. so, this is clearly -- this was inappropriate, unsafe, unprofessional conduct by the russian pilots. >> russia's defense ministry denies its jet ever came into contact with the mq-9 reaper drone. moscow's ambassador to the u.s. says the drone was flying with its transponders off and had been warned not to enter what russia calls its special military operation zone. >> this drone can carry 1007 kilos of explosives. this drone can carry a few bombs, using a -- of united states. abc such russian drone, very close, for example, to san francisco or new york, what will be reaction of united states? >> more now from cnn's oren

liebermann at the pentagon. >> all of this plays out early tuesday morning and international airspace over the black sea, when the u.s. says it's mq-9 reaper drones intercepted by two russian tsuboi su-27 fighter jets. that part is not that uncommon. these sort of intercepts have happened in the past. what is extremely rare is what happened as this played out over the course of 30 to 40 minutes. the russian fighter jets, accord to the pentagon, repeatedly flew around of and in front of the u.s. joan, jumped jet fuel in front of, it and even clyde, without damaging the, propellant for salinas to take down its own drone in international waters in the black sea. now, the national security council's coordinator for security communications, john kirby, told cnn that the u.s. took steps to protect its equities but it's unclear exactly what that was, whether that was self destruct or some other steps to protect it. now, the drone has not been recovered, partially because, at, least there is no u.s. naval have said in the black

sea to have carried out such recovery. so, the u.s. took some steps to protect its own equities, this mq-9 reaper drone, but again, unclear what that is. much of the response so far has been in the diplomatic lane. the u.s. summoning the russian ambassador to the u.s., and carrying out at least a 30 minute conversation at the state department. russia giving an entirely different version of events, saying there was no collusion, there was no russian jets firing at that u.s. around. but russia saying it does not want confrontation. so, at least, it looks as if the response to this right now will be in the diplomatic lane. the national security council saying it will repeatedly, and again, continue -- continually as it sees fit, fly surveillance drones and other assets in international airspace, as the right to do, as the russians have the right to do. so, the u.s. saying it will continue to do what it has done and will do, which is fly in

international airspace in the black sea. we'll see how this develops at such a sensitive time. oren liebermann, cnn, in the pentagon. >> joining me now from canberra, australia, malcolm davis is a senior analyst of defense strategy and defense capability other australian strategic policy institute. always a pleasure to have you with us. >> thanks, rosemary. >> so, two russian fighter jets take down a u.s. drone over the black sea. how potentially dangerous is this? >> look, it is dangerous. it's provocative. essentially, what happened was you had mq-9 reaper grown flying in international airspace. two su-27 russian flankers intercepted it in a very unprofessional and dangerous manner, they flew in front of it, releasing jet fuel against the drone, which could've ignited the drones engines, causing an explosion. and when nothing happened, it interfered with the drones

engine, it's propeller, and that generated damage, from my understanding, on the drone. and the u.s. military decided to ditch the drone rather than have an air safety incident. certainly, the russians were behaving in an incredibly provocative and dangerous way. >> and so far, the united is dealing with this matter through diplomatic channels, calling in the russian ambassador for talks. but what might the u.s. do next, you think, in relation to this dangerous escalation? >> look, they're not going to use military force. i don't think anyone really wants to risk world war iii over an unarmed drone. if it had been a crewed aircraft, i think we might be having a different conversation. but i think what you will see is essentially strong the marches from the u.s. diplomatically against the russians. you also may see greater military presence in terms of potential for some sort of monitoring of the black sea

airspace from a distance. obviously, as you noted in your initial report, we can't send ships into the bosporus, because the turkish government have closed the bosporus. so, that does limit our reach to a degree. but we are now aware that the russians are prepared to behave provocatively. so, we will be more cautious. but we're not going to start flying reconnaissance flights, either by crude aircraft or unmanned drones. >> and russia will of course likely retrieve this down u.s. drone from the black sea. how big an intelligence coup will that be from moscow? >> it largely depends on where the drone came down. you know, the black sea is fairly deep, in places, over 2000 meters, in places. so, if the drone was ditched in those death, i think even the russians will be able to get to it. but if it was ditched in shallow waters, than the russians could get to it. there is certainly technologies there that would be useful to

