nick watt, cnn, los angeles. >> a confused nick watt.ayor garcetti's comment about holding your breath while taking a photo. here's what one health expert has to say. it sounds like something like my 10-year-old would say. let's be clear what protected him. being vaccinated, being boosted, being outdoors, being around other people vaccinated and boosted and in the case of nfl testing. hold you still have to take a breath in. that's a silly explanation. >> let's get you up to date on the covid headlines making their way around the world. cases surging in brazil. a new daily record. in some regions icus are 80% capacity. austria's new rule making vaccinations mandatory is expected to go into effect in the coming hours. beginning next week sweden will lift most of the covid restrictions. the government health agency said the covid is a mixed rule. some countries ease restrictions and others like germany are reporting record daily cases. we have more from jim bittermann. very different policies and different picture we are seeing. what is th

nick watt is out front. you have covered.and prestigious trainers in the sport. what happened? >> well, listen. doping allegations always take a while to iron out and figure out what's happening. bob baffert fought this hard. to start with, he said he had no idea how the drug, an anti-inflammatory, could have gotten into the horse. he fought to have the samples analyzed. he said this must have been in a skin ointment. wasn't injected and therefore by law it's okay. but the kentucky stewards were having none of that. hence this ruling today. and this is also far from over. i got this statement from one of baffert's lawyers this morning. he told me, i am very disappointed in the ruling. it runs contrary to the scientifically proven facts. we will be filing an immediate appeal. bottom line, this is only the second time in the 147 runnings of the kentucky derby that a winner has been disqualified for drugs. and you mentioned, medina's spirit, no longer a winner after a collapse at a training run. the necropsy shows it appears to

nick watt, thank you so much. dr.rofessor of emergency medicine and associate dean at brown university. only about 22% of kids 5-11 are fully vaccinated. so what is the biden administration, what do governors need to do to make sure this younger age group, 6 months through 4 years, gets vaccinated at a higher rate than that once the vaccine has been approved? >> we need to keep working on vaccination rates. not just among this new young group who is soon hopefully going to be eligible for vaccines but also among the 5 to 11-year-olds and 12 to 17-year-olds who have been eligible for vaccines for months at this point. i think that there is a twofold strategy that's needed. the first is that we need a lot of education for parent to reassure them of the safety of this vaccine and also, the necessity of the vaccine to talk about the really real negative effects of covid on kids. not just hospitalization and death, chfk, are less likely in kids, but also the ramifications for learning, being able to go to school and the la

but as cnn's nick watt reports for us now, dr. risky. >> reporter: just a couple of hours from now, the governor of the most populous state in the nation will lay out his post-pandemic plan. >> we've been working on it for more than a month, our endemic plan. >> reporter: in philly, you no longer need to prove you're vaccinated to eat inside a restaurant. in seattle soon you'll be able to go into restaurants, bars, gyms without proving vaccination or a recent negative test. >> we are not entirely out of the woods yet, but there is a clear path forward. >> reporter: here in los angeles, school kids no longer need to mask up outside. still required inside classrooms. michigan, no longer urging masks in most indoor settings, including classrooms. >> it's understandable why people want to take masks off the kids. but right now given the level of activity that we have, it is risky. >> the national average daily covid-19 case count still high but just fell 42% in a week. numbers in the hospital down 25% in just a week. and almost back b

>> nick watt, i appreciate the update.ting and insidghts, let's just liste. some of the parents who decided enough, enough, we're going to recall three school board members. >> i saw him struggle doing school from home. and i saw the school board prioritize renaming schools over getting kids back into school. >> they should have been focused on reopening schools like most districts were thinking about doing. >> i see right there one of the potent political force s in thi political year. everyone is exhausted from covid. these parents didn't think the school booard was paying attention. can we have a plan? >> this is not a one size fits all. there were other factors in hand including the rising power of asian parents and how it played into the school lottery and the renamingish be you. so there are different details in every district but here are things we know. they didn't used to be a big deal and now they are. they have typically been sort of low turnout draws and so in a midterm year when you may have low turnout anyway

