Be in this position of having to explain for the last four years. This is part of what he said David Gregory about republicans and pushing, as he put it Phony Populism. It is a Shock And Surprise that whats happened in terms of consequence of President Trumps Phony Populism has happened. And it is disappointing that so many of my republican colleagues in the senate who i know know better have been reluctant to take on, for example, an investigation because theyre worried about being primaried. I think its really interesting there. Its unusual for a president to speak in such frank terms about a predecessor and predecessors political movement, but certainly this isnt usual this turning of the page from trump to biden. Well, one of the reasons i think hes addressing it he understands his colleagues on the World Stage are paying attention to all of this, too. You know this whole idea of Well America is back but for how long. Anybody can look at whats happening in washingtOn And look at our political system and see that trump has not gone away. Trumpism has not gone away, so what does that mean for america and the world . These are very big questions about how america plays in the rest of the world. Vladimir putin is watching. And hes tried to hes gone through cycles of feeling isolated by a united west. And then seeing less unity and finding ways to create those breaks in that western alliance. So, i think so much of the Meeting Tomorrow is about theater because its always about theater for putin. He wants legitimacy. He likes that theres a big buildup to all of this. So the real question is are there areas where this administration can actually cooperate . And can they find some way to bring some leverage on putin to stop the thing he can do the best, which is to be disruptive, let alone what hes doing regionally, but to be disruptive with cyberattacks. So i think biden is addressing that to try to say to the World Community that hes on the stage with, look, not even my republican colleagues believe in all of this, but theres so much fear. So lets try to move in a concerted direction again. Thats going to take some time. Like you said, trump is gone but for how long . Putin has lasted through several american President S and the question is, does trump come back . Is there someone like trump who comes in here in three to four years and i also notice we spoke with the Secretary General of nato last week and you really get the sense talking to officials they dont feel that trump is securely out of the way. Right. Again, what does a biden presidency actually look like in terms of the commitment of the united states overseas . You know, whats the united States Posture against china over trade, for example, as well as regional concerns that are curt concerns versus how the europeans play it. I think were in a much different place. Weve come through a period under President Bush of projection of american power in the rest of the world, a sort of unwinding of that by biden, then a complete unwinding by Trump And Biden who represents a real return to an older way of Doing Business in europe. I dont know that its clear exactly what that means in terms of american engagement against russia, against china. And i think theres a lot of our traditional allies who are waiting to see. And putin in particular is going to wait to see and is going to try to take bidens measure. But again i thought it was interesting if theres a talk of prisoner exchanges. Putin is also shrewd enough to know where to cooperate as he did after 9 11, as he did in trying to temper irans nuclear program. He finds ways to communicate and to negotiate with The American president where he can as long as it keeps giving him room. John, i think that biden was setting that expectation saying that putin is bright and tough and a worthy adversary ahead of this meeting. Theres been two weeks of pregame from both leaders, really from both countries, leading up to this summit tomorrow. I know everyone is trying to lower the bar but the bar is what it is at this point and i think the whole world is watching to see how these two men behave next to each other. Everyone stand by for a second. We want to reset. In just moments well hear from President Biden as he meets with eu leaders coming just before the most consequential stretch of his european tour. Moments ago, he entered a meeting with eu leaders declaring america is back and committed to a great relationship with nato and the y European Union. Were told President Biden is ready to let the russian leader know exactly what america expects. And the areas where we dont agree make it clear what the red lines are. I had met with him. Hes bright. Hes tough. And i have found that he is, as they say when you used to play ball, a worthy adversary. That was the quote there overnight. The kremlin said it is ready to hand over certain u. S. Citizens who are imprisoned in russia while the retired federal judge who sentenced a notorious russian Arms Trafficker to prison is calling for a prisoner swap. More from Matthew Chance who is joining us live from geneva where we will be seeing this meeting happen between putin and biden. Tell us the latest from where you are. Reporter yeah, that meeting, brianna, will be happening 24 hours from now according to the schedule. Well bring that to you. The fraught issues, the list of fraught issues, obviously as long as your arm when it comes to the relationship between these two countries, whether its situation with hacking, the situation in ukraine, the crackdown on dissidents at home, all these things are going to be discussed and its going to be a pretty tense meeting is my prediction. One of the issues is that issue of prisoner exchanges. The potential for both