them in terms of advanced drone technologies, command and control. there is no real self destruct mechanism, per se, on these things. so, the u.s. can't press a button and wipe out all the critical technologies on board. so, that is a risk that we have too worried about that the russians would be eager to get hold of one of these drones. >> indeed, and it is worth noting that russia denies these events took place. and what do you think was going on with this russian fighter jet, or both of them, i should say? they were dumping fuel, they're flying ahead of this, and then of course, one of those fighter jets clipped the propeller and the u.s. drone went down. i mean, what was their strategy here? would they have been working alone or do you think they were told to be aggressive in this instance? >> while, that's the key question, i think. two possibilities. i did these were two fighter pilots that decided let's, shall we say, try and challenge this drone in a fairly

hazardous way? and forwards, they were behaving recklessly. they were not order to do that, they just did that. so, probably, they are in trouble back at their base. the other more likely possibility is that the russians were basically told to go and take this thrown down somehow, interfere. in other words, that would be -- telling me that moscow is trying to send a message to americans to back off in the black sea. the worst thing we could do is to accept that warning and back off. i think that it's important for the u.s. to maintain its presence in the black sea using these sorts of assets, such as drones, to monitor rushing activities against the ukrainians. >> certainly, at a dangerous juncture here. malcolm davis, thank you so much. always good to get your analysis. joining us live from canberra. >> thanks, rosemary. >> well, two storms are battering opposite sides of the united states.

the latest atmospheric river event is bringing hurricane force wind gusts and rainfall up to three inches to parts of central california. but although the rain will linger across southern california wednesday, the overall threat of flooding is expected to diminish. meantime in the northeast, more than 270,000 customers are without power in new england, new york, and pennsylvania. and more snow, wind, and widespread power outages are expected wednesday before the storm exits out into the atlantic. so, let's turn to our meteorologist britley ritz, who's been looking at this very closely. and a lot to cover, britley. what are you seeing? >> yeah, there is a lot, rosemary. winter is not over yet. and it's letting us know with this nor'easter that's really brought in quite a bit of snow, -- feet, exactly, and this is that sharp cut off, paxton, to shrewsbury, massachusetts, a 20-inch difference within a 14

mile range. that's not much, that just shows how difficult it is to forecast a nor'easter of the size. and there it is, spinning right over the northeast, bringing in quite a bit of snow yet to parts of new england. some of the heavier snow expected fall across northern new england, northern massachusetts, and northern vermont and new hampshire, rather, through wednesday morning and into the afternoon. so, higher elevations of northern massachusetts and vermont and new hampshire picking up quite a bit. we range about 2 to 4 inches, but higher elevations here, where we're seeing the pinks, another foot of snow expected just today. and then we tie in that wet heavy snow, with the strong gusty winds of 40 to 65 miles per hour. and we're still dealing with widespread power outages. so, keep that in mind. a inch of snow per hour in some of these instances here. and on the other side the country, it's not over yet with the atmospheric river. seeing areas highlighted in red, the foothills of the sierra

nevada, down on into the southern coastline of california, that moderate risk for flash flooding. we have areas about 5000 feet and below, but we're still getting a lot of rain, and then that snow melt tapping into that, we wind up with catastrophic flooding conditions. hence, the flood watches that are still in effect throughout early wednesday. heavy rain now pushing into the southern coastlines. los angeles as well as san diego, talking about rainfall rates of a quarter of an inch per hour. and that heavy rain really starting to ramp up throughout the early morning hours and coming into the latter part of the morning as well, rosemary. >> to meteorologist britley ritz, many thanks for that detail, appreciate it. well, the california storms winds were on full display tuesday when a tree fell on a house in redwood city. >> and i started to tell him, it looks like it's leaning. there it goes! there it goes! oh, my god!

oh! anyway, there is go my neighbor's house. >> and thankfully, no one was inside that house at the time, and no injuries were reported. the ground was already saturated by a string of rainstorms. that means the root structures of many trees have been loosened in recent weeks. u.s. federal authorities are opening investigations into the collapse of silicon valley bank. sources say the justice department and security and exchange commission are employment airy stages of their probe. they're looking to the bank's failure and the actions of senior executives. meanwhile, the mood on wall street was shear on tuesday, as markets surge and bank stocks rebounded. first republic bank was up by more than 20 points, well pacwest was up by more than 30

