Brand new hour. Good to be with you. Im victor blackwell. And im alisyn camerota. At this hour in washington The Spotlight is on Voting Rights. The focus is to protect and expand americans right to vote. As you know republican legislatures across the country are passing bills to restrict Voting Rights. The Vice President also warning how dangerous these new laws are. Heres what she said. These laws create obstacle upon obstacle. These laws make it harder for you to vote because they dont want you to vote. And so i will say again your vote matters. Your voice matters. Of course that event discussing voting comes on the same day the governor of texas called a Special Session to push through a restrictive voting bill. Much more on that in a moment. But first cnns Jeff Zeleny is at the White House. Jeff, the White House said today the president plans to deliver a major sweep on Voting Rights. What do we expect from the meeting thats happening . Reporter we do know President Biden momentarily will be meeting with civil rights leaders talking about the assault on Voting Rights weve seen in state after state across the country. Vice president harris has just returned here to the White House after delivering that speech across washington here and howard university, calling the threat against Voting Rights the fight of the nations lifetime. The question is what can or will the White House try to do about it . Now, several Voting Rights groups have really been frustrated that the president has not stepped up to really be more proactive in trying to deliver some type of federal legislation. Of course this is why the narrow democratic majorities in the House And Senate are very important here. Several members, democrats alone have expressed opposition to some of these bills on capitol hill. So the White House is meeting right now with civil rights leaders with an essential message of saying, Look, we understand, we are trying to expand some type of a voting Rights Fight here. Through the federal courts, which weve seen as well as some type of legislation. What this is ultimately going to get down to is can President Biden Rally Support for changing ultimately whats at stake here is the filibuster. That is the rule in the senate that would allow some of these measures to pass by a simple majority, not the 60vote Threshold to eliminate that filibuster. Right now the president is listening to these civil rights leaders so they know the problem. They certainly want some federal action on this. There are limits to what the president and Vice President can do about this, but they can listen. Thats what theyre doing here right now, but theres no question. Since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected last november, so many voting laws, so many states have changed their voting laws. Of course this is under the Drum Beat of former President Donald Trump inaccurately saying the election was fraudulent. Thats not true. But states have rallied to pass Voting Rights laws, so that is what has brought us to this moment here. The White House insists President Biden is focused on Voting Rights. Well see if he can do anything about it actually. Jeff zeleny, thank you very much for that reporting. All right, lets go to texas now and that special legislative session. Republicans are now proposing a revised Election Bill that democrats warn will still suppress voting. This Special Session kicked off this morning and included nearly a dozen issues ranging from those Voting Rights to critical race theory. Protesters gathered outside the capitol with a message for Governor Greg Abbott. We have to stand out here every day, and we have to march every day, and we have to put our hands up every day. One thing Governor Greg Abbott underestimates is the power of the people. The power will always be in the people, and we are standing here today to show him what democracy Looks like. Cnns Diane Gallagher is in austin, texas. So, diane, whats different about this bill than the bill that democrats stopped during the regular session . Reporter so there are a lot of similarities, but at the core of things, victor, theyre starting all over again. At this Point Today there were two different bills that were introduced. One in the house, one in the senate, and theyve got to start from scratch going through committee meetings, voting them out of each chamber into the other and going through the whole process again. The content iS Pretty similar to that bill, sb7, that the democrats killed by walking off the floor and denying quorum back at The End of the regular session. If you take it house bill, for example, were talking about banning 24hour drivethru voting, adding new crime to the process. For example, making it a felony to send out an unsolicited Ballot Application and makes more voter i. D. Necessities for voting by mail. Theres some key differences, though, from both of the bills that were introduced this new Special Session. And they dont include some of the more controversial measures that were jammed into that sb7 last session like banning Sunday Morning voting. And they also dont have the component that would lower the threshold for overturning an election. Democrats see that as a small victory from their walkout, but say altogether they feel this iS Political theater at its finest still. Its based on a lie that theres rampant problems in our elections. And the Big Lie that Donald Trump actually won the last election. Thats what this is all about. All across