john: to say the least. the supreme court deciding whether president biden could ignore congress or go on one of the biggest spending sprees in u.s. history, wiping out student loan debt for millions of americans. and over on capitol hill, lawmakers are holding hearings on both the china threat and the border crisis. sandra: that s where we start a border bust netting enough fentanyl to kill 50 million people. and one mother who knows the drug s devastation all too well. we have a weather balloon from china going across our country. nobody died, and everybody is freaking out about it. but 100,000 die every year and nothing is being done, not enough is being done. you talk about children being taken away from their parents. my children were taken away from me. john: just some of what we heard during today s house hearing on the border crisis. mother who lost two of her sons to fentanyl poisoning not only grieving but also getting downright angry. sandra: and just now
lab in chiwuhan, china. and in east palestine, the new technique to track contaminated water from that city. and the growing concern to other cities taking in truckloads of contaminated soil. and an image in oklahoma, cnn is on the scene. welcome to the lead i m jake tapper. we start with the groundbreaking assertion with the u.s. energy department that the covid-19 pandemic likely began from a lab leak in wuhan, china. this all comes after the energy department updated its 2021 report with this claim, saying it made the new conclusion, based on new evidence coming to light. two sources telling cnn the department is issuing the report with, quote, low confidence. that s a term that doesn t mean that they don t believe their own conclusion. it means that the evidence as of now is only circumstantial. the new assertion reveals that the u.s. intelligence community is more divided than ever on how the pandemic began. four other agencies in the u.s. government said the outbr
sighted last night. gusts of winds reaching 114 miles per hour. when you stand for our value, you come under assault. florida governor ron desantis speaking out and sparring with disney over parental rights. you have woke ideology taking over so many institutions. a group of grannies giving rihanna a run for her money, they are shining bright like a diamond, some critics say they outperformed rihanna. griff: good morning, new orleans, it s 7 a.m. central time zone, 8 a.m. in new york city and it is monday, february 27, year of our lord 2023. we re glad you re here for this final hour of monday edition. joined as always, ainsley earhardt, today we have a surprise, griff jenkins. griff: you did the date and i just realized it is my niece sofie garcia s birthday. ainsley: happy birthday niece. most uncle don t know their niece s birthday. griff: she just had her first child, cooper. brian: better than me, i tell you that. ainsley: we re glad you are here.
or winners are to the run-off tonight. john: looks like a may day in chicago, and not a february day. jeff, a coat off. happy about it. john: all right. well, you look at the weather there, sandra, and a good day to get out and vote. should be a big turnout, i would think. sandra: top issue is crime and the economy in that city and you can combine the both of them, so many of the businesses have said they have had to flee that city because people don t feel safe going to work there, and if they leave, you know, to start a family there, they don t feel safe sending their kids to school there, and they go somewhere else. that city has lost so much revenue, so many residents due to crime, and this is going to be this is a huge decision for those residents. those who are still there. john: we should find out later today how it s going to go. expected to be a run-off, we hope by the end of the day to find out who is in it. sandra: we ll be watching that. the energy department
is more divided than ever on how the pandemic began. four other agencies in the u.s. government said the outbreak began after the virus naturally jumped from animals to humans. on the other hand, the fbi agrees with the energy department conclusion that it was a lab leak. and the fbi confidence level in their conclusions is moderate. national security adviser jake sullivan weighed in with cnn s dana bash. some elements of the intelligence community have reached conclusions on one side, some on the other. a number of them have said they just don t have enough information to be sure. right now, there is not a definitive answer that has emerged from the intelligence community on this question. this update comes more than three years after the start of the pandemic, at this point, almost three years ago next week, we were all watching the grand princess cruise ship slowly making its way to oakland, california, with more than 100 confirmed cases of individuals with covid on board. and n