countries to hand over citizens that are in their jails. Two american citizens at least that are contentious at least in russian jail, Paul Whelan and trevor reid. Theyre trying to find a way to get them released. If thats going to happen, there has to be a coin of Phrase Quid pro quo. What the russians want are some pretty highlevel criminals. They want yar shane koe. And victor boot, who is, was, one of the worlds most notorious arms, trafficker. Theres been an intervention on his part as well. The judge that originally gave him the sentence back in 2012, shes retired now, but she made this intervention to cnn, hes been in prison for 13 years. If we can exchange him for a prisoner who has just served three years of his sentence, referring to Paul Whelan, that should be considered. One of the holdups has been when it comes to a prisoner swap, the russians want back a much higher level criminals than the people americans want returned to the united states. But its ultimately something for the two President S to discuss and decide on. Brianna. We will see what they come up with. Matthew, thank you so much for us live from geneva switzerland. Joining us now, mark, in charge of clandestine operations in Europe And Eurasia and the author of the new Book Clarity in Crisis Leadership lessons from the cia. Mark, its great to have you here this morning at such a pivotal time here. Im wondering what your reaction is to this judge calling for a u. S. russian prisoner swap. Sure. First, brianna great to be here. In terms of what the judge actually said its unprecedented. This is a retired judge. Who seems to be having some qualms about the mandatory sentence handed down. Its murky why this judge would come out and say these thirngs. But ultimately Vladimir Putin is taking a page out of the autocratic play book. There are americans in jail on trumped up charges. In return he want criminals. This is a distraction, i believe. But its something that is certainly on the agenda. Why this former judge decided to come out remains a bit murky. Do you think ultimately these americans will be released . At some point they have to be because theyre held in poor conditions, huge concern about covid outbreaks in russian jails. Look, we had Spy Espionage swaps in the past. A swap of this nature in which the rugszs really captured two americans who were innocent and they want back some notorious criminals, that would set a bad pres dents. One thing ill say on this, this is a test of leadership. Being president is not easy. President biden has immense pressure from the u. S. Families. So this probably does cause him sleepless nights, but in The End, its likely to be a pretty poor precedent to set if we go through with this. We heard from trevor Reeds Mother Yesterday who said she doesnt care how he comes back. She just wants her son back, which perhaps is what you would expect from a mom. Right. As we are watching, the world is watching this meeting that is going to be happening here in a day with Vladimir Putin and President Biden. What are the pitfalls as you see them for potentially for President Biden because you know this is a Highrisk Meeting . Sure. So first and foremost i dont think we should expect any deliverables coming back from the russians because Vladimir Putin does not want to give any. Ultimately i think this summit is going through and in terms of from the u. S. Side based on optics. We all whether youre Republican Or Democrat or myself in the cia, everyone has ptsd from 2018 heli helsinki. President trump sided with russians. President biden wants to certainly put forward both domestically to the united states but to the world, you know, that the u. S. Is back and we will take a stronger tone on russia. So ultimately i dont expect much to come of it. But to go forward with that tough tone is worth it. The bar here is low given what happened in helsinki. But at the same time theres this language that putin speaks, right, that is solely about strength and about how that strength is proskbjectprojected. Putin is a former kgb officer. Two men with very different backgrounds. How do you think he needs to approach that . So, look, words really dont matter as much as actions. So what i would like to see from the united states and weve been seeing this and certainly under President Bidens leadership is to put forward, defend forward strategy. That entails efrl sings. First and foremost, we have to counter the russians in terms of cyber warfare. The attacks on the pipeline and the meat packing plant. This is something that cannot stand. Mark, im going to have you pause very a moment. Lets listen in to the president in belgium. Were at the g7 at The End of the day. I apologize. I wanted to this is i havent been back to brussels and the eu since 2017. Since back then, also the first summit back in 2014. But i brought the ateam with me today. I said publicly and privately, america is back, which is why were here in full force. Im happy to have with me members of my cabinet, Secretary Of State antony blinken, he suffers from the problem of having worked with me for years. And also Trade Representative who has made some real progress already. And first Rate Governor and agree dodd come on as our secretary of commerce. And one of the things that you and i were talking about europe is our natural partner. And the reason were committed to the same democratic constitutions and they are increasingly under attack. I have said before and i apologize for repeating oh, i didnt jake sullivan. Im leaving out a lot of people. I apologize. Im going to get in trouble. Well get back to that. Theres a lot that is happening. I used to always my friends would kid me in the United States Senate always quoting irish poets. The reason