could have knocked the building down in the wrong way on top of the pile. that message i delivered to mayor cava. all her experts had told her it would take three weeks. to her credit, she went back and talked to additional experts and came back 12 hours later and now we know what happened, the building is gone, the threat is gone, the work continues and i'm hopeful we'll be seeing some miracles in the coming days. thank you so much. [ speaking spanish ] good afternoon. happy independence day weekend.

i am kasie hunt. you're watching msnbc. tropical storm elsa, the first named hurricane of the 2021 atlantic season is churning near cuba. a tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of the florida keys and parts of the gulf coast, and partly because of concerns over elsa. officials went ahead last night with the controlled demolition of the remaining portion of the champlain towers south condo building in surfside, florida. the structure unstable and a potential danger to work crews before the demolition. after the tower came down, search and rescue operations are now back under way. moments ago we learned from the mayor that the death toll from the condo collapse rose to 27 after three people were found dead in the rubble. there are still 118 people unaccounted for. miami-dade county vice chairman oliver gilbert spoke moments ago. >> we're going to work, we're going to pray and we're going to get through this together. and that's what we're doing.

we're praying, we're working, and we're getting through this together. that takes different forms. i just want everybody not to forget the praying part. we're still praying to possibly find survivors. nbc's vaughn hillyard is in is tracking tropical storm elsa. vaughn, let me start with you. we were just listening to the governor of florida, ron desantis as well, as the mayor of surfside, and i know you have been listening along with us to these press conferences. we know the death toll has risen to 27. what else have you learned on the ground at this hour? >> reporter: this is a big 24 hours here. the first front of that was last night, the demolition of this, which was successful. you heard from the mayor, you heard from the governor. you saw for yourself the way in which this building effectively came down in that defined area.

it did not disrupt the existing rubble. the mayor of miami-dade county saying just a few moments ago there that only dust had landed on the existing pile, which allowed the rescue crews to get right back in there, literally within two hours after the demolition. they're still working on it. they've been watching them come and go throughout the day. the second part is the concern over the storm. and i'll let michelle talk about the good news that the governor was just delivering for this particular area of florida, because that was the major concern that led to that decision here. the striking decision here by the miami-dade county mayor over the weekend to take down that building before those gusts of winds were expected to hit the shore here. we're talking about a building that's 100 yards away from the miami shoreline and now it comes down to this recovery effort here. you heard three more individuals pronounced deceased. that puts the total up to 27. but there are 118 individuals that are still unaccounted for and we've been here over the

course of these 12 days, talking to family and talking to friends. there are folks that want to recover their loved ones, to be able to have the burials, to be able to have those closures and they are looking to these rescue crews. there is a lot of concern coming in about the potential damage that this demolition could cause to that previous rubble site here, but the good news here this morning is that those rescue crews are back there going through, and the hope is in the days ahead more bodies can be recovered and potentially even rescues. >> vaughn, the mayor there was talking about just how difficult of a decision it was to have this tower demolished, this structure, obviously the people, many who survived this, also having such a difficult time losing their homes. everything went as planned, it sounds like, in the demolition. what has that allowed crews to be doing right now? she was talking a little bit about how they needed to get to a specific section of rubble.

>> reporter: the area closest, you're right, the area closest there to what was the still-standing part of that condo complex, they were having trouble accessing it because of concerns about dismantling some of the material that could have led to the collapse potentially on the rescue crews. now they have access and they have begun to focus their attention on the existing area that was closest to the building as of last night that had still been previously standing. and that is where they had to work so deliberately, with such grace on that area there. now the hope is that they can work a little bit more effectively and gain access to some of these areas. before that building came down, the mayor insisted that they took every means possible to ensure that there were no lives or no animals that were still inside of that 12-story complex. there was concern over pets, but they used thermal technology,

