interest rates remain a key and critical story and we'll watch disney's annual meeting and focussing on one major character hoping to make dreams come true on wall street that stock surged of late to record highs incredible comeback. democrats planning to hold the final vote on the covid relief bill tomorrow in the life after the shot, government scientists lay out the rules. i'm shepard smith. this is the news on cnbc >> we are starting to turn a corner. >> new covid guidelines from the cdc. what fully vaccinated people can and cannot do. plus, record vaccinations over the weekend. protesters fill the streets of minneapolis for the trial of the then cop accused of killing george floyd now jury selection delayed as the court weighs an additional murder charge. more women make accusations against andrew cuomo

the new york governor defying calls for him to resign. >> i'm not going to resign because of allegations >> and microsoft business e-mail software hacked. security experts say they fear it's morphing into a new global security crisis. tonight, the small businesses in the cross hairs. >> announcer: live from cnbc, the facts, the truth, the news with shepard smith >> good evening, america fan and skipper smith are close with their four grand kids that all live in the same north carolina town they do of hickory, but the pandemic meant months of physical distance. >> we're a real hugging family, but we had to change a little bit. our play dates were outside. we were really careful >> but five weeks ago, they got their first dose of the pfizer vaccine. >> it was a joyous occasion.

we had a celebration at 10:00 on a wednesday morning. >> reporter: now after their second shots, smiths had the kids over for a sleepover. they're among grandparents and others across the country for whom the cdc's guidance today was welcome news for the fully vaccinated, some freedoms are back. for them, the masks can come off in limited settings, and no quarantine is required if they've been exposed to someone with covid, as long as they're asymptomatic, but the guidance doesn't change everything. the cdc still says everyone should wear masks and distance in public or when seeing people at high risk for severe disease, dining indoors at a restaurant or going to the gym, it's lower risk for people who are vaccinated but they should still take precautions and how about travel, no changes yet to those recommendations even with vaccines. >> every time that there's a surge in travel, we have a surge in cases in this country while the guidance was largely met with praise from the public health world, some said it didn't go far enough, especially on travel. >> we can't ignore the fact that

people are moving around more, and we've got to give people guidance about what sort of protection vaccination incurs. >> the cdc will visit guidance as infection rates change, more people get vaccinated and as the science on the vaccines continue to develop for fan and skipper, it's a relief. >> it's just helped a lot in terms of feeling of peace inside and knowing that our community is growing safer by every shot. >> so what does fully vaccinated mean, well, that you're either two weeks from your second shot of the pfizer or moderna vaccines or from your one j&j shot shep, back to you. >> meg tirrell, thank you so much. jury selection delayed until at least tomorrow in the murder trial of derek chauvin, the man who was a cop when he allegedly killed george floyd in minneapolis. prosecutors asked for the delay. they're trying to bring back a third-degree murder charge against chauvin that the judge tossed out that's chauvin on the right there with the black mask. video of chauvin kneeling on

george floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes sparked outrage last summer and demands for police reform across the nation. earlier today on msnbc, george floyd's brother said the evidence against chauvin is clear. >> you've seen the video, my brother was tortured to death while he had a smirk on his face, and if you can't get justice in america for that, what can you get justice for. >> protesters marched outside the courthouse today where security has been intense with national guard troops on the ground here's nbc's jay gray. >> prosecute the police. >> reporter: as crowds stand up outside the hennepin county courthouse, inside the courtroom, a judge is told potential members of the jury to to stand down. >> we have sent all the jurors home so we're not going to have any jury selection today. >> reporter: the pause amid a legal battle in the state appellate court whether a

third-degree murder charge will be a part of the case moving forward. >> we're not trying to delay this case. we want to try it right. >> reporter: prosecutors want to give jurors a third option in the trial of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin, seen in cell phone video with his knee pinning george floyd's neck to the ground for more than eight minutes as he died he currently faces a second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charge chauvin's defense team argues the third-degree murder charge isn't applicable in this case. >> we have a hole in our heart, we will never get our brother back he's forever gone. >> reporter: as floyd's family struggles with their loss, their attorney says regardless of the charges, there's overwhelming evidence that he believes should lead to a conviction >> the prosecutor's case is the video, the people on the streets, everybody knew that he was being killed they even told him so, but chauvin refused to take his knee off his neck >> reporter: as so many now