the country you see Republicans Clamoring to pass these antivoter bills so they can curry favor with Donald Trump and his supporters, and that is exactly whats going on here. Democrats are fired up. Everyone ive spoken to have said they are willing to do anything. It is all on the table. Republicans, victor, allison, theyre kind of embarrassed what happened last time around and say this is Uniformity And Security and this will get done this summer. Diane gallagher, thank you very much for that reporting. So we want to bring in now Texas State representative armando, martinez. One of the democrats who walked out of the statehouse, walked off the floor just a few weeks ago. Thank you so much for being here. What about today . Voting restrictions are back. Were you and your colleagues tempted to walk out again . I think were going to leave all options on the table. I mean especially here in texas its just a catastrophe to see what republicans are doing especially to voting. No matter our race or political Party Or Zip code, All Of Us now in a democracy voterS Pick the leaders. The leaders should not be picking the voters. We know texas is one of the most restrictive Voting Rights in the country. I think all options are still on the table on what were going to do especially to protect the Voting Rights for our people here in the state of texas. First, republicans say they have removed the two most objectionable tenants of that bill that first caused you to break quorum. As diane just laid out for us. So it no longer lowers the standards in court, i believe, for overturning elections. And it no longer delays those Sunday Morning hours that would have prevented the popular souls to the pollS Program. Is this now acceptable to you that theyve struck those two thin things . Its still not acceptable. I think theres so much we have to go through and digest and make sure were not restricting any type of Voting Or Access to voting for our communities. And i think thats the biggest issue. So theres still so much to digest about this new legislation coming out. Of course we know during session it was horrible especially when they were trying to ram a 200page amended bill down our throats that hadnt been Looked at by either party. So i think when were Looking at what theyve already filed its something we still have to go back and Look. But we want to make sure that everybody still has access, and thats the most important thing. We should not be creating barriers for people to vote. So basically, representative, are you saying you havent had time to Look through it all and digest it because some of these things are happening Behind Closed Doors . Thats absolutely right. And i think theres so much we still need to go through. I think theres a line byline, page by page that All Of Us need to Look at, make sure we actually know what theyre trying to introduce. But im still sure Theres Access issues. Im still sure theres a way to restrict people from voting, and thats exactly what we dont want to do. One of the things that Governor Abbot sorry, were having a bit of a delay problem. One of the things Governor Abbot said he would do if you didnt fall in line was dock your pay. Is that happening . Well, Governor Abbott can say and do whatever he wants, but the most important thing for us to do iS Protect Voting Rights and democracy here in texas, and thats what were going to do. So he can say and do and act however way he wants about the political platform. For us as democrats its about protecting Voting Rights for the people of texas. Let me put up on the screen a few of the issues Governor Abbott feels are so pressing he needed to call this Special Session, so Voting Rights as weve been discussing. Theres also social Media Censorship on the agenda, critical race theory, rules for transgender student athletes. There were more, but one of the things that is not on the agenda is covid and whats happening in the state of texas. So let me pull up the map for you because there are hot spots in texas actually Looks like West Texas that are having all of these cases, an outbreak oficateses. As you can see the darker reds and the oranges there. And so why isnt this at the top of the agenda . You know, that was a lot of the questions that we had, there are so many more fundamental issues that we should be addressing here in texas. One especially covid and access to Health Care. Texas was ranked last in the uninsured population, and we had not addressed that. Weve also we havent addressed the grid and the electrical grid. These are more pressing issues. I mean in the Rio Grande Valley where im from we had additional flooding. And its happened three years in a row and hes not addressed that. And funding those rights for Infrastructure And Drainage so people arent displaced from their homes or lose their homes because of a rain event. As you can see hiS Priorities are not in the right place especially when it comes to expanding medicaid and making sure that we have access to Health Care especially during these times of covid. Texas state representative martinez, thank you for your time. Absolutely. Thank you. All right, just into cnn, the Justice Department is charging five people from florida for allegedly attacking at least seven Police Officers during the insurrection. So the defendants are from the tampa area. They allegedly use stolen Riot Shields to beat officers in head and neck. All but one of the five has been arrested. And as more suspects are arrested, more than 