they used drones to open up doors and cameras to be able to go and look into some of those particular apartments of concern. and the mayor insisting that they saw no signs of life in that building before they decided to bring it down in the hope, of course, by bringing the building down is that they're more quickly able to gain access to those individuals who are still missing. >> vaughn hillyard there for us in surfside. michelle, let me go to you, because as vaughn referenced, and as the governor was just talking about, this tropical storm has been bearing down on south florida. what can you tell us now about the expected path? >> okay, so what we know now is we do expect, still, the worst impacts to be on the west side. but you have to think about a tropical system. they're big. they have winds that go out 70 miles. they have rain bands that stretch out. so there's no doubt that surfside is going to experience rain, most likely heavy

tomorrow, and also some gusty winds. winds up to 26 miles per hour. but on the west side they're going to be facing winds about 56, 57 in some spots. let's take a look at what we know now. alerts have been posted all up and down the west coast, to the big bend part of florida, where we expect landfall on wednesday. cuba is getting the brunt now. we're going to watch that over the next seven hours. we're going to see how it comes out, whether it weakens. we'll see that in the next seven hours. that will determine the strength, once it enters the gulf it will restrengthen because those are like bath waters and that adds energy to the system. we're going to start seeing impacts as early as tonight. tuesday and wednesday is where the faucet is going to be turned on and we'll see heavy rain. so the 11:00 advisory, we're looking at 65 mile per hour winds. that's a strong tropical storm for this time of year. there's a chance it could be a low-level hurricane, but we'll watch that. tracking elsa, key west, get

ready because you're going to see the impacts tonight, into the early part of tuesday. then it tracks through the gulf on tuesday into wednesday. it's right around the big bend region of florida wednesday morning where we expect landfall. we'll see localized flooding with rainfall up to 8 inches in spots. the carolinas are impacted by thursday and mid-atlantic thursday and friday. we're focusing on the west coast for the biggest impacts. locally up to 8 inches, but we could see an isolated tornado on the eastern coast of florida, localized flooding as well. think of a sit and spin when you were little, that's what could happen with the rain bands. also the winds, that's a big piece of a tropical system. we're looking at winds gusting to 54 miles per hour in key west. i think the big question, i think the surfside mayor said it perfectly, they didn't know how

much wind it would take. so they had to take those precautions. so even though it's 26 mile per hour winds, they of wind would take down the building. >> very difficult decisions to make there. vaughn hillyard, michelle grossman, thank you both very much for starting us off this hour. we want to turn to the chairman of the miami-dade county board of commissioners, josé pepe diaz. thank you so much for being here. let me start with where michelle grossman left off, which is this very difficult decision about demolishing this structure. we know this hurricane is bearing down. and there was no telling how fast the winds would need to be to cause incredible damage and potentially risk lives of first responders. what went into this decision to go about it this way? >> the mayor took everything into account, and the most important thing is that if we did not do anything, we would

have to depend on those winds. and we did not know what could actually happen once these storms come out of cuba, even though we believe the meteorologists and what they're doing and how they stated the storm could be, and the models where they are, we still had to make sure this building came down exactly the way it did. and thank god that's the way it happened. and due to that, all we had was basically dust that went on the site that is part of the rescue area. and that's what was very important, because time is of the essence and we wanted to get our people back on that pile and to start finding, hopefully, some survivors. so there was a lot of decisions being done, a lot of prep work that was done prior. even though this was looking at it will be two weeks for this building so we could demolish it or more, due to the way it was presented and the way it was needed and making sure that it

didn't impede with the rescue, it only helped the rescue. so those decisions were made a lot easier and a lot faster based on not knowing what that wind could do and how stable that building is, which we knew it wasn't stable at all. and that's why the mayor made the decision, along with our governor, and all the people involved. >> right. and of course such a difficult decision to do so, because of so many residents still having belongings in the building, et cetera. sir, i want to ask you about what we just heard from the mayor and the governor here as well. the death toll has now risen to 27. i mean, i would actually just like to hear, how are you and your community holding up through all of this? it's just been such a difficult 12 days. >> listen, the community has come across incredibly well. they've been extremely supportive, bringing food to the first responders and to the

families, support from all over the world financially in donations. it's been an incredible outpour of the world, but especially more so from the local community. it's a very difficult situation because you see the families and you see the pain and suffering that they're going through, as we all are. after so many days of being on this disaster that we have before us, it is something that is unimaginable being a family member and not knowing. and the suffering that they're going through. all we can do is the very best to help them and help facilitate the men and women that are working nonstop to try to rescue somebody. and that's our position and we're all in favor of doing just that. and a lot of prayer. a lot of prayers taking place between everybody and it can't stop. because we're hopeful.

