remember told oprah winfrey that there were conversations about how dark their son's skin might be, they did not repeal who in the royal family said it. they did say that it was not the queen or prince phillip. >> that's right. let's go to max foster, he has been on top of this reporting from the beginning. max, good morning to you. these comments from prince william came after the queen released a statement saying the family would deal with the matter privately, also saying -- expressing her love for harry and meghan, saying they would always be part of the family. are you surprised at all that prince william answered those questions? >> reporter: well, i have to say, i mean, for me this bit of video is one of the big moments of this whole narrative really. you know, there are -- you know, i think the duchess of sussex's issues with a lot of her experiences she had are with the systems in place and this speaks quite to how that system is now breaking down in a way off the back of that big interview. so just for your context in these moments, they are arranged moments, often embargoed moments means we can't talk about them until they've happened for security reasons. this is a reporter at a major network break ago protocol which is not to throw questions out to senior royals in this way. number one, that's something that's broken down, secondly, william, you know, is used to these moments, he does ignore these moments and he decided to speak back. so he's not dealing with this privately as the queen has asked. so that's significant as well. and then it's what he said and, you know, we got to this point in the story where a senior royal is being asked if his family is racist which is just kind extraordinary which is why it's gone down in such an extraordinary way in this country. just you wouldn't imagine to have got to this point really so quickly after this. so i think the broad context here is quite extraordinary, this moment of video and the way the system is breaking down around the monarchy. we also heard there how harry hasn't spoken to william, so that conversation, that private conversation, hasn't started. i think that this is in many ways a very significant moment because they haven't been able to pull it all together since that big bombshell moment and the statement that came from the queen in response. >> yeah. absolutely. max foster, thank you very much. joining us now cnn royal commentator kate williams, cnn reporter salma abdelaziz. a salma, as max laid out how significant this is for this story about the royal family it's also really significant, is it not, for the issue of racism throughout the united kingdom, and the conversation that this is not sparking, but is emphasizing and important changes that need to be made? >> reporter: absolutely, poppy. and i think you're right to say that it is sparking at least more conversations. i will begin by telling you that an anti-racism activist will probably say that william is missing the point and that journalist asking the question is missing the point as well because this is not a matter of who is racist or who is not racist, yes, there is an allegation of racism there that needs to be addressed, but what you're hearing from meghan markle, what you're hearing from prince harry is about a lived experience, it is about the institution of racism, it is about the systems that are at play in this country, how they are made up, those elite institutions and what role they play in perpetuating class systems in this country. i was speaking to an anti-racism activist yesterday and she said, listen, i am tired of explaining the one, two, three's, the a, b, c's of racism. people need to educate themselves on what meghan markle and prince harry were speak being in that interview. that's what that activist was telling me. she was saying this is an opportunity to do the right thing, to take a step back and understand that, again, racism is not about an individual incident, an isolated moment, it is bigger than that. it is about systems at play, it is a conversation and a struggle that will not be won or overcome in a single day or through a single interview. it is a longer journey than that. through all of that screaming and shouting that you're hearing in this debate there should also be hopefully some learning and listening as well. poppy and jim? >> kate, in the queen's statement yesterday she said that the family will deal with this privately. it's clearly not private. i mean, you have prince william being asked about it there, having to respond. the question salma is talking about as it relates to the royal family are very public questions right now. can the palace maintain this or attempt to maintain this as a private conversation? it just doesn't seem that that's the reality right now. >> well, yes, jim, that's the question, isn't it? there was a lot of criticism of the statement of the queen because it says that we're going to deal with this privately when of course this is the head of state of britain, a diverse country and many diverse countries in the commonwealth, jamaica, antigua and also can it be dealt with privately at all. what we have is megan said she made it very clear she has suffered racism, lack of support, deferential treatment. she is the one that is the bi-racial member of the royal family, she knows how it feels. just as salma was talking about it's a big struggle, big question, white people have to educate themselves. is it for someone to say, no, there is no racism at all. the queen says it was concerning. i think a lot of people are saying one of the big problems that meghan talks about very distressingly is that there were false stories put out about her and no one defended her repeatedly. we might say this energy that william has for