500 so far, cnn is learning more about the congressional probe into the January 6th attack. Democrats on the house select committee are strategizing now to try to keep the investigation from devolving into what they would describe as a circus. The full Story Cnn congressional correspondent Jessica Dean is with us now. Jessica, so whats the plan . How do democrats try to keep this from being a circus . Well, victor and allison, one thing theyre going to try to expand the investigation besides just what former President Trump may have what role he may have played in the insurrection and the lead up into the insurrection. They also want to Look at in addition to potentially calling some members of congress, even House Minority Leader Kevin Mccarthy perhaps, they also want to Look at why was the capitol so illprepared when it came to the insurrectionists, why were they able to find very specific parts of the capitol, specific offices . How do they navigate into areas that are not really publicly known here in the capitol . They want to get into all of that. So thats one thing. Theyre also hoping to keep this as nonpartisan aS Possible. Now, the question is can they actually do that . Its going to be a tough needle to thread. One way theyre trying to guard against that is House Speaker Nancy pelosi selected congresswoman liz cheney, a republican, a former top Ranking Republican who was ousted from her Leadership Position for her take on all this. But nonetheless a republican to serve on her part of the committee. So shes trying to keep this as bipartisan aS Possible, and this of course all coming as we wait to hear from the Minority Leader Mccarthy On Whether on who he will be selecting. Were getting indications from sources that he will be placing up to five people on this select committee. The question now is who will that be . So were waiting for all of this to kind of take shape. But as it does we know that right now house democrats who are on this committee are getting down to logistics, victor and alison. Theyve got to get documents and keep this as straight and narrow aS Possible. Next a State Of Emergency in japan and spectators banned from Tokyo Olympic events. Why some doctors say the games should be canceled. Plus a new report says that five clusters of unvaccinated people in the u. S. Are putting the rest of the country at risk. And just into cnn, Michael Avenatti, you remember the name he was the attorney for stormy daniels. Hes been sentenced in an extortion case. Find out how long hell spend in prison and what the judge had to say about it. At i need. cause i do things a bit differently. Wet Teddy Bears wet Teddy Bears here only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Your cloud. It isnt just a cloud. Its everything flowing through it. And its more distributed than ever. One company takes you inside. Giving you visibility and insight. To take action. One comp. An. On any platform, in any environment. Between your cloud and being cloudsmart, theres a bridge. 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Thats why well stop at nothing to deliver our technology asaservice. We are just two weeks away from the start of the Tokyo Olympics, and japan now declaring a State Of Emergency because of rising coronavirus cases. Olympic officials will now ban spectators from some venues to try to slow the spread. In tokyo 920 new infections were reported wednesday. Thats the highest daily additional caseload since the middle of may. And the Delta Variant is now accounting for up to 30 of the cases. Now, White House says its still assessing if first Lady Dr. Jill biden will attend the olympics as hoped. Lets go to Cnns Salina Wang live from tokyo. And as i understand it, its the tokyo venues that will not have spectators, right . Victor, exactly. Thats right. The Tokyo Olympic venues and also three neighboring areas are banning any spectators from their venues. It is still possible that some of the olympic events held in prefectures in other areas will still allow some spectators, but its still unclear how many, and this comes as a big relief to much of the public here and Public Health Experts who have been pushing for no spectators for quite some time. This is as covid19 cases are surging yet again here in tokyo. The highest level in months. More cases driven by the Delta Variant, and a key concern, victor and allison, and the low Vaccination Rate here. Just 15 of the japanese population has been fully vaccinated. And all of this of course is a major blow to olympic organizers and japan which has spent years, more than 15 Billion planning for these games, has spent more than A Billion dollars alone rebuilding that national stadium where the Opening Ceremony is going to be held. And its just going to be extraordinary to see those stands nearly completely empty. But the public here is still not convinced that these games are going to be held safely. And here in shinjuku, tokyo, there was an antiolympicS Protest. Take to listen to what one protester and one passerby had to tell me. We should not hold the olympics with increasing covid cases. Infections will definitely spread if the olympics are held, and overseas visitors will bring the virus back to their home country. It will be a disaster. Reporter now despite a long list of covid19 rules for olympic participants you have had instances of athletes who have been fully vaccinated and testing negative before departure, Testing Positive for covid19 in japan, there have been