we are really hopeful that we can find somebody alive under all of this. >> we are sending prayers your way as asked. josé pepe diaz, thank you for spending time with us this afternoon. coming up next, it could be the biggest global ransomware attack to date. thousands of companies were impacted after hackers breached a soft ware firm that management i.t. how authorities are investigating coming up next. the “make way, coming through” great... the storm alert... dad. and the subtle but effective ding. that's why we created low cash mode. the financial watch out that gives you the options and time needed to help you avoid overdraft fees. it's one way we're making a difference. because we believe how you handle overdrafts should be in your control, not just your banks. low cash mode on virtual wallet from pnc bank.

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welcome back. new demands from the hackers behind what could be the biggest global ransomware attack ever. the hack hit thousands of companies who use software from the i.t. company, and the gang known as are evil is demanding a $7 million paid in

cryptocurrency to unscramble all of the affected machines. they are the same group that hacked jbs in may. jbs eventually paid 11 million to resolve the attack. i'm joined by white house correspondent kelly o'donnell and former u.s. attorney and senior fbi official, now an msnbc contributor. great to see both of you on this fourth of july observed holiday. kelly, let me ask you first about president biden. he was asked about the attack over the weekend. i'm going to show everybody what he had to say and then we'll chat about it. >> we're not sure it's the russians. if it is, either with the knowledge of and/or the consequence of russia, then i told putin we will respond. >> so, of course, kelly, this harkins back to his trip abroad, his meeting with putin where he said, hey, there are going to be consequences if something like this happens again. >> reporter: absolutely. he was referring to that in-person multi-hour meeting,

and he laid out to the president of russia at that time that he expected him to do more to prevent some of these attacks that have their origins in russia. the president over the weekend said he had asked his intelligence team for more information because at the time that was taped, he said there was not certainty that it was, in fact, of russian origin. there are some cybersecurity experts who believe pretty strongly that it was that group you mentioned. and of course this is a supply chain effect, because of the nature of their business, they have many providers and many companies with whom they do business that have now been affected by this. somewhat different than some of the other attacks where we saw a meat-packing organization or the colonial pipeline, more discreet business we might be able to understand. this is much deeper and far more broad, and apparently happened during a software update. so the company has asked its

member clients to work with the government and cybersecurity experts on this, the fbi is involved, of course, as well as the cyber and infrastructure group inside the federal government that is now of much greater focus in trying to help companies where there are at times, companies for their proprietary reasons and so forth, are reluctant to share information with the government. that's historically been a concern. they're really trying to get companies to be much more involved and disclose what they've had happen. this came to light on friday, so we're still in the very early hours of knowing what the federal government understands about this. the president said if it was, in fact, russian sanctioned in some way, he would use the u.s. tools in the cyber warfare realm to respond. >> so chuck rosenberg, kelly mentioned the fbi and the fact that they're involved. we have a little bit of a statement from them. the fbi says, quote, due to the

potential scale of this incident, the fbi insists and cisa may be unable to respond to each victim individually, but all information we receive will be useful in countering this threat. they're saying this is so big that they may not even have time or the ability to get back to some of the companies who are affected here? >> yeah, i really hope that's not the case. we've always taken the rights of victims very seriously in law enforcement, and if companies or individuals are victimized, you want to be able to reach out to each of them individually. the second part of the statement is also important. to kelly's point sometimes companies are reluctant to contact law enforcement if they've been victimized, they might be embarrassed or they have proprietary information at risk. but we need to hear from them. it's absolutely crucial as we try to develop patterns and look for signatures in the attack. so i hope the fbi and other

