clear they believe his killers should serve the full sentence with no chance for proehl. >> ahm awe d is my brother, and would i like to tell him a little bit about him. you a maude had dark skin that glisened in the sunlight like gold and he had thick curly hair and would often like to twist it. he enjoyed running and had an appreciation for being outdoors. these are the qualities that made these men assume that you a maude was a dangerous criminal and chase him with guns drawn. to me those qualities reflect a young man full of life and energy who look like me and the people i love. >> not only did they lynch my son in broad daylight but they killed him while he was doing what he loved more than anything, running. that's when he felt most alive, most free, and they took all that from him, and when i close my eyes i see his execution in my mind. >> and your honor, we loved him back. he was messy. he sometimes refused to wear socks or take good care of his good clothing. i wish he would have cut and cleaned his toenails before he went out for that jog that day. i guess he would have if he knew he would be murdered. my family is going to miss ahmad. we're going to miss his jokes, his impersonations, his warm smile. >> these men deserve the maximum sentence for their crimes. ahmad never said a word to them. he never threatened them. he just wanted to be left alone. >> cnn national correspondent diane gallagher joining us now from brunswick, georgia, outside the courthouse. diane, gut-wrenching. i mean, these were short but such powerful statements from ahmaud arbery's family. walk us through what the judge will be deciding today. >> so erica, the sentence that goes with the charges that these three men were convicted of is life in prison. the judge will have to decide whether or not this is life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 30 years or life in prison without the possibility of parole, and we should point out that that possibility of proehl would be decided the from a parole board decades from now but just that is what's decided today. there are lesser charges that will have sentences handed down by the judge today. this is the main one and this is the focus of ahmaud arbery's family in the emotional gut-wrenching impact statements that they delivered after the state went through its case once again basically, sort of explaining why it was requesting what it was. now, the state has requested that the judge hand down a sentence of life in prison with no parole for both of the mcmichaels and life in prison with the possibility of parole for william "rode" bryant. we did hear before the lunch break from the attorney for travis mcmichael, and he essentially tried to paint a picture of somebody who had done a lot of good in their life but then did something wrong and a narrative essentially of redemption. take a listen. >> the state contends that 99 good acts don't overcome one bad act, and of course legally that's true. mr. mcmichael is now a convicted felon, but 99 good acts do weigh in this court's consideration, do factor into what choice this court is going to make when sentencing mr. mcmichael. >> now the judge has just re-entered the courtroom to come back for this hearing from that lunch break. we still have to hear from the attorneys for greg mcmichael and for william "roddy" bryant, and, again what they are arguing for here, erica, is the opportunity to potentially be granted parole after three decades. greg mcmichael is 66 years old so any life sentence is essentially a life sentence for him, whether that opportunity for parole exists or not due to georgia state law and, of course, this isn't the end for anybody here. the arbery pamly talked about how difficult it was for them to reach this day, something they have been anticipating because they felt like it was a moment of justice in almost two years of pain that they have experienced since their son, their brother was murdered, but all of these attorneys have said they plan to appeal the convictions and next month, here in brunswick, there will be a federal trial on those hate crime charges against those three men for killing ahmaud arbery. >> yeah. one long step, but us a point out, dianne, much more to come. we're monitoring the courtroom. those are live pictures that you're looking at on your screen. what could potentially happen here? joining us to discuss is bob bianchi, criminal defense attorney and former head prosecutor in new jersey and cnn legal analyst and federal prosecutor elliott williams. elliott, these statements, i mean, i have to admit i was watching them earlier this morning. i couldn't tear away. they did get you right in your gut. they were emotional. they humanized ahmaud arbery. they talked about him as a son, as a brother and they also interestingly directly attacked the defense, specifically what we heard from his mother, wanda cooper jones, saying if my son knew he would be murdered that day he would have trimmed his toenails. that was really something. >> there's a reason why in the law erica they are called victim impact statements. they are meant to have an impact not just on the judge or everybody in the courtroom but the public watching and humanizing the individual who lost their life that day. now, the interesting thing about the toenails statement which came up and was this graphic frankly out-of-line statement that the defense attorney had made in her closing argument is really interesting because the defendants never would have seen his feet on the day of the trial, yet she still -- on the day of the crime. it's something that came out from ahmaud arbery's autopsy and so it was -- i don't know if mr. arbery's mother knew this, but it was a bit of a dig on the defense and quite an aggressive one and i think a very appropriate one because it was something that should never have come up in trial. the judge must have known that, and so what we're going to see today is now the defense's response. we saw these -- the testimony