a few instances of that. So still concern from the public and from health experts. Victor, alison. Up next after the break the attorney who represented Porn Star stormy daniels is headed to prison. Michael avenatti was just sentenced for trying to extort millions of dollars from nike i should say. Well share lets call them colorful comments that the judge had for him. You need. Sorry . Limu, youre an animal only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. I dont just play someone brainy on tv im an actual neuroscientist. And i love the science behind Neuriva Plus. Unlike ordinary memory supplements, Neuriva Plus fuels six key indicators of Brain Performance. More Brain Performance . Yes, please neuriva. Think bigger. Hitting the road this summer . Not all 5g Networks are created equal. Tmobile covers more Interstate Highway miles with 5g than the other guys. Tmobile. Americas largest, fastest, most reliable 5g network. You know the name from the trump years, Michael Avenatti. He was the attorney who represented stormy daniels. Hes just been sentenced to 2 1 2 years in federal prison for trying to extort millions of dollars from nike. Avenatti was the lawyer for Donald Trumps alleged mistress, stormy daniels, as you know. He reportedly openly wept when he spoke at his sentencing hearing today. Joining us ato talk about this we have Cnn Analyst Elle honing, also the author of the fabulous now book, hatchet man, how Bill Barr broke the Prosecutors Code and corrupted the Justice Department. Okay, Michael Avenatti was so familiar to us obviously during the whole stormy daniels thing. I know his attorney asked for 6 months, prosecutors wanted 8 years, so he got 2 1 2 years. All said a pretty good result for Michael Avenatti. Ive done extortion cases involving less money. This was multimillions, that resulted in more time than 2 1 2 years. Avenatti went in front of the judge and did the Smart Thing for any defendant. He expressed remorse. Whether it was sincere or not who knows. He has two more federal indictmentS Pending one in california, one in new york. For what . For stealing from his own client. And thats even worse than this because nike is a big entity. They didnt pay him. This is a client and he extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars. Colorful comments from the judge there in the courtroom. Yeah. Lets turn now to the Trump Lawsuit suing facebook, google, twitter as well. Does this have a chance or is it Something Else . Im going to try to make short work of this. No chance. This is a stunt. This is fundraising. Lets just start with this. The first word of the first amendment is congress. Congress shall make no law. That means it only applies to governmental entities, congress, state bodies, boards of education not to private companies like twitter and facebook. Theres about five other legal defects as well. Lets understand this for what it is. I think its a Publicity Stunt more than anything else. Onto rudy giuliani. Hes barred from practicing law in washington, d. C. Hes running out of jurisdiction here same as new york. He lied in courts around the country and to the public. Sometimes consequences take a bit take a while to build up. But if you Look at rudy now hes spread the Big Lie all over, but hes got civil lawsuits from voting companies, Criminal Investigation down in georgia. So things are catching up. Speaking of rudy youve got something in common. Both worked aS Prosecutors, sdny there. You got the new book, hatchet man, which i have. Thank you for the copy. Tell us what it means there. This Prosecutors Code that was broken potentially. The Prosecutors Code is based on you have to have real life experience. And i talk a lot in the book about the real trials i did, mob cases, things i did in the sdny. I did that in part i think people are interested. I think people should know how do prosecutors make decisions, what happens Behind Closed Doors. Also, each of those stories theres a principle behind it. Never lie, never play politics, never stab your colleagues in the back. If you get it wrong, admit it and fix it. And all those things are things Bill Barr broke, violated, various scandals. From his lies about the mueller report, his interference from the Flynn And Stone cases, his failure to do anything on ukraine, all the way through. I take it to Bill Barr here, i think there needs to be accountability because he broke those principles that i was raised on. Bill barr is now publicly in some interviews talking about he basically says he tried behind the scenes to tell Donald Trump at the time, no, theres no Election Fraud, its all b. S. , as he says. So thats the first time that were really hearing his story. I know you have expressed skepticism at some of this. Well, he did do that in december, three weeks after the election. What hes leaving out of his image Reclamation Tort that i dont leave out of this book in the six months leading up to the election he helped fan the flames of the Big Lie. He was out there in national media in front of congress saying theres this Enorm S Election Fraud and we cant do anything about it. Im sorry, he cannot worm out of it now. He has direct responsibility for starting this fire that continues to consume us. The book is hatchet man. Hes not letting him off the hook. So as the Delta Variant spreads across the u. S. , were going to talk about the five covid clusters. How do these five placeS Put the entire country at risk . Some say this is my greatest challenge. Governments in record debt; inflation rising, currencies falling. But ive seen centuries of this. With one companion that hedges the risks you choose and those that choose you. The physical seam of a digital world, traded with a touch. My strongest and closest asset. The gold standard, so to speak ; people call my future uncertain. But theres one thing i am sure of. To make my vision a reality my varilux progressive lenseS Provide seamlessly transition from near to far. With every detail in sharp focus. Thats seeing no limits. Varilux lenses by essilor. 