actors in the federal government can reach out to every victim individually, even if they cannot, and that would be unfortunate, it's really important for those companies that have been victimized to let law enforcement know. it helps us to make cases. >> it's just remarkable that it could have affected so many people that, as you say, even if you're an organization that takes these responsibilities so seriously, they're concerned about the scale and whether or not they can even handle that. kelly o'donnell, thank you very much for being with us. chuck rosenberg, you're going to stick around and join us later today. coming up next, the border between the u.s. and canada has been closed for more than a year because of covid. that changes today. what it means for people who are trying to see their families and run their businesses coming up next.

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welcome back. president biden marked the fourth of july weekend by touting the country's independence from covid-19. that's even though he did fall a little short of having his 70% of american adults get at least one vaccine by this holiday. that was the goal. so far, about 67% of adults have received one dose. the president saying last night

getting the shot is the most patriotic thing you can do. >> don't get me wrong, covid-19 has not been vanquished. we all know powerful have emerged like the delta variant. but the best defense against these vaccinated. >> and joining me now is senior white house reporter for news digital and shaquille brewster at ambassador bridge that links the u.s. to canada. >> what is the white house saying -- it's lovely to see you. what are they saying about when they expect to hit this goal, and also how they're thinking about the fight against the pandemic when you compare it to some of the other issues on their agenda? >> reporter: well, they do think they're going to hit the 70%

goal in a matter of weeks. an analysis by nbc shows about 300,000 are getting their first shot a day. so about 300,000 new people rolling up their sleeve. at that pace, they'll hit the 70% by the end of the month. they acknowledge there's still a lot of work out there to do because it's getting harder and harder to reach people. obviously they've gotten through the first few tiers of people who were eager and willing, but a little hesitant. but to get to the next group they say they're just going to continue on the messaging strategy that they have been on. they're not going to do any big shift in course. they're hoping they can chip away at those people. when you step back and look at the bigger picture of what they're talking about, they do understand that getting americans vaccinated, getting this pandemic under control, is going to have a big factor on what happens in the economy and what happens with the rest of the president's domestic agenda. >> it's absolutely critical. and, shannon, the president also mentioned the delta variant.

how concerned are they about that at this point? >> reporter: we've been hearing a lot of warnings from administration officials over the past couple of weeks about this variant and that it will spread like wildfire through these pockets of people who are unvaccinated, with some states that don't even have half of their population vaccinated, they're concerned about it, and public health officials also say that they think we really could see another fall and winter surge coming. it's not going to be nationwide, but it is going to be in some of these pockets where you still have low vaccination rates. >> some more warnings there. shaq, let me go to you. a little bit of upbeat news here. you are at the ambassador bridge in detroit. it's very familiar with me as someone whose family is originally from there. can you explain why you're there and what's happening today? >> reporter: you also know how this bridge is a major connection point between the united states and canada. starting today, starting tonight, any fully vaccinated

canadian will no longer need to quarantine for two weeks if returning from the united states. so that's certainly welcome news for some but also highlighting a real frustration and growing impatience from others who are saying they want those restrictions to be lifted more quickly. and there's major economic impacts that this is having. there's an estimate that shows there's $1.5 billion lost for every month that the border has been virtually closed, about 90% reduction in travel. there's also the personal impact, not only are you talking about businesses and tourists, but you're talking about people who have family, loved ones on both sides of the border, who would go over to the other side for entertainment purposes sometimes and some who have property, some americans who have property on the other side. for example, this gentleman that we spoke to earlier this week, listen to what he told us about the frustrations he's had. >> i don't understand why canadians and americans can travel to france or spain, enjoy a holiday together, but we can't reunite with our families and rejoin our properties and say

hello to our neighbors that we've known for multiple generations. very frustrating. and the other thing that's frustrating is it's impossible to plan. it just is another 30-day extension, another 30-day extension, and you don't know, should i hold out, should i make other plans for the summer? when am i going to get back? >> reporter: you're also hearing that frustration come from members of congress, who are asking the biden administration to increase pressure on the canadian government. justin trudeau called this a significant step forward, saying he's going to use the data from this reopening to analyze when there will be further and continued reopening of the border and of the exchange between the united states and canada. >> we don't think about it a lot, but for those folks in detroit, you could get off the wrong exit on the highway and accidently end up in canada.