return to the streets here demanding justice. so here's where we stand right now. the judge says he will convene court at 9:00 in themorning, deal with motions, and then if by 10:00 he hasn't heard from the appellate court he plans to begin jury selection security always an issue here. you see the fence that's surrounding the entire courthouse and some areas, razor wire on top. we've got law enforcement from at least a dozen agencies on the ground right now, and shep, about 2,000 national guard troops on stand by. >> jay gray, thanks very much. jack rice now, criminal defense attorney, former minnesota state prosecutor, and former officer as well jack, thank you. you've tried cases in this very courthouse explain to our viewers how what happens with jury selection can really affect the outcome of this trial >> well, shep, it's everything because if you get the right people in the room, they're going to do what you want. at the end of the day, if you're prosecuting, you want to get the people who are going to convict and dare i say it, if you're

defending, you want to allow your guy to walk, and if you have the right people, you can do it. >> yeah, but who are the right people >> you know, that's the real problem here right? i mean, how do you bring in people who are not biassed in this case. if you look at what's happened in the last year, it's been incredible not just what happened on may 25th, but literally the almost 2,000 buildings that were burned, the people who were arrested by the thousands, and people who also died they all lived here. they all lived through that, and those are the people who are supposed to be the jurors. >> jury selection is expected to last for weeks the defense has already tried to change the venue on this trial break down each side's strategy going forward, if you could. >> you bet the defense wanted to move this out of minneapolis minneapolis is probably the most diverse city in the state, and they really wanted it out in an area that frankly looked a lot more like derek chauvin because they're going to see derek chauvin and maybe connect with derek chauvin, they really are going to try to make the argument that derek chauvin didn't kill george floyd

george floyd died of an overdose, and that derek chauvin was doing what he was supposed to do and he was using a technique accepted by the minneapolis police department. the prosecutors offered frankly -- >> we have heard this over >> yeah. >> i'm sorry we've heard this overdose thing on right wing media. i've never known where it came from, do you know where it came from >> originally there were two medical examiner reports, and there was reference to fentanyl being in his system. the problem was that wasn't what actually killed him but there were references to it. you're going to find the defense trying to use that argument. i think it may not work because what the prosecutor's office will do is they're going to use that video tape early and often, eight minutes and 46 seconds, you're going to show it at the beginning. you're going to show it at the end, and you're going to hope a jury wants to see it when they're in dleliberations. >> you know one of the key witnesses in the prosecution is said to be the police chief, how could he deal a serious blow to the defense's argument of chauvin's actions? >> in this case, chief wants to

separate derek chauvin from the minneapolis police department to say that he does not represent who we are, and the way he applied this technique is not how people were trained to do it and so they're really going to try to build a wall, as you can imagine, chauvin's response will be i just did what i was taught to do, what i was trained to do. >> jury selection begins tomorrow we'll have coverage here tomorrow night jack, thank you. the pressure is mounting on the new york governor andrew cuomo to step down as more women come forward claiming inappropriate behavior but in a conference call that happened over the weekend, the governor insisted resigning now would be anti-democratic >> i was elected by the people of the state i wasn't elected by politicians. i'm not going to resign because of allegations the premise of resigning because of allegations is actually anti-democratic. >> as the governor remains defiant, calls for him to step down are intensifying. today, gop state lawmakers

announced an impeachment resolution against governor cuomo. and that's not the only fallout. cnbc's contessa brewer has been following this story contessa >> shep, governor cuomo is gearing up for a tense budget fight in a state that is struggling to effectively get vaccines into the arms of some of the most vulnerable new yorkers and the headlines over the weekend are about two women coming forward with more accusations of bad behavior. karen hinton was a top aid of cuomo when he was secretary of housing and urban development 20 years ago. >> he started asking me personal questions. i was uncomfortable with that conversation so i stood up to leave, and he walked across from his couch and embraced me intimately. >> she has been a long time political adversary of mine.

highly critical for many many years and has made many many accusations. >> former state staffer analise told the "wall street journal" cuomo asked her personal questions and kissed her hand. cuomo's response. >> if customs change, then i'll change the customs and the behaviors, but i never meant to make anyone feel uncomfortable. >> but the majority leader of the state senate, a democrat herself, has had it. she's calling on the governor to resign she says the accusations have become a daily distraction other high profile democrats are urging people to wait for the results of the attorney general's investigation. >> i have confidence that she will do that full and thorough investigation. >> i'm very confident that the attorney general will conduct an independent comprehensive investigation. >> that investigation is moving forward with the attorney general naming the lawyers who will head up this inquiry.