that sort of aggravated the sentencing and now we'll see what their saturday for a lower sentence. >> and just real quickly, how much impact do you think those statements had? >> look, they are quite significant. any time a victim's mother is going to take -- no one ought to bury their child in any sort of circumstance here, and it's hard to watch those videos and not see a profound impact on the court. now, to be clear, the judge doesn't real very a lot of latitude here. they are going to get life sentences regardless so now it's a question of whether you're giving a 65 and a 50-year-old man 30 years in prison or, you know, 880 -- or 50 years in prison. it's not a huge range, but i think it would have had an impact. >> bob, as we look at that, right, the possibility as the judge weighs whether there will be a possibility of parole, there is ainge, as we know and we just heard from travis mcmichael's attorney, just hearing sound from that, 99 good acts and one bad act and he said that can come into play in sentencing. based on what you've seen throughout the trial and even today, what do you expect from the judge? >> well, first of all, the defense lawyer is right. there are things called aggregating and mitigating factors that are in the sentencing code that judges are allowed to use when trying to determine a sentence like this and the fact that a person led a law-abiding life and the need for deterrents can be justified by a 30-year sentence as opposed to life without parole are all legitimate arguments for the defense to make. my guess here, having been a former prosecutor and knowing the facts this this case inside and out, there's no question about the fact that travis mcmichael in my mind is going to get life without parole. he was a person found guilty of malice murder. the other ones weren't. you can expect the lawyers to say treat those cases differently than life without parole. the father should say it should be a life sentence. in my opinion i think the judge will give him a life without parole sentence as well because he was the one who initiated and started the whole encounter in the first place. with regard to william "roddy" bryant interestingly and tactically very smart by the prosecutor, they are not seeking a life without parole pause his involvement in the case is even more distant than the other two, so with the prosecutor, what he basically did is say to the judge, look, we're being reasonable with the life sentence with regard to william rode bryant but with respect to the other two actor, the father and the son, the person who actually shot him and the father who actually initiated this encounter, your honor, they need to serve of the rest of their lives without parole so i expect that the judge is going to rule pursuant to how the prosecutor sees the case. >> and we'll be watching. thank you both. a mixed december jobs report prompting a forceful to fence. the u.s. added 199,000 jocks which came in far below expectations and the unemployment rate it dip to 3 president 9%. >> the sharpest one-year drop nun employment in united states history and the first time the unemployment has been under 4% in a presidential term in 50 years. 3.9% unemployment rate. years faster than experts said it would be able to do it and we have added 6.4 million new jobs since january of last year. >> the president not just touting all those gains but also calling out republicans. >> now i hear republicans say today that my talking about this strong record shows that i don't understand -- that i don't understand a lot of people are still suffering they say, well, they are, or that i'm not focused on inflation. malarkey. i they want to talk down the recovery because they voted against the legislation that made it happen. they voted against the tax cuts for middle class families. they voted against the funds we needed to reopen our schools, to keep police officers and firefighters on the job, to lower health care premiums. they voted against the fun that they are looking to buy covid booster shots and more antiviral bills. my focus is on keeping this recovery strong and durable and notwithstanding republican obstructionism. >> justin wolf is professor of economics and public policy at the university of michigan. good to have you back with us. first, right, we had the president's comments. first, let's get your take on this jobs report. what do you make of it? it is a little bit of a mixed bag. >> it's very mixed. we should never state too much from any one month's report. this month we got job growth of about 200,000 which is roughly what you would expect in the normal month of a normal economy but this is not a normal month and this is not a normal economy. we lost millions of jobs touring the covid recession and we're meant to be getting them back fast and a little bit faster than this. realize these jobs numbers come from the pre-omicron days. this is very early in december, so what this tells us is that the economy is heading into trouble. we know omicron is causing a lot of disruptions but it's not charging into that weakness. it's dawdling, and so there's real reason to be somewhat concerned about the next few months. >> so it sounds like you're saying somewhat concerned but don't panic. have to say, too. we saw revisions for october and november. do you anticipate that we'll see revisions upward again for these december job numbers so it could ultimately be a slightly better picture, even pre-omicron? >> i think that's right, and just to explain to your viewers. the numbers that the bls releases are just an early estimate based on the businesses that have bothered to return their surveys on time and during particularly disruptive times it can be hard to guess what the late surveys will look like and turned out through much of the last year is the first estimates have been too pessimistic so there's some reason to think that today's disappointing number might be merely disappointing rather than very disappointing once we