nick watt, thank you very much. let's discuss this and more with dr. associate dean of public health at brown university. so, what do you think about that? this excuse from the mayor of la, mayor garcetti, that he holds his breath when he poses for photos, and as a result, in his words, there is a zero percent chance of infection from that? what -- what do you say? >> it sounds like something that my 10-year-old, who is quite prone to exaggeration, would say. let's be clear on what likely protected him from getting infected. it's being vaccinated, being boosted, being outdoors, and being around other people who are vaccinated, boosted, and in the case of the nfl, testing. holding your breath when you are sharing air with other people, you still got to take a breath in. that is a silly explanation. >> that's what i thought, too. but you are a doctor, i'm not. public health experts, as you know, dr. ranney, including the cdc director, are pointing to hospitalization rates when deciding when mitigation efforts can be lifted. how far do these numbers need

as cnn's nick watt reports even though 96% of u.s.sands of others could still lose their jobs. >> reporter: 3-year-old justin still too young for a vaccine, but among the lucky ones, pulled through. >> can you sit up? >> reporter: 3,546 people were reported dead yesterday, killed by covid. by summer, covid could have claimed a million american lives. most places, omicron is now on the ebb. alabama the only state where case counts are climbing. alabama also has the lowest percentage of fully vaccinated people in this country. by the way, the u.s. army now discharging soldiers who refused the vaccine order and are not pending a final decision on an exemption. meantime, about half of americans now eligible for a booster haven't gotten one. so 84 million people got vaccinated, but for whatever reason, not boosted. >> i don't have an easy explanation for that. that's one of the reasons why we keep trying to put the data out. >> reporter: like the benefits of the booster in significantly reducing your chance of death. israeli researchers no

cnn's nick watt joins me live from los angeles. blue city, angry with the return to school delays. i've been covering a lot of this last year. what ended up happening in this case? >> well, listen, big, big picture here is last year we saw governor gavin newsom of california very easily survive a recall that was driven in large part by his strict covid restrictions and now we have just seen these three school board members in san francisco recalled, booted out, very easily in large part because of their strict covid restrictions as well. listen, it is not a perfect bellwether. because, of course, there are other deep seated local issues that were at play here. but, of course, the thinking is going into the midterms, you know, protests against covid restrictions are not just a red state thing anymore. we're seeing them in blue cities like san francisco and polling bears that out that seven in ten americans want to get back to some normal life. now, you read that statement from london breed and which she says that you know, school boa

as nick watt reports for us, this bay area battle is part of the mounding frustration with covid restrictions the country, but blue ones as well. >> reporter: a deep blue bat of-on. san francisco voted 85% for biden. pelosi lives here. so does harris and newsom. so did the grateful dead. ♪ >> reporter: but there's trouble in this progressive paradise. tomorrow these three liberal local school board members face a recall vote organized by these two liberal locals. >> we were both single parents during covid. >> reporter: their biggest beef, the city's schools were close think by covid for over a year. >> even in 2021 -- >> people don't give us credit for participating in this at this city in san francisco has been -- >> reporter: we're used to red state rebellions against covid closures. this is very blue. >> parents of every sort, every economic class, every racial background, every ideological background. they want the schools open. >> reporter: seven in ten americans now say we just need to get on with our lives. a slew of once covid cautious democratic governors now say they'll ease off on

now as cnn's nick watt reports, the fda is hoping authorization for toddlers will help convince parents who might still be on the fence and move things a little closer to normal. >> reporter: vaccines are coming for the preschool crowd. pfizer expected to request an fda green light for its vaccine for kids under 5 as soon as today. >> we all need to see the data. my understand spg the fda's vaccine advisory committee will be looking at it on february 15th. >> reporter: shots could be going into those little arms before the end of this month. >> i can't overstate how awaited this news has been by parents and families of those kids who are under 5. getting those vaccines in arms is a critical part of helping both to prevent covid among little kids and helping us to move us all a little closer back to normal. >> reporter: big picture, only in maine are new covid case counts climbing. nationwide, falling fast. although still averaging more than 450,000 a day. >> it's time for us to begin to manage the sustained presence of this virus amongst us. >> reporter: so denver's mask mandate ends in