it's typically very easy to go back and forth. tricky for people who are directly affected by that. thank you both very much for being with us. joining us now is dr. patel, former white house health policy director during the obama administration. good to see you again today. we also saw each other earlier today. we have made, of course, so much progress against the virus as shaq was reporting on helps underscore, but we did see an uptick in cases last week. what do you attribute that to, and how concerned should we be about it? >> yeah, i think you can safely say that administration officials were in full communication mode, especially because for the first time in several weeks our seven-day averages increased, not decreased. and that directly is attributed to unvaccinated persons, likely because everything is reopening and you saw that travel is going up. remember, our actual cases will

lag contact point by several weeks. what we're seeing and picking up a week ago is well likely some of the spillover from the memorial day weekend and following. anybody that's unvaccinated, springfield, missouri saw surges and are still dealing with a surge, and other parts of the country are going to mimic that, as shannon mentioned. >> the dividing lines between communities where vaccination rates are higher compared to those that aren't are starting to show in a sharper way. dr. fauci was on "meet the press" the other day. chuck asked him about the 10,000 people who died in the month of june and whether those deaths were actually preventable. let me show you what he had to say and then we'll chat about it. >> if you look at the number of deaths, about 99.2% of them are unvaccinated, about 0.8% are

vaccinated. no vaccine is perfect, but when you talk about the avoidability of hospitalization and deaths, chuck, it's really sad and tragic that most all of these are avoidable and preventable. >> so, dr. patel, given that and we have talked about this so many times, but what do you think needs to happen with the messaging on this to get through to people that the risks of the vaccine are so much less than the risks of catching this disease? how do you convince people who haven't gotten the shot by now? >> i've been spending a lot more time in the social science literature trying to understand exactly how to unpack that, because i'm dealing with it. one thing is clear, starting with blame gets you nowhere or kind of having this incredulous view of don't you understand science actually shuts and alienates people who are genuinely just trying to take care of themselves and might not

necessarily understand some of the facts behind why we think this is safe, why you getting vaccinated actually has an impact on your community, why the variants are directly correlated with people who are not vaccinated, and death. so i do think this has to be not just a ground game, this has to be kind of -- instead of the public following the science, science needs to lead and follow the public at the same time. and that really is a marked difference than where we were months ago where people were begging for vaccines. i was desperate to get mine in december. i do think that there is a way to reach the population. it's just going to take harder work. it's not going to be easy. i think it's worth doing that because you know that the more unvaccinated people that we continue to have, the more deaths we have. those are numbers that will decrease and likely by fall we'll see about 20% to 30% of the numbers that we saw last fall. so we're making progress. but not enough to, i think, make

americans -- and remember, we still have unvaccinated children, people with chronic conditions, so we still have millions of people who are depending on us to get that vaccine and develop the desirable herd immunity. >> dr. patel, thank you very much for being with us on this holiday monday. we really appreciate your time and insights. we'll see you soon, i'm sure. now this. pope francis is reportedly in good condition today after undergoing intestinal surgery yesterday in rome. the vatican saying the 84-year-old pope is alert and breathing on his own after the three-hour surgery but he'll be in the hospital for at least seven days. the announcement of the surgery yesterday was a surprise, but the vatican did say it had been scheduled in advance. we are thinking of the pope and wishing him a speedy recovery. former president donald trump makes his first public remarks on the charges facing the trump organization. why prosecutors might want him to keep talking coming up next.

