time in decades. he didn't govern the way he just described he wants republicans to do if they take over in the next election but he is now a trump accolade and he's speaking from the per sspective of what donald trump would want. if they do take control, are still going to have to question whether they will listen to donald trump or whether they are going to prove they can govern. the best thing democrats say they would have going for them, politically for 2024 is republicans to act like that in 2022. >> thank you. top of the hour. welcome to cnn newsroom. >> right now in the white house situation room, president biden is speaking with his european counterpart and the nato secretary general about the situation in ukraine and the announcement we just got from the pentagon that up to 8500 quote combat capable u.s. troops have been put on alert in the event that putin decides to invade ukraine. >> tens of thousands of troops have amassed along the border. with us is cnn pentagon correspondent and nic robertson live in moscow. what do we need to know about the orders for these troops? >> well, these aren't yet deployment orders. no u.s. based troops are headed oa over the europe but it is one step closer to that happening. some of them were on heightened alert. some of the troops are in that more ready state to be ready to go. now, pentagon press secretary detailed a couple different scenarios in which they would be given the deployment orders. first if the nato response is activated. in response to russian aggression and russian posturing on the boarderrder of ukraine. another would be if deteriorating security situation along the eastern flank of nato. these troops aren't heading into ukraine but they are intended to bolster the presence of nato ally along nato's eastern flank. >> now they are at five days. that's not the case for every unit being notified. some are simply more ready and postured that way than others. the idea is that all of these units that he is putting on prepared to deploy will be ready to go on a shortened time frame. no final decision has been made to deploy them. these troops are capable of doing if that deployment order comes. the goal here, the statement being put forward by the pentagon is there is yienty behi -- unity behind nato. that's the statement coming from the pentagon but it's behind the diplomacy that the u.s. is still pushing. >> what's the expectation of how sp vladmir putin will respond? >> they're kaling it false information. an effort to build up an agenda for some kind of action. let's step back for a second here. what president putin is trying to avoid here is more nato close to his border. that's what he's going to get. it moved them in after 2014vade. the nato force was a small force. it was a trip wire. if russia was to cross over and trip that wire, other forces, nato forces could be rushed to the border. what is happening now? that trip wire is being bolstered. nato is putting itself on a higher level of readiness for whatever may happen. particularly in those baltic nations who are quite isolated. they lived under the soviet union for so long. they're very concerned about their size and location and what russia is maneuver to do now . he's going to see this as a worsening of the environment he was worried about. >> thank you both. joining us is a global affairs analyst and former spokesperson for security and cooperation and cnn military analyst. thank you both. let me start with you, michael, and how you see this announcement from the pentagon changing the equation. >> good to be with you. it's a good move. i think it will reassure ukraine and nato members. i was watching russian state television prime time, today, and it seems the russian backed fighters are heightening the rhetoric. they are preparing to actually, i think, accept russian forces into their territory. they're speaking very loudly. i think russia will use this as a pretext to go in. i think that is part of the three options we usually talk about which isn't looked at carefully by biden and the west. >> what do you mean by that, michael? >> i mean it sents a chill down my back to say this but i think this is the option pew tan made sure. he knows he will get away with it. i hate to say it and respectfully to ukraine friends and the president, i think it's so bummed out. it's heavily regarded by a territory that's dispensable. the other sign we're seeing has a lot of monitors and they've been blocked on a daily basis right now. the only thing i can see happening now is they are p blocking them in order to bring in this heavy weaponary. putin has opinion given out passports to aresidents. now he has a further pretext to say they need to be protected. >> we heard from the white house that they say we're conveying that now is the time to leave. telling american stcitizens the should leave ukraine. how much is influence bid what we watched in the summer from the evacuation of haafghanistan. the decisions we're making they're trying to avoid that in and around the region? >> flst a bit kind of served as a tellmplate for how not to do things. that was the big issue with that. they want to avoid any type of disaster should there be need to evacuate anybody out of kiev or any other part of ukraine. when they look at these things from planning perfective, what they are trying to do is minimize risks. they are trying to put forces in place before they're actually needed. this is the first move in that kind of a calculation. >> are you saying that putin will use this latest announcement as a provocation