with alisyn camerota and john berman. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this is "new day." it's tuesday, march 16th. it's 6:00 here in new york. alisyn is off, erica hill with me. >> always a pleasure. >> director of the cdc is practically begging americans to stay vigilant a while longer and keep up the coronavirus precautions as new cases plateau at 55,000 a day. dr. fauci is warning the surge we're seeing in europe could happen here. the president is asking doctors and local leaders and religious officials to help get more americans vaccinated, a vaccine that was developed under the former president standing in the way of this message is a mountain of misinformation and possible ma lev lance. case in point. >> the administration would like you to take this vaccine, joe biden told you last week if you don't, you can't celebrate the fourth of july. but it turns out there are things we don't know about the effects of this vaccine. >> and he went on and on and on. so why would this television character spend so much time on his show throwing shade at vaccines? feeding the fears of half of republican men who say they do not plan to take it? this television character likes to say he's just asking questions. so here are some questions. does this character think it's important to slow the spread of the virus? just asking. does this character care if the country reaches herd immunity to return to life and work safely? a, it's a question. does tucker carlson really want his view herbs to live? look, this guy bemoans so-called cancel culture more than anyone on earth. he should look in the mirror. you can't get any more cancelled than dead. >> you need a beat after that one. cnn learning the white house is drawing up plans to increase vaccine supply in emerging hot spots. we should point out the vaccination rate in the u.s. is accelerating. standing now at 2.4 million shots a day on average. and president biden is heading to pennsylvania today. that's his fist stop of the administration's help is here a push to highlight the benefits of his coronavirus relief bill. let's begin with randi kaye live in west palm beach. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. we're at the south florida fairgrounds which is now a vaccination site. we're expecting long lines here today as just this week the state of florida lowered the vaccination age to 60 and above. this is one of more than 1,000 vaccination sites across this state. already more than 2.3 million floridians have been vaccinated, but the state is hoping to ramp that up. spring breakers are flocking to florida for an escape, packing the beaches and bars. but health experts urging the public to remember, despite the sunshine, coronavirus is still here. >> we have seen footage of people enjoying spring break festivities maskless. this is all in the context of still 50,000 cases per day. >> reporter: the director of the centers for disease control and prevention point abroad to europe, parts of italy entering another lockdown and new coronavirus cases surging. >> they simply took their eye off the ball. i'm pleading with you for the sake of our nation's health, these should be warning signs for all of us. >> reporter: europe's covid-19 vaccine rollout is also much slower than it is in the u.s. more than 71 million people in the u.s. have received at least one dose. and despite more than 2.4 million shots going into arms everyday on average, president joe biden is facing an uphill battle, convincing a large number of his predecessor supporters to get vaccinated. >> the thing that has more impact than anything trump would say to the maga folks is what the local doctor, what the local preachers, what the local people in the community say. >> reporter: the white house says it would welcome former president's donald trump's help in promoting the vaccine while also noting it's not necessary. >> former president trump woke up tomorrow and wanted to be more vocal about the safety and efficacy of the campaign, of the vaccine, certainly we would support that. >> reporter: meantime, expected increase in vaccine supply, more states are expanding who can sign up for a shot. this morning in mississippi, all people 16 and older can get vaccinated. and connecticut announcing they'll open up eligibility to the same ages by april 5th. but even as more people gain access to vaccines, health experts say it's key to stay vigilant. >> the way the variant spread is by letting our guard down, by not wearing masks, by not social distancing. if we can hang in there for a few more months, there will be enough vaccine for every adult in america to be vaccinated. and then we can truly let go of some of the restrictions that are in place. >> reporter: and with more and more states easing restrictions, we're still seeing about 50,000 to 60,000 new cases a day. that's exactly why the head of the cdc is reminding people that cases jumped in the spring. they climbed again over the summer, and she's warning that they will climb again unless more precautions and all precautions are taken. erica, back to you. >> randi kaye, thank you. developing overnight a growing number of countries temporarily suspending their rollout of astrazeneca's coronavirus vaccine. cnn's melissa bell is live in rome with more for us. melissa, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it was yesterday the first day of italy's second lockdown in just over a year that the news came that it was joining that growing list of european countries who announced the suspension of the astrazeneca vaccine. one of the most important in terms of europe's rollout not only the first contract signed by the eu, it was one of its largest. as a result of that series of suspensions, country after country saying they're stopping, it is 8 million doses currently sitting on shelves that cannot be used while we wait to find out what the european medicine's agency has to say ability. it is investigating these fears that have led to these suspensions, essentially that some patients who have been inoculated with it went on to develop blood clots. astrazeneca itself points out of the 17 million people so far inoculated with their vaccine in the united kingdom and here in the eu, it is just over 30 of them who have gone on to experience difficulties. that they say is either equal or inferior to what you find in the general population. i think what really changed yesterday and led a number of countries who so far