get the final data. >> i guess it all depends on the modifier there. justin wolfers, really appreciate you joining us today as always. thank you. my pleasure. this just into cnn. the date for the state of the union is set. house speaker nancy please i officially invited president biden to deliver the address to congress on march 1st. in a letter to the president, she says, quote, i am writing to invite you to address a joint session of congress on tuesday, march 1st, to share your vision for the state of the union. also developing right now, the supreme court hearing oral arguments on president biden's covid-19 vaccine and testing mandates. with details on that just ahead, plus the cdc director dr. walensky on the offensive amid confusion over the agency's messaging and guidance. what she's saying now. and this hour former new york governor andrew cuomo in court after prosecutors declined to pursue a forcible touching charge. we're getting destroyed out there. we need a plan! i have a plan... right now at t-mobile customers on magenta max can get the new iphone 13 and t-mobile will pay for it! upgrade to the iphone 13 on us. let me tell you... you want to be successful? 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get relief finally, with magnilife® leg and back pain relief. and get living. available at your local retailer. as the nation faces an omicron surge, the supreme court right now is hearing oral arguments on president biden's covid-19 vaccine and testing mandates. cnn's jessica schneider joins us. jess, these arguments for and against those mandates these, are actually coming just three days before the administration was set to begin enforcing mandates for large employers so what's happening at this hour inside the court? what are we hearing? >> reporter: well, erica, we three and a half hours into these very lengthy arguments, and what we're seeing is the very conservative liberal split between the justices. we're hearing the three liberal justices express near outrage that the power of these federal agencies to implement vaccine mandates is even being questioned since they say we're in the midst of this global pandemic. on the other side, the conservative justices are really looking at these mandates with a lot more skepticism, and they are saying while states might have the power to enact such a mandate, the agencies can only act when congress explicitly gives them the power, a there's skepticism about whether congress has done that. these conservative justices led by chief justice john roberts, they have repeatedly reined in agency power. it was just a few months ago in august that they told the biden administration that the cdc couldn't keep an eviction moratorium that was enacted because of the pandemic just saying that the cdc didn't have the power, so a similar argument here. here's the chief justice explaining his skepticism on this. >> you're saying that congress acted. don't complain that congress hasn't done anything and, you know, that was 50 years ago that you're saying congress acted. i don't think it had covid in mind. that was almost closer to the spanish flu than it is to today's problem. now, i understand the idea that agencies are more expert than corporation and i understand the idea that they can move more quickly than congress, but this is something that the federal government has never done before, right, mandated vaccine coverage? >> and the arguments right now still ongoing, and these justices will likely have to act fairly quickly here. the osha mandate is set to go into effect in just a few days monday, the mandate that requires employers with 100 or more employes to mandate a vaccine or mandate their employees get testing. erica, the challengers really want the justices to stop these mandates so they can continue to be challenged in the lower courts so we could see a decision here from the supreme court fairly quickly. we'll just have to wait and see looming that -- that monday deadline looming. >> jessica snide, appreciate the update. thank you. well, today, dc director dr. walensky is defending her work and her leadership. this amid mounting scrutiny over several covid-19 messaging missteps. jeremy diamond joining us live from the white house. officials at the cdc and the white house are frustrated. there have been some efforts, including on the part of dr. walensky, to try to fix this issue, but where do things stand? how did we get here? >> reporter: yeah, criticism of the cdc and of dr. walensky's leadership has hit a fever pitch in recent weeks amid the new isolation and quarantine guidelines and the messaging mishaps surrounding the guidelines. a lot of back and for the around them. there's been frustration here at the white house with the cdc messaging and i'm also told within the cdc there's frustration with how dr. walensky has issued the guidelines. we've learned that dr. walensky has undergone media train ---ing and here's how she defended her job today. >> we near an unprecedented time with the omicron cases rising, and we're working really hard to get information to the american public and balancing that with the realities we're all living with. this is hard, and i am committed to continue to improve as we learn more about the science and to communicate that with all of you. >> reporter: but frankly, it's not just a messaging problem. one cdc scientist i spoke with says the frustration stems from the way in which dr. walensky and her small circle of aides crafted these guidelines without undergoing some of the rigorous vetting processes that the cdc typically has. the white house for now for its part, they are staying hands off with this but as one former administration official told me it's also no secret that frustration from the white house directed at the cdc isn't a new issue. it's an age-old problem. >> appreciate the reporting, thank you. also with us, dr. carlos del rio, associate dean of emery school of medicine. doctor, great to have you with us. as you look at