nick watt joins us now. explain what happened here. >> well, a lot.y and these school board members were comprehensively kicked out of office. now, there were quite a few local issues at play here, but i spoke to one of the people who organized this. he started a year ago and he told me that what made him do this is seeing his son really struggling on zoom school. the schools in san francisco were closed for over a cayear a in february last year, this man said the school board didn't have any plans to reopen the schools. they weren't even trying or thinking about it. they had to raise about 50,000 signatures. they raised about 80,000 on each board member and one of the main things they were saying is while these classrooms were closed, the school board is instead concentrating on trying to rename 44 schools named for people we no longer wish, among them, abraham lincoln and dianne feinstein. does this mean anti-covid restriction protests are now going to be very common in blue cities as well as in red states? this was, many say, a grass roots, parent-

our correspondent nick watt is in los angeles for us. we're also joined by dr. ter for vaccine development. nick, the news, first of all, from you, you've been listening closely to the governor gavin newsom out in california. what is the latest? >> reporter: well, that is right, wolf. he's just wrapping up now. he is talking in a warehouse full of covid supplies and the reel message here as he's saying that we're moving into the endemic phase is not that this is game over and out there close talking with strangers again. he's saying we're moving into a new phase and we need to take with us what we have learned over the past two years. we've got to learn to live alongside this virus. we just got to snap a new acronym, smarter stands for shots, masks, awareness, readiness and treatment and almost works and what they're going to have a huge mask stockpile. right now about 70% of californians are fully vaccinated and that will roll on and continuing analyzing the wastewater so we'll get a heads up if there is a new outbreak anywhere in the state. he also wants to dro

cnn's nick watt has been following this story and he joins us now. i think, because it resonates across the country. tell us about this, nick. >> reporter: well, that's exactly right. you know, you might ask yourself why is a local school board meeting getting national attention, well, it is in part because this is in deep blue san francisco. you know, voted 85% for biden last time around. and, you know, we have gotten used to seeing anti-covid restriction protests in red states. not so much in cities like san francisco. and covid restrictions are at the heart of this. listen, there are many other issues, of course, but a lot of parents seem to be motivated by the fact that their schools there in san francisco were closed for over a year, and meantime the school board was doing other things like trying to rename 44 schools that were named after people like abraham lincoln, who they decided shouldn't be honored in that way anymore. so that is one of the major things that drove this. let's hear a little bit of parent reaction. >> struggling, doing schoo

as cnn's nick watt reports. >> let me be clear this is not the end of covid, but it is the end or ratherk about lifting mask mandates if covid hospitalizations drop below 400. >> i'm all for it. i'm so sick of wearing masks. i think it's ridiculous, honestly. >> reporter: new mexico just pulled that particular trigger. >> when you want to pull back and say we're done, well, you know, the virus may not be done with us. >> reporter: california is being cautious. >> there is no end date. there's not a moment where we declare victory. >> reporter: but california is now moving out of the pandemic phase into living with this virus. researchers are watching an omicron subvariant now detected in the united states. more contagious, yes. more severe, that's still unclear. >> while we can't predict the future we can better prepare for it. >> reporter: there's now a mask stockpile in california and kids got a wear one. >> that date with destiny, the masks will come off. >> reporter: more than 15,000 americans have been killed by covid. in just the past week the surgeon general and his wife and son a