points. cnn's rahel solomon has been tracking the markets. >> you can perhaps call it the calm after the storm, after a brutal session for regional bank stops on monday. on tuesday, many of these same banks were sharply higher. this, all in the wake of the collapse of silicon valley bank. svb, as it's called, failed after many of its depositors rushed to withdraw their money on fears about the bank's financial stability. that fear that appeared to spread to other regional banks, that investors worry might face some of the same risk factors that lead to svb's demise. those fears of contagion is likely why we saw the u.s. government intervene so quickly to not just make sure that all depositors were made whole, but also to create a landing facility to other banks that made over the next year. although it's too soon to know if this is the beginning of a real stabilization in the banking sector, it does suggest that perhaps the u.s. governments efforts to restore confidence in the banking system have worked, at least

for now. also sparking some of the market enthusiasm on tuesday, new u.s. inflation data showed a further moderation prices. headline inflation going 6% on an annual basis. that is the lowest level we've seen since september of 2021, although still much higher than the federal reserve's target of 2%. rahul sullivan, cnn, new york. >> and still to come, with gun violence in the united states reaching staring levels, president biden is calling on congress to do more to keep people safe. while police across the country are preparing for the inevitable next to tack. plus, an enormous patch of seaweed is threatening beaches from the caribbean to the gulf of mexico. the floating mass is so large it is visible from space. whenen covid hit, we had some challenges like a lot of businesses did.

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♪ ♪ ♪ >> welcome back, everyone. u.s. president joe biden is calling on lawmakers to, quote, do something big and ban assault weapons now. he made the comments in monterey park, california, on tuesday, we're one of the states worst mass shootings took place in late january. but as calls grow from police leaders for new gun restrictions aimed at making people safer, officers across the u.s. are preparing for what seems to have become inevitable.

cnn's josh campbell reports. >> shots fired midday on a california college campus. the start of a rampage by an active shooter, as students and teachers flee for safety, responding officers engage the gunman. [sound of gunfire] following him into the school library. police resources flood the campus. by air and by ground, specially trained s.w.a.t. officers begin arriving on scene. then, the tactical teams move in. an officer radios that the threat has been neutralized, but the work is far from over. a cavalry of firefighters and paramedics staging nearby russian to triage and administer first aid. this is only an exercise. an empty college campus on spring break turned into a simulated war zone, as police and first responders who their lifesaving skills. this type of training has

become the new normal in an age of endless mass shootings in the united states. >> we study them, we read about them, and we learn what went well and what did not. >> ellis sheriff robert luna says continuing lee planning for a massive attack as a reality for law enforcement, in part due to inaction in washington to regulate dangerous weapons. >> we do challenge our leaders at a national level to do more about guns, to do more about mental health. so that we don't have to do this over and over. >> it's a sentiment that's been heard from police leaders around the country. >> we're outgunned, we're outmanned, we're out staffed. we do need responsible gun legislation. >> a rare moment of bipartisan legislation did follow the mass shootings at a supermarket in buffalo, and at robb elementary in uvalde, texas. when 15 senate republicans in 14 and house voted to support legislation expanding some background checks and dedicating millions to public safety programs.

but other measures pressed for buy gun safety advocates remained perpetually stalled, including national red flag laws, universal background checks, and an assault weapons banned. many in law enforcement have long been advocating for the ban, including the international association of chiefs of police, who say the criminal use a semiautomatic assault weapons pose a grave risk to our officers and the communities there sworn to protect. a group representing college campus officers also supports a ban on military style assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines for civilian use. >> the irony is not lost on law enforcement. the very politicians who say they support the police and are against crime are the same politicians who deny us responsible gun reform legislation. >> president joe biden reiterated his calls for gun reform during a visit tuesday near the scene of january mass shooting in monterey park, california, where a gunman slaughtered 11 before taking his own life.

>> i'm determined, once again, to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. [applause] let's finish the job, ban a salt weapons, banned them again, do it now, enough, knew something. [sound of gunfire] >> but with major reform legislation on hold, it remains up to the police to continually prepare for the day they may have to risk their own lives to stop a gunman. [speaking non-english] [sound of gunfire] >> we don't want to happen, statistics tell us it will happen. but here we sit, ready to respond to anything that may come our way, anywhere were not called. >> josh campbell, cnn, los angeles. >> the u.s. state of ohio has filed a lawsuit in federal court against railroad company norfolk southern. the lawsuit alleges the company violated state environmental laws when one of its trains derailed in east palestine last month, unleashing toxic chemicals into the community. the state attorney general says

the lawsuit will hold the company accountable. the complaint claims $75,000 in preliminary federal damages, but notice the damages will far exceed that minimum, as the situation in east palestine continues to unfold. still to come, scientists are worried about the environmental impact from a gigantic patch of seaweed in the atlantic. the cluster is about twice as wide as the u.s., and it's heading to the caribbean and gulf of mexico.