saying no, absolutely not, where was this energy to defend meghan when she was being so criticized, all this all for coverage and everyone told her sit back, you take it. >> yeah. so it's harder, salma, to investigate, you know, what someone said to -- what someone said to harry multiple times meghan says about the questioning of the -- of their to be baby's skin color, if nothing is in writing, but there's all of this in writing at least meghan says about her plea for help on the mental health front in the palace. that is something that i believe they are investigating, right, and would need to be presented to the public at some point. do you know anything about that? >> reporter: we don't know anything beyond the statements that we have, which of course we had that official statement from the queen a day ago saying this is a private family matter. beyond that we don't know what's going on in terms of any internal investigation, but they did want to keep this private. you heard there from max that protocol has been broken, but to speak again to that experience of mental health issue and along the lines of what you're hearing there from kate, many people in this country will say we often hear that racism does not exist in britain because people look at america and they see police violence, they see black men being shot in the streets and they say that's not happening in britain so racism doesn't exist here. what that interview did for a lot of people in this country is sort of end that gas lighting. say, yes, racism does exist. beyond the individual allegations that we have that the palace does need to explore, racism exists in this country and we need to deal with it. >> salma, thank you for the reporting and to kate as well, we appreciate it very much. also this, back in the united states moments ago newly confirmed attorney general merrick garland arriving at the department of justice. he will be sworn in shortly before addressing the doj's 115,000 employees in virtual remarks. cnn's evan perez is at the justice department. evan, you know, it's not an understatement to say that bill barr's tenure there sparked a lot of reaction and some of his positions, you know, sparked a lot of reaction as well. merrick garland his intention is to reverse some of those positions and decisions. what do we expect him to focus on in his first few days? >> well, i think you're going to see the tone set very early today, jim, with the fact that his first briefing as he said during his confirmation hearing he said that his first briefing was going to be on the capitol riot cases, the january 6th insurrection. so that's going to happen in the next couple of hours. right about now he's getting sworn in by a career justice official, thereafter at 10:00 he is going to address the 115,000 employees of the justice department around the country via live stream given the fact that it's covid times he can't do this in person in the great hall at the justice department with a big crowd. then he goes into this briefing that's going to be led by christopher wray, the fbi director, as well as michael sherwin, the u.s. attorney -- the acting u.s. attorney -- rather he just left as acting u.s. attorney in d.c. they're leading the capitol riot cases. he's also going to walk over there or rather drive over to the -- to the d.c. u.s. attorney's office to get a briefing and meet with those prosecutors. that's an office that he worked in and you remember the fact that this is a time when we're focused on domestic violent extremism, the last time he worked at the justice department merrick garland was leading the investigation of the oklahoma city bombing. again, it's just a return to his roots at the justice department. one of the things you are going to see later today he will be sworn in by kamala harris. it's an interesting thing, jim, because, you know, back when eric holder took office he was sworn in ceremoniously -- the ceremony was done by barack obama, the president. they clearly have decided to use the vice president to do this swearing in because of the political overtones of everything happening at the justice department, including some sensitive investigations, of course, joe biden's son is under investigation at the justice department. so, again, they're trying to, you know, carefully thread the needle here as the new ag takes office. >> that's a really interesting observation, evan. a good point. thank you very much. we will hear more from merrick garland a little bit later. still to come, president biden makes his first prime time address to the nation, it is tonight. we have new details this morning about what he will say. and there's new audio of former president trump pressuring an election investigator in georgia urging that person to find fraud. what are the legal implications for the former president? plus, there is a growing crisis on the border, what's being called a surge in migrant children, could be the next major challenge facing the biden administration. my hygienist cleans with a round head, so does my oral-b. my hygienist personalizes my cleaning, so does my 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president biden will deliver his first prime time address to the nation. this morning we have new details about that speech. in it he is expected to honor the more than 500,000 lost to covid-19 in this country, he will also address the sacrifices made by so many americans one year since the pandemic shut down so much of this country and he will also, we have learned, lay out a hopeful vision of the future. president biden not surprisingly also expected to tout the passage of his $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief package. the american rescue plan as it's called is largely popular among the