i quote irish poets is im irish. Thats not the reason. Theyre the best poets. All kidding aside, theres a stanza in a poem of an irish poet that says walls change, change utterly. Terrible beauty has been worn. I think all has changed in the last 10, 12 years and its not because of any one person. I think were in the midst of a terrible beauty having been born, a great shift in technology. Great shift in development of the world and causing great anxiety. Replaced by technology. No longer have a job. And with that comes along at the same time that also generates uncertainties generated politically about individuals it also generates some folks who are less than how can i say it, somewhat more like charlottetons, trying to take advantage of those concerns. We have seen it in europe, in the united states, Around The World, this growing populism. Seems to me that the best answer to deal with these changes is that to have circumstance where our economies grow and they grow together and they grow still based on the Value Set that united us in the first place. And i think we do share just the same basic values of Human Dignity and my colleagues, ill be very colloquial, my dad at a transition where in the city we lived in, coal was dying, no longer relevant. He was not a miner, my great grandfather was a coal miner. He was a mining engineer. But in Northeastern Pennsylvania when coal died, my dad was a salesperson. And the economy collapsed. And we moved to another part and got a new job to now in delaware. And my family, and siblings would hear him use the often expression, joe, a job is a lot more about a paycheck. Its about your dignity. Its about respect. Its about being able to look your child in the eye, its going to be okay. And mean it. We sometimes forget that. Its about dignity. And them being able to hold their head high. So i think we have an enormous opportunity if we think in terms of these changes particularly in terms of global warming, if we think in terms of jobs. The kind of jobs that we have to create to preserve the environment are jobs that can pay well. That are going to use technologies that working class, Blue Collar Workers will use to make more money to do well. But we have to all of us accommodate those changes. And provide for them. So i think we have a lot to deal with from covid19 to whether or not were in a position that we can generate the kind of strengthening and transatlantic trade and technological cooperation. There are a different set of priorities with the same checklist. How do likeminded countries share in the same values work together to improve living standards for not only our people but for the rest of the world. And i think we have the capacity to do that. Thats going to take an awful lot of hard Work And Determination and ill conclude by saying one of the reasons im optimistic is because of our younger generation. And europe as well as the united states, the young generatiOn And this one is the best educated in american history. Its also the least prejudice, the most open and the most committed. And i think that we have reason to believe that if we provide the policies that are consistent to provide for the kind of Growth And Opportunity for them and education plays a gigantic part of that, i think we i think the future is very, very bright. I think we have an opportunity to do some really very good things. And with that, i should, as my mother would say, i should hush up and let this Discussion Move forward. President biden at a meeting of the European Union there. Now, one thing to note is hes a guest here. Up until this Point Weve seen him with the G7 And Nato where the united states very much a member and the leading member. Here hes a guest of the European Union. Talked about the great shift the entire world faces in how america wants europe as an ally in that shift. Joining us once again hagar chemali. It was interesting to hear President Biden talk about this great shift. In some ways its been the theme of this trip. Its a shift in terms of World Politics from democracy to populism and the dangers that are faced there and also a shift in terms of the direction that the u. S. Is now facing as it looks to its adversaries. Right. Look the trip from the 60,000 Foot Level after the last four years in particular, its you have President Biden reenforcing these key themes of strong alliances and key democratic shared values. And what that means when you put that all together, right . When you unite that, the type of National Security Challenges or global crises like a pandemic or economic recovery that you can address will be all the more effective. And i think that thats important in particular because over the last four years but certainly before as well you have had aulism Around The World. You have seen Human Rights Abuses in Turkey And Saudi arabia, China And Russia and so on. And to me when i was looking at this as someone who worked on these issues for a long time, i saw this as historic and a Milestone And Hope this sets things in a different trajectory, more positive way to reenforce democratic values, to put authoritarians on the heels so that they understand that people are watching, that theyre not going to be able to do whatever they want without accountability and justice. He was there with the Secretary Of State, Secretary Commerce and u. S. Trade rep. The message is its not just about diplomacy but about economics as well. Important meeting to say the least. Hagar, thank you for being with us this morning. Thanks. How far did the former president and his allies go to push the big Election Lie . Cnn has obtained new emails showing the Pressure Campaign on the Department Of Justice. Deja vu for democrats. What Mitch Mcconnell said about a potential supreme Court Vacancy if Republicans Retake control of the senate. And a tragedy at a supermarket after witnesses say a customer pulled a gun when he was told to wear a mask. Big businesses like major League Baseball Trust tmobile. Because the business of baseball reaches across america, just like tmobiles 5g. From the front office, to the scouts in the heartland, to the virtual draft. And tmobile has 5g speeds that help mlb bring fans to Batting Practice in hd. Keeping your Oysters Business growing has you swamped. You need to hire. I need indeed indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a Resume Data Base claim your seventyfivedollar credit when you post your first job at indeed. Com promo use a single Hr Software . Nope. We use 11. Eleven. 