>> those are the faces of the immigration surge. >> there are more children coming across the border than we have facilities for. >> there is a crisis on the texas border right now. >> this crisis as a result of president biden's open border policy. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: this is "new day weekend." >> a shot of capitol hill there and the flags flying as we begin with we have to tell you we have a crisis at the u.s./mexico border. this is an unprecedented high. >> homeland security secretarial happen droe secretary alejandro mallorcas is directing fema. up on capitol hill for us this morning, what do we expect to see? >> reporter: victor, it's going to be an incredibly busy week in congress. as you said, house minority leader kevin mccarthy leading a group of 12 republicans to el paso tomorrow where they will tour a migrant processing facility. this has been a major issue with republicans. they have been hitting the biden administration on this influx of migrants crossing the border in recent weeks, especially amid a global pandemic. here's what he had to say during his weekly press conference this week on the issue. >> so, on monday i'm going to the border. i'm taking 12 members with me from the committees of jurisdiction, looking for ourselves, working on trying to find a solution. but we know the solution is quite easy because most of this is all caused by biden's action. >> reporter: so this has become a talking point with republicans hitting the biden administration the migrants crossing the boarder has become an issue in recent weeks. immigration will continue to be an issue in congress this week. the house will take up two votes on two separate immigration bills, the first being a bill that would allow dreamers to apply for citizenship if it passed. the second bill would reform the visa bill for agricultural workers. both bills passed through the house in recent years, but they're passing it again now that the democrats have a slim majority in the house and senate and joe biden is president. so they are hoping they can get this legislation through congress. they are also going to take up a vote on the violence against women act and in the senate they will have a vote tomorrow on deb holland being the secretary of interior, marking the 13th cabinet -- if she's confirmed, the 13th cabinet confirmation for the biden administration out of 15 spots for his administration. a busy week in congress this week, guys. >> daniela diaz, thank you. >> cnn's ed lavandera witnessed the wave of migrants crossing the rio grande. watch. >> reporter: as the sun sets on the rio grande, our boat winds its way through the deep bend of the river that separates texas from mexico near the town of hidalgo. that's when we stumble across a group of migrants loading into a raft. >> hey, amigos, hey! >> reporter: our group eases the tension. a few men appear to lead the raft full of parents and children to the u.s. side. the rio grande valley has been ground zero of the latest surge of migration and here you see the operation unfolding right in front of us. [ speaking foreign language ] after the first raft crosses the river, the magnitude of this moment reveals itself. dozens of migrants emerge and walk down to the river's edge. >> you can see that this is a sear serious operation. there are dozens of migrants. there are still some above the hills there. it is quickly moving a handful of guys moving people back and forth on these rafts. >> reporter: it's a highly organized system. we'll watch the raft make about six trips back and forth. scenes like this are escalating in the rio grande valley. there is the growing perception among migrants in central america that the biden administration is more welcoming. even though many are still being turned away. >> these are really, really high numbers. i've never seen it this busy in 19 years. >> reporter: chris cabrera is with the national border patrol council, the union that represents border patrol agents. he warns the front line field stations like this massive tent facility are being pushed to the limit with migrants in custody. >> we're crowded. we're overcrowded. we don't have anywhere to put people, but we have them in our custody and the system is bogged down and there's no place for us to send them because the next level is not open yet. >> reporter: this is a rare view of the field station set up about a month ago by the border patrol. the tents are used to handle the initial field processing for the tens of thousands of migrants apprehended in the rio grande valley. there are bathrooms, first aid care and migrants are removed from the area by a steady stream of buses. while some migrants cross illegally, some are allowed to cross legally. sandra is overwhelmed as she recounts living in the tent city with her son for the last year on the mexican side of the border. she worked as a teacher in the camp. she's allowed to wait out her asylum case in the united states. the 38-year-old mother said she fled honduras after years of threats from a family member. >> translator: one day he finally showed up at her house with a gun and started firing into her house. and one of her older children and some others tackled the man and prevented him from killing her and that's the reason why she's seeking asylum. [ speaking foreign language ] >> she said she can't live in honduras and she had to find someplace else to live. >> reporter: that desperation is what we heard from the migrants on the rafts crossing the rio grande. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: some tell me they're escaping crime, have lost their homes. the last father on the raft tells me he's here with his wife and daughter. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: they're searching for a new opportunity, he says. back on the other side of the river, another group waits their turn. ed lavandera, cnn on the rio grande. >> thank you, ed, for that report. that is eye opening, isn't it? okay. we have to talk about the race to end the coronavirus pandemic here because there's been real progress this weekend, as we are getting people in the u.s. vaccinate. >> one in five americans has received at least one dose of the covid vaccine. yesterday the cdc reported close to 3 million doses administered. that's a record. after all this progress, looms the concern that states are easing restrictions too soon. too many people are traveling. that too many of us are letting our guards down as spring break kicks off. cnn's natasha chin has the report from miami beach. >> reporter: the u.s. is vaccinating more people every day, seeing lower hospitalizations, lower daily deaths, and lower new cases. but lower only relative to a few months ago. late last week there were three consecutive days of more than 50,000 new cases and 1500 new deaths reported each day. and it's coming as states continue to loosen restrictions and in some cases lift mask mandates. >> boy, is that the wrong time to do that. we have this slightly troubling, maybe more than slightly troubling variant called b.1.1.7. that is 30% in the united states and we know it's more contagious. so if there is ever a time to put on a mask, this is 2. >> reporter: the attorney general has sued the city of austin for continuing the mask requirement after the governor lifted the mandate. he says he has to honor the governor's orders. >> i think austin, round rock, that area there, they're one of the few areas in the state that has been pushing back on this. and we'll see how that plays out. we consulted with our attorney here in galveston, and the consensus was that we do not have any flexibility with this order so we are honoring the governor's orders. >> reporter: in florida the state doesn't allow jurisdictions to fine people for not following the mask requirement. so all the miami beach authorities can do for spring break tourists is give out free masks in hopes people will wear they have. them. the mayor told me it's a problem of mixed messaging where leaders have different attitudes about covid restrictions. >> when the hurricane comes, we all stand up and point to the public, from the lowliest mayor to the governor to the president, it's exactly the same advice. and people when they see that, okay, i guess i have to evacuate. or i guess i have to do something to be safer. but right now, i get emails every day from people still mad at me about the mask mandate. >> reporter: while some states like florida have allowed businesses to be fully open for months, other regions are just now relaxing more restrictions. los angeles county, for example, will allow indoor dining and movie theaters to operate at reduced capacity for the first time in about nine months. and with more than 35 million people in the u.s. fully vaccinated and a stimulus package passed, there is hope including the teachers and families getting back to the classroom. >> the smile you see on my face right now, jake, it is the light at the end of this very dark tunnel. >> get a mask, get a free mask. >> reporter: natasha chin, miami beach, florida. >> cnn contributor is with us now, he's an epidemiologist and former detroit health commissioner. doctor, welcome back. >> thank you for having me. >> let's start here. we heard from the president in his first televised address on covid. he said if everyone does what they're supposed to do, vaccinations continue, by 4th of july maybe you'll be able to get together with other vaccinated people in the backyard. but if things changes, restrictions will have to come back. as a public health official, how tough is it after what we just watched to get people to not go to the restaurants, put the masks back on, close down the bars? >> it is a matter of mixed messaging as the individual in that package just stated. once you start hearing differences of opinion, it seems like, well, the jury is still out. well, the jury is not out. covid is still out and the challenge here is if we are not serious about doing what it takes to bring this virus to its knees as we vaccinated more and more people and stop the spread of this thing, it very well could come back. and the challenge with that is that we've got variants that we know are more transmissible and now evidence suggests are also more deadly. and so