american people, democrats and republicans, but it did not garner a single support from republicans either in the house or the senate. the president will sign that bill into law tomorrow. joining us now margaret hoover host of pbs's "firing line." john avalon. good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> margaret, a line in the speech talks about providing a hopeful vision of what is possible if we all come together. listen, he was elected in part with a message of bipartisanship, we saw with the covid bill not a single republican vote despite public support for many elements of the bill. i just wonder is this a case of biden referring to the congress he wants rather than the congress he has? i mean, is that vision possible in the current state of washington? >> he think it is possible, jim. look, there is a lot of behind the scenes that happened on this bill and i think what we recognize and i think it's okay that there were some republicans that were trying to get to yes and they just couldn't get prin not out of spite for the president or wanting him to fail or be a one-time president. the dynamics are different than the script that's being replayed from the obama years. i do think especially as we emerge from the virus president biden gives an optimistic vision for what's next coming down the pike if we get this next phase correct. he will have political capital to spend and frankly republicans are going to want to be part of a bipartisan solution if only we can get to this next phase of the pandemic and president biden is credited with having navigated us there. >> yeah. hey, and some republicans, john avalon, who voted against this thing, like parts of t shall we go to mississippi with republican senator wicker who tweeted, independent restaurant operators have won $28.6 billion worth chd targeted relief. the funding will ensure small businesses can survive the pandemic by helping adapt their operations and keeping employees on their payroll. our manu raju asked him you voted against him. he said a fair part, i can like parts of it and not the whole $1.9 trillion. does that give biden more political capital as these lawmakers see the benefits of this money, granted they're concerned about where it puts our country down the road, but when they see it playing out in their state does that give biden more political capital on big initiatives. >> potentially. in the obama era we saw republicans doing ribbon cutting for bills they voted against. wicker is referring to the fact that he had been a strong supporter for the restaurant act, but at the end of the day if you don't back the big bill i'm not sure you get to take a victory lap for the elements you like. there is a reservoir of good will, particularly if this bill works and has a big impact on the economy from a bottom up way. the president is going to need to translate that and tease that tonight about still reaching out despite this heisman he got from republicans in the senate and house on issues like infrastructure and immigration, there are future fights. he is going to have to draw that line as great speeches do from the past to the present to the future. >> guys, i love your optimism, i'm just not buying it. >> i love your passion, jim. >> it didn't get a single republican vote on handing out -- with several things in there that republicans had supported in the past. when you looked at biden's agenda going forward, on background checks, god another gun control is a hot button issue for republicans, they worry about getting primaried if they have any vote against it, the vote writing act is getting attacked. maybe infrastructure, but we've been talking about the bipartisan effort on infrastructure since the stone age. i don't know. tell me i'm wrong, but i'm skeptical that -- >> let me -- jim, i'm going to push back. i'm going to push back. i do think there is a real chance with infrastructure. i do think if biden navigates this next phase of the pandemic successfully, if he says, look, we are going to be independent from this virus by independence day, go get vaccinated, keep your masks on and do you know how much good will he will have. he can leverage that, exchange that, turn into that political capital by infrastructure is one of them. i'm going to give you another one, the equality act has several republicans on the sidelines trying to figure out how to amend it so that it can balance religious freedom with lgbt protection. that would be extraordinary. i do think that there is real hope but we have to get through this next phase of the pandemic. >> well, from your lips to god's ears. sorry, john. >> i will grant you this, you know, the fundamental problem is representative democracy is supposed to represent the people and when you have a bill that's got super majority support, including almost a majority of republicans and it doesn't get a single vote, that's a problem. that's a problem with republicans being increasingly resistant to the idea of democracy and representative government and they're going to have to bridge that and it's because they're afraid of a primary to your point. they have to get over that fear and do what they think is right. >> it's the political intent tiffs and they are pointing in the opposite direction. longer conversation, gerrymandering, there is a reason roy blunt just left the senate. margaret and john, we love having you on. >> yes, we do. glass half full couple right there. okay. today marks one year since the world health organization declared covid-19 a pandemic. the entire world has lived in the shadow of this virus ever since. up next, our dr. sanjay gupta shows us how we got to this point and what we learned. learn more at phoenix.edu here's another cleaning tip from mr. clean. cleaning tough