damning testimony today in derek chauvin's murder trial. his supervisor at the minneapolis police department testifying that there was no reason to use force on george floyd after he stopped resisting officers. so why did chauvin keep his knee on floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds? also tonight we're learning new details about the justice department's investigation into congressman matt gaetz. there are now questions into whether he used cash and drugs with young women. and there's another problem.

sources tell cnn gaetz showed other lawmakers nude pictures of women he says he slept with, showing the photos while on the house floor. i want to get right to the dramatic testimony, though, today in the trial of derek chauvin. cnn's sara sidner was in the courtroom today in minneapolis. >> yeah. i was just going to call you and have you come out to our scene here. >> reporter: the jury heard newly recommended audio of officer derek chauvin talking the phone with his supervisor to explain his version of events on may 25th, 2020. >> we just had to hold a guy down. he was uh, was going crazy, wouldn't go in the back of the squad -- >> reporter: from the witness stand, chauvin's police sergeant recalled chauvin's description of events omitted key details. >> did he mention anything about putting his knee on mr. floyd's neck or back? >> no. >> reporter: the sergeant says he soon arrived on the scene to talk to the police officers

involved, then went to the hospital with chauvin and other officers to check on george floyd. >> someone approached me and let me know that he passed away. >> do you have an opinion as to when the restraint of mr. floyd should have ended in this encounter? >> yes. >> what is it? >> when mr. floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended their restraint. >> that was after he was hand cuffed and on the ground and no longer resisting? >> correct. >> reporter: the tears were immediate for thursday's first witness, courteney ross. >> when was it that you first met mr. floyd? >> it's one of my favorite stories to tell. >> she testified the first time she met george floyd, she was upset, and he, then a stranger, consoled her. >> this great deep southern voice, raspy. he's like, sis, you okay, sis?

and i wasn't okay. >> reporter: ross eventually became george floyd's girlfriend. >> we had our first kiss in the lobby. >> reporter: in their nearly three-year relationship, she testified they both struggled with prescription pain pill addiction. >> floyd and i both suffered with an opioid addiction. we got addicted and tried really hard to brave that addiction many times. >> reporter: the defense honed in on where the drugs came from and the timeline of their drug use, including an overdose and hospital visit for floyd two months before his death. >> you did not know that he had taken heroin at that time? >> no. >> it was your belief that mr. floyd started using again about two weeks prior to his death, correct? >> i noticed a change in his behavior, yes. >> reporter: in redirect, prosecutors highlighted floyd's history and built up tolerance for opioid pills.

>> when he took those, obviously he didn't die, right? >> no, he did not. >> he was okay after using them? >> yes. he was playing football, hanging out, eating. >> reporter: this video introduced in court today showed the moments paramedics loaded floyd into their ambulance. paramedics and firefighters testified they had initially been called to respond to a non-emergency patient with possible intoxication and a mouth injury. >> the information you had as you were initially responding was that there was a mouth injury, correct? >> yes. >> reporter: the call was later upgraded, and when they arrived, floyd was unresponsive. >> i thought he was dead. >> i want to bring in now cnn's sara sidner, who is again, as i've been saying, covering this story since the very beginning and now covering the trial. you were in that courtroom today, sara. good evening, by the way. so take us inside. how was the jury reacting to the testimony? >> reporter: you know, from the moment that you get close to the court, you know things are very

different here in minneapolis where i've spent a lot of time, and i quite love this city. but when you enter the court, you realize you're in a different place because you have to go through two gates that are locked. you have to have someone come to the gate, usually a sheriff's deputy opens the gate for you. you come in. you go inside of that gate, and then you have to walk into the court, which by the way is all boarded up on the bottom half of the court. you get inside the court. you go up to the courtroom where you are met by several more deputies. and once you're inside the court, though, don, it's a surreal place because often courtrooms are filled with people in a trial of this magnitude. this time it is pin drop silence throughout the entire time of testimony. you only hear the judge or the witness or the attorneys asking questions. there's not even a ruffling of papers. and as you sit here and you look around the court, you can very

well see the jury. they are sitting there. they are self-distanced. you can see very clearly the two chairs that are sat in the back of the courtroom. one of them is for a member of the floyd family. the other is for a member of the chauvin family. and what we have seen is that only one of those chairs has been filled every day, and that is a member of the floyd family has been there. today it happened to be philonise floyd who was there, who i watched. it was torture for him to sit there because he is watching, again, his brother dying. and he's watching it over and over and over. but you can see the commitment that this family has to making sure they are watching with eagle eyes every single bit of this trial, don. >> and now to the accused. what about derek chauvin? what is he like in court, sara? >> reporter: it's really interesting. when you are sitting in court -- and i got there quite early -- there are times when the judge,