cuomo has denied inappropriate touching, apologized for making colleagues feel uncomfortable, but he's holding firm here, he says he will not resign. >> contessa brewer, thanks very much. president biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on the verge of final passage now. the house was expected to pass it tomorrow, but the house speaker pelosi says that could slip to wednesday. if mr. biden signs it immediately, $1,400 stimulus checks could roll out as early as next week also included in the package, $300 a week unemployment benefits, money for state and local governments, and a huge boost for vaccine distribution about $14 billion worth. cnbc's ylan mui is live in washington this bill is set to clear the house, right >> well, shep, i'm told the house is still waiting on paperwork from the senate before they can schedule the vote so democrats are hoping it will happen tomorrow but house speaker nancy pelosi did make clear that she wants to vote on

this bill by wednesday morning at the latest. she told reporters the package is historic and transformative and her party appears to be behind her the congressional progressive caucus, they've come out in support of this bill despite being disappointed that the minimum wage got stripped out and some benefits got scaled back in a compromise with moderates but overall caucus chairwoman called those minor, and the size of the package meets the scale of the unprecedented crisis one of the biggest wins is delivering on the $1,400 stimulus checks that democrats campaigned on in georgia. >> two weeks, approximately two weeks, these checks will arrive. not months, not years, not wait for your tax returns back next january. right away >> no word on whether president biden's signature will appear on the bottom of those checks, shep the white house said its focus right now is on getting the bill across the finish line >> ylan, with the relief package almost there, what's next on the greater biden agenda

>> well, the expectation had been that the president would turn next to infrastructure, but white house spokesperson gejen psaki said today the package is a work in progress. >> there's no bill being considered here's having discussions to hear ideas, hear good ideas from members of both parties and once we have a bill, we're happy to have a discussion on moving forward. >> biden is also likely to take some time to showcase the benefits of the covid relief package. that's one of the lessons he says he learned from the financial crisis in 2009 democrats never took a victory lap after passing the relief bill, and shep, they ended up losing their majority in washington >> ylan mui, live tonight. thank you. a new security review of the january 6th insurrection and a call for increased staffing and better intelligence next, a capitol hill police force called ill equipped to face the challenges ahead. >> and she got covid a year ago

and has since made 18 trips to the emergency room, her medical expenses nearly a quarter million dollars, tonight, the high cost of being a covid long hauler. and prince harry and meghan markle describing painful discussions about the color of their child's skin with members of the royal family. tonight, reaction from across the pond >> announcer: the facts, the truth, the newwis th shepard truth, the newwis th shepard smith, back in 60 seconds. 12 months of $5 wireless. visible, wireless that gets better with friends.

a dedicated advisor, you'll make a plan that can adjust as your life changes, with access to tax-smart investing strategies that help you keep more of what you earn. and with brokerage accounts, you see what you'll pay before you trade. personalized advice. unmatched value. at fidelity, you can have both. ♪ more than this ♪ . a task force that reviewed security on capitol hill is calling for sweeping changes after the deadly insurrection of january 6th. the house speaker pelosi ordered the review, and today the task force briefed lawmakers about their finding. nbc news obtained a copy of that final report it found capitol police were under staffed and did not have the necessary equipment or training to protect the capitol from the violent mob the task force recommendations include beefing up capitol

police staffing and its intelligence division, creating a special quick reaction unit, and mobile fencing that can be deployed and taken down as needed here's nbc's garrett haik. hey, shep, he's held two briefings, he's got one more to go tonight to go over the recommendations in his report. the first ones as you mentioned start with the capitol police. they need to do more hiring. they've got more than 230 open positions. they need intel operations and they need more bomb sniffing dogs essentially everything about the capitol police needs a little bit more his proposal for a quick reaction force may be one of the most controversial elements of this plan. he describes it as something that would be accessible to all of the greater washington, d.c. area, the entire national capitol region, have a force on the ready to come and respond immediately in any kind of attack, any kind of riot, any kind of disaster, and members, as they have been coming in and out of these hearings, well,

