were that to happen. governor cuomo moments ago attempted some rank revisionism on what biden said. >> if you -- if you committed a crime, you can be prosecuted. that's true, but what president biden said was we should do an investigation. the question to president biden starts with do you think the governor should resign, or do you think there should be a review first? and the president said there should be a review. >> that's not what happened. here's what president biden told abc news george stephanopoulos. >> i know you've said that you want the investigation to continue. if the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign? >> yes. i think he probably will end up being prosecuted, too. >> quite different. cnn's bryn gringas joins me now from albany. you listened to the cuomo news conference. in addition to the revisionism that he attempted, what jumped out at you about how the governor characterized what's going on versus what the attorney general is investigating? >> reporter: yeah, well, jake, i think you said it well. he just tried to downplay it, and when we were listening to this news conference, the governor actually didn't answer the question until it was actually asked twice. one reporter sort of paraphrased what the president had said in that interview with george stephanopoulos, and he said you characterized what he said wrong and then asked for the next question. the follow-up question the reporter verbatim read what you just played for your viewers, and that's when cuomo actually had forced to really say the comment that you again just played for your viewers. again, you mentioned, boyden is the one who brought up this idea of prosecution which is something that says basically he thinks that these harassment allegations, these other allegations against the governor are so egregious that maybe prosecution might come into play. keep in mind, right now, jake, the new york attorney general's investigation into cuomo is a fact-finding probe at this point. it isn't a criminal prosecution inquiry investigation. however, leticia james, the new york attorney general here, has said if she does find criminality in this investigation, if the attorneys who are leading it find it, it will be referred to a prosecutor for possibly a criminal investigation. so it was certainly interesting how the president said that and then how cuomo responded to it the second time today. >> and in addition to the attorney general of the state of new york leticia james doing her investigation, there's also this impeachment inquiry into these allegations. the new york state assembly today announced the name of the law firm that will be leading the inquiry. the first accuser to speak out against cuomo, lindsay boylan, and the lawyer for the second of cuomo's accusers charlotte bennett, both of them have raised issues with this law firm picked by the new york state assembly which we should note is run by the democratic party. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. not each just those two accusers, jake, but a lot of people on social media because they noticed a conflict of interest. now, that law firm was announced by the speaker today as davis, pope and wardel law firm and the notable thing is that a member of the law firm, a partner for decades, was a person or is a person who is close to cuomo, has been appointed to several board positions in the state by cuomo, is also married to the chief judge in this state janet difiori who you remember the governor tried to get her to oversee the investigation that the attorney general now has in her hands. there's a lot of questions as to why exactly this law firm was pirksd and like you said charlotte bennett's attorney came out and said, you know, she may not participate in this investigation. she has paused to because of this conflict of interest, so we'll have to see how that goes forward, but i will tell you the speaker has said they didn't find any conflict of interest when actually picking this law firm for the investigation. >> thanks. bryn. let's turn now to gloria borger. let's start with biden saying cuomo should resign if the allegations are proven true and he can be prosecuted and that sounds really significant. >> that's why governor cuomo tried to downplay it. it is significant. the president knows and understands what the story is here and that lots of democrats are calling for cuomo to resign office. the president is not going that far. he has called for a thorough investigation, but i think this was his way of saying to cuomo this is how serious i believe this is, that should they find anything, this can lead to criminal prosecution, period, and cuomo saying, well, he didn't say that. he said, you know, that we should have an investigation first. yes, he did say that, but on his open, as you point out, he raised the issue of criminal prosecution which he was not asked about. >> yeah. i don't think cuomo called it an investments i think he kept calling it a review. >> a review, right. >> interesting language, and nia, i mean this, comes after 16 out of the 19 house democrats representing new york have called for cuomo to accept down. the senate majority leader chuck schumer and senator kirsten gillibrand called for him to step down, and here you have biden raising the specter of prosecution. cuomo, of course, trying to act as if none of this is happening. >> exactly. that's been his posture all along, and at this point i think he's relying on polls in new york that say that most people do not want him to resign. i think it's something like 50% of folks want him to stay in office. the thing about this is he does not have