before the jury shows up -- for example, this morning where he calls all of the attorneys. he had them come into his chambers. and at that moment in time, it was literally me, one other reporter, and derek chauvin and the bailiffs who were in court just sitting there. he has clearly lost some weight. he looks a little bit different than i remember him in the beginning of all of this back in may. he is quiet. he is constantly writing notes. when you hear from witnesses, he is writing notes the whole time, and he is just face forward. you don't see any expression because he is wearing a mask the whole time in court. but it is a really surreal scene to sit there knowing what happened in the end, knowing how the story ends, if you will, and the life ends, if you will, of george floyd, and the ripple effects that's had. and let's have some real talk here, don. the truth of the matter is what

we are seeing in court and why it has been so impactful in this particular trial is because we're hearing the story of america, the opioid addiction epidemic. we're hearing about violence and how that has played out in people's lives. we're hearing about police indifference and how that has played out in people's lives. you're hearing all these personal stories about personal struggles, but all of this is around this one major issue in america, and that is race in policing, and that's playing out every single day in court. >> cameras are trained on it and america is focused on it. sara, thank you very much. we'll see you soon. joining me now, professor cornel west. professor, good evening. >> how are you doing, my dear brother? >> i'm doing okay. as well as can be expected under the circumstances. >> yeah. i know what you mean. >> it's gut-wrenching. sara summed it up there. the man begging for his life, pleading to be seen as a man like all the rest of us.

then the video of george floyd dying over and over and over again. what is this trial saying about us as a country, especially when it comes to how we all see race? >> it takes us to the most fundamental question that has always sat at the center of not just america but the 400 years that you and my ancestors have been here, which is do we have the will to stay in contact with the rich humanity of black people? to stay in contact with the beauty of black people, the intelligence of black people, the tenderness of black people, the soulfulness of black people? when you talk about brother george, perry floyd jr., injure t -- you're talking about a precious son of george perry senior. you're talking about what it means actually to open yourself to get beyond the stereotypes and acknowledge that for the

first nearly 100 years, america failed on that question. it didn't stay in contact with humanity of black people. you enslaved us. you exploited us. you tortured us. you tried to bar barrize us, and we responded with making your democracy better with more love, more freedom and more wounded healing. then we came back another 100 years of neoslavery. we failed on that again. looked like under martin and fannie lou hamer and others, under barack obama, we're making some progress. here comes the backlash again. so here we are in 2020 saying very much how you started this show, my brother. do we have what it takes to really acknowledge the rich humanity of black folk to treat us fairly, to treat us like human beings? because if not, you're going to lose your democracy. you're going understand. you're going fascist. if it wasn't for black voters, especially black women voters,

you would have gone fascist under the gangster named trump. keep in mind, this is the good news, don because this is easter week. it was tomorrow they put my sweet jesus on the cross. the roman empire put him on the cross for going in that temple and running out -- what we heard from my vanilla sister, courtney, was what? i stayed in contact with the rich humanity of brother george. i knew he was a tender man. i knew he was a soulful man. i knew he was a kind man. i knew he was a human being, faults and foibles like all of us. but thank god we've got some acknowledgement of it. will the police be able do it because i'm telling you, brother, if the police can't do it, then we're going to do it ourselves. let me add this one thing, brother. >> yes, sir. go ahead. >> i thought about my brother

george and my father and my grandfather. i'm not going to stand there for no 9 minutes and 29 seconds and watch nobody murder my father. no, no. uh-uh. no, no, no. martin luther king jr. talked about pass fizz many, and i believe in nonviolence, but i'm not going to watch that kind of murder. i love my brother charles mcmillan. that's why he was crying. he felt helpless. we not going to do that. some of us black men, we not going to stand there. we're going to have to intervene in some way. they ain't going to kill us like that and we remain spectators because somewhere i read silence is not an option. i don't stand with the silence. that's the last two sentences of your letter to drew, your letter to your nephew. but america needs to understand that too. we've got to self-respect. we've got to self-defense. and we intervene when you start killing us like that.