whether it's protected or not. is there anything that can change the course of this? >> it's been over the past fi weeks where putin has opinion quite concerned about the build up of western military muscle, western advisers, that sort of thing. he's looking at options of,000 push the west back. i've seep the rebels myself and i've seen russians in military uniforms as well. they're already there and it would be easy for them to officially take over that part of ukraine. it might take them some time to respond to this type of provocation. one more thing, we also have to remember that there's a war going on right now. i'm not only talking about kri -- crimea but the hybrid war. there's a lot going on working to destabilize ukraine. we have a lot of factors that should give concern. >> thank you, both. >> you bet. >> pleasure. we have some breaking news. another revolution involving boris johnson. he defied he has own covid lockdown orders. >> now there's a new one to report. this one tied to his birthday. >> reporter: this is around the 9th or 10th party we heard about occurring in downing street during a time of strict lock d doin. on the 19th of june, there were two partparties. one at 2:00 p.m., up to 30 people attending. downing street says the prime minister was there for no longer than ten minutes and another gathering on the same day, in the evening with downing street says a few close family and friends reportedly outside . you could meet six people outdoors. i think we're at the point in all of these revelations about the prime minister where no one is shocked. it's more of a straw breaking the camels back situation. there's already multiple calls for him to resign. not just within the opposition but one his own party. he's the subject of an investigation to see whether or not he mislead parliament or broke the law over ignoring his own regulations. he's on wafer thin ice. several virginia school districts are testing the legal authority of their newly seated governor by suing to stop his executive order that would ban mask mandates in school. a florida house committee approves a bill being called don't say gay that would ban discussions about sexual orientation and identity in schools. what does that mean? need. isn't that right limu? limu? limu? sorry, one sec. doug blows several different whistles. doug blows several different whistles. 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>> this decision is raising eyebrows with some arguing this dismissals appear politically motivated. an ousted university of virginia lawyer was on leave to help lead the house's investigation into the january 6th attack on the capitol. we know how that investigation has been characterized on the right. the attorney general's office saying they want university council to give legal advice based on law in their view and not the philosophy of a university. lots going on in the commonwealth. >> a lot indeed. thank you. now to this story. a florida house committee passed a bill that would ban discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity in schools. it's being called the don't say gay bill. lgbtq say this will stigmatize students. >> sponsors say it's to stop conversations that aren't age appropriate. you oppose this bill. tell us why. >> wholeheartedly. every time it's appropriate to acknowledge that lgbtq plus people and families exist, it's offensive for the state of florida to consider such legislation. >> was there something that prompt third-degree. was there lots of discussion of sexuality happening in florida elementary school. what was the predicate for this? >> absolutely not. this is another effort by the governor who is fryi trying to with trump to appeal to his base. this is all about playing politics with people's lives and what we stress during committee is we can't erase them, especially not in our schools. we have young people that ask about what happened at pulse. who was impacted at pulse? >> i've read the bill. it's written so broadly that it might be aimed at eliminating conversations about lgbtq plus families and transgender people but from what it says, you can't discuss sexual orientation or gender identity. that eliminates cis gerunders a straight people. those are genders too. how the you ever enforce this? >> this was brought up in committee more than once. it ends up attacking every person. the bill sponsor explained that to us. the most important point to take away is this is an attempt to erase lgbt plus people from florida schools in a state that's so diverse as ours, we have made so many gains in embracining every type of famil. this is a step back ward. >> he said this will kill kids at ron desantis, florida. you are making your state harder for lgbtq kids to survive in. 42% of the youth considered attempting sideline. now they can't talk to their teachers. what's the plan, representative? >> i so appreciate that point. we know that suicide is the second leading cause among death of young people. those who identify as lgbtq plus have even more dire outcomes. it's important we stay united but reach out to those of a different political persuasion. >> we'll be watching. thank you very much. >> thanks so much. now to this. five new york city officers have been shot since the start of this year. the city has been dealing with a series of violent crimes. the new mayor laid out part of his plans to do something about this. we'll tell you what he said. 