to resign, right in the only way to remove him from office is the impeachment proceedings that seem to be moving fairly quickly with democrats leading the charge. it has been something of a sea change for andrew cuomo over these last days to see how many top democrats have come out against him and most recently with biden who hadn't really been out front on this talking about this to come out and now say that these charges are very serious, these allegations that a number of women have made against him could lead to prosecution if it is found that he's guilty of these allegations. >> gloria, you and i are old enough to remember the clinton years. >> yeah. >> and there's a script going on here that's very familiar. you see governor cuomo doing events with african-american political leaders, people who are a key part of the democratic coalition, and you see this effort by people in his circle to smear his accusers. >> yeah. we went through that with bill clinton. what is different here that is sort of interesting to me is the democratic party itself because, jake, you remember at that time that the democratic party itself circled the wagons around bill clinton. women's groups circled the wagons around bill clinton and protected him. in this particular instance it's the democrats were calling bill clinton who are now coming out and saying no, not again, so you see the opposite happening with a lot of these democrats and a lot of, you know, generally pro-democratic groups saying we cannot excuse this. >> and we should note, nia, there are a lot of republicans in new york, congressman lei zeldin, congresswoman elise stefanik who are acting very offended by what cuomo has done who had not one word to say about the dozens of women who accused former president trump of not only sexual harassment but in some cases sexual assault. >> yeah. a lot of hypocrisy there among republicans who are pointing to governor cuomo and the situation he finds himself in, and initially they were pointing to democrats and saying why aren't democrats calling on him to resign? why aren't democrats treating him much more harshly and as gloria pointed out we've seen what has happened over the last many days with democrats really forcefully calling on him to resign, and listen, this is different from what we saw with bill clinton. we saw something i think of a change with what happened with al franken and this party, democrats, knowing that -- that women are such an important part of their constituency and in somebody like -- like joe biden you have somebody who the face of the violence against women's act and that is something that you'll hear him talk about i think throughout his presidency, important for his administration i think to put a line in the sand and come out in the way that they did against governor cuomo. >> biden would not be in office if it were not for women voters. >> that's right. appreciate it. the one question the cdc director refused to answer not once, not twice but three times about the pandemic today. what is it? plus, new details about the suspect accused of shooting and killing eight people at spas throughout georgia. what his roommate is now revealing about this horrific crime. that's ahead. ♪ for every idea out there, that gets the love it should ♪ ♪ there are 5 more that don't succeed ♪ ♪ and so are lost for good ♪ ♪ and some of them are pretty flawed ♪ ♪ and some of them are slightly odd ♪ ♪ but many are small businesses that simply lack the tool ♪ ♪ to find excited people who will stop and say 'that's cool'♪ ♪ and these two, they like this idea ♪ ♪ and those three like that one.♪ ♪ and that's 'cause personalized ads ♪ ♪ find good ideas for everyone ♪ i always dreamed of having kids of my own. ♪ ♪ now i'm ready for someone to call me mom. at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. in our health lead, after several weeks of good news today growing concerns that maybe changing. more than a dozen states are now seeing a rise in covid cases, and the cdc is warning about two new strains. first detected in california that they are calling variants of concern which the cdc says may be 20% more transmissible, and as cnn's alexandra field reports now today the cdc director sparred with republicans on capitol hill over who is responsible for coronavirus deaths in the u.s. >> it's a yes or no, d dr. walensky. >> not once, not twice, but three times cdc director walensky refusing to say if she would blame president trump for 500,000 american deaths. >> is that a accurate statement that trump killed 500,000 people? >> i came into this office on january 20th. >> did he or did he not kill 500,000 people? >> i think the effect of this pandemic is more defactorial. >> i would appreciate it if you would give a straight answer. >> there are many, many reasons why we as a country fawere unab to tackle this pandemic that resulted in over 500,000 deaths. >> reporter: nearly 40 million people now fully vaccinated. president joe biden focusing on the next hurdle ahead, vaccine hesitancy. >> i don't understand this macho thing. i'm not going to get the vaccine. i have a right as an american, my freedom to not do it. why don't you be a patriot and protect other people. >> the urgency to get as many people vaccinated as possible growing as the cdc officially labels five strains of the virus already detected in the u.s. as variants of concern meaning they could be more transmissible and perhaps less treatable. >> we don't have enough people vaccinated yet to make a real difference in infections. >> reporter: those variants fueling worries about another surge with warning signs already appearing