tonight, the death toll rising after the deadly tornado outbreak in the south. and millions still at risk. at least 23 reported tornadoes across three states. these people nearly driving right into the heart of a twister. one long-track tornado possibly cutting a 100-mile path of destruction roughly across the entire state of alabama. the new danger this weekend. 45 million in the storm zone from memphis to atlanta to d.c. rob marciano timing it out. the new warnings. an alarming rise in covid cases in the u.s. as more states ease restrictions. at least 18 states seeing cases increase by more than 10%. hospital admissions on the rise in at least eight states. michigan reporting a dramatic spike in the number of young patients. the cdc director saying she is
that s tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern. we will see you then. in the meantime, the other major news this friday night, the pandemic. a major change for schools across the country. the cdc issuing new guidelines tonight, recommending three feet of social distancing for school children with masks instead of six feet. so could this help to get children back to school sooner? some teacher s unions are pushing back tonight. the cdc director saying, we have the science. here s abc s whit johnson. reporter: tonight, a major change that could help pave the way for millions more children to get back in the classroom. i m hopeful that we are turning a corner on this pandemic. getting our children back to school, in-person instruction as soon as possible is a critical first step in doing so. reporter: the cdc today reducing its distancing recommendation from six feet to three inside the classroom with universal masking. but if community transmission is high, the cdc advises middle and high
the major change for schools across the country. the cdc issuing new guidelines tonight, recommending three feet of social distancing for school children with masks instead of six feet. could this help get children back to school sooner? some teacher s unions pushing back tonight. the cdc director saying, we have done the science. president biden also at the cdc tonight as health officials raise new concerns over those highly contagious variants, with several states now seeing cases on the rise. the worsening situation on the southern border. president biden s dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas traveling to el paso, texas, today. hundred of migrant children and teens now held at border patrol facilities for ten days or longer, well beyond the legal limit. matt gutman in el paso tonight. the widening scandal involving new york s governor andrew cuomo. the new york times now reporting tonight for the first time a current employee of the governor s office, and what she now alleges i
a business and not. reporter: in florida, the governor says starting monday, restaurants can expand to 50% capacity and gyms can reopen. and tonight, new signs of hope out west. the navy hospital ship mercy heading home to san diego, 49 days after arriving in los angeles to alleviate the burden on hospitals. and the roar of the air force thunderbirds soaring over southern california today, honoring our health care heroes. extremely powerful. whit johnson with us live here in new york city, along the beach there. i know there will be changes in the days ahead. they want people to be very careful as they begin to reopen the beaches and other parts of new york state. all of this comes with the new estimate from the head of the cdc, just out before we came on. the sobering new projections. they re trying to prepare americans to recognize that the toll could reach more than 100,000 by june 1st. reporter: and, david, the cdc director saying in a tweet tonight that 12 different projecti
yet despite the findings, the doj declining to prosecute. john roberts is live from the north lawn. john? reporter: dana, good afternoon. the doj s inspector general, michael horowitz, taking a blow torch to james comey for his decision to leak information from memos that he had written about his interactions with president trump. one of those memos, the so-called memo number four, comey shared with a friend of his, daniel richman, with instructions to share the contents but not the actual memo with a new york times report. he khaft taoeuzed the former director saying, quote, comey violated fbi policy. comey made public sensitive investigative information related to an on going fbi investigation. comey was not authorized to disclose the statements that he attributed to president trump. the inspector general concluded that comey showed poor leadership writing, quote, what was not permitted was the