so let s begin with cnn chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins. of everything i ve laid out, which is president biden s top priority? reporter: i think coronavirus is probably top of mind for the white house right now. we know president biden is going to give a major speech on that this week. also, alisyn, as you noted he has several things on his plate when he comes back to washington tonight following this holiday weekend. and tomorrow you will see the president go to new york and new jersey. both the states he has declared states of emergency and disaster declarations under way there right now in an effort to help with what we ve been seeing on the ground. and a lot of this he is going to tie to what he did in louisiana touring the damage there which is, of course, climate change. and his domestic agenda, something that we know will be at the forefront when lawmakers are back here in washington. but, alisyn, it s not just that. he is still dealing with afghanist
hit 40 million covid cases but it s not just new infections. we ve got covid deaths up in 48 states, nearly every state in the country. since the pandemic started, more than 651,000 deaths are being blamed on covid-19, all of it as millions of americans might be finishing up labor day travel heading home today. there s also new concern this morning with covid hospitalization rates in kids and teens, rising five-fold, given this delta variant. i want to go live to guadvillegas. if you look at the numbers over a thousand schools have been forced to close because of the spread of the virus and the number is expected to increase as more kids become infected. this morning, as americans look ahead to the fall, questions about when many adults can take a covid booster shot, while children under 12 facing a new school year are still unable to be vaccinated at all, as the covid case count continues to rise. a staggering 40 million infections in the u.s. and with covid deaths rising
hampering efforts further, forecasters are warning of more rain. one to two inches an hour in the hardest hit areas with the risk of more flooding. and power company is warning it could be the end of the month or even october before the power comes on for some folks. of course, that s for people whose homes are even still standing. right now our government and our response capabilities are on life support. we rely on generated power. of course, to have generators, you have to have fuel. fuel is short because our refineries, two-thirds of our refinery tap capabilities were knocked out. and seven louisiana nursing homes have been forceded to close immediately after they evacuated nearly 850 elderly residents into one crowded warehouse. where the generators failed. the health department says at least seven people have died since that move. in the northeast, many are just beginning to wrap their arms around the full scope of wreckage from the remnants of ida. a one in 500-y
allowing strangers to sue anyone suspected of helping a woman get an abortion. the new york times describes the court s decision like this. quote, the majority opinion was unsigned and consisted of a single long paragraph. it said the abortion providers who had challenged the law in an emergency application to the court had not made their case in novel and procedural question. the majority stressed it was not ruling on the constitutionality of the texas law. it did not need to limit proper challenges to it. justice sonia sotomayor wrote a scathing dissent. the court s order stunning, a flagrantly unconstitutional law designed to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny? a majority of justices opted to bury their heads in the sand. sotomayor also describes the texas law like this. quote, in effect the texas legislature has deputized the state s citizens as bounty hunters. offering them cash prizes for civilly prosecuting their ne
reported to be thriving! well, a very good afternoon. we are going straight to holyrood. nicola sturgeon has just started speaking about the potential easing of lockdown measures. let s listen in. this is intended to ensure that our piece of easing restrictions insensible in light of the challenge we continue to face from the delta variant. h to face from the delta variant. i will also confirm that certain mitigations such as the mandatory wearing of face coverings will remain in place notjust now but in all likelihood for some time to come. it is important to stress that measures like the continued wearing a face coverings are important, not just to give added protection to the population as a whole, but also to give protection and assurance to those amongst us who are particularly vulnerable and who previously had to shield. lifting all restrictions and mitigations right now would put all of us at greater risk, but in particular, it would make it much more difficult for the