in states across the country. nationally new cases remain down overall, but 14 states are reporting a week-to-week increase of more than 10%. delaware, montana and alabama posting gains of more than 30% with michigan leading the way. cases there are up a whopping 53% since last week. >> it's going to be a close call. we're vaccinating really well. that's the good news. these variants are spreading pretty quickly across the country. that's the bad news. >> reporter: spring breakers are flooding beaches and bars in some cities. that's worrying to health officials combined with st. patrick's day parties. the cdc hasn't yet issued updated travel guidance for people who are fully vaccinated. >> we're revisiting the travel question. >> reporter: yet there's already a new record stretch of air travel during the pandemic. according to the tsa more than 7 million people flying in just the last six days. >> i do think the next six to eight weeks could be rough. >> reporter: and, jake, while we rex pecting to hear some new travel guidance from the cdc, we're also expecting to hear new guidance from the agency on schools. they are currently looking at studies that show that three feet of physical distancing in schools could be sufficient versus six feet, and that may go a long way towards helping the biden administration accomplish a key goal, getting more kids back to school. jake. >> very important issue. alexandra field in new york. thanks so much. joining us to discuss is chief cnn medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. sanjay, what worries you the most about the two new coronavirus strains? >> well, so these two variants of concern are more transmissible, and i think that that's probability biggest concern. i'll just show you. we looked at impact of something that's more transmissible versus simply more lethal, and if you lack at something, for example, 50% more transmissible, that would lead to a lot more deaths after a month than something that was 50% more lethal because it spreads into communities, affects vulnerable populations, so the transmissibility thing is a concern. also, the fact that people who have antibodies because they have been previously infected, there's some evidence that those antibodies don't work as well against these strains, so we're seeing the race that everyone is talking about between the variants and the vaccine play out in real life. this is an example of that. even people who have been previously infected, they need to get vaccinated, and this is why, because their antibodies may not be as protective and those are the biggest concerns with these types of variants. >> but the vaccines work against these variants? >>ia. so the vaccines seem to offer more protection other than just the antibodies that you get from natural protection -- natural infection rather, so i think that's a real important point. a lot of people out there say yeah, i had it. i don't need the vaccine. to date -- what's happening today in the news should remind people that even if you've had the infection in the past, antibodies you have, the proteins that you have in your blood may not be protective against some of the new variants so still get vaccinated when you can. a number of european countries have had to issue lockdown orders again because of rising new case counts. do you think, it's obviously a race, but do you think the u.s. can vaccinate enough adults to reach a real herd immunity through vaccination before these variants of concern spread more and potentially force more shutdowns? >> well, you know, jake, i've been talking to a lot of people about this. i think, first of all, it would be hard to imagine people shutting down again. i mean, and i'm not saying it shouldn't happen. i'm just saying that one thing that we've seen throughout the last year is the complete reluctance to shut things down. maybe it happens again, but i think it's very unlikely. what causes a shutdown in the united states versus other countries n.italy they are shutting down because of rights case numbers. the thing that would sort of force it here is -- is the hospitalizations. if hospitalizations are becoming over -- hospitals are becoming overwhelmed, that might be something that really forces a shutdown so to speak, but, jake, i'm optimistic on this note despite the fact that we typically track wittily there, and we see italy going up so we're likely to go up. because 60% -- two-thirds of people over the age of 60 at least have one shot now and within the next couple of weeks they are going to be immunized, i think it's up likely we're going to see the corresponding proportional increase in hospitalizations or deaths. i hope i'm not wrong on that, but i think because so many people have been vaccinated, even if the case numbers stay the same or go up, hopefully it's not going to lead to an overwhelming of hospitals again. >> i hope you're right. at least 16 european countries have now suspended use of the astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine and a safety committee in europe is now investigating if there's any link between the vaccine and vaccinated people who got blood clots. now, let me remind our viewers the astrazeneca vaccine is not being used in the united states right now so this is not necessarily an issue that's relevant, but astrazeneca may come to the united states and fauci tried to dismiss some of the concerns about it today. take a listen. >> the actual incidence of the clotting is not more than you would expect in the population in the absence of vaccines, so that's why they are insisting that the concern is not founded on the reality of what's gone