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Xfinity makes moving easy. Go online to transfer your services in about a minute. Get started today. Mitch mcconnell setting the stage for another potential supreme Court Nominee Showdown if he regains control of the senate after the 2022 midterms. Asked if he would apply the same rule in 2024 that he implemented in 2016 when he blocked merrick Garlands Nomination by former President Barack Obama to fill justice antonin scalias vacancy, mcconnell said this i think its highly unlikely in fact, no, i dont think either party if it controlled if it were different from the president would confirm a supreme Court Nominee the middle of an election. What was different in 2020 was we were of the same party as correct. Yeah. President. Mcconnells threat to block a future biden supreme Court Pick comes as we await several of the most significant opinions of the High Court this term. For more on this, lets bring in our Supreme Court reporter. Walk us through this. What are the big decisions. The supreme Court Hasnt ruled on some of the most high profile cases. Thats unusual. Here we are on some of them. First of all the affordable care act. Texas and republicanled states want to gut the entire law. Remember, chief justice John Roberts saved it under the taxing power a few years ago and then congress moved to bring that Tax Penalty down to zero, so critics raced to court. They said you have gotten rid of the legal underpinning of the law so the whole thing is unconstitutional. Oral arguments didnt seem like the justices were going to go that far, but we have to watch it. Theres also an interesting religious liberty case. Philadelphia froze the contract of a catholic Foster Care Agency because The Agency refused to work with same sex couples as potential parents. The agency turned around and sued and said thats a violation of our free exercise rights. This court has already the conservative court moved the court to the right when it comes to religious liberty. Well see how far they go to talk about what the government can do to limit laws that impinge on religious freedom. Then theres an interesting Voting Right case, a Lower Court struck down two provisions of Arizona Voting Rights Law saying that they violated the historic Voting Rights act. Remember the court in past years gutted one provision of the Voting Rights act, chief justice John Roberts. All eyes are on the justices to see if theyre going to further limit this law and of course it comes when republicanled states are moving very aggressively to push more Voting Restriction laws so all eyes on the Supreme Court on that. Finally, theres a really interesting student school speech. So, it goes to how far schools can go to regulate speech that occurs off campus, not on campus. It was brought by a cheerleader trying to get on the Varsity Cheer leading squad. She didnt get on. She posted on the weekend a profanitylaced social Media Post. The school saw it. They suspended her from the Jv Squad and her parents turned around and sued that violates free speech. Schools Cant Reach outside of campus to restrict free speech. It comes in the age of internet and also as students have been working remotely. That will be a fascinating case to watch. Theres still a handful more and its very odd that we havent yet gotten a big decision so far so late in the term. Yeah. It certainly is. Im really watching that Student Speech one. I think she sent the social Media Post from a Convenience Store but clearly a lot of people saw it at her school. So what is this going to mean for students. Well see. Thank you so much. Thank you. I want to talk a little more about the new Mitch Mcconnell marker. So lets bring in cnn chief legal analyst and former federal analyst jeffrey toobin. We heard Mitch Mcconnell said he would do the Merrick Garland Thing all over again the last year republicans in control of the senate absolutely he would block a nomination. He said that outloud. He also said more than that, jeffrey, Hugh Hewitt asked what about the republicans take over the full two years. Listen. If you were back as the senate republican leader, and i hope you, and a democrat retires at The End of 2023 and 18 months that would be the Anthony Kennedy precedent. Would they get a Fair Shot at a hearing, not a radical, but a Normal Mainstream Liberal . Well, we would have to wait and see what happens. No. Thats what he meant. No. There is going to be no supreme Court Nomination even heard if Joe Biden presumably hell still be the president after the midterms and the republicans take over the senate. Now, we dont know whether they will, but if they do, thats it for supreme Court Nominations for democratic president. So the window for a vacancy to be filled is now shrinking to about a year and a half. And thats not a long time given how long these things can take. Now, every one on earth, everyone in the united states and everyone in washington seems to recognize that thats the Time Line being worked with here except for one man. Thats one person. And that Man Name be stephen bryer, seen as one of the more liberal judges, now how old . 