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welcome back. former president donald trump continued his revenge tour in florida saturday. his latest target, the manhattan prosecutors who indicted his company and chief financial officer. the former president calling the case prosecutorial misconduct, but he also seemed the acknowledge the tax schemes. watch this. >> they go after good, hard-working people for not paying taxes on a company car. a company car. you didn't pay tax on the car or a company apartment. you used an apartment because you need an apartment, because you have to travel too far where your house is. you didn't pay tax. or education for your grandchildren. i don't even know. do you have to -- does anybody know the answer to that stuff? but they indict people for that. >> oh, boy.

joining me now is jeff mason, reuters white house correspondent, associate editor and columnist, and chuck rosenberg, senior fbi official. chuck, i have to start with you because it seems like perhaps the president just admitted to everything that the new york prosecutors have accused his company of doing, basically just saying, yeah, we did it, why is this a big deal? nobody understands this. what did you hear? if you're one of the prosecutors working on this case, what did you hear? >> good questions. look, there aren't a lot of situations that i can think of where i want want mr. trump to keep talking, but if i were a prosecutor on this case this would be one of them. without getting too technical here, the rules of evidence that will pertain at trial permit statements by representatives or agents of the company under certain circumstances to be admissible for the company at trial. so the more he talks and more

nonsense he says, particularly about this case and what the company did or didn't do or what he knew or didn't know, all of that might help the prosecutors at trial prove the elements of the crimes against the trump organization. so, look, i've never really thought it was a good idea for individuals or representatives of companies that were under investigation or under indictment to talk. if he thinks it's helpful, have at it. but if i were the prosecutor, i would have the same response, have at it, keep talking, because you're helping us. >> well, jeff, let's talk about what this really is about because it's not necessarily about the criminal investigation for the former president. it's about the politics. and so far we have seen that his base of supporters has been willing to stick with him through thick and thin and that suddenly, perhaps, even something like this, an indictment of his company, just simply won't even matter to any of them. do you think that's going to remain true in this case, especially now that the

president doesn't have keys to twitter or facebook anymore, this is kind of the only way right now that he's talking to his supporters en mass? >> you're right, he doesn't have facebook and twitter and that is the big difference between the social media levers he had to pull during his presidency and what he has now. but to go back to what you were saying, president trump, former president trump has always worked best with foil. he now has a foil. and i think your question of whether supporters will continue to stand by him is a definitive yes, and this will probably strengthen him politically because it will give him the opportunity to continue to paint himself as being the victim of a witch hunt. that said, there are two tracks. you referenced the political track and the legal track. and depending on where the legal track goes, that will have an impact on his political career as he considers whether or not

to run again, the legal jeopardy or legal consequences he faces continue to rise. >> so, a.b., let's just pull on that point a little bit more, because we know that privately the president obsesses about these things. we're starting to hear even more about just the degree to which he does that in some of these books that are coming out as we start to get all of that exclusive reporting from the end of the trump administration and the early months of the biden administration. what do you think his thinking will be in this regard about 2024? the sort of outward posture is that he doesn't care, but privately the scenario seems pretty different. >> well, it's been very clear since january 6th, when we learned in the weeks following just how much money the president had raised after he lost the election, it was declared for president-elect biden on november 7th, from his

willing and fervent believers that he would continue to tease out a 2024 run no matter what, because it keeps him in the game and it keeps the money flowing. what's interesting about this moment with him using this, the prosecution of weisselberg, and potentially others later, is that he is supposed to be out at these rallies helping republicans take the house back and potentially the senate in 2022. and what he's doing, instead, is normalizing crimes. we know that he intentionally normalized lying in his presidency, something jonathan rouch talks about in his new book, it is a tactic of misinformation to make sure people no longer know what to believe. the second thing he did was to normalize crimes, say things like it's no big deal, why is this a law anyway and that type

of talk. and it's clear he's going to continue to do this in sort of a pr campaign at these, quote, rallies, where he's helping republican candidates. and i think in the end, while he thinks it's helping him and serving a purpose, it's really questionable whether or not it's going to hinder republicans in the midterm elections next year. >> every time the republicans seem to hope that president trump is going to help them out with winning more seats and i think they've learned several times the hard way it doesn't always work out the way they hope it will. chuck rosenberg, let me ask you about what a.b. was just saying, this idea that the president is trying to normalize a criminal activity. we saw some of this at the riot at the capitol, people taking pictures of themselves, that's a lot of the evidence they're using to prosecute.