they've got questions. >> this was the question i asked, when will we be able to feel safe, because some of these recommendations are going to take some time to implement, and my question really was how do we know we can come to work and go home alive not have our lives threatened? general honoree's comment was we can feel safe right now, that there are things that have been put into place. >> reporter: i think one of the things the general is referring to the fencing, the national guard presence on capitol hill, the fencing set to be here a little while longer, like wise with the guard, and the capitol police responding to the report, they say they want to see the physical infrastructure changes made on capitol hill that means fencing and that, shep, is going to be one of the most controversial elements of this plan going forward. a lot of lawmakers and a lot of people in d.c. still don't want to see the capitol fenced off. >> garrett haik, thank you. the biden administration is racing to find places to stay

for the fast growing surge of migrants crossing the mexican border detention centers turned into processing hubs, and health and human services considering housing migrant children at fort lee army base in virginia. this surge so overwhelming that capacity limits at shelters have been lifted. it's a move that the cdc says will lead to covid cases in those facilities the president sending top advisers to the border this past weekend to assess capacity needs included the homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas and the white house domestic policy adviser susan rice john sandwig now, he was the acting customs enforcement director under president obama thanks for being here, first off, how should the biden administration be responding to this huge surge? >> i think they're doing things right thus far we have pent up demand a lot of people have been waiting for the end of covid, and you have smugglers telling them false narratives about the biden administration but these are minor children we have to keep that in mind, and the challenge is not that we can't deal with the flow of

people across the border, the border control can handle far more people. they can apprehend millions of individuals, the problem is what we're seeing is an up tick of unaccompanied minor children, children with no parents, they present a lot of special needs and pull on a lot of resources that frankly are not as well financed as they need to be to handle this flow. >> this is something they knew was coming there is no way you couldn't know this was coming they were put in disgusting camps on the other side of the border and told to wait until the waiting was over the wait's over and we don't have enough places for them. how is that possible >> shep, i think a lot of it goes back to budgeting, right, this is not something that you can just do quickly fix. it boils down to resources frankly i would say that this has been a u.s. government failing over the last ten years. the threat at the border has changed over really the last, since 2014 we have seen a massive uptick in families, parents with children, a big up tick in unaccompanied minor children, a big up tick in central american asylum seekers.

we continue to fund a border security apparatus that was designed to face mexican national adult males coming kr across the border. where to blame, i would say the entirety of the u.s. government has failed to resource those elements like these unaccompanied minor children, the health and human services core that places them in foster care facilities, that's where the it's coming from. >> we know where the problem is. large parts of central america is a complete disaster and many of these people don't have a safe place to live but to suggest this is some sort of political oppression because that's what asylum is for, is that disingenuous. >> listen, i'll leave the individual asylum claims to the immigration judges who have to kind of sort those out i think the biggest problem is we have failed to budget the immigration courts to process those cases quickly. i think most americans wouldn't have a concern about a large number of people coming here, applying for asylum, and have a judge evaluate the facts and

make a decision whether or not they're eligible, the problem we face is the amount of time it takes for the judges to conduct those hearings and we only have about 400 immigration judges facing over a million of these claims today we have got to, we have to surge resources, surge the rule of law into the border, so we can handle those asylum claims, and we can place these children not in camps but in foster facilities as quickly as possible. >> you say people wouldn't mind, that's not true among millions and millions and millions of americans who have been convinced or have convinced themselves that the place that has always been the location for immigrants should no longer welcome them we know this is there. we got to change hearts and minds, don't we? >> there's always dpg to be a certain element of the united states who fears immigration for sure the bottom line is this, as long as we are the united states, as long as we can provide a safe place, an economic opportunity, as long as we're the country that we all aspire to be, there are going to be people who want to leave, especially central america, where conditions could not be worse who live in daily fear of violence, where there's not

economic opportunity it's a cost of being the united states, but it's one that we can handle >> john sandweg, thank you so much for the insight, appreciate it. a wild crash caught on camera and an alleged hazing incident turns deadly on a cnbc trip coast to coast. >> ohio, a frat party turns deadly tragedy on the campus of bowling green state university 20-year-old stone foltz died after reportedly being forced to drink a large amount of alcohol. it happened at an event witnesses say was hosted by pi kappa alpha, the pikes suspended over the alleged hazing incident police say they're investigating. north carolina, video shows a car plowing into a martial arts studio, nearly hitting the students inside. it happened over the weekend at leadership martial arts in charlotte. this surveillance camera at the side door shows the vehicle

sh smashing right through the wall. here's what it looked like from inside you see the chairs flying all over the place as the car slams through the entrance and winds up on the exercise mat nobody hurt, police say the driver was driving recklessly and lost control alaska, the i dit rod now underway in anchorage, a lot of changes this year because of covid for the world's most famous sled dog race, no spectators allowed, mushers have to camp outside, they can't stop at any of the villages that usually act as check points, and the race is shorter, which means for the first time in 49 years, the finish line won't be a known, shorter race but still no easy feat on this cnbc trip coast to coast. the number of covid cases is dropping the number of vaccinations keeps climbing but the nation's top health officials say this is not the right way to celebrate the news. plus, who's the better driver, you or the car tonight, a leader in driverless