82. 82 years old and there are democrats who want him to retire now so biden can nominate someone to fill. There are all the democrats now who want him to leave. But, its up to him. And bryer has a very distinctive view, many people think an archaic view of the Supreme Court which is it should be seen as an apolitical institutiOn And the justices should not time their resignations based on who is the president or who is in control of the senate. He has said to me many times stephen breyer has, i hate when the journalists say were all judges. Were not politicians. The democratic response to that by and large is are you out of your mind . Do you not see whats going on . Do you not see the way trump, mcconnell have manipulated this process to install their judges and prevent democratic President S from installing their judges . But hes in charge of whether he resigns. So its just up to him. Do you think he would budge . I do. I do think that he may leave any way. He likes he is also in touch with the real world in his but the way he speaks publicly, in his 80s he seems to be in vigorous health. He has not had many bouts with cancer and he is fully got all his marbles. But its up to him. Stand by one second, jeffrey. Theres something more we want to discuss, some developing news that brianna has here. So there are new emails, john, that reveal how former President Trump and his allies pressured the Justice Department to investigate baseless claims of Voter Fraud and conspiracies in the 2020 electiOn And cnns Whitney Wild is with us now with her new reporting. What did you find out . Well, what we see is from this Document Dump we got a list of emails that really show the evolution of this relentless pressure from the White House beginning about mid december all the way through the beginning of january to try to convince the Department Of Justice to take Therapy Side in these Election Fraud lawsuits. So a couple examples of that are we see several members of the White House as well as people who were sort of in the private trump orbit, attorneys floating around Trump World at this time. They are continuously reaching out to the Department Of Justice and saying things like, the president of the united states has asked me to reach out to you and he has seen this lawsuit i would Like You to file that backs up our Election Fraud claims. And so, again many people apparently thinking if they invoked the President S name, said they were working on his behalf that would somehow convince the Department Of Justice to take up their side. And over this several Week Period we see an evolution at least having the conversation, allowing these emails to come in but they grow more and more frustrated. This culminates in two ways. The first is with basically there was this rudy Giuliani Ally who was peddling this outlandish Conspiracy Theory that there were italian satellites somehow manipulating the Vote Counts here in the united states and this person had asked then acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen to broker a meeting between this persOn And the fbi. And Jeffrey Rosen says, look, if this guy has any evidence, he can walk into the Fbis Washington Field office and tell him everything he knows. But then he gets so frustrated and this is what he writes to his number two at the Justice Department, richard donohue. I flatly refuse to broker this meeting. I said i would not be giving any special treatment to giuliani or any of his witnesses and reaffirmed yet again that i will not talk to giuliani about any of this. So the moment he figures out this guy is working on behalf of Rudy Giuliani, Jeffrey Rosen had had it and said he was absolutely not having it. Theres another moment where this really highlights the anxiety within the Justice Department about how this was all going to play out. There was a January 3rd meeting a guy named Jeffrey Clark and then acting attorney Jeffrey Rosen and others went to the White House and Jeffrey Clark, who was at the time heading the civil department for the Department Of Justice was trying to convince him to be acting attorney journal. I can take this Election Fraud thing over the finish line, pick me. Pick me. Jeffrey rosen argued his case. Cooler, more legally sound minds wOn And so afterward, after that meeting, they were worried would be extraordinarily consequential, there was a Conference Call and Jeffrey Rosen and others within the Justice Department breathed a sigh of relief. Then another says in an email it appears that the cause of justice sorry that full screen is far for me. It sounds like rosen and the cause of justice won. So again this Big Sigh Of Relief within the Justice Department. Were talking about three days before the riot and what it shows is evolution within the Justice Department people are growing more and more frustrated by this relentless pressure but in The End they didnt break, brianna. I like that you said that full screen was far away. I thought it was the only one that it was very far away. This is incredibly bizarre attempt at an end run around the Normal process, right . Absolutely. One of the things that we saw in this, 230 pages of documents, is a private attorney going to the Department Of Justice and saying, hey, i have this lawsuit we would Like You to file. This is modelled after some of the other texas lawsuits, the single other texas lawsuit. You can file this. And the president has seen it. Hes on board. Go ahead. Take that to court. Take that to the Supreme Court. Just a reminder, they have attorneys at the Justice Department who write their own