on. >> what's your take on this? fauci saying what basically you said yesterday, that this isn't necessarily an issue that the europeans should be reacting like this about. >> yeah. i think, you know, their antennas are way up like we said yesterday. they are looking for anything right now which i think is undertandable frankly. i mean, in some ways it's evidence that the safety monitoring that takes place is working, but as a result, you know, you can sort of overreact as well. you start to draw these correlations that really aren't there. i think what dr. fauci said and a lot of other people who are taking care of patients even in europe will say is that there is -- there is a certain percentage of people at any given time outside of the pandemic, outside of the vaccination campaign that just shelled she is spontaneous clotting disorders and the number of people who do that spontaneously is no higher under the people who have received vaccines. what we need is the european medical agency to come out and be definitive about this and not wishy washy because i think the great impact of this may be increasing vaccine hesitancy as opposed to a real danger of the vaccine so, you know, they have got to be strong about that. >> dr. sanjay gupta, thanks as always. god to see you. eight people killed in three separate shootings at massage parlors in georgia, and now we're learning about the suspect's past including why he spent time in rehab. stay with us. good morning, mr. sun. good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. i'm gonna grow big and strong. yes, you are. i'm gonna get this place all clean. i'll give you a hand. and i'm gonna put lisa on crutches! wait, what? said she's gonna need crutches. she fell pretty hard. you might want to clean that up, girl. excuse us. when owning a small business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. -and i'm gonna -- -eh, eh, eh. -donny, no. -oh. -and i'm gonna -- -eh, eh, eh. 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. ♪ (car horn) ♪ turn today's dreams into tomorrow's trips... with millions of flexible booking options. all in one place. expedia. and we're back with the politics lead and president biden's message to would-be migrants, quote. don't come to the u.s. yet migrants are coming across the u.s. southern border at record levels according to the department of homeland security and thousands of them are children, and they are alone. once in the u.s., many of these children go into u.s. detention facilities where many are sleeping on plastic cots and others on mats on the floor. a border agent tells cnn and in some cases the children have not seen sunlight or taken a shower in days but as cnn's phil mattingly reports for us now top biden officials still seem to downplay the severity of what's become a humanitarian crisis. >> i can say quite clearly don't come. >> reporter: president biden with a lud and clear message to migrants making the dangerous trek to the u.s. >> what we're in the process of getting set up. don't leave your town or city or community. >> reporter: biden attempting to halt the perception that he's played a role in the surge of unaccompanied minors at the border as his homeland security secretary echoed that sentiment on capitol hill and sharply pushed back on questions on why the administration won't call it a crisis. >> a crisis is when a nation is willing to rip a 9-year-old child out of the hands of his or her parent and separate that family to deter future migration. that to me is a humanitarian crisis. >> the administration now facing more than 4,000 minors in border patrol custody for on average more than 120 hours, far longer than the legally allotted 72 hours with cnn reporting that conditions include children alternating schedules to make space for one another. kids who haven't seen sunlight in days all going days without showers. biden saying in an abc interview policy solutions are being put into place and making clear that it will take time. >> we have brought in hhs and also brought in fema to provide for enough safe facilities for them to -- to get out of the control of the border patrol which are not designed to hold people for long periods of time, particularly children. get them out of those facilities. >> the immigration crisis threatening to swamp biden's agenda even as administration gears up for its next push bush, a infrastructure package with biden making clear that in order to pay for it will require tax increases. >> anyone making more than $400,000 you'll pay more taxes. >> even though republicans say higher taxes are a non-starter. >> how are you going get a republican vote for for a tax increase? >> i won't get it but i'll get the democrat votes. >> another decision is whether to withdraw u.s. troops from afghanistan. his predecessor president trump set a may 1st deadline and in last night's interview said it could happen and criticized the deal struck by the trump administration and said consulting with allies in the process of figuring out next steps there. jake? >> phil mattingly, thanks so much. in our national lead president biden says he'll not make a connection on possible motives for the gruesome shootsings around atlanta that left eight people dead. six of them women of asian descent until the department of justice weighs. in the shootings took place at three spas in the atlanta area about an hour apart and moments ago police announced that the suspect will face eight counts of murder, and as cnn's natasha chen reports for us now, after a rise of reported hate crimes against asian-americans, that community is now even more on edge. >> reporter: he