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beaches in the caribbean and gulf of mexico. researchers have found that human activity and climate change are fueling these massive blooms of seaweed. brian la pointe is a search professor at florida atlantic hub universities branch of oceanographic institute, and joins me now from fort pierce, in florida. we appreciate you being with us. >> well, thank you for the invite. >> so, a massive blob of seaweed spanning 5000 miles is heading straight for the florida gulf coast, so vast, in fact, that it can be seen from space. when do you expect it to hit the coast, and what might this signal for the critical spring break, and of course, the summer months ahead? >> well, this, the so-called blob of seaweed is this seaweed floating, sargassum, in the

tropical atlantic ocean. and that is what we call the great atlantic sargassum belt. and that sargassum seaweed is moving towards the west, and will proceed to move through the caribbean and up into the gulf of mexico and south florida area in the coming months. and we typically get the peak of that seaweed arriving in florida around mid summer july is usually when it peaks. >> yeah, i think i've been there when it's arrived. so, why are we seeing such a massive blob of seaweed at this time? what is causing it? and how big of a threat does it pose to residents and see life? >> well, this is an unusual year in that this sargassum bloom in the great atlantic

sargassum belt started early. it doubled in size between december and january, in one month it doubled in size. and was larger in january than it's ever been since this new region of sargassum growth began in 2011. so, this is an entirely new oceanographic phenomenon. previously, the sargassum was in the sargassum sea to the north. that is the central gyre of the north atlantic ocean. it would circulate in the currents around that, as well as through the caribbean and the gulf of mexico. so, this is a whole new thing. and this is the source of this sargassum the seaweed, that is creating such a problem, really, a catastrophic problem for tourism in the caribbean region, where it piles up on beaches up to five or six feet deep on the

beaches in some places. in fact, in barbados, just last week they reported they need 1600 dump trucks a day to clean the beaches of the seaweed to make it suitable for tourists and recreation on the beaches. and, you know, where it comes ashore in the mangroves, it comes in in such large quantities that had basically sucks the option out of the water and creates what we referred to as dead zones. these are normally nursery habitats for fisheries and, you know, once they're devoid of oxygen, we have lost that habitat. they are also harmful to sea grasses and coral reefs, and obviously, to human health as well, because when they wrought, they released toxic hydrogen sulfide gas.

they have a high concentration of arsenic in the tissue. so, you have to be very careful when you clean the beaches and try to re-use this for fertilizers or some other beneficial use. >> so, what solutions are available to stop these massive seaweed invasions? is there anything that can be done to disperse or break it up? or do we just need to do what you suggested, basically taking away truckloads of the seaweed? >> while, at this point, that's all we can do. efforts are being made in the caribbean to construct booms to hold it off the beach, and to get harvesting boats to run along those booms and harvested into barges, where in that it can be taken either to land to a suitable disposal site, and dried, and perhaps use for some purpose, or a new project is

looking at actually harvesting it at sea and sinking it to the bottom of the ocean. and in that way, sequestering carbon that is, you know, used by photosynthesis in the seaweed, sending it to the bottom of the c, where it will be buried. and in that way, sequester that carbon to kind of chip away at the co2 buildup in the atmosphere. >> brian lapointe, thank you so much for joining us. appreciate it. >> you are welcome. thank you. >> up next, clashes and tear gas outside the home of pakistan's former prime minister imran khan, who police have been trying to arrest. he's speaking out about why they're after him. >> they know that if i come to power, they will be held accountable. so, they don't want me alive.