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hello, everybody, i'm contessa brewer in for shep smith amid a technical glitch here, most americans are still uneasy about driverless cars, according to a recent aaa survey, 54% say they would be afraid to ride in a self-driving car, and in fact only 14% said they would trust the car

32% are unsure now, companies that make self-driving technology are working to change that perception way mo is out with a new study today, and it claims its system can actually save lives. cnbc's phil lebeau now >> waymo did this study basically looking at the area where it has most of its autonomous vehicles out on the road every single day. they've got between 300 and 400 autonomous vehicles that are driving around chandler, arizona, just outside of phoenix. what they did is they took simulators, and they replicated 91 fatal crashes that happened in that area over the last decade, and they took those crashes, and they said, okay, what if we ran a simulator, and what if one of the vehicles was a waymo, self-driving vehicles it's a little hard to tell from the video that shows some of the simulator runs, but what happens, the waymo vehicle makes the proper choices, slowing down

or avoiding a crash. here are the results, it prevented 92% of the fatal accidents from taking place. it mitigated or made those crashes a little less intense 4% of the time, and then there were 4% of the fatal crashes where nothing could be changed and those were cases where the waymo vehicle was rear ended by another vehicle. there's nothing that an autonomous vehicle can do in that case. the bottom line is this, for a long time way j mo said our vehicles are safe because they make the proper choices but keep in mind, these simulations, a lot of these accidents were when people were drunk and impaired and they made the wrong choices on the road, and so it stands to reason that if you have a vehicle making the right choices, an accident would be avoided. >> and so far artificial intelligence just doesn't enjoy time at the bar. phil, thank you. gamestop stock flying again as the company promises big change that's what's topping cnbc's on the money. shares jumped more than 45%

after the company announced plans to boost its digital business the chewy cofounder ryan cohen tapped to lead the charge. he invested in gamestop last year, getting the video retailer to focus more on web sales than brick and mortar sales. mckenzie scott has remarried two years after finalizing her divorce with jeff bezos, she tide the knot with, taught chemistry at an elite private school where scott's children attended class in a statement, besoz called him a great guy and is happy for both of them. burger king apologizing after its twitter handle in the u.k. posted this, women belong in the kitchen it's international women's day, by the way the company says it was trying to promote its new scholarship for female chefs pointing out how few women chefs there are. yikes. on wall street, the dow up

306, the s&p down 21, and the nasdaq down 311. i'm contessa brewer in for shepard smith. it's the bottom of the hour, it's time for the top of the news more states loosening restrictions as governors work to reopen their economies. arizona and west virginia are two of the most recent states to allow bars and restaurants to operate at 100% capacity still, top health officials are warning against relaxing restrictions too soon. even as covid cases drop and vaccinations ramp up here's cnbc's scott cohn >> one year of covid restrictions is sending some people over the edge near the university of colorado in boulder, a weekend party turned into a riot cops injured, cars flipped over. officials promise arrests and the university promises

expulsions, but in-person classes go on. in idaho, a mask burning at the state capitol, featuring school kids, even though idaho is one of the handful of states that doesn't have a mask mandate. in florida, it's bike week in daytona, with bars operating at 60% of capacity, and the start of spring break with few masks in sight the governor defending the relative lack of restrictions. >> we've done it in a way instead of always locking people down, trying to lift people up, saving people's livelihoods. >> reporter: federal officials worry about people letting their guard down too soon with declines in cases leveling off >> the pandemic still remains a very serious situation with the most communities continuing to have high levels of covid-19 transmission >> reporter: but more and more states are easing restrictions, even in california, home of the nation's first stay-at-home order last year.

theme parks and ballparks can open again next month, and in the bay area for the first time since a brief reopening last fall, indoor dining is back. >> we are social people. i mean, we need that interaction. >> it's definitely coming more alive, and there's more to go. >> reporter: here in san jose and across california, there are still restrictions in place, including the statewide mask mandate. these reopenings, though, are happening at a time when the state is still logging on average 3,600 new cases a day, and only 9% of californians have been fully vaccinated. contessa >> all right thank you very much for that now, covid long haulers don't just have symptoms that follow them for months, but costs as well some people rack up thousands of dollars in medical bills on things like tests, treatments, doctors' appointments, with one patient's story, here's cnbc's bertha coombs. >> reporter: everything was shutting down the day hannah lockman got sick one year ago.