spent time in rehab for sex addiction. that's according to the former roommate of the suspect in a horrific string of shootings at three atlanta-area spas that killed eight people and wounded one other. we now know six of the victims are of asian descent. the suspect robert aaron long told investigators the attacks were not racially motivated but rather an attempt to target places that he thought would be a temptation. >> he has a sex addiction and sees these locations as something that allows him to -- to go to these places and it's a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate. >> the first calls came at 5:00 p.m., a shooting at young's massage in georgia 40 miles northwest of atlanta. two vic times died at the scene and two died at the hospital. from there the suspect drove to atlanta. at 5:47 p.m. atlanta police responded to a call of a possible robbery at gold massage spa. there they found three asian women who had been killed and across the street at aroma therapy spa one asian woman was killed. >> so it's pretty shocking for not only the responding deputies and public safety and also the community here. we take this very serious. >> reporter: law enforcement said long admitted to the shootings in a police interview. when police released this surveillance images of him they say the family 261-year-old long called authorities and investigators then tracked him via cell phone 150 miles south of atlanta where he was arrested. >> the suspect was on his way to florida i believe and perhaps to carry out additional shootings, so, again, this could have been significantly worse. >> reporter: the fact that the majority of victims were asian women mounts to the tension in the asian-american community after a rise in reporting of anti-asian attacks across the country, something of which vice president kamala harris, part southeast asian, is keenly aware. >> it is tragic. our country, the president and i and all of us, we greef for the loss. our prayers are extended to the families of those who have been killed. >> reporter: one of the suspect's former roommates has spoken to cnn describing him as someone who was deeply religious and tortured and distraught over his sexual addiction. now today we've also heard from the sheriff of cherokee county. that's location where the first attack happened. he was asked about whether the suspect in his interview sounded like he understood the seriousness of his actions. here's what the sheriff said. >> he understood the gravity of it, and he was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope and yesterday it was a really bad day for him and this is what he did. >> reporter: so he says right there that it was a really bad day for the suspect. well, here's what we know about that. someone told police last night that long had recently been kicked out of his parent's house and was emotional, but clearly, jake, this is something where investigators are going back into his history. there's a lot of discussion about what addiction he had and whether or not this was thought about far longer than just this week. jake? >> all right. natasha, thank you so much. appreciate it. president biden sends a message to vladimir putin that he's not dealing with president trump anymore. that's next. so you want to make the best burger ever? then make it! that means cooking day and night until you get... 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(burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. . in our world lead, a threat from president biden to russian leader vladimir putin on interfering in the 2020 election. >> he will pay a price. we had a long talk, he and i. i know him relatively well, and the conversation started off. i said i know you and you know me. the if i establish this occurred, then be prepared. >> those comments come on the heels of a newly declassified intelligence report which found that russia, among other countries, interfered with our election again to help former president trump and denigrate now president biden. the report revealing just how extensive putin's efforts were including mounting efforts to influence people in trump's inner circle. joining me to discuss the former director of the cyber director and agency chris krebs fired by president trump because he would not support the big lie which is a decision that aged pretty well, chris. so biden talked about an exchange he had in his office back in 2011. take a listen. >> president bush had said i've looked into his eyes and saw his soul. i said looked in his eyes and i said i don't think you have a soul and he looked back at me and he said we understand each other. >> if you believe that story, what's the difference in tone that we're seeing between biden and boutin? >> at least from the head of state it's a night and day difference. it's talking, you know, very clearly about exchanges. it's talking about, you know, what might be to come. it's not coming out of the blue. it's not coming from cabinet heads. it's actually coming from the president of the united states. you get readouts of conversations. they are coming from the white house. >> i want to turn to the intelligence report on election security. there's a lot to it. the one way that russia tried to interfere, according to this report, was using cronies to influence trump's allies, those it doesn't specify who that could be. the report assess that had putin had purview over ukrainian lawmaker andrii derkach who has tied to the trump intelligence but we do know derkach met with rudy giuliani, trump's lawyer works has influence on trump. does this surprise you at all? how concerned are you over