we've seen this horror show before, right. you try and choke the virus down just enough and it's not gone yet. so we've got to be patient with this. wouldn't it be lovely to get together during the july 4th holidays with our loved ones and enjoy the fact that we can be with them together. and, yes, there are a lot of things that are safer now with folks who are vaccinated than they were before. but willy-nilly opening up as the covid is not gone, we should have learned this lesson far earlier, right around last year or a couple months from now it's not gone and we have to see this through. >> let's talk about vaccines and hesitation. we talked about some hesitation in black and brown communities. there are examples of implicit, sometimes explicit bias. history of exploitation. and that really is lessening, according to polls. but one can understand why that happens, there is some hesitancy. listen to brian kemp, georgia governor, on some hesitancy in other communities. >> we are seeing vaccine hesitancy really as the pharmacist and i were talking about macon south. a lot of that is white republicans quite honestly. >> not the same history of exploitation, i would imagine, maybe you have a different perspective. how does the medical community fight that? >> well, you know, this really is about leaders like donald trump deciding that they're going to get their vaccine in public. well, you know, trump didn't get a vaccine, so did melania. they did it in private rather than in public where people who pay attention to what they have to say could see them do it. this is the frustration. for a long time you had these politicians politicizing this pandemic, 530-plus-thousand people have died. it's a disrespect and lack of care for people. these folks have been the victims of disinformation for a long time. now it is compounded and accum accumulated when you see vaccine hesitancy among folks who tend to be supporters of the president. that really is a problem because those folks have bodies, too, and they deserve to be protected, too. the fact of the politicization of this thing makes it more difficult. it continues to be a problem for all of us. we know that we need to achieve this ideal of herd immunity where 70% of people have been vaccinated. take 20% off the top of that because kids can't be vaccinated. i'd like folks to remember it's like putting a blanket over a fire. if you put a little blanket, the fire will eat the blanket. we need to smother this fire. that means getting everybody vaccinated as soon as possible. >> let's stay there and broaden it beyond u.s. borders. with the announcement of the latest purchase of 100 million additional doses of the j&j vaccine, the u.s. has now at least announced 500 million doses, enough to vaccinate the eligible population almost twice. the white house says that they want to be, quote, oversupplied and overprepared. some hear that as a pharmaceutical america first. let me read this from the director general of the world health organization who wrote that. "a me-first approach might serve political interests, but it could lead to a protective recovery as people are asking the u.s. to potentially share some of those doses. to share the 100 million -- the order that they have for 100 million doses of astrazeneca that's not even been approved yet. what say you about sharing some of those doses as we are still in at this point of the pandemic in the u.s.? >> first, for a long time we have cast ourselves as leaders in the global fight for justice and good. this is an opportunity for us to do exactly that. estimates from the consumer rights organization, consumer citizens suggests vaccinating the entire world at $25 million. to put that in perspective, that would have been 1% of the cost of $1.9 trillion covid relief package the president just signed. that's a good thing. to not add the responsibility to save the world by vaccinating everyone is a real miss on its own merits. but then there is also this. we know that this virus can evolve. we know that it can potentially take on the capacity to become fully resistant to our vaccines and we're missing the opportunity to stop that from happening by not vaccinating everyone in the world. so, yes, we have to see ourselves as part of the truly global pandemic that has affected us quite hard. we need to vaccinate everybody in the u.s., but we need to be part of vaccinating everyone in the world. there was a time we can do that. there was a time we would take that up. it's not expensive, it's a matter of scientific evidence suggesting this is the right thing to do. morally suggesting it has always been the right thing to do. >> the administration says in their defense, they would say that they have donated billions of dollars to or committed billions of dollars to covax for a program, but there are many calling for the u.s. to do more. doctor, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> so, there are rising covid cases in italy and that is equating to another lockdown this easter season. what is it in italy that they can't keep up with the fast-moving virus? 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