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Ask your doctor about nurtec today. If youre 55 and up, tmobile haS Plans built just for you. Switch now and get 2 unlimited lines and 2 free smartphones. And now get netflix on us. Its all included with 2 lines for only 70 bucks only at tmobile. One, two one, two, three only pay for what you need with customized Car Insurance from Liberty Mutual nothing rhymes with Liberty Mutual. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. The cdc says the Delta Variant now accounts for more than half of all new Covid Infections in the u. S. Experts say its more transmissible and potentially more dangerous, and the reason to get vaccinated if youre not already. 24 states have seen at least a 10 uptick in covid cases in just the last week as this variant spreads. And experts recently identified five clusters in the u. S. With a high number of unvaccinated people that could put the entire country at risk. Cnns senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is with us now. So these five clusters, where are they, and how do these clusters threaten the whole country . Its interesting. About half the country is not fully vaccinated against covid19. If they were spread around evenly it wouldnt be such a threat because those of us who are vaccinated could sort of protect them and keep any outbreaks from happening. But theyre not. Theyre clusters. So lets Look'>Take A Look where they are. This is work from georgeten university. Epidemiologists there have been following the Vaccination Rollout since it began in december. Theyre finding these five significant clusters. You can see its mostly in the south eastern united states that also goes into West Texas and also into southern missouri. Lets Look'>Take A Look at some of the characteristics of the folks in these clusters. When you put it together its 15 Million people living in those five clusters. The Vaccination Rate in those counties and clusters, 28 . Nationally its 48 . So that shows you how poorly vaccinated those areas are. And 92 of the counties in those clusters have just fewer than 100,000 people. While there are some cities like montgomery, alabama, or texas really what were talking about large groups of relatively small counties. So the threat to people who live there is obvious. We see it already. There are outbreaks in those areas unlike what we see in many parts of the country. Heres the threat to us. Coronavirus is smart and it learns by doing, learns by practicing, kind of like how we learn a sport by playing it a lot. The more they spread from person to person the more they become variants that can outwit the vaccine. Right now the variants are outwitting the vaccine a little bit. Were seeing some break through cases, but it really hasnt been too bad. The fear is the more they spread and those are the areas theyre going to spread, the more we see variants that could possibly outsmart the vaccines. That really helps explain it. Elizabeth, thank you very much. Joining us now is cnn medical Analyst Dr. Lena wen, and the Washington Post Columnist Max Boot who wrote a piece this week saying republicans are to blame for the country not reaching President Bidens vaccination goal. Great to see both of you. Dr. Wen, these Clusters Elizabeth just showed us, obviously they increase the urgency of vaccinations, and you say it might be time for President Biden to mandate vaccinations. I can only imagine the cry particularly from republicans if that were to happen. Why not just let individual employers, individual businesses mandate them . Wouldnt that be a better way to go . Yes, it would be. And actually thats what im asking for. Im not saying the federal government should put out some kind of Vaccine Mandate but rather the federal government should be clear vaccines are not just about the individual. Because right now there seems to be this messaging coming from the biden administration that if youre vaccinated youre protected, so thats fine. Why should you care then if other people around you are also vaccinated . You should actually care because of the possibility of break through infections. What if you live at home with People Unvaccinated or immuno compromised. It does matter to you if youre going to work surrounded by People Unvaccinated and could be infecting you. I think the that messaging is out there vaccinated people are safest around other people also vaccinated that lays the groundwork for employers, workplaces, schools, universities to be putting in their own private Vaccine Mandates. You cast this or characterize this as the scientists and experts versus what you call conspiratorial Crack Pots in some of the lies about the vaccine. Who will win here . Whats your count now as were several months into this Vaccine Initiative . I think its fair to say in the population as a whole science is winning. You have 67 of american adults getting vaccinated, but unfortunately there