>> i'm sorry. >> we ain't out of love, brother. >> let me ask you this because everybody i saw -- everyone i saw in that video, and i asked this earlier. everyone i saw had some empathy, saw the humanity, felt the humanity of george floyd. as you said, foibles and all. we're not thinking that when someone's laying on the pavement in that situation, like what they've done wrong. we're thinking about you're taking the life from a human being. why is it that every single -- when you said the police thing, everybody saw his humanity and felt it except for the police officers who were there. >> because they've been getting away with it for decade after decade after decade.

even the good policemen, in the language of the mainstream, they remain silent, and they allow the gangsters in their ranks, who have been mistreating folk -- and keep in mind, brother, it's not just black folk who have been treated like this. you got some white brothers and sisters being treated like this, but we get three times -- we get 36% of all of them. we're only 12.8% of the population. you see what i mean? so we're concerned about everybody. we're not confined to just the chocolate side, but i'll be damned if we're not going to start with the chocolate side of town with our blacks, browns, indigenous folks and our asians. it is in the name of love, but love sometimes can get real tough. love can protect, respect, and correct. and we're not going to stand there and just be victims. no, no, no. uh-uh. no, that's not the west family.

that's not curtis mayfield. that's not gladys knight and the pipps. we come out swingin'. it don't mean a thing if -- >> you know i went to shiloh baptist missionary church when i was a kid. you just called it out. professor, i'm going to do like i do with my family members and the people i know. let me let you go because i gotta deal with some things and you're making me cry here on the tv and i got to compose myself. >> love you brother. you stay strong. >> thank you. i'll see you soon. be well. you know, it is hard to hear the testimony about the -- excuse me -- the last moments of george floyd's life second by second. and if you're having trouble dealing with it, speak up and ask for help. we've got some resources up on the screen right now for you. and, again, don't hesitate to get help. there it is on the screen. we'll leave it up for a second. and we will be right back.

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so here's the breaking news. the justice department now

investigating whether republican congressman matt gaetz used cash and drugs in his dealings with young women. there are also new allegations he showed other lawmakers photos and videos of nude women, thate says that he slept with. cnn's paula reid has the story now. >> reporter: good evening, don. multiple sources tell cnn congressman gaetz showed other lawmakers photos and videos of nude women he claimed to have slept with. one source says gaetz shared the images on his phone even while on the floor of the house. another said it was a pont of pride for gaetz. there's no evidence that the justice department is looking into this issue or that these were photos of minors. his office so far has not responded to our reporting but all of this comes as cnn is learning new details about the scope of an entirely separate criminal investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by gaetz. tonight, new details on the sex trafficking investigation into

representative matt gaetz. cnn has learned prosecutors are looking into a relationship with a woman that began when she was just 17 and whether his involvement with other young women broke sex trafficking and prostitution laws according to two sources briefed on the matter. those sources say investigators are also pursuing allegations that gaetz may have used cash and drugs in his dealings with young women, and they've also looked at whether any federal campaign money was involved in paying for travel and expenses. an attorney for gaetz declined to comment. gaetz has previously denied any wrongdoing. >> it is a hor rible allegation and it is a lie. it is verifiably false. people can look at my travel records and see that that is not the case. >> reporter: sources now telling cnn the investigation began as part of a broader probe into trafficking allegations of this man, joel greenberg. two sources familiar with the matter tell cnn that in a

meeting last year, federal investigators were told by a witness that gaetz was seen with greenberg on an internal office surveillance system looking through driver's licenses on a weekend evening in 2019. greenberg had access to the surrendered licenses as head of the tax collector's office. there's no indication that the licenses seen handled on the video were used for illegal purposes. but according to the court documents, greenberg allegedly used the surrendered licenses to create fake i.d.s. greenberg has entered a plea of not guilty. attorneys for greenberg and gaetz had no comment. cnn has learned former attorney general bill barr received multiple briefings while he was in office on the sex trafficking investigation into gaetz. barr did not take issue with the investigation, which began in the final months of the trump administration. also cnn has learned that fox news host tucker carlson was angered at the congressman's attempt to rope him into the

scandal. according to a source familiar with the matter, carlson was livid. >> you and i went to dinner about two years ago. your wife was there, and i brought a friend of mine. you'll remember her. and she was actually threatened by the fbi. >> i don't remember the woman you're speaking of or the context at all, honestly. >> reporter: carlson distanced himself afterwards. >> that was one of the weirdest interviews i've ever conducted. >> reporter: gaetz tried to distract from the allegations by connecting the criminal investigation to a separate alleged extortion plot against him. cnn has also learned that the scope of this criminal investigation into possible sex trafficking has expanded to start to examine whether gaetz may have used federal campaign funds to pay for travel or other expenses for his alleged victims. don. >> paula, thank you so much for that. i want to bring in now cnn legal and national security analyst asha ran gam rangappa and.