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hospital. they're the fourth and fifth new york city officers to be shot. what do we know about the mayor's plan? >> reporter: the mayor is saying this city needs help. he says we need help. we need resources and we need back up. then he laid out this plan that he has to try to curb some of the violence, specifically gun violence that's plaguing the city. a lot had opinion made about the reforms that took away discretion from the judges when defendants came before them, a lot of people being released. he's calling for a change in that. that's pretty significant. he wants judges to have more discretion and consider how dangerous someone in and whether or not they should be granted bail or release. he talked about using other resources. take a listen to what he said. >> gun violence is a public health crisis. there's no time to wait. we must act. we must dam every river that feeds this greater crisis. our blue print to end gun violence addresses each one of these causes where immediate interventions and long term prevention strategies. >> reporter: he also wants the das to get tougher on gun crimes. he wants cases involving gun arrests to be moved through the system. he feels too many cases are taking too long to amphetamine through the system. he wants the das to get tougher. he wants bail reform. he's also saying he will flood nor cops into areas where there's an increase in gun crimes. they're going to be flooding more resources into those precincts. i think it's notable he's taken this hands on approach. he stood there alone. no police officials next to him. the police commissioner was not by his side which i think is notable. hands on. he's the one saying this is what we're going to do to try to make this city safer. >> thank you. breaking news, the fulton county district attorney in georgia has been granted a special grand jury to investigate election interference by former president trump. he have more on this in a moment. it's our january sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to relieve pressure points. and, it's temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. save $1,000 on the sleep number 360 special edition smart bed, queen now $1,999. plus, 0% interest for 36 months. more on that break news. the fulton county district attorney in georgia has been granted permission to investigate election interference for president trump. >> reporter: this comes one year into the fulton county district attorney investigation into trump's effort to interfere with the outcome of the 2020 election. she was able to grant a special grand jury. the panel will focus on gathering evidence in trump investigation. so far to witnesses she's tried to get to cooperate have not been willing to comply with her requests. now the special grand jury will increase her ability to be able to gather evidence in this investigation. she says that she will make a decision about whether or not to charge the former president by mid-2022. >> okay. thank you very much for that break news. what changes now. >> the da formally asked for permission. what's happened is the judges have agreed. that's not extraordinary. they have the ability to issue subpoenas. that's the big step that's happened now. >> remind every one what special grand jury cannot do that a grand jury can. how it's limited here in their scope. >> the big indictment. under georgia state law, the special grand jury cannot indict. they cannot return an indictment, state of georgia versus donald trump or any other person. what they can do and the da says this is issue a recommendation for prosecution. if they do that or even if not, the district attorney can decide whether to take the evidence and present it to a normal grand jury that may have the option to indict. >> what's happening here is that the da was feeling as though there were witnesses that she wanted to talk to who were not complying. >> riepght. she said there's vary witnesses not willing to comply. i'm surprised it's gone this long without subpoena power. you need ta subis that subpoena. we hear a lot about subpoenas in the congressional context, this is different. they are different kinds of subp subpoenas. it's apple and oranges opinion it's harder to contest and resist a prosecutorial subpoena. that's what we're talking about here. the january 6th is given less presence precedence in court. does this special grand jury track well with that time line. you said you're surprised she didn't have this before now. >> ideally, you want to subpoena people as early as possible. that doesn't mean the da has been doing no investigation. she has had some people willing to comply without a subpoena. i think you would want a grand jury in place if your time line is mid 2022. i think we're right on that track. >> all right. th thanks for jumping in front of camera. we're a few weeks away from the peak of the latest wave ov the coronavirus. some say they 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♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ listen to this, more than 2,000 americans, a day, are still dying from covid. he health experts believe this surge may be nearing its peak. >> cases are still sky high but they are going down. last monday the u.s. has adding more than 800,000 new cases a day. now it's under 700,000. anthony fauci told us it's possible we could have covid under control in a matter of weeks. >> the best case scenario is that in matter of several weeks to a month or so we'll continue to come down and down and then with all the things that we have, all the tools, vaccine, booster testing, masking, we'll be able to keep it down there. >> dr. rob