lawsuits. They dont need private attorneys to peddle elections frauds. The Emails Highlight and bring much more detail there was a lot of hysteria at the White House at this time, trying to convince the Justice Department to look into these allegations. It went On And on. Again, in The End, the Justice Department had just had it by, brianna. Jeffrey toobin is back with us on this front. I have two reactions, two and a half. The first one is wow. The second one is so Jeffrey Rosen was the last line of defense for democracy there . And then my extra Half Reaction is, wow again. Well, and good for Jeffrey Rosen. You know, we have belabored the trump Justice Department for its politicization throughout the four years of his presidency, but it is worth remembering by this point william barr, who had done a lot of trumps bidding, had quit more or less in protest about the crazies in charge at the White House. And rosen, who is known as a less political figure, is in charge. He held the line. But i think whitney mentioned a very important point here which is that the proximity to January 6th, that this his tears you is building in the White House. This is part of the story of how January 6th happened. You have on one hand these people pushing these really whack doodle legal theories and socalled evidence about fraud. At the same time, theyre gathering people in washington to protest and what the white Houses Complicity is in January 6th is a question we still dont know but this is part of that story. And its crying out for an answer. I have to say, democracy held, but the more we learn, the more it feels like it held barely. It was fragile. Jeffrey, thank you very much. Up next, doctors sounding the alarm on a Coronavirus Variant thats spreading fast right now. Who should be worried and why. Plus, our very own Christiane Amanpour reveals her cancer diagnosis. Dr. Sanjay gupta joins us next. Somewhere else. Where theres pain, and nausea. But excedrin pulls me back in a way others dont. And it relieves my symptoms fast for real migraine relief. Were about to cross 600,000 deaths from covid19. A sober milestone as Vaccination Efforts have slowed the virus down considerably but its still taking a toll. Lets talk about which with cnn chief medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay gupta. I just rewind to the beginning of this when we thought about the numbers that we were told we might see, i dont think anyone was prepared for this. And yet this has become our Normal. 600,000. Yeah. It seems incomprehensible and every time ive been thinking about these numbers it sort of still takes my breath away. I still get some tightness in the chest just thinking about this. I mean, you look at the trajectory of sort of where we have been and one of the things that really strikes me is i remember having this conversation with ambassador burx, and she told me at one point after those first 100,000 when we were still sort of grappling and trying to understand what had happened here, she believes that basically all the rest of the deaths after that could have been greatly mitigated or prevented. Which is hard to say. I mean, thats 500,000 people. We knew that going into this pandemic if you looked at indexes Around The World, the united states should have been the best prepared in the world. Given our resources and our ability to respond to these sorts of things. And if you look overall, how we did compare to other countries, we did the worst. I hate saying it. Its the truth. Were 4 of the worlds population. We had about 16 of the worlds deaths. And you compare this to other countries and see whats happening and obviously were still this is still not over. But that is sort of what happened here in the united states. I think the question really going forward is have we learned the lessons, not only for the future. Everyone talks about the possibility of another pandemic, which is a real concern, but also this pandemic still, you know. Were talking about these variants. Were seeing whats happening in other parts of the world. Weve got to make sure that the lessons which weve learned, which we already knew to be candid before this pandemic that we apply and execute because they can make a huge difference. Lets talk about them now. Lets talk about the Delta Variant first spotted in india. There are these new studies that find that it doubles the risk of hospitalizations. I mean, clearly it seems more contagious and more dangerous. What else do you know about it, sanjay . Yeah. So if you look at some of the data, we got to look Around The World here. Thats the nature of a pandemic. You can start to gather sort of clues from Around The World. We can see first of all whats happening here in the united states. The numbers of the newlydiagnosed people, whats the likelihood that theyre diagnosis will be due to the Delta Variant. Its sort of roughly doubling every couple of weeks or so. Thats exactly the same sort of pattern that we saw with the uk or alpha variant. So, if something is more transmissible, this appears to be about 60 more transmissible than the Uk Variant which was more transmissible than the strain before that, that means that it will become the dominant strain. Its just a question of how long that takes. And because it is more transmissible and we know it causes more hospitalizations, you know, thats the real concern primarily for people who are not vaccinated. Let me show you quickly the effectiveness of the vaccines against these strains. I think this is really crucially important. When these vaccines came out, we knew they were very protective against the circulating strain at that point. But what we have learned and this is good news is that they also appear to be very effective against these