>> i was actually at work when i started feeling really really bad. i just remember it was the day that they cancelled march madness. >> reporter: march 12th, struggling for breath, she went to the hospital, the first of 18 trips to the e.r. in nine months >> my medical expenses last year, if i didn't have insurance were upwards of $200,000 even with insurance, it was close to $8,000. >> reporter: to this day, she still struggles with headache, heart and lung issues that won't go away. >> like my rib cage has been sore for almost a year, which is hard to believe. >> reporter: americans are using fewer health services overall during the pandemic, but covid costs are more than making up for that health care spending. the vast majority of it goes to hospitalizations, but then there are those slow recovering, long-haul cases like hanna's. >> we're seeing about 7 1/2% of

people have claims for covid more than 12 weeks out from covid. >> reporter: analyzing early 2020 claims from nearly 150,000 employers, cigna found post-covid patients had higher new diagnoses for heart conditions and tissue damage than the average seen in 2019. >> you have this new population of people that are suffering long-term consequences of their covid infections. >> reporter: hanna just hopes she can get back to normal. >> i hope i'm that person again because, you know, sometimes it feels like i have lost a bit of myself >> reporter: bertha coombs, for the news >> tough the biden administration is now dealing with a second massive cyber attack, this time the suspect is china and the question is how will the u.s. retaliate according to microsoft, chinese hackers found a way to hack their e-mail servers and attack microsoft customers including defense contractors and infectious disease researchers

the white house says it's assessing how widespread this hack is, and how to respond. it comes right on the heels of the solar wind cyber attack that hacked several u.s. government agencies including the pentagon. the white house accused russia for that one cnbc's eamon javers spoke to one of the first people who spotted the microsoft hack eamon? >> yeah, contessa, the national security council is calling this an active threat that is still developing and urging companies and organizations to take it very seriously now here's what we know. hackers discovered and took advantage of four separate flaws in the software that powers microsoft exchange e-mail servers. these flaws are called zero day exploits because they're previously totally unknown and the defenders have zero days to patch the problem before the bad guys get in. microsoft says its code name for the group that did this is halfnium and it's based in china and it can potentially read the e-mails of of tens of thousands

of companies and organizations and any secrets that e-mail contains now steven adare is the president of one of the cyber security firms that alerted microsoft to the problem he told me today other hackers have taken advantage of the zero days meaning the problem has gotten much much worse. >> this isn't something that's just in the hands of the chinese government or attackers, it's in the hands of anyone that has proof of concept code and can exploit this. >> now, contessa, the government says that simply patching this software won't necessarily work because the hackers may already be inside the system, so that would be like locking your front door when the burglar is already in your house, so for now, the national security council says it's working on a whole of government response to address the problem. back over to you. >> and experts are telling me this could just be the tip of the iceberg for what's coming. amono, thank you for that. senator roy blunt of missouri is the fifth republican to announce he won't run for reelection in 2022

the announcement today came as a surprise and he didn't offer any explanation. senator blunt has been serving in congress for more than two decades and is the number four republican in the senate he joins republican senators richard shelby of alabama, pat toomey of pennsylvania, rob portman of ohio, and richard burr of north carolina in not seeking another term. a proposed makeover for california's department stores, no more separating aisles by boy or girl but is the state ready for the change a major hollywood firing pepe le pew is out of a job, why the french skunk's 76-year career may have just ended. plus the world awaits reaction from the crown one day after meghan markle's tell-all interview. we're outside buckingham palace, next ♪ ♪ ♪