help us understand what is going on here. >> don, when i was in law school, we had these things call issue spotters. they were long, incredibly complicated factual scenarios where you had to identify all the legal issues. so the matt gaetz story is basically an ongoing issue spotter. i think the first issue, it is clear, is sex crimes, right? so potentially sex trafficking or prostitution. the cash and drugs piece is important here in terms of evidence, if that's something that the fbi uncovers, because sex trafficking requires force, fraud, or coercion with minors to engage in commercial sexual activity. so there has to be kind of a transactional component. and so if he's paying or if somebody's paying for this or using drugs to coerce them, it then fits more tightly into that

particular definition and statute. >> okay. >> the other piece that we -- go ahead. >> no. go on, please. >> lots of issues. the other piece is the campaign finance violation, if he was using campaign funds to do this. that's entirely separate because you are prohibited from using campaign funds for personal use. if you'll remember, former u.s. representative duncan hunter was actually sentenced to 11 months in prison for doing exactly that. >> right. >> if you do it knowingly and willfully, it can be a criminal violation, and that is completely separate from, you know, whether he was using -- you know, whether the person was underage or if it was for personal use, then it falls into that category. >> yeah. you were answering my next question because i was going to say it involved cash and drugs, right? the allegations here, the

investigation, and if campaign money was used, then that's a lot of trouble he's facing, right? did you want to finish up what you were saying, or were you done? >> i think this just gets to -- you know, once the fbi gets the ball rolling, the tentacles start spreading. so i think, you know, it remains to be seen not only what else will they uncover, but will other people get ensnared in this who will then become witnesses or people who can provide additional information. if i were him, i would be worried about that as well. >> okay. all right. so, amanda, you've been sitting patiently because there's a lot -- i mean there's a lot to go over here, right? she talked about, you know, the legal trouble, right? so let's talk about the political trouble. it's not just the doj investigation. sources telling cnn that gaetz allegedly showed other lawmakers photos and videos of nude women that he said he had slept with. some of the videos shown, you

know, while he was on the house floor. okay. so it's, you know, it's not sex trafficking as is alleged in the other think, but how do republicans stand by him for these sorts of things? >> yeah. i mean just based on the story about the nude pics on the house floor alone, this guy should be toast. it's pretty incredible how fast this story went from something that was kind of strange and curious to something seriously enraging. and at this point you have to ask, who knew? how much did they knew? and why did they let it slide because right now this just reeks to me of a political culture that embraced a grab them by the "p" president, and it's no coincidence that matt gaetz is one of his biggest champions in congress because this is the kind of culture that it is. we turn our eye when it comes to the mistreatment of women if you're a republican because that's what you had to do to get through the last four years. what really bothers me and i

can't get it out of my mind really is the fact that throughout the summer, matt gaetz was on a big political tour, stumping with the likes of donald trump jr., rick grenell, for this turning points usa group, which is directed at college and high school students. and if you looked at the way that some of these events went down, it was criticized at the time because they would put up these girls in tight outfits and almost bikini tops and shoot t-shirts and money into the stage of these young kids. you could just look at that culture that was being created. like we're the cool guys. we're the bros. this is how it is now, and it was just disgusting to watch these young, impressionable, political minds be given this kind of show. so just -- everyone should take a step back because this investigation is going to take a long time. it's extremely serious. but just on the picture story and just on the culture that has been created in republican politics directed at young kids,

it's enough to cause serious re-evaluation. >> amanda, thank you. asha, thank you. and, again, as we have been reporting, he is denying all of it. congressman gaetz denying all of it and also saying part of it he claims is extortion, that he's being extorted. so amanda is right. we'll let it play out and see what happens. thank you very much. i appreciate it. there are now more than 360 different bills making their way through state legislatures that's going to make it harder to vote. more than 360 in nearly every state. stay with us. lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of illness-causing bacteria detergents leave behind. proven to kill covid-19 these folks, they don't have time to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com