everything that's happening right now. the reporting that we just had from jeremy, do you think the cdc has handled things well and specifically has dr. walensky handled this well? what needs to be done, if anything? >> well, let mow just say that cdc has the most qualified people to deal with this problem from the beginning of the pandemic, and they were initially sidelined but they were still working incredibly hard, and i know many of them personally, and i can tell you they are working as hard as they can. it is very hard right now because, as you know, this -- this virus is throwing some very different difficult curveballs at us, and when you see missteps in miscommunications, a lot of times it's really that you -- that you take a decision based on what you know today and with an evolving pandemic you wish you knew today what you're going to learn tomorrow. when dr. walensky says we can lift the mask mandate for everybody that's been vaccinated, we didn't realize that with delta the vaccines would not be as protective and therefore you would still have the possibility of getting infected so then they had to back down and say no, you need to go back to mask but the reality is that at the moment that the recommendations of taking off masks what is done it was the right information with the information available at that point but as the information changes the recommendations change and as a member of the public that is very confusing and also very frustrating. so i feel for the cdc and feel for dr. walensky. i know heller personally. i know she's working incredibly hard. i know she's trying to do the best to get us over the pandemic, but at the same time this is not the best of time or the easiest of times. this is very unprecedented so, you know, my advice -- my advice is just simply to -- to continue trying to do the best possible thing to deal with this pandemic. the pandemic is change. there's no doubt about that. >> is that what's missing from the messaging, and i ask this because these are the questions i've asked a number of times is if the scientists is constantly changing, and we know it is, you and i talk about this, should dr. walensky be leading with that every time? this is what we know today. just a reminder, the science could change but as of today here's what the science tells us. would that help? >> yes. this is what my advice would be. i think dr. walensky needs daily if not every other day or third day press conferences where she and the experts talk to the media, not politicians and she talks to the media saying this is what we know today, what we don't know and what we're still investigating. i think the best example of really the ultimate public health communicator that i met and seen was dr. rich besser when he was the director of the cdc during the 2009 influenza pandemic hand his press conferences is really the model of what a press conference during a pandemic should be. >> we're a little tight on time. some. former health advisers to this administration, as you likely read, got together and they put out someifiedance that there needs to be a change, right, that the strategy to be updated for the administration to face this new norm afl living with the virus. the president was asked if covid is here to stay a short time ago. he said no and then he tried to clarify it a little bit saying not the virus that we see right now. is that's what's missing from the response? is it a response that has not continued to evolve? >> i think so. i think there hasn't been a response that has continued to evolve and more importantly we need tools to have an exit ramp. what is our goal? our goal should no longer be zero infections. our goal was from the beginning was to prevent hospitalizations and deaths and other than that if you get infected and, you know, and you're vaccinated and boosted and you get a cold, that's okay. we should not be worrying that much more about infections. we really need to worry about long-term, you know, consequences and which need to worry about mortality and hospitalizations, that's where the focus needs to be and that's what we should strive to stress. >> dr. carlos del rio. thanks for joining us this afternoon. just ahead, the former governor of new york andrew cuomo set to be arraigned after prosecutors declined to pursue a touchable forcing charge. that's next. were cooking with m. she always said, “food is love.” so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. ♪ i want to make the most of every meal we have together. ♪ at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com ♪ feel stuck and need a loan? 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[ marcia ] clearchoice dental implants gave me the ability to take on the world. i feel so much better, and i think that that is the key. every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. at this hour, a former new york governor andrew cuomo schedule to be arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of touching. cuomo has denined all allegations. cnn's brynn gingras is joining us now and following this. the arraignment goes forward despite the fact that the d.a. said he's not prosecuting the case, so what actually happens today at this remote hearing? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, erica. right now we're -- the hearing has actually started. just waiting for the judge to couple to the bench and we fully intend the jung to drop the single misdemeanor charge of forcible touching against the former governor andrew cuomo. this as you mentioned the albany county district attorney earlier this week filed a notice saying he didn't intend to pursue the charges, basically saying that the cuter in this case was credible and also cooperative. however, he did not feel like he had enough evidence to fulfill the burden of proof needed to win this case in an actual trial if it ever went to that, so that is what we expect to hear from the district attorney appearing in this virtual arraignment, anding of course, the judge then will make a decision based on that. we did get a filing later this week, in fact yesterday, from the cuomo's attorney essentially asking for the same request. however, this is a big win, of course, for former governor andrew cuomo. we know that also two district attorneys in other counties of new york have decided not to pursue any charges with different allegations against him, and we know the manhattan district attorney decided that it wasn't going to move forward with any allegations dealing with the nursing home scandal of the former governor. begin, that is big win and one of many that we've seen in recent weeks. this was the only charge that the governor was going to face really in the aftermath of the scathing attorney general's report when many women came forward with allegations of sexual harassment. we'll continue to monitor this arrangement as we move forward but, again, this is something that the governor is going to escape and it's possible we'll see some action in civil court instead. erica? >> has he reacted at all to these decisions throughout the week? >> we're waiting to get reaction just for this hearing, but i can tell that you she has given a statement to us in response from her attorney that basically said the only thing she has any power over right now is her resolution to continue to speak the truth and suggested an appropriate civil action which she will do in due course. that's what we intend to do in the future. this complaint was filed without her knowledge, without the district attorney's knowledge so civil court is likely where she will land. >> brynn gingras, appreciate the update. >> thank you. the family of novak djokovic is treating the multi-millionaire tennis star like a prisoner over his vaccination status. the latest in this dramatic saga just ahead of the australian open. that's next. no matter wherere y. get up to a $3,000 scholarship, starting with your first course. explore your opportunities at phoenix.edu (birds chirping) ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ (phone beep) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (music quieter) ♪ (phone clicks) ♪ ♪ mass general brigham. when you need some of the brightest minds in medicine, this is the only healthcare system in the country with five nationally ranked hospitals, including two world-renowned academic medical centers, in boston, where biotech innovates daily and our doctors teach at harvard medical school, and where the physicians doing the world-changing research are the ones providing care. there's only one mass general brigham. feeling sluggish or weighed down? 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>> yes, you are spot on. mo shortage of drama, indeed. big question for me and so many others is what did novak djokovic when he was on the flight, what did he believe in terms of the special exemption he thought he had, much now centering on a letter per portedly send to players in early december obtained by the "herald sun newspaper" which appears to show tennis australia, the tennis organizers may have, may have wrongly informed unvaccinated players they could enter the country to take part in the aussie open, the first slam on the tennis calendar, which you'll point out, this is very important. cnn can't independently verify the authenticity of the letter. what did the letter advice? either confirmed infection within the last six months along with an accompanying letter from a doctor or public health authority would be considered as valid documentation for a medical exemption. that is really, really, really tangible because that guidance appears to contradict advice in a widely reported letter sent by the country's health minister to tournament organizers well before christmas, back in november stressing that a covid-19 infection within the last six months did not meet the requirements of quarantine-free entry. there are plot twists every step of the way with this. i'm telling you. we are waiting to hear a lot more from tennis australia on this? mean time, erica, reaction come in thick and. for the first time we heard from the man himself djokovic right at the center of all of this. he took to social media writing in english. djokovic saying thank you to people around the world to your continuous support. i can follow it, and it is greatly appreciated and his wife elana jake vic, if we can get that up because she took to social media speaking yesterday via her platforms. it's christmas today for us. my wishes are for everyone to be happy, safe and together as families. we wish we're all together and my consolation is at least we are healthy and we will grow from this experience. it's a story we're following every step of the way. you can be sure of that, erica. back for you. >> look forward to that update from tennis australia as you mentioned parks trick. thank you. he was hollywood's first black movie stark the first black man to win an academy award. legendary actor and activist sidney poitier has died at age of 9 46r789 many of his films dealt with social change and actions from the civil right movement. a look now at his life on and off the screen. >> reporter: sidney portier was so much more than a film legend. he is revered, not just because of what he did on screen but also because of his tremendous impact off screen as a champion of civil rights. >> we believe in the central dignity of every human being. >> the son of a bohemian tomato farmer, poitier lived a life of first, the first black man to win an oscar for best actor, and one of the first black people to become a true hollywood star among the greatest of all time. >> we have lots and lots and lots of a can american actors. now, when we didn't have any, i appeared, not because i brought so much, but because the time was right >> reporter: but his career almost ended before it ever began. as a teenager poitier auditioned for the american negro theater, but he was quickly then out because he couldn't