bathroom and kitchen messes with sprays and wipes can be a struggle. there's an easier way. try mr. clean magic eraser. just wet, squeeze and erase tough messes like bathtub soap scum... and caked-on grease from oven doors. now mr. clean magic eraser comes in disposable sheets. they're perfect for icky messes on stovetops... in microwaves... and all over the house. for an amazing clean, try mr. clean magic eraser, and mr. clean magic eraser sheets. many plug-ins are stuck in the past. they release a lot of scent at first but after a while, you barely know they're working. new febreze fade defy plug works differently. it's the first plug-in with built-in technology to digitally control how much scent is released to smell 1st day fresh for 50 days. it even tells you when it's ready to be refilled. upgrade to febreze fade defy plug. it's been a year, one year ago today, life as we all knew it really in so many ways came to a standstill because a year ago today is when the world health organization declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic. since then more than 2.6 million people have died from it around the world, more than 529,000 right here in the united states. >> millions more suffered the economic hardships of losing their jobs, struggling to feed their families. there is hope on the horizon. vaccines are ramping up in this country, much needed financial relief on its way to millions of americans. cnn's dr. sanjay gupta shows us how we got here and how we can move forward. >> the world health organization is finally calling the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. >> that was march 11th, 2020, and this word "pandemic" came to define our very lives, but it was months earlier that the world health organization was first trying to get our attention. >> i'm declaring a public health emergency of international concern over the global outbreak of novel coronavirus. >> the importance of that is that you raise the alarm before you're in a situation where the world is in a pandemic. >> maria is the w.h.o.'s technical lead for the coronavirus response. >> the worrying trend now are increases in europe. >> whether on our town halls or daily w.h.o. news conferences, for the last year she's been trying to change the trajectory of the pandemic. did countries respond differently? did they have more resources? what happens when the world health organization raises these alarms? >> every country is unique. it wasn't about rich or poor countries, it was about experience. it was about those countries that knew the threat that this was, they heeded our warnings. >> she points to places like south korea, japan, nigeria. they heeded those warnings and have managed to keep transmission relatively under control, but prepared or not, this novel coronavirus has been a tricky opponent. >> one of the important factors of learning about this virus was that people were most infectious at or around the time they developed symptoms. so the fact that people could spread this virus without feeling unwell was a game changer in that sense. >> but while infectious disease outbreaks typically crush poorer countries, this novel coronavirus has dispro disproportionately affected many of the world's wealthiest nations. close to 9,000 cases per 100,000 people in the united states, 156 deaths per 100,000 people, compare that to india where it's about a tenth of that. even though they have some of the most population dense areas in the world. what accounts for this huge disparity between wealthy and poor countries? >> you can have really, really good medical systems in countries, hospitals, the best treatments in the world, but that doesn't make up for the fundamentals of public health. in public health it's more about prevention, you know, what do you do to prevent a situation from really taking hold? as opposed to caring for those who are sick. >> now in the second year of the pandemic the cavalry has arrived, but so has a more advanced enemy. so she said we not only need to be nimble when it comes to these new variants but stresses we also need to get vaccines to all countries. according to the people's vaccine alliance rich nations are vaccinating one person every second, while the majority of the poorest nations have yet to administer a single dose. >> every life on this planet matters. look at those images of planes arriving in countries around the world. if you are not touched by that, if you are not moved by that, we need to see why that is. but everyone on this planet deserves to be protected. >> shot by shot, the world has started to see some hope and for those countries who did heed the w.h.o.'s warnings, they are giving us a glimpse into a post-pandemic life. >> i see societies that are opened up, i see sporting events that are happening, i see a resilient community that is living their life. that has driven transmission down in some situations to zero, but i see communities and governments that are at the ready. >> at the ready is exactly where the world will need to be. not only for this pandemic, but for future ones as well. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. light at the end of the tunnel. what a year. all right. this just into cnn, a judge has just reinstated the third degree murder charge against former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin. this is in the killing of george floyd. more next. this is the epson ecotank color printer. no more buying cartridges. big ink tanks. lots of ink. print about this many pages. the new epson ecotank. just fill and chill. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' 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[music: “i will always love you”] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. ♪if i should stay♪ ♪i would only be in your way♪ ♪and i...