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in 47 states across this country according to a new tally by the brennan center. that's a 43% rise in just a month. more tonight from cnn's diane gallagher. >> >> reporter: in the wee hours this morning, the texas state senate sent a sweeping election bill over to the house that could change the way that people in the lone star state vote. >> so we want a system where it's easy to vote and hard to cheat, right? >> reporter: senate bill 7 seems to target voting in the recent democratic stronghold of harris county, home to houston, one of the country's most diverse cities. and democrats say that it will make it harder for people of color to vote. >> every minority member of the texas senate, all nine of us believe that this bill will impact minorities negatively by making it more difficult for african-americans and mexican-americans to vote, making it easier for them to be

harassed by overzealous poll watchers, and diminishing the likelihood that election outcomes will represent the preferences of we, the people. >> reporter: a new tally by the left-leaning brennan center for justice finds that 361 bills with provisions that would restrict voting have been introduced in 47 states as of march 24th. that's a 43% jump in the number of bills since brennan released its last report a little over a month ago. most of the bills target absentee voting. nearly a quarter seek to impose stricter voter i.d. requirements. a handful of states have already acted, including georgia, where some are calling for economic consequences in response to the state's new voting law. >> this boycott is against coca-cola, delta airlines. >> reporter: including pulling the mlb all-star game set for july out of atlanta. the commissioner says the timing would make that difficult, but president joe biden says that if the players want to change

location, he supports it. >> i would strongly support them doing that. the very people who have victimized the most are the people who are the leaders in these very sports, and it's just not right. >> reporter: georgia's business leaders under public pressure are now speaking out. >> let me get crystal clear and unequivocal. this legislation is unacceptable. >> reporter: the ceo of delta, the state's largest private employer, blasting the law as based on a lie of 2020 election fraud, saying in a memo, it's evident that the bill includes provisions that will make it harder for many underrepresented voters, particularly black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to elect their representatives. that is wrong. in response, the georgia house passed an amendment revoking delta's jet fuel tax break. >> we're going to start taxing jet fuel after july 1st, 2021. >> he took away the delta tax exemption as a retaliation. >> reporter: but the effort died when the senate failed to take it up.

the stat's republican governor, brian kemp, says the companies are caving to public pressure, claiming these concerns were not raised during conversations with delta before the bill was signed. >> i'm not going to be bullied by these people, but i'm also not running a public corporation. i mean they'll have to answer to their shareholders. there's a lot of people that work for them and that have done business with them that are very upset, and i'll let them deal with that. >> reporter: meanwhile in michigan, republicans have introduced nearly 40 bills that could make it harder for people to vote, even raising the possibility of trying to sidestep an all but certain veto from the state's democratic governor. >> the fact of the matter is this is a solution in search of a problem, and it is unacceptable, and so if and when those bills get to my desk and they're aimed at making it harder for people to vote, they will get vetoed. >> reporter: so how exactly could michigan republicans get around a potential veto from governor whitmer? well, there's this quirk in michigan law that allows the legislature to enact a measure without the governor's signature

if they can obtain 340,000 signatures. now, don, democrats have already warned that if they try and force through restrictive measures, there will be legal challenges. >> dianne gallagher, thank you so much. next, michigan's lieutenant governor tells us how democrats are trying to fight against restrictive voting measures proposed in the gop-controlled legislature. ahead, new information on just how long covid vaccines should last. i got this mountain bike for only $11. dealdash.com, the fair and honest bidding site. we sold an ipad worth $505 for less than $24. a stand mixer for less than $20. a 4k television for under $2. a macbook pro for under $16.

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so after looking at all the data and the science about these vaccines, i got the vaccine. and i made sure my mom and dad got the vaccine. because these vaccines are safe. ♪ ♪ the republican-controlled state legislature in michigan has proposed 39 bills that will

um pose new restrictions on vo voters. my next guest is calling on the senate to pass the for the people act to halt republican efforts to make voting harder. joining me now is the lieutenant governor of michigan. thank you so much. 39 bills, many impose voter restrictions. take us through what's in these bills and how they suppress the vote. >> well, don, these bills, there's only really one phrase to describe them, and that is anti-voter turnout. you know, in michigan we saw record voter turnout in the 2020 election. we saw record midterm voter turnout in the 2018 midterm election that not only elected governor gretchen whitmer and but also an enormous set of reforms to make voting easier. but this legislation now is introduced by the republicans in the state legislature in michigan is really seeking to,

