live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and around the world. i m consumkim brunhuber. this is cnn newsroom. we re getting a much clearer idea of just how alarmed the u.s. government has grown over the delta variant of covid-19. first identified this india in february, the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention now says the delta variant is as connecticut t contagious as measles and chickenpox. and the agency knows that it must revamp its public messaging to emphasize vaccination as the best defense gebagainst the variant. it leaps from target to target more swiftly an ebola or the common cold. other findings are just as unsettling. investigations of breakthrough cases found that vaccinated people can carry and spread as much virus as unvaccinated people. the data provides some insight into why the cdc is again recommending mask wearing indoors. here is what the director told cnn. we are not c
the long awaited and long delayed summer olympic games officially begin a few hours from now. but the director of the opening ceremony, well, he won t be running the show. he was abruptly fired yesterday, the fourth olympics official to be forced out. we are live in tokyo where the games have already been postponed of course for a year because of the pandemic. and covid continues to cast a shadow over them. for the first time, olympic events will be held without spectators in most venues. and only a fraction of the 11,000 athletes scheduled to play will parade in the opening ceremony. the u.s. will have one of the larger presences with about 200 athletes. as the clock ticks down, covid cases keep ticking up. about 20 athletes have so far tested positive and have been forced to drop out. the olympic village has had at least a dozen cases of people testing positive too. we begin our coverage with blake essig joining me live from tokyo. and despite all of those negatives, the sh
outfront tonight it s coming for us, it s a beast. a quote and a chilling warning from a doctor in louisiana, voice raising the alarm about what is now again a growing number of covid cases across the united states. the number of cases is now rising in all 50 states. look at that map of new cases compared to the prior week. you can see, right, if you re green or, you know, yellow, you know, you re sort of steady or improving. orange you re bad. red is terrible. and you see that dark red blanketing all most the entire country and it s not just cases that are up. hospitalizations are now also on the rise. one state surging is florida. the white house s covid response coordinator jeffrey saying one in five covid cases in the united states are in florida. you can see the spike there from a month ago. tonight, the state s governor ron desantis is taking a different tax selling campaign merchandise hocmocking dr. fauc selling hats and shirts that say don t fauci my florida. telli
dying because of the virus. and the figures are worse in communities struggling to get the life get people the lifesaving shots, especially in the south. and in just hours, an indoor mask mandate will take effect in los angeles county, california, again, and more places are recommending masking up regardless of vaccination status. the white house is honing in on social media companies, pushing them to do more to block misinformation, arguing inaction is deadly. yeah. let s get a closer onthe ground view of what s going on with cnn s natasha chen. she s at a vaccination site in birmingham, alabama, one of the states that s been lagging in vaccinations and not coincidentally seeing cases spike. natasha, what are you hearing from officials there about this challenge that they re up against and the incentives that they re offering people to get vaccinated? reporter: yeah, we just talked to a health official here who told me it s an uphill battle sometimes convincing people
outbreaks. and in the nation s capitol, officials confirm that both a white house staffer and senior communications aide to speaker pelosi have also tested positive despite being fully vaccinated. pelosi s aide was diagnosed after coming in contact with members of the texas legislature last week. six of those members now with positive tests. later this hour, we ll talk to a member of that texas delegation about how the virus is impacting their stay in d.c. and we ll ask about the meeting with white house democratic meeting whip jim clyburn. and what now? after kevin mccarthy announces his picks for the january 6th committee, we ll talk to democratic senator alex poe dea about that and where the infrastructure talks stand. and the blue origin crew completing a historic space launch with aviation legend wally funk becoming the oldest person ever to travel to space. we had a great time. it was wonderful. i want to go again fast. so a lot to get to. we ll begin with that br