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you. >> with harry. >> about how dark your baby is going to be? >> potentially and what that would mean or look like. >> and you're not going to tell me who had the conversation? >> i think that would be very damaging to them >> oprah told cbs it was not queen elizabeth or prince philip meghan also revealed she became depressed and suicidal amid a storm of racist headlines from u.k. tabloids. palace officials told her they couldn't help because she wasn't an employee of the institution, and new details of a rift in the family, harry said after their decision to step back from their roles, his father stopped taking his calls. >> there's a lot of hurt that's happened, and i will continue to make it one of my priorities to

try and heal that relationship >> earlier shep talked to nbc's keir simmons about how the palace plans to respond. >> reporter: inside the palace behind me, they will be still trying to figure out exactly what to say. of course they don't need to say anything that age old royal mantra, never explain, never complain, but when it comes to these allegations around racism, they are so damaging that surely you think something has to be said at some stage now, the question is what will that be because of course the allegations did not involve any named member of the royal family, so it's very difficult to answer an allegation that doesn't have names attached to it there is talk here, too, about the possibility that harry and meghan's royal titles might be removed, but while that might be seen to be the thing to do from

a royal point of view, if you like, in terms of the image of the royal family, it may be exactly the wrong thing to do. >> keir, this was a really big interview here in the united states 17 million people watched in the united states. how is it playing over there >> reporter: people are stunned. people, i think, are worried i think it does depend on who you are and where you're from. people of color here in the u.k. saying that this is bringing out some of the issues that they have talked about for a very long time. other people believe, though, that this is harry and meghan saying good-bye to the u.k. and saying hello to the u.s., that this was, if you like, the beginning of their u.s. career and that book was already written, frankly, the couple saying in the interview that the agreement that they would fully step away for good from the royal family as working members of the royal family was already decided before this interview was booked. >> keir, the monarchy has faced

moments of great crisis before and has managed to survive them all. is there a way that this one is different? >> reporter: well, i think it's different from the perspective, as i mentioned, that it is difficult to answer some of these allegations but you're right on the other hand, that they have faced these kinds of crises, and there is a history to very very difficult moments when people join the royal family that goes back, of course, to princess diana it goes back to prince philip who was famously looked down upon when he first married the queen, so there is a history to this, and in a way, you could say the royal family always survived that isn't to underestimate the damage that's been done, shep. >> kind of like every family, right, nobody outside the family is good enough to pepe le pew, the cartoon skunk has been scrapped from the upcoming space jam sequel. that's the word from hollywood

reporter, but no official reason was given. it does come after a "new york times" op-ed described him as normalizing rape culture charles blow wrote the piece and tweeted about it and pointed to pepe le pew's relentless pursuit of penelope fussy cat. it teaches boys that no doesn't really mean no, and chasing women despite their objections is just part of the game several outlets are reporting that a scene involving the character was written out of the final version of the film due out in july. pepe le pew was featured in the first space jam in 1996 starring michael jordan the character was first introduced, though, in 1945. department store, toy shopping, the trucks in one place, the baby dolls in another, that may all change in california our jane wells on the move to strip gender from the retail

equation hi, jane. >> reporter: hey, con tes so is this now maybe for susie and this for timmy, california is t pve perhaps why it is the most progressive state in the nation, when we come back. io prove perhaps why it is the most progressive state in the nation, when we come back. all charge excessive, last-minute fees. when you want something badly enough, it feels like your only choice is to pay up. but what if you had a choice to take a stand instead? at carvana, we believe in treating you better. out to prove perhaps why it is the most progressive state in the nation, when we come back. that's what it means to live feelessly. man: i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs,

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california lawmakers introduced a bill that would make one kids' section in a big department store gender neutral. if passed, toys would no longer be divided into boys and girls sections in beverly hills, here's cnbc's jane wells. >> reporter: girls playing with trains, boys pushing dolls in strollers, why in california, some are asking why not. >> over time, i see more and more parents say my son really wants a princess costume. >> reporter: the state is considering a law banning the separation of toys into boys and girls sections in large department stores. co-sponsoring the bill is democrat christina garcia, a former math teacher. >> when i was a girl i wanted to

play with the lincoln logs and i was never allowed to. >> reporter: that's one of the reasons girls are behind in math the state that mandated gender neutral bathrooms. >> we have kids that don't get to play with toys they want to, don't feel included. >> reporter: target stopped separating toy sections by gender though it still separates apparel, and if the law passes, violators could face thousand dollar fines it will not target small mom an pop stores, the miracle mile store and gift shop, which was already doing this. >> we make it a point not to ask if it's a boy or girl, we say what's the child interested in. >> reporter: the store is proudly gender neutral, and she often thinks about the little boy years ago who always asked for a barbie seeing the child's face light up whenever they got a new toy, a new barbie doll, it was a really neat moment. i remember that kid, and you

know, i hope wherever they are, they're doing well. >> reporter: so here at toms toys, you know, you've got your princess outfits right nerks to the ner f guns the bill has a way to go, it's in committee the original language included a ban on separating children's clothing sales by gender that language was taken out of the bill for now contessa >> so fascinating. jane, thank you for that well, now a success story that had to rewrite history, a whiskey inspired by a slave on track to become one of the top independent liquors of all time. so how did the ceo pull this off? we'll ask her, next.