you know, overrun the will of michigan voters and make it more difficult for people to vote. it's trying to give the legislature more power and decrease the power of those local canvassing boards that certified the election all because they believe the big lie in michigan. the republicans have refused to accept the results, and so they have now tried to suppress the vote rather than earn it. >> yeah. you heard what governor whitmer said. she said she's got her veto pen ready for any anti-democratic legislation. but republicans say they have a plan to get around her veto. how can they do it? >> you know, it is -- the irony is not lost on me, and it shouldn't be lost on anyone that literally rather than earning the support of the people of michigan, they want to circumvent it. they want to find loopholes in the law to undermine the right of the very voters who elected us here in the state of michigan. so they're going to try to use the ballot initiative process. what republicans need to be ready for is i think there's a big grassroots movement that is ready to protect voting rights

in michigan. and certainly because the voters of michigan elected democrats across the board in the executive branch of government, in the governor's office, secretary of state's office and the attorney general's office, we're going to challenge these at every opportunity. >> let's talk a little bit more about that because in 2018, michigan voters approved an amendment to the state constitution by a 2 to 1 margin that guarantees mail-in ballot access to everyone in the state and mandates same-day registration. so all that would be moot? >> well, some of that would be undermined, and the truth is it is a demonstration that a mere three years later, republicans are running away from voters. they are so out of touch with the will of the people of michigan that they're choosing to instead make it more difficult to vote instead of protecting and expanding access to voting. and, don, honestly i don't understand why they're so afraid of voters. you know, we want more people to vote in michigan. i want more people to vote in michigan. it makes the democratic process better. it makes our democracy stronger.

but passing laws that make it more difficult for some people to vote, that is anti-voter and anti-democratic. >> so republicans are pushing these, you know, voter suppression laws all over the country. so what's the answer? can democrats do anything to stop it? what's the plan? >> well, this absolutely is a nationally coordinated anti-voter strategy. you've seen is in georgia. you've seen it in 47 states have had legislation introduced, and that includes the 39 bills introduced in the state of michigan. but, you know, i'm proud that the michigan -- excuse me -- the u.s. house of representatives has passed h.r. 1, the for the people act. and i'm calling on the senate to do the same so that it can be -- there can be federal protections for voters across the board so that the state laws can not work to undermine voting rights anywhere. >> lieutenant governor gilchrist, thank you so much for your time. i appreciate it. >> thank you for having me, don. new information coming out on just how long vaccines should last. we've got that for you right after this.

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health experts urging americans to get vaccinated as cases spike all across the country. fears growing that the spread of variants could drive another surge. good news, more than 56 million americans are already fully vaccinated. joining any to discuss, cnn medical analyst dr. jonathan reiner. doctor, thank you. that was my -- you know, the crowd applauding you here.

so the socially distanced crowd. listen, i just spoke with the michigan lieutenant governor. his state is seeing a surge in new cases and variant spread. what do you think about what's happening in michigan? >> it's just as you said. there's a big surge, and i think it's probably a combination of pandemic fatigue, you know, loosening of people's guard, insufficient vaccination. but despite that, there is good news to talk about. you know, what we're seeing now is out at six months with the pfizer vaccine, really great data showing that out at six months, the efficacy of the vaccine remains above 91% with very robust protection against severe illness and almost 100%

protection against the south african variant. so we're seeing very good data from the pfizer vaccine. and what this means is with renewed vaccinations around this country, with renewed enthusiasm, we can get a hold of this pandemic. >> you know, i put it on social media how i got my shot, and it was -- i know everyone doesn't have the same experience, but it was very efficient and very quick here and painless. i hope everyone when it's their time -- you know, i was of the age to do it and lucky enough to get it done. but everyone should do it regardless of ethnicity and how you feel about it. just do it. today i want to talk about what president biden is urging religious leaders to do and that's to get vaccinated during this holy season. also telling them to spread the

word on vaccinations. how critical is it to have faith leaders onboard? >> it's really important. as we've spoken about in the past, there's a lot of vaccine hess hesitancy in this country and we need to reach people through the people they trustment. for a lot of people, it's their religious leaders. so when people who hold a position of respect in a community show their leadership by getting vaccinated and preaching about the importance of that, it really resonates. in order for us to get to herd immunity, we're going to reach -- we need to reach all the people in this country, or at least 80% of the people in this country. and the last 20% to 30% are going to be the hardest. so i love the idea of reaching out to faith leaders at this

time and getting them to talk to their parishioners about vaccinations. i want to take vaccines to churches. let's do vaccine events at churches as we, you know, get into the later spring and early summer. let's take vaccines to the people, not wait for people to come to the vaccine centers. >> thank you, doctor. let the church say amen, and thank you, doctor. have a good night. >> you too, don. >> thanks for watching, everyone. our coverage continues.

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