variants as well. So 92 with pfizer against the Alpha Strain and it drops down 79 but still very effective and very effective against severe disease. Thats the good news for people who are vaccinated. I think theres two things that are concerning. Obviously people who are not vaccinated are at higher risk. They may have gotten away with, you know, encounters where they did not get infected, but something as 60 more transmissible than even the Uk Variant, its very hard to get away with things as Barny Graham the Deputy Director at the nih said to me, we keep thinking of america as vaccinated and unvaccinated. What happens if you look at this is that america becomes vaccinated and infected. It is just very hard to escape the contagiousness of this virus. The second thing is as the virus continues to spread, you get more variants. I mean, hopefully the variants do not become are not problematic, but if you do develop a new variant, that starts to escape immunity more and more. That puts the vaccinated at risk again and frankly the whole world. So, thats whats what everyone is trying to avoid by trying to get the vaccines out as quickly as possible. Having said all that the message remains the same. Get vaccinated. Get vaccinated because of those variants. Get vaccinated so we dont have more of them. Yeah. So dangerous, you know, as we watch this new variant, its pretty stunning how different it is compared to other ones for folks who are unvaccinated. I do want to talk to you about our Christiane Amanpour, sanjay, i think i can say our Cnn Family is standiing firmly behind her today, giving her all the strength that we can as she made the following statement on her air about being diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Like millions of women Around The World, i have been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Ive had successful, major surgery to remove it and im now undergoing several months of chemotherapy for the best possible im fortunate to have Health Insurance through work and incredible doctors treating me in a country underpinned by the brilliant nhs. Im telling you this in transparency but in truth mostly as a shout out to early diagnosis to urge women to get all the regular screenings and scans you can, to listen to your bodies and to ensure that youre legitimate medical concerns are not dismissed or diminished. She is nothing if not Strength And Grace as she meets this challenge here. Shes using this as a moment to talk to other women about the importance here of early detection. She says listen to your body which is something weve heard so many times from people who are dealing with Ovarian Cancer. Listen to your body. How important is this . What do people need to know, sanjay . Yeah, well, first, Like You, im sending lots of love to christiane. She is grace. She is courageousness. I mean, shes the reason a lot of people went into this field to be honest. And sending her lots of love. Trading some emails yesterday. These are critically important messages. Ovarian cancer can be very hard to catch early because sometimes theres not symptoms. And thats why screening can be very important. We know that about 1 in 5 women who have ovarian Cancer Catch this cancer early. Christiane is lucky to be one of them. If you do catch it early, survival is 94 at five years. So it makes a huge difference catching this early. But oftentimes theres not symptoms early symptoms of Ovarian Cancer which is why you have to, a, look for any even mild symptoms and pay attention to them but also make sure that you get screened. One thing that happened during this pandemic is that a lot of people put off, you know, going to the doctor. They were worried, and i understand. People just were not leaving their house. You need to go out there and make those appointments, get those things scheduled for everybody. I mean, everybody thats listening probably has put off some appointment like that. Now is the time. Get your vaccine. And go out and do those things. It is time, again. Were thinking of christiane who is fierce in all things. Dr. Sanjay gupta, thanks so much. A Georgia Supermarket is the latest scene of a deadly shooting. And it follows an argument over masks. Cnns Laura Jarrett is with us with the details. This is horrible. Its the Nightmare Scenario Business owners have been worried about all along. A fight over a Mask Escalating in the worst possible way. Authorities say 30yearold Victor Lee Tucker jr. Entered a big Bear Supermarket in Dekalb Count and was asked to comply with the stores mask policy. Tucker left without buying anything only to return to the store moments later with a handgun. And then he shot the cashier, killing her. The Georgia Bureau of investigation said the two got into an argument over the mask. Heres the stores earn speaking to a cnn affiliate wxia. He had a mask. She just very cautious person so she had asked him to pull up his mask. He refused. And walked out. Came back in and did that. A kind, loving human being. We cant understand. Theres nothing to understand. The stores security officer, a 30year veteran of the Police Department exchanged gunfire with tucker and he was arrested as he tried to crawl out of the front door of the store. He and the Sheriffs Deputy were taken to the hospital and were told remain in stable condition, according to authorities. The Dekalb County Police Department is investigating this shooting. The Georgia Bureau of investigation has been asked to as well. Weve seen plenty of debates over the mask in the past year but as more and more cities open up its the workers on the front line of these fights now forced to deal with hostile people, angry about times when they are simply asked to wear a mask inside. It is