is still a lot of Vaccine Opposition or hesitancy out there. You see it in various groups including the young and africanamerican community. But the biggest element of resistance is in the republican party. There was a shocking the washington post, abc News Poll just came out which showed that 86 of democrats surveyed had gotten the vaccine compared to only 45 of republicans. So almost a 21 difference in democrats versus republicans. And you can also see it in the statistics on which states are the most and the least vaccinated. The ones that are the least vaccinated, theyre all republican red states. And in fact, many of them are in those clusters that you were just showing on the screen. And the reason why republicans arent getting vaccinated is because theyre listening to this garbage, this misinformation and these lies that are being spread by sources like Fox News and many other influencers on the right where you have people like marjorie taylor greene, the congresswoman from georgia comparing getting vaccinated to being a victim of the holocaust. This is insanity but its done real damage to our ability to vaccinate the entire population. I want to drill down on that for one second because i hear something in addition to politics and in addition to geographical differences, when i talk to some vaccine resistant people meaning reluctant people, i hear this kind of fatalism. If i get it, i get it. If its godS Plan then i accept it. That kind of philosophical difference that i dont know if its based on politics. I just know that thats their philosophy. How are you supposed to tackle that . I doubt that was their consistent philosophy. If it were theyd have to refuse all medical care, right . And if they were hit by a truck theyd say dont take me to a hospital, its gods will. Very few people would act like that. Theyre really singling out this disease because its become a political flash point. You had so many republicans last year who refused to wear a mask and now theyre refusing to get vaccinated which makes zero sense because maskS Protect you from infection and vaccines do the same thing much more powerfully. And if you want to stop wearing masks and do it safely, get vaccinated. That is what the science is telling us. I think one of the most important figures ive heard in the last few weeks from the cdc is that in the last six months 99. 5 of those who have died from covid19 were not vaccinated. 99 of those who died were not vaccinated. So if you want to stay alive, get vaccinated. So as were seeing the delay here in getting to herd immunity, as were seeing the delay in getting some states vaccinated or more people there, the question is how does this end, dr. Wen . And theres a Group Of 20 experts who now say its almost certainly let me go to Something Else because were running out of time. This could end one of three ways. That we wont get it under control, therell be ongoing severe disease or there will be transition to an epidemic seasonal like the flu, or well transition to an endemic that has lower impact than the flu. Which has more impact here for you . I think this really depends on what it is that we do at thiS Point. So now we have this Delta Variant that is much more contagious. Because its more contagious, its going to be even harder for us to reach herd immunity. Were going to have to vaccinate an even higher proportion of people to get there. What happens, then, if we end up having another variant developing thats even more contagious, that could cause more disease, that could evade the protection of our Immune System . So how quickly we can get this under control and which way we go depends on what we do now, to overcome disinformation. What we really need to do at thiS Point is make vaccination the easy choice. It needs to be hard for people to remain unvaccinated. Right now its kind of the opposite. Its fine, its easy if youre unvaccinated. You can do anything you want to do anyway. At some point these mandates by workplaces, by schools, i think it will be important to say, hey, if you want to opt out you have to sign these forms, get twice weekly testing. Basically we want to make getting vaccinated the easy choice. That is what its going to take for us to actually end the pandemic. Thank you both. All right, next, a new twist in britney Spears Battle to get ther freedom back. Her mom has just filed a petition with the court and a conservator says shes getting Death Threats. phones ringing, people talking, meeting the Company Weve trusted to keep us working remotely, is the same company well trust to bring us back together. Safely. Securely. And responsibly. So now, between all apart and all together, theres a bridge. Cisco. The bridge to possible. New projects means new project managers. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. When you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. Visit indeed. Com hire and get started today. So then i said to him, you oughta customize your Car Insurance with Liberty Mutual, so you only pay for what you need. Hot dog or. Chicken . Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. New developments, today, in Britney Spears conservatorship case. Her mother, Lynn Spears told the court that britney is in a much different place now than in 2008 and should be allowed to choose her own attorney. Cnns Chloe Maloff is here with us. Thank goodness. No one knows this case better than you. What is happening, this week . Arent i lucky, that i have been following this for you all for more than a few weeks. Its been several years, i have been following this. So, Lynn Spears, Britney Spears mother, has filed a petition with the Los Angeles County superior court asking Judge Brenda Penny to allow Britney Spears to choose her own attorney. For the last nearly13 years, britney has had an attorney named samuel ingham, who was court appointed. Why did britney never get to have a choosing her own counsel . So, as of right now, her attorney, he resigned earlier this week. So, hes out of there. There is a Bigcourt Hearing next week. So we are going to hear what the judge has to say about that. But we are all kind of standing by to see is the judge going to appoint new counsel . Or is britney finally going to get to pick her own attorney . Yeah. Tell us about these Death Threats, though. Who is getting those . So, jamie spears, her father, whos been the coconservator of Britneys Estate since 2008 over her 60 Million affairs and all that kind of stuff but i doesnt oversee her medical. Stating Family Members including himself, including the lawyer that resigned earlier this week, have been receiving Death Threats for months, for years. And they say they get Phone Calls and hangup calls and all these types of just terrible things said to them. Because of their, you know, alleged wrongdoings throughout the conservatorship. Jamie spears has maintained that he has always acted in the best interest of his daughter. You know, i think that whats the most interesting here is that jody montgomery, who has been overseeing Britney Spearss medical decisions for the last two years. She files last night a petition for guardian ad litem, which is yet, for everyone who doesnt understand because its complicated, its another courtappointed position. Which is the last thing Britney Spears wants so very quickly, chloe, is the conservatorship going to end . This is going to be many months in the process. So this is going to drag out for a while. Thank you very much for updating us and being on it. We know you will be in the courtroom later. We are minutes away from the Closing Bell and fears about the spread of the Delta Variant are rattling wall street, as you can see. Es Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. How much money can Liberty Mutual save you . One two three four five 72,807 72,808. Dollars. Yep. Everything hurts. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. I thought i was managing my moderate to severe crohns disease. Then i realized something was missing. Me. My symptoms were keeping me from being there for her. 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And many of us realize a fundamental human need to connect with other likeminded people. Welcome back to the world. Viking. Exploring the world in comfort. Once again. Look. If your Wireless Carrier was a guy, youd leave him tomorrow. Not very flexible. Not great at saving. You deserve better xfinity mobile. Now, they have unlimited for just 30 a month. 30 dollars. And theyre number 1 in customer satisfaction. His number . Delete it. Deleting it. So break free from the big three. Xfinity internet customers, take the Savings Challenge at xfinitymobile. Com mysavings or visit an Xfinity Store to learn how our Switch Squad makes it easy to switch and save hundreds. We are moments away from the Closing Bell on wall street, the dow is down nearly 300 points. Cnns Matt Egan joins us now. So whats going on . Well, listen. This feels more like normal market turbulence. Its not necessarily anything to be overly freaked out about. Some of the investors i am talking to. They are more concerned about these variants. The Delta Variant, in particular. Its been described as covid19, on steroids because its twice as infectious and so the concern is that it could dent the economic recovery. I think the fact that tokyo is banning spectators from the olympics. That japan Declare Add Covid emergency. Thats not sitting well because this is a market thats been priced for perfection. Investors are banking on spectacular growth. They are not going to be satisfied if its just good growth. But listen. The good news is that the market is ending well off the worst levels of the day. It is down lower than 500 points, the dow, this morning. Closing about 300 points lower. Thats a good sign. That is a sign of confidence. People are coming in. They are buying. Also, this market has been on fire. I mean, it had to pull back, at some point. Just 24 hours ago, the S P 500 closed at a record high. Heading into the holiday weekend. Sevenstraight record highs for the S P 500. We havent seen that, since 1997. So, it is healthy for the market to pull back. Its a good thing for the market to take a breather and it Looks like thats what we saw today. So the expectation is that were not going to see this Drag On . Thats certainly what the hope is and there is no reason to think it would really Drag On from here. Matt egan, thank you so much. All right. Thethe lead starts right now. Scenes from the peak of the pandemic, all over, again. The lead starts right now. The danger of unvaccinated clusters in the united states. One hospital now running out of ventilators. And it could be a Breeding Ground for new variants. Track and field, swimming, gymnastics. Only on tv. How covid is forcing something never seen, before, at the olympics. Plus, its up to them. President bidens stern message to afghanistan, as he defends increasing criticism about the speed of americas exit. Welcome to