how clothes kremlin was able to get to trump when it came to this disinformation? >> so that report that you're referencing, the is ak-report is the intelligence analysis that the director of national intelligence pulled together around the 2020 election. there was a separate report. the 1b report, more focused on the impact of those actions on elections this. dates back to an executive order prior to the 2018 election. many of those activities, including the andrii derkach information as well as the const constantine kilimnik who is also a russian intelligence asset, that information was previously pub public and derkach was sanksd, but it's the first time you've seen it all rolled up in one with the additional information about that -- that immediate orbit of the former president, and it shows that everyone in this town, in washington, d.c., needs to be pretty careful about who you're talking to, particularly when they show up with something that seems just a little bit too -- too good. >> this report refutes the big lie claims repeatedly noting that no one tinkered with voting machine. no one messed with voter renal administration. how was this able to get so out of hand? is it. >> jake. it was a man with 89 million followers on twitter that was constantly repeating these. i mean, look, i had 10,000 followers on twitter at the time i was fired, and we were trying to debunk some of the themes that were central to the big lie, whether it was the -- the election equipment, whether it was dead voters, whether it was sharpie gate in arizona. you know, when you have these individuals, these influencers and you have these fringe media networks and other outlets on the internet that are promoting it, it's asymmetric information warfare. we were simply outgunned. >> the trump administration spent years publicly undermining the intelligence community in terms of integrity and findings. for the supporters of the big lie whose response this is all just a deep state trying to cover it up, what do you say to them because, you know, the supporters of the big lie are still up on capitol hill. it's a majority house republicans. it's a few senate republicans. what do you say? >> if you continue to propagate the big lie, that report calls it out quite clearly you are part and parcel of a russian disinformation operation. you will be contributing to further physical violence. it calls very clearly that the big lie that precipitated the january 6th attack on the capitol was just the beginning, that some of these operators and some of the oathkeeper groups and others will it to use the big lie to justify violence, to, you know, take back whatever political independence they think they are owed, and that's what we're going to see. it is going to continue. it is going to spread throughout the country, throughout europe as well. this is not just a u.s. problem. this is an emerging liberal democracy problem. >> yeah, chris. thank you so much. as always, thanks for your intellingity. i know the last six months have not been fun, but we appreciate it. thanks so much. >> thanks, jake. >> it's the next fight over a pipeline already happening right now but is it already past the point of no return? stay with us. body wash? definitely moisturizer! antibacterial can i have both? new dove care & protect body wash eliminates 99% of bacteria and moisturizes for hours two for one! can i keep it? new dove care & protect, zero compromise! ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. thank you! hey, hey, no, no limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ in our earth matters series on his first day in office president biden signed an executive order to kill the controversial keystone pipeline, but there's another mavis and controversial pipeline being built right now running 340 miles through minnesota. supporters say it provides thousands of much-needed jobs. activists want it killed for environmental reasons, but as cnn's bill weir reports that might be too late. >> reporter: way up north, where the mighty mississippi is a twisty ribbon of ice, this is the new front in an old fight. it is called northridge line 3, a canadian pipeline set to run through the woods, wetlands and wild rice of minnesota setting up another natives versus goliath clash over energy, sovereignty and our life-threatening addiction to fossil fuel. so how much of this fight for you is about the immediate concerns of a leak that would spoil the water and land, and how much of it is about stopping manmade climate change? >> for me it's all the things at once so it's the spills, right, which always happen with pipelines. it's the disruption itself of just the pipeline going into 800 wetlands, 200 bodies of water and then there's the climate change piece, the emissions of this, 50 coal power plans, absolute insanity. >> reporter: it starts in the tarsands of alberta where you can see the thick sludge, the tarsand oil takes tremendous amounts of water and energy to push through a pipe and line 3 will contribute as much planet-producing carbon as 50 coal power plants. >> we breathe. climate change is an issue, and also as our name implies. enbridge, we're very keen to trying to build a bridge to the energy future. >> reporter: so at what point in order to break this addiction do we say, you know what. we're going to start with the worst -- we're going to start with the black tar heroin as we detox our way towards being clean. >> yeah. i mean, real challenge here is that we have a demand for energy, and the reality is even as we see great growth in renewables, we're still going to need fossil fuels year to come. >> reporter: after