nick watt is outfront with the inside look. >> the digital rebellion is here. >> cryptois cool. >> theypto, digital currency and collectibles more than any other. >> what do you think are you? >> you know what, i'm in. >> it's an enormous fast growing new culture on the internet and in tech. the that people in hollywood realize they need to tap into. >> amc theaters now take bitcoin and others for tickets. kobe bryant's lakers used to play at staple center now it's the crypto.com arena. >> no, no, no, no, no, no. >> major league baseball now has fdx all over the umps. >> the new command. >> they sold 007 ntts basically collectible digital images. >> more and more film makers turning to nfts to fund movies before they are made. >> what the hell is an nft what's the nft. >> with crypto basically there is nothing to hold, no notes, no canvas, cryptocurrencies exist only in the online ether. transactions ownership information, stored in something called blockchains. secure, decentralized digital databases. no government monetary policy gets in the way. that worries some of the security con

cnn's nick watt has the story. >> reporter: john, brianna, mary margaret krupper, 80 years old, a retired a catholic elementary school here in california, a woman who had taken a vow of poverty, sentenced to a year and a day in prison for embezzling, basically stealing, more than $800,000 from the school where she worked. according to the feds, she diverted money from tuition and donations into a couple of school accounts over when she had control. she then allegedly also doctored the financial reports to cover up the money that she was taking from the school. now, she pled guilty to wire fraud, and to money laundering, and in that agreement, part of that agreement, she explained what she was using the money that she was stealing, what she was using it for. quote, to pay for expenses that the order, the religious order would not have approved, much less paid for, including large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges. sentenced to a year and a day and restitution of over $800,000. she pled guilty, her lawyer says she is full of remorse. here is a direct quot

same mob that surrounded michael gove outside his department, they were the same mob that attacked nick wattso, too, is the broader issue of whether the original claim was acceptable. dan hodges of the mail on sunday picks this up, arguing that... he goes on... we know that the starmer—savile claim has circulated on far—right websites. but after it was used in parliament, ministers have defended its use. here's the bbc�*s chris mason explaining that... they argue if labour holds boris johnson responsible for all lockdown parties at number ten even if he did not attend it so too can they hold the labour leaderfor not attend it so too can they hold the labour leader for things that happened while he was in charge. the point is the prime ministers meeting — the point is the prime ministers meeting a — the point is the prime ministers meeting a fairand the point is the prime ministers meeting a fair and reasonable point about— meeting a fair and reasonable point about organisations and who leads them _ no doubt leaders, at times, take responsibility for organisations they lead. but that is not t

. >> you can read and watch our cnn exclusive reports from nick peyton watts. >>> a new version of theard. instead of a pilot the aircraft was operated by what's called make shift autonomous flying software. it flew each time for about half an hour. >>> still ahead this hour, racism and the national football league. the nfl commissioner responds to allegations and a lawsuit just days before the super bowl. plus, there will be blood, sweat and tears. >> and a potentially historic weekend across southern california and the entirety of the state as we have 30 record temperatures possible. the excessive heat alerts and also possibly the warmest super bowl sunday on record. all of that and more comoming u shortly. for rob, it took years to find out why his constipation with belly pain just wouldn't go away. despite all he did to manage his symptoms... day after day. still came the belly pain, discomfort, and bloating, awful feelings he tried not showing. finally with the help of his doctor it came to be, that his symptoms were all signs of ibs-c. and that's why he said yess to adding linzes

so he then went to watt nick, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and proposed to him thatevin nunez. he had a guy, derrick harvey, who was working with him who had been a flynn cohort and tried to get nunez to do something about it. he attempted to reach out to john radcliffe to see what he could do. flynn was really kind of a one-man all hands on deck in his efforts to use military means to overturn the election results. >> yeah. the stuff you got, his responses were telling. flynn has been subpoenaed by the january 6 committee. you write that their interest in him makes him more than a maga circus writer. >> it remains to be seen, it's still a very, very opaque situation, phil, as to just how much planning was involved and what became on january 6th and whether or not that was president trump's intention. whether or not people around him including general flynn were interested in that scenario as well. and the very fact that flynn is talking about these and speaking in that interview, that decided with such casualness about the notion of sending the military into six swi