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>> welcome back.

a standoff is understand in pakistan, where police have tried and so far failed to arrest former prime minister imran khan. his supporters and authorities have been clashing outside his home in lahore, and not long, ago tear gas was fired onto collins roof and on the grounds of his property. a police official says nearly 70 people have been injured. and authorities have reportedly cut off electricity to the house. john is accused of illegally buying and selling gifts from foreign dignitaries, but says the charges are politically motivated and meant to keep him out of the general election. he was ousted in a no confidence vote last april. khan tells cnn sofia sofie he's convinced he'll be arrested. >> while, i'm all mentally prepared to spend a night in a cell, i don't know how many

nights. i'm getting my reading material. i hope i get a chance to read a little in myself, because normally i don't get that much time to read. i'm convinced i can do a recipe, because the number of police you think, it is the biggest terrorist hiding in this house. [laughter] >> the islamabad high court has issued a arrest warrant for khan to be presented before the court on saturday. i'm rosemary church. for our international viewers, world sport is next. and for those of you here in north america, i'll be back with more cnn newsroom in just a moment. stay ahead. hi, i'm michael, i'i've lost 70 pounds on golo. i spent thousands on other diets that didn't work. on golo, i spent couple hundred bucks you're not gonna believe this thing is possible but it i.

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how many rooms are in there? should we go check it out? yeah. we get to stay here all weekend! when you stay at a vrbo... i call doing the door code! ...the host doesn't stay with you. it looks exactly like the picture. because without privacy in your vacation home... it's a full log cabin guys. ...it isn't really a vacation... we can snuggle up by the fire. ...is it? wow, oh my- [birds chirping] >> the u.s. federal aviation

administration is investigating a another close call between two commercial jetliners. it happened at a reagan national airport outside washington, d.c., on march 7th. a republic airways flight crossed a runway that a united airlines flight was using to take off. listen to this exchange between the control tower and the united airlines pilot. >> united 2003, you might want to stay -- >> clear for takeoff roll, united 2003. >> 2003, cancel the takeoff clearance. >> a boarding take off, a boarding take off, united 2003. >> that was the seventh near collision instant since the start the year. well, in just a few, hours at the faa will hold a meeting outside washington to address the recent near-collision incident's. the -- set to bring together

regulators, and representatives from major airlines and labor unions. in letters to attendees, transportation pete buttigieg says they must, quote, identify the key patterns and risk factors now. a new cnn poll shows donald trump locked in a virtual dead heat with florida governor ron desantis among potential republican presidential candidates. 40% of republican and republican-leaning independents say they favor trump. 36% prefer desantis. mike pence and nikki haley are at 6% support. cnn political director david chalian spoke with our jake tapper about some of the poles underlying the currents. >> commitment enthusiasm are not bad things to have supporters. donald trump has them here. so, if you look at our poll, among trump supporters, 76% say they're locked into him and they're not going to change

their mind. 59% of desantis supporters say that about their candidate. so, that shows that donald trump has real commitment. also, we look at enthusiasm. 51% of trump supporters consider themselves, call themselves to be very or extremely enthusiastic about participating in the 2024 primary. but 43% of desantis supporters say that, jake. so, again, he wins on the enthusiasm score, he went on the commitment. but when we looked at, like, first and second choice put together, desantis actually tossed trump. so, desantis has room to grow. trump may have a lower ceiling, but with that kind of stickiness, it could be sufficiently high to win the nomination. >> yeah. >> among the qualities republican voters are looking for in a candidate, 87% say sharpness and stamina. 59% want someone who will keep social security and medicare. 54% want a candidate who they describe as anti woke. and 36% want someone who

opposes the u.s. in ukraine. well, former trump attorney michael cohen will resume his testimony before a new york grand jury in the coming hours. prosecutors are nearing a decision on whether to charge the former president over 130,000 payment to adult film star stormy daniels days before the 2016 election cnn's senior legal analyst elie honig explains what trump could be facing. >> this is the manhattan district attorney who has the power to charge new york state criminal law. so, there's two laws we're looking at here. the first one is falsification of business records. the idea being that these payments, which were actually to silence stormy daniels, were booked improperly as legal fees to michael cohen. if there is a conviction on that though, that is a misdemeanor, meaning the max penalty is just up to one year in prison. but realistically, nobody goes to prison for a first-time misdemeanor.