davidson is an emergency room physician in michigan and executive director of the committee to protect health care. good to have you. what do we need to do to keep it there and how likely is it that stuff that dr. fauci listed there is actually going to happen since we haven't seen enough of it thus far? >> dr. davidson, can you hear us? >> i don't know. i wish i had this optimism. maybe on the coast, that's true. can you hear me? >> yeah. go ahead. >> hello? i hope that's true. on the coast it is probably true. a lot of people are vaccinated where i'm at. but still less than 50% -- [ inaudible ] die in our icu. vaccinated and refused to go on a ventilator. they were told that these things would harm them rather than this virus harming them. and i don't know where we go from here. i see them acting like -- >> dr. davidson, we're having a little trouble with your audio. we'll try to fix that. if we can fix it, we'll be back with you. what happens when we welcome change? we can make emergency medicine possible at 40,000 feet. instead of burning our past for power, we can harness the energy of the tiny electron. we can create new ways to connect. rethinking how we communicate to be more inclusive than ever. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change. faster. 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thank you for doing this. this former "new york times" columnist barry weiss made a lot of headlines because she went on the bill mahr show and she said, quote, it's a pandemic of bureaucracy at this point. it's not real anymore. as we just read, 2,000 people, americans are dying a day from covid. so maybe in her bubble, it's not real anymore. is it still real in your world? >> yeah, the dead 40-year-old who just died in our hospital yesterday after struggling for two weeks who refused to get vaccinated because they were told it would hurt them. it's real for them and their family. my wife called me at her lunch hour. she's a family doctor. the patient she saw three times since vaccines were available refused them. she cited crazy conspiracy theories of microchips and whatever else you might think of. she just died today. we carry those things with us. we think of them as our failure. our patients who rely on us, they're not listening to us and they're listening to bill mahr or whoever else is putting out this information and they're dying because of it. this is a real pandemic. it is very real for 2,000 people a day. >> well, thank you. so for making time for us. we know how hard you're working. we're really sorry for those losses and we appreciate talking to you. >> thank you. as students returned to class today at michigan's high school for the first time, nearly two months after fellow students started shooting there, the interior of the school was renovated with fresh paint and new carpet after the mass shooting that killed four and injured seven others last november. hearts and snow flakes with notes of encouragement from oxford's elementary school and middle schools were returned to the lockers. >> you'll remember the 15-year-old sophomore faces 24 felony charges as an adult. his parents, james and jennifer crumbley are due back in court. prosecutors accused the pair of giving their son easy access to a gun and disregarding all the signs that he was a threat. last month, a judge denied a request to reduce their bond which is half a million dollars, saying they are a flight risk. >> former pope benedict is now changing his story about what he knew about predatory priests in germany's parishes while he was in charge of the munich diocese. >> he is now admitting that he knew about a priest abusing young boys after denying that he had been there. then an independent investigation last week showed minutes of that 1980 meeting showing benedict did attend. the former poem blamed his earlier denial on an error in the editing of his statement. okay. it is now the final minutes of a volatile trading day. it's up at the moment, 140 points. at one point it was down a thousand points. >> so the growing tensions over ukraine, persistent inflation drove the sell-off. bargain buying by investors after days of severe losses may be driving this rebound in the final minute of trading today. >> okay. that's the response to adele appearing on basically this face time and surprising her fans in las vegas with a video call. this is after she had to postpone friday's start of her vegas residency. the fans were gathered at a pop-up store in caesar's palace. they were surprised to see her pop up on that phone. they were yelling so loudly, they couldn't actually hear what she was saying. >> a lot of people showed up there. they spent a lot of money on flight and hotels that was postponed. she blamed covid spread among her team. listen, they at least got to see her. that is a dream for those fans who wanted to have that moment with her. still not a couldn't certain but it's something. >> well, i think they would also appreciate their airfare being paid since they had to pay for it and it was canceled. >> yeah. that will happen. "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. vladimir putin's backyard may soon include american forces "the lead" starts right now. president biden speaking with key u.s. allies, discussing rurk's possible invasion of ukraine as the pentagon announces thousands of u.s. service members are on heightened alert. plus, new signs the worst of this latest covid wave may be over while the fight over how schools should respond is heating up. and a rookie cop killed while responding to a