read. he was tone deaf, and he had a thick bahamian accent. >> he said you're no actor, pushed me out and slammed it. >> reporter: a determined poitier would spend months perfecting his acting skills and modifying his speaking voice. his hard work would pay off in a big way. >> i was right. i know i was right. >> reporter: in the 1950s he appeared in more than a dozen films beginning with "no way out" including an os-car winning performance in "the defiant ones." however it was his portrayal in "lilies of the field" that broke hollywood's color barrier earning him the coveted oscar for best actor. ♪ amen ♪ >> reporter: poitier never overcame his tone deafness lip synching the song "amen." poitier was considered a bankable star in 1967, starring in the landmark film "to sir with love." >> those kids are devil incarnate. i tried everything. >> reporter: playing characters that would force audiences to confront racial prejudices. >> they call me mr. tibbs. >> reporter: but he would also challenge the hollywood establishment forcing a change in his/connick role as detective virgil tibbs in the 1967 academy-award winning "in the heat of the night" because of a scene that would require him to aces to a racist character. >> i'm going to take you over to brownsville and put you on the bus myself. >> you're not taking me anywhere. you dig? you're holding the wrong man. >> reporter: that same way he would star in the watershed film "guess who is coming to dinner" alongside spencer tracy and katharine hepburn. >> mom, this is john. >> the film not only depicted a successful interracial relationship. it also foreshadowed future progress in america. >> have you given any thought to the problems your children are going to have? >> yes, and they will have some, and we'll have the children. otherwise i don't know what you would call it but you couldn't call it a marriage. >> is that the way the way joy feels? >> she feels that every single one of our children will be president of the united states and they will all have colorful administrations. >> reporter: it's only fitting that in 2009 sidney poitier would be presented with the medal of freedom by president barack obama. >> poitier once called his driving purpose to make himself a better person. he did. and he made us all a little bit better along the way. at fidelity, your dedicated advisor will work with you on a comprehensive wealth plan across your full financial picture. a plan with tax-smart investing strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. this is the planning effect. nurse mariyam sabo knows a moment this pure... ...demands a lotion this pure. new gold bond pure moisture lotion. 24-hour hydration. no parabens, dyes, or fragrances. gold bond. champion your skin. our priorities, they've changed. hey lexus, play my music. it's not just about getting ahead. or the constant grind. it's about knowing what you want... 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(excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. earn about covid-19, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. the eyes of world are on kazakhstan where the country's president has authorized security forces to shoot to kill protesters without warning in an attempt to crush violent anti-government protests triggered by rising fuel prices. cnn correspondent scott mcclain joining us now. so the rising prices and protest, everything is escalating. why is it happening and what is the broader impact because we know there is one even for the u.s. here. >> yeah, you're absolutely right, erica. this starts out about fuel prices but that is just the catalyst for this public anger about economic inequality and inflation and about government corruption as well. these protests, especially in the largest city in kazakhstan have turned violent. government buildings being torched and looting and gunfire being exchanged with police and most outside governments from the united states to the taliban are calling for calm, for de-escalation but the president has other ideas. listen. >> i gave the order to law enforcement agencies and the army to open fire to kill without warning, abroad there are peels to noegts for a peaceful of solutions of problems. what nonsense. what kind ever negotiations could there be with criminals, with murderers of we have to deal with armed and trained bandits and terrorists. therefore, they need to be destroyed. and this will be done shortly. >> now that is the president's message about these protesters are. and for most of the country, that is the only message they are hearing. because the internet is shut down and so for most people state media is their only source of information right now. we have managed to hear, get a dispatch from a journalist inside of almadi, that said they four bodies with gunshot wounds, there are checkpoints set up outside of government buildings and if you get too close, security forces will fire warning shots. last night a journalist heard sounds of heavy, heavy gunfire. that is what the government is describing as anti-terror operations. the opposition would describe it much differently. but either way there are to signs of protests inside of almaddi and people are trying to get their hands on essentials buts that difficult because atm and card machines are not working because the internet has been cut, erica. >> it is really something. scott, appreciate it. thank you. that is going to do it for us this hour on a friday. i'm erica hill, stay tuned. the news continues with victor blackwell right after this. >> woman: what?! >> vo: ...i searched for someone who really knew my car. i found the experts at safelite autoglass. with their exclusive technology, they fixed my windshield... then recalibrated the camera attached to my glass so my safety systems still work. who knew that was a thing?! >> woman: safelite has service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ do your eyes bother you? 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