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happy international women's day. unfortunately we don't have so much to celebrate this year when it comes to women in the workplace. a year into the pandemic, nearly 2/3 of women say it's made things worse for working women. that's according to cnbc and survey monkey, women at work survey further, less than half of working women say they're very ambitious. that's down from 54% in our pre-pandemic survey, and of course it threatens hard won gains toward gender equality in the past year, nearly a quarter of working women have experienced a career setback, and more than a third have considered quitting. why? well, they listed a few reasons, stress, work/life balance, a lack of opportunity, having to look after kids or parents we'll have full results tomorrow

on cnbc and cnbc make it george clooney, ryan reynolds, aviation, deleon tequila, p diddy, all men, all celebrities whose name and fame helped their spirits reach new heights, but the all women leadership team of uncle nearest premium whiskey is on track to outperform all the guys. in fewer than four years, they have created one of the most successful independent spirits companies ever part of the recipe for success here is honoring a history that many never heard of. the company is named after nathan grainer, uncle nearest, jack daniel's teacher, mentor, and first master distiller there are no pictures of him because he was a slave uncle nearest used the so called lincoln county process, taking traditional bourbon and filtering through sugar maple

charcoal that makes tennessee whiskey taste like nothing else on the planet. fawn weaver is the founder of premiere whiskey, fawn, it's so great to see you today thank you. >> thank you for having me, contessa >> your whiskey is on pace to become the best selling african-american owned and founded spirit of all time what's been your secret? >> it has been just authenticity to who we are, to opening up this american whiskey to everyone it's one of the things we said going into it is we weren't going to have a specific demographic. we were not going to market to any particular person unless you're spending 50 or $60 on a bottle of whiskey. otherwise, you are that entire target demographic, and i think that we did something that hadn't been tried before, which was to essentially say listen, what we're making is good enough for everyone and we want to bring everyone to

the table, everyone comes in, and we've seen a great deal of success, i believe, because of that >> overall, women make up about 30% of whiskey drinkers. for uncle nearest, i'm reading here that your customers are about half women >> they are. >> how do you go about appealing to a wider group of people >> well, i think that one of the things that we did is we looked at america overall our work force, the uncle nearest team is 50% women, and so is america, by the way, so all we did was build a team that mirrored america and then say, hey, let's go out and let's actually invite all of america into this particular brand, and so women, if you're going to be 50% of america, i want to see you as 50% of those buying in this brand and so we're excited to see that number and that number was not nearly as high when we began

we have seen that climbing over the last three or four years, and i can't wait to see that number keep going up >> i've spent some time reporting in whiskey and bourbon country, and sipping it and tasting it, and really getting a feel for people who love these spirits. i'm curious, what have you picked up? what lessons have you learned that you height share with other entrepreneurs, women especially, in terms of making your brand a success? >> go with your gut. there are a lot of people that are going to have opinions, and one of the things that i did and i said from the very beginning, everyone can have an opinion but i am the person who has to ultimately make the decision as to what we do, and when i think back at all of the advice we were given and if we had followed that, we would have been like most of the independent brands that come into this industry and they fail, but because we decided to bring it together, a group of people that believed in

themselves and really followed their instincts and were just authentic to who they were as people, and allowed that to be represented in the brand, what we found is that that was the success. >> fawn, i'm glad to see a brewer succeed, thank you for your time today. good luck to you 45 seconds left on a race to the finish new covid guidance from the cdc. the feds now say it's safer fully vaccinated americans to visit each other indoors without wearing masks or social distancing a task force that reviewed capitol hill security is recommending big changes after the deadly insurrection including a bigger police force with a special quick response unit jury selection has been delayed until at least tomorrow in the murder trial of derek chauvin, and now you know the news this monday, i'm contessa brewer in for shep smith have a great night, everybody. bring a friend every month and get every month for $5.

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