horrific. Laura, thank you for that. All right. This morning a key Central American nation is backsliding to autocracy. But the biden administration indicating it wont put up with that in this hemisphere. John avlon with a reality check. From the g7 to nato meetings in europe, president Joe Biden has been sending the same message. Democracies must stand up to autocracies. Its the defining challenge of our time. But the slide of democracy towards autocracy can be seen in our own hemisphere as well. Among the most urgent examples is nicaragua where daniel ortegas sandinistas have arrested 13 Opposition Leaders ahead of this novembers election, leaving him unopposed for a fourth consecutive term. The biden administration slammed new sanctions on key members of the regime including Ortegas Daughter with the State Department tweeting that arrests should resolve any remaining doubts about ortegas doubts as leader. But its been a long time coming. In 2018 they killed hundreds of protesters, according to Human Rights groups. During the pandemic, ortega echoed populist virus denial, refusing to accept social distancing, proclaiming the pandemic a sign from god and saying that his country had been largely aaffected. But there were reports of covid deaths being suppressed, hidden. And Ortegas Government called these reports fake news. So, yes, ortega and his socialist Sandinistan Party have become authoritarians but the seeds were there along ago even when they were celebrated by some on the left. This misplaced sympathy after they funded the anticommunist guerrillas. The sandinistas drew praise from the thenmayor of burlington, vermont, bernie sanders. And long before he was mayor of New York, Bill De Blasio travelled to nicaragua in a prosandinista volunteer mission, defending them as late as 1990 when he said they gave a new definition of democracy. Not so much. But a lot of folks were drawn in, including the clash, which titled its arguably worst album sandinista. But that was then and this is now. And there is no excuse for misty eyed memories of this dictatorship. Since ortega returned to the presidency in 2006 hes used the Autocrats Playbook to consolidate power, demonizing it while turning it into a corrupt Family Business with his Wife Serving as Vice President and children controlling the media. Journalists jailed. International Election Observers restricted as paramilitary groups patrol the streets in pickup trucks. The flag of the Sand Northeasta Party flies at the border while the national flag has been criminalized and opponents are deemed enemies of the state. The biden administration increasingly talks tough in action over the vision power grab. Its a step in the right direction because putting Human Rights back at the forefront. Cracking down on corruption can also put new pressure on these selfenriching populist regimes. And by taking a harder line against the ortegas and their patrons, the biden administration could help silence the socialist slurs that prove so effective in swing hispanic communities in the last election. The struggle between Democracy And Autocracy is the defining thing of our time. We muston the side of citizens. And thats your reality check. Republican Rand Paul had an interesting comment to the New York times on another front here, although it has to do with democracy. The idea of Democracy And Majority rule is really what goes against our history and what the country stands for. The Jim Crow Laws came out of democracy. Thats what you get when a majority ignores the rights of others. What is he talking about . Its hard to be more wrong in fewer words. First of all, hes given up the ghost to the extent that a lot of republicans, beginning with Mike Lee and others are basically saying they have a problem with majority rule. This goes way beyond the old probe about were a republic not a democracy. It pulls the curtain back on a lot of the Voter Suppression efforts today. If you know anything about history and the senator from kentucky probably should know more about southern history, the Jim Crow Laws came after the civil war. After africanamericans were granted basic rights, 13th, 14th Amendment and local laws were passed to diminish their power to throw up obstaeblgs, to make it more difficult for them to participate as full citizens in our democracy after a brief period in which they did participate. So jim crow is about a reaction to majority rule, not a reflection of it at all. John avlon, thank you very much for that. New day continues right now. Hello. Im Brianna Keilar alongside john berman. President s strategy. What he should tell Vladimir Putin when theyre facetoface tomorrow. Plus, a key player in the Ukraine Scandal speaking out on the Rudy Giuliani tape. Does lev parnas now feel vindicated. They claim the Trump Administration made costly mistakes at the beginning of the pandemic. What he calls donald trumps deadly sins. And Amanda Klutz opens up about losing her husband to covid and why she decided to share her gutwrenching pain with the world. Good morning to viewers here in the united states and Around The World. Its tuesday, june 15th. The Biden Putin Summit is just one day away. Right now President Biden is holding talks with americas closest eu allies. Before entering the meeting, he declared his commitment to rebuilding Americas Relationship with the eu and nato. Later today the president Goes To Geneva for his highly anticipated Facetoface Meeting with Vladimir Putin. That meeting is tomorrow. He says the united states is not looking for a confrontation with the kremlin, and he acknowledged the russian leader is a worthy adversary. You know how you know its big . Its big if Wolf Blitzer is there. If hes not only there but sneaking into our reads before