how concerned are you about this potential normalization, which he does not represent the base, but it's significant in size and certainly the possible implications are significant? >> yeah, absolutely. so in one venue i'm very concerned, and that's sort of out there socially, politically, if crimes are normalized, if lying becomes normalized, i think we all suffer from that. but another venue i'm not concerned. in a court of law i'm not the least bit concerned, over and over again the courts and judges and injure he's have not liked this sort of nonsense. the normalization of lies has no place in a courtroom. so it depends where you're talking about it. i don't think the defense this ought not to be a law is going to fly with any judge or jury. it is the law and prosecutors have appropriately charged it and we'll see whether they can prove it. but there are places where this type of normalization really

hurts and there are certain places where it doesn't matter at all. >> all right, fair enough. jeff mason, a.b. stoddard, chuck rosenberg, thank you for spending time during your holiday monday to join us and offer your expertise. coming up next, death threats and harassment. how school board debates over critical race theory have spiraled out of control. we'll have the story from one northern virginia district coming up next. to a ourself... 'are my bones strong?' life is full of make or break moments. that's why it's so important to help reduce your risk of fracture with prolia®. only prolia® is proven to help strengthen and protect bones from fracture with 1 shot every 6 months. do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. serious allergic reactions like low blood pressure, trouble breathing, throat tightness, face, lip, or tongue swelling, rash, itching, or hives have happened. tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone problems may happen,

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welcome back. the sites of some of the most contentious political battlings in the country. school boards over things like critical race theory and gender rights. precilla thomas has more on how it has thrown one school board into chaos. what did you learn as you started to investigate this? >> loudoun downty implemented charges after they found that the district's policies harmed

black and latino students. that ri vooifed policies for responding to racial slurs, hate speech, among other things. now some are saying those changes are being conflated with critical race theory. >> i attended my first pta meeting in this very room. >> in the last 19 years brenda sheritan has gone from concerned parent to school board member. what turned into a dream job has turned into a nightmare. in the past several weeks she received nearly a dozen letters at her home. hundreds of e-mails daily, and vote mails, like these. >> you a disgusting piece of [ bleep ] ms. sheritan. >> anger, born out of controversy over transgender

rights and critical race theory. the academic study of racism and inequality. >> do you teach critical racer this sfli. >> we do not. >> are you consider teaching critical race theory? >> no, it would be inappropriate. it is theory based in a master and doctoral level. we're talking about our student's experiences. we're focusing on making our marginalized students feel welcome and affirmed. all of them. >> still, many parents in the northern virginia county are now rallying against what they say is critical race theory. that's not all. a school board meeting where new state mandated policies for transgender students was being discussed descended into chaos and resulted in an arrest. >> i have never been afraid to

be in my community. i have never thought twice about going anywhere in loudoun or anywhere in my community. >> across the country similar stories are emerging over anger about mask wearing, transgender rights, critical race theory, and more. as she continues to bear the brunt of the harassment in loudoun she says she will not back down even as she faces a recall effort. >> it's worth every e-mail i have to read and every phone call i get, it's worth it. in a new survey, teachers nationwide say schools are not teaching them to push critical race theory, but district leaders are facing harassment and threats over the issue, kaci? >> such an emotional issue for parents. precilla, thank you for your

reporting on this, we really appreciate it. coming up next, stay with me for the next hour. we're going to continue to follow the developing story out of surfside, florida. surfside,a s plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this... your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee... yeah i should've just led with that... with at&t business... you can pick the best plan for each employee and only pay for the features they need. ♪ ♪ we made usaa insurance for veterans like martin. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa

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