president biden pulled trump-era permits and killed the keystone xl those who lost the battle at fresh rock found hope. those trying to stop the dakota access flow from flowing, just watch the first native american interior secretary getting confirmed and now they pray that the president or a judge will stop line three. >> but that's a much bigger ask. unlike keystone xl which they are starting from scratch, line three is a replacement, and of the 340 miles that will cut through minnesota, 40% of it is already in the ground. >> to outrace a court or a white house order, enbridge is working as fast as the thawing ice and growing process will allow. >> there will be over 130 people arrested so far in the last few months. we've got people crawling into the pipeline itself that have been chained to the machines. i mean, it's an all-out struggle for mother earth that's happening here. >> we do respect everyone's view on the project. we respect safe protesting. what we don't want is individuals to become unsafe or trespass, and we ask our workers for de-escalation. don't engage, because it goes back to safety, integrity and the last one respect. >> the truth is carbon emissions aren't coming from pipelines, they are coming from car, so if you really wanted to go directly to the source protest car dealerships or gas stations. >> reporter: when you compare a job on a pipeline compared to a job building turbines or solar panels or drilling for geo~ thermal, does it pay the same? >> that's an excellent question. in minnesota because of the work we've done over the past few years, our labor is working on the pipeline and our labor is working building wind turbines are making the exact same money. >> reporter: for one side of the fight it all comes down to supply and demand while others demand a supply of energy that doesn't come with now-mile pipes, droughts, floods, fires and rights seas. it's a debate that will define the 2020s and beyond. bill weir, cnn, palisade, minnesota. >> and our thanks to bill weir for that report. warning signs in europe that another covid wave could build if we are not careful. that's next. ♪ you come and go ♪ ♪ karma-karma-karma- karma-karma chameleon ♪ ♪ you come and go ♪ ♪ you come and go-o-o ♪ ♪ loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams ♪ ♪ red, gold -- ♪ [ tires screech ] [ crickets chirping ] for those who were born to ride there's progressive. with 24/7 roadside assistance. ♪ karma-karma-karma-karma-karma chameleon... ♪ ♪ over four million people on medicare made a choice. a choice to worry less about out-of-pocket costs... to enjoy more... and to take charge of their health care. with an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare. and here's why. medicare alone only goes so far. a medicare approved doctor visit, simple procedure, or overnight hospital stay... many have expenses medicare doesn't pay. and could add up to thousands of dollars a year. that's where medicare supplement plans come in. they help bring down your out-of-pocket expenses... making them a lot more predictable... and giving you greater peace of mind as you look ahead. some plans even offer low to no copay options. call unitedhealthcare today and ask for your free decision guide. learn more about plan options and rates to fit your needs. plans like these give you more freedom, too. see any doctor... any specialist, anywhere in the u.s. who accepts medicare patients. there are no networks holding you back. no referrals needed. it just makes things really easy to deal with. these plans also go with you anywhere you go in the u.s. i like being in control. ♪ call unitedhealthcare now to find out more about the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp... with plan options that give you low to no copays. i made sure my plan had that. so as you plan for your future, take charge of your health care. join the over four million people who count on plans from america's #1 medicare supplement insurer. call for your free decision guide today. ♪ in our world lead the world health organization says coronavirus cases around the world are rising again. half of italy's roenlons are now in ma lockdown after reporting the highest daily death increase since late january and in france they say it's time to consider new restrictions around paris. both of those countries and at least a dozen others in your world have paused the astrazeneca vaccine over possible side effects which are complicating vaccination efforts. >> finally today, 537,000 americans have died from coronavirus. we would like to take time to remember one of the frontline health care workers that we lost. antonio espinoza, a 36-year-old hospice nurse in california, a husband and father. he loved to travel and cheer on the dodgers. espinoza's job was to ease people's pain before their deaths. he did not think his time would come so soon. he caught the virus in late january. he was gone a week later. he leaves behind his wife and 3-year-old son. our deepest condolences. may his memory be a blessing. our coverage on cnn continues. i'll see you tomorrow. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in the "the situation room." we're following the investigation into the killing spree that target the three atlanta-area spas where eight people were shot to death. six of them ashapp-american women. tonight we're learning more about the 21-year-old suspect now charged with eight counts of murder who police say may have been planning even more attacks. we're also following a very disturbing new report by the u.s. intelligence community and the departments of justice and homeland security. it says that racia