♪ ♪...will always love you♪ ♪i will always...♪ like you, my hands are everything to me. but i was diagnosed with dupuytren's contracture. and it got to the point where things i took for granted got tougher to do. thought surgery was my only option. turns out i was wrong. so when a hand specialist told me about nonsurgical treatments, it was a total game changer. like you, my hands have a lot more to do. learn more at factsonhand.com today. a judge in minnesota has just reinstated a third degree murder charge against former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin who of course killed george floyd. this in addition to a second degree what's known as unintentional murder charge and a second degree manslaughter charge, in effect, poppy, three options for the jury. >> yep, that's a really good point, it does broaden the options for the jury to consider. let's go to our colleague omar jimenez who is covering this trial from minneapolis. everyone will remember you were there in the days following the death of george floyd and the weeks after that. can you explain the significance of adding a third degree charge here aside from another option? what does it hold, what does it mean? >> reporter: yeah, so of course, aside from adding just another option, another target for prosecutors, it essentially broadens the scope of what they can actually look at. now, the reason it was thrown out in the first place, judge peter cahill dropped this third degree murder charge back in october, is that largely it was viewed as sort of if you fired a gun into a crowd and you killed someone without actually intending to kill that person was how it was sort of being viewed and the judge did not feel that that, among other reasons, did not feel that that applied to this case. now, the reason this became reconsidered, even in the first place or at least the appeals court judge said you had to reconsider reinstating this is because of a separate case playing out in the minnesota judicial system involving a police officer who was convicted on a third degree murder charge and it was upheld by the court of appeals. so when you looked at the motions that were being gone over this morning, just a few moments ago, that was something that the judge cited saying that appeals court decision made things immediately press dimension and so he was forced to now follow that precedent or at least consider it more seriously. we weren't sure if he was going to rule on it this morning, we knew he was going to hear arguments, but judge of cahill in hennepin county reinstated a third degree murder charge against derek chauvin. >> let's bring in eli honig. what's the significance of this for officer chauvin, but then remember the three other officers who will also be tried in august. >> yeah, so, poppy, this is a significant win for the prosecutors. remember, the prosecutors initially indicted this case using this third degree charge, which charges what we call depraved mind murder, meaning even if the prosecutors cannot prove that derek chauvin intentionally assaulted or intentionally killed george floyd, they can still get a guilty verdict if they can show that he acted knowing that something was exceptionally dangerous, but did it anyway. what this is is sort of a fall back option. as a prosecutor you always want to give the jury a second way in case they can't agree on the top charge to still get to a guilty verdict. >> elie, you know how difficult history has shown, recent history has shown how difficult it is to convict cops in killings like this. it is the nature of the law, the nature of the way the law is written. based on having these three options here, that third degree murder, does it have a lower standard of evidence? does it in your view practically make it more likely prosecutors can get to a conviction? >> it is sort of the middle of the three charges now, it's the middle in terms of difficulty to prove, it's the middle in terms of overall maximum penalty. the top charge here is the second degree murder. for that the prosecutors are going to have to show an intentional assault or an intentional killing. is that carries a fort year max. this new charge slots it in the middle and you have to show this depraved mind. the lowest charge is the manslaughter charge which is negligence, that has a ten year max, the middle one has a 25 year max. jim, as you said, it's difficult to convict police officers. if juries get stuck they like to compromise. i have seen it happen. if they can meet in the middle this could be a point for them to do that. >> interesting. >> that's really interesting. elie, thank you so much on that. >> thanks, poppy and jim. well, there is clearly a surge of migrant children at the southern border and it has administration officials scrambling to try to find felter space for them, a vacant nasa site is what they may be using next. also, what does this pose in terms of a challenge for the biden administration. ah ahead. genuine idaho potatoes not just a side dish anymore. always look for the grown in idaho seal. dry, distressed skin that struggles? new aveeno® restorative skin therapy. with our highest concentration of prebiotic oat intensely moisturizes over time to improve skin's resilience. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature™. california phones offers free specialized phones... like cordless phones. - ( phone ringing ) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones.ce. get details on this state program. visit right now or call during business hours. now california phones offers free devices and accessories for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program visit right now or call during business hours. president biden's pledge to take a more humane approach to immigration is facing an early critical test. more than 3,400 minors who crossed the southern border alone are now in customs and border protection custody as of tuesday. that number had peaked around 2,600 under the trump administration. the overwhelming surge is pushing the biden administration to consider a vacant nasa site in california as a potential temporary housing facility. joining me now to discuss this issue is the white house correspondent for "the new york times" and he has covered immigration and national security for the "times." good to have you on this morning. i wonder what your reporting shows and what cbp officials say about what's behind this surge. i mean, is it driven in part by a belief among the migrants but also smugglers that they will be more likely to be admitted to the u.s. under biden? >> jim, it's a combination of the long-standing drivers that we've seen really push migrants to leave their home and seek sanctuary in the u.s. as well as some new factors. so let's talk about those. you know, it's poverty, persecution, gang violence when you talk to experts. we should note as well that there were two hurricanes last year as well and that took a toll on that region, as well as the pandemic taking a toll on that economy. but i must say as well when i was recently at the border there were some families who mentioned all of those being a factor, but also said that there was new hope given this new administration. that they had hope that maybe their claims for protection would be processed. you heard top administration official robert tajae could be son say yesterday -- acknowledge that some of these migrants may have felt new hope with biden coming in. >> okay. >> that combined as well with the communication from smugglers encouraging them to tomorrow to the border as well. >> is that hope misplaced? does the biden administration have a better plan for dealing with these folks? they're struggling, right, just to find the space to house them in a humane way. >> the biden administration's approach thus far to the border has been unwinding some of the trump administration's policies, but keeping a major consequential trump rule in place with one exception. let me explain that. the biden administration is still rapidly turning away most migrants across the board, most asylum seekers, single adults and most families, but they have broken from the trump administration in one major way to make good on that compassionate pledge that you mentioned at the top and that's that they are not rapidly turning away children and teenagers. >> okay. >> now there is an issue. how do you safely process those teenagers? they are supposed to be moved out of those border facilities quickly and put into shelters managed by hhs, but those shelters have been at reduced capacity until last week given the pandemic, which has led to this backlog, this bottleneck in the system and now you have these teenagers and children, more than 3,000 as you noted, stuck in these border facilities. >> let me ask you, we all remember those images of children being held in cage-like pens under trump. has the biden administration improved those conditions? >> you know, it's unclear as of now. you know, we heard from a top cbp official yesterday, acting commissioner troy miller, who said that there are showers available every 48 hours, they're making sure to provide food to these children and teenagers, but as you said, you know, at the height of the trump administration -- at the height -- in spring of 2019, last year when 2,of 00 young migrants were stuck in those jail-like facilities during the trump administration, that's where we saw reports of those terrible conditions, of the spread of disease, of the lack of showers. so we'll have to see going forward, especially if crossings continue, if the biden administration is able to actually care for these children. >> we will be watching closely. we know you will as well. zollen, thanks so much. >> thank you for having me. >> we will be right back. ofi, io condense all of my loans under one account. i was able to lower my monthly payments and feel like i'm well on my way to becoming debt free. and i have sofi to thank for that. i'm morgan, and there's more to me than hiv. more love,... more adventure,... more community. but with my hiv treatment,... there's not more medicines in my pill. i talked to my doctor... and switched to... fewer medicines with dovato. prescription dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. with... just 2 medicines... in 1 pill,... dovato is as effective as a 3-drug regimen... to help you reach and stay undetectable. research shows people who take hiv treatment as prescribed... and get to and stay undetectable... can no longer transmit hiv through sex. don't take dovato if you're allergic to any of its ingredients... or if you take dofetilide. hepatitis b can become harder to treat while taking dovato. do not stop dovato without talking to your doctor,... as your hepatitis b may worsen or become life-threatening. serious or life-threatening side effects can occur, including... allergic reactions, lactic acid buildup, and liver problems. if you have a rash and other symptoms of an allergic reaction,... stop taking dovato and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis b or c,... or if you are, may be, or plan to be pregnant. your doctor may prescribe a different medicine... than dovato if you plan to be pregnant or if pregnancy is confirmed during the first trimester. dovato may harm your unborn baby. use effective birth control... while taking dovato. most common side effects are headache, nausea,... diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. so much goes... into who i am. hiv medicine is one part of