the second potential crime is if prosecutors can tie the falsification of bank records to some other crime. in this case, it would be campaign finance violation, meaning this payment was actually meant to protect donald trump's electoral prospect. if they can prove that, it's a felony. it's the lowest level new york felony, it's classy out of a, 80 eat. the maximum penalty there is four years. however, it's quite common for people be classified of class east valley needs. and also get sent to prison, that will be before a judge. >> trump denies having an affair with stormy daniels. his attorneys says trump paid the money to avoid a publicly embarrassing allegation. u.s. congressman george santos has filed paperwork formally declaring his candidacy for 2024, even as he faces investigations into his finances. santos's move on tuesday comes after a demand from the federal election commission that he declared his intentions after he crossed a fund raising

threshold. but the declaration does not mean the scandal plagued lawmaker has to run. santos, who has lied extensively about everything from his resume to his family background, has been urged by some fellow republicans not to seek reelection. in north carolina, concern over a political polarization is growing at the judicial level, the state supreme court, now controlled by republicans, will re-here to election related cases which had already been decided when democrats held a majority on the court. cnn's dianne gallagher takes a closer look. >> god save the state, and this honorable court. >> in an incredibly rare move, the north carolina state supreme court is re-hearing a case it decided just last year. >> counsel, what has happened over the course of the past 88 days since we issued our opinion in this case that would mandate and compel a different result. >> a case itself, which centers

on gerrymandering congressional and state legislator maps, hasn't changed. but the political makeup of the court has, flipping from a democratic two republican majority in november. the impact of this judicial redo could stretch far past the tar heel state, where the 14 congressional districts are evenly split between the parties, even shaping who controls the u.s. united states house of representatives in 2024 and beyond. >> it's extremely unusual. i think it's possible though that it may become the new norm. if we've got a purple state like north carolina, where partisanship of a court can flip on a, dime flipped on one election. >> so, how do we get here? in february 2022, when democrats held up for three majority on the bench, the court declared the gop -controlled legislature's original maps for an extreme partisan gerrymander, that violated the state constitution's guarantee of free elections and must be withdrawn. republican lawmakers argued the court did not have standing to mandate new maps, claiming the u.s. elections clause give

state legislatures the authority to decide the time, place, and manner of elections. and in december, the final days of the democratic majority, the court again rejected a second attempt at the maps, or a substitute map created by special masters instead. the re-hearing was granted last month, shortly after the new justices were sworn in. today, the democratic justices once again pointing out the constitutional right to free elections. >> if the maps don't fairly reflect the voting strength of the people of the state, aren't you essentially seeking to prevent voters from exercising control over their own government? >> in a statement, north carolina gop chairman michael widely says the case was about, quote, reestablishing the proper constitutional roles. >> the goal line has moved in some ways. it used to be conversations about is this a gerrymander? now the conversation is does the court even have the right to rain in a gerrymander? oregon state legislatures to

essentially what they want to do? >> and if that argument since familiar to you, that's because this case is the underlying case for one that had oral arguments before the u.s. supreme court in december. that features the so-called uncontroversial independent state legislature theory. now, the u.s. supreme court actually requested additional briefings from all the parties involved in its case because of this re-hearing. and look, the north carolina supreme court is not done. they have another case they are going to re-here on wednesday that deals with whether or not a voter needs to present a photo i.d. when they go to the polls. yet another case that was decided just last year. diane gallagher, cnn, charlotte, north carolina. >> new york city is marking three years since the furthest death from the coronavirus pandemic. mayor eric adams marked the somber day, citing the

devastation the virus has caused. he also once again urged residents to get vaccinated and boosted. according to his office, there have been more than 3 million covid-19 cases, and 45,000 deaths in the city since march 2020. but he says they are now on a path of recovery. >> new york city has recovered 99% of the jobs lost during the pandemic. that's prosperity in a city that we are talking about. >> facebook's parent company meta plans to lay off another 10,000 workers over the coming months. marking the separate round of mass job cuts of the tech giant in just four months. between this round of layoffs and the other 11,000 employees who lost their jobs in november, meta has quickly cut its workforce by about 25%. in a facebook post tuesday, ceo

mark zuckerberg explain the decision, writing last year was a humbling wake up call. the world economy change, competitive pressures grew, and our growth slowed considerably. at this point, i think we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years. and i want to thank you for your company. i'm rosemary church. i will be back with more cnn newsroom in just a moment. hope you can stick around. (vo) when you love the environment, you work to protect it. the subaru solterra elelectric suv. subaru's first all-elelectric, zero-emissions suv. (man) wewe've got some catching up to do. (woman) sure do. (vo) built to help you protect the environment as you explore it. love. it's what makes subaru, subaru.

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