it. ask your doctor about dovato—i did. . republican-backed bills restricting voting keep advancing across the country. the latest in the state of florida. a senate panel has passed a bill that would totally ban drop boxes that are used for mail-in ballots. limiting drop boxes is up for debate in the state of georgia. georgia state republicans are on the brink of passing two separate pretty sweeping bills, hb-531 and sb-231, both restricting voter access. democrats sounding the alarm on them. >> members of this body, aided and abetted a deliberate misinformation campaign to sow seeds of doubt among georgia voters. you are choosing to support a bill that is so egregious that it is nationally known as jim crow in a suit and tie. >> that was democratic georgia state representative b. wend. she is the first vietnamese american holding the seat held previously by stacey abrams. good morning and thank you for the time. >> good morning. >> pretty serious allegation that you call these suit and tie versions of the jim crow. the republican defense is they reduce costs, they say they relief stress on the election workers and ensure fairness and that is what your republican colleagues say. it looks very likely that they will not only pass both chambers but they will get signed in law by the governor. then what? then what is democrats yes next month. >> republicans are in a tenuous place right now. we have republican leadership in a position where they don't necessarily support those things. so when they passed the elimination of the no excuse absentee ballot it was the lieutenant governor who chose to boycott that vote. he's the ranking republican on that side and he's lost control of his members. so we're unclear as to what the governor will sign into law. he knows he has a competitive gubernatorial election next year. we'll be likely facing stacey abrams. he's lost some of his base. he's still trying to aline himself with the former president and the former president quite likely doesn't like him and the republican is factures. you have republicans who fundamentally believe that the election was free and fair. they understand that it was a safe and secure election. but they're being pressured by a fraction of their party that wants them to push forward these voter suppression bills. you know, as we saw in the house side, every single republican voted for house bill 531 and the republicans who oppose the the omnibus senate bill took a walk instead of actively voting no. >> right. i saw that. so if the bills are signed into law, the way they exist now, i suppose your only bet would be on federal law, that would be hr-1, and there is zero evidence that that is going to get anywhere in a senate unless there is an elimination of the filibuster. i know you're supportive of hr-1rks i guess i wonder do you have any concerns that that sweeping 791 page bill takes away too much power from the states? >> i absolutely -- not in terms of hr-1, but i have concerns about what happens if we don't pass hr-1. and georgia has faced voter suppression laws. i've seen them every single year and we've relied on litigation to over come some of this and we have been successful in litigation. so i think for most democrats here in the state, most organizers here in the state, we kind of understand what we're facing. although never as aggressive as before. but we certainly know this will be litigated in court. we know that we will be able to win some of these suits even without hr-1. but hr-1 would act as a shield. >> final question. i thought jennifer rubin in "the washington post" this week wrote a really interesting op-ed, she's saying that president biden should consider a task force or a voting rights campaign czar saying legislation isn't enough to ensure truly free voting across the country. she said you need to enlist civil society and figure out how to thread the needle in the senate and leverage business interests. what do you think? >> i think we do need the business interest involved in this, right. so here we are in the state of georgia relying on the federal government to come in and pass hr-1 but there are many stakeholders at the table andure corporations have been silent of what is happening in our state and they are strong and powerful lobbying arm and corporations should understand that voters are their consumers and their workers and so for us to not see anything from them, it is problematic. we're waiting for corporations to stand up for voters in georgia. >> thank you very much bea wen, it's good to have you. >> and now something important to us, the entire cnn family. jim and i allow with the cnn family want to make a minute to remember a very brave and special little girl. today would have been her first birthday. this is francesca kosinski. she was the daughter of andrew and rachel. she died of a rare form of brain cancer on christmas eve and she was only nine months old. >> our hearts go out to her hold family. so cnn is launching the #teambeansbeanie. we have tweeted about it this morning. all proceeds will go to fund research at the dana farber cancer institute which is fantastic by the way, where beans was treated. proceeds will specifically help fund research and treatment for this very rare form of cancer, typically seen infants. so just purchase one of these beanies at teambeans.shop and just know andrew and rachel, we're thinking of you today. it is a small thing. it is a really easy website, folks. we've tweeted about it and instagramed about it and a small gesture for them and that little girl. good morning, everyone, it is the top of the hour. i'm poppy harlow. >> and i'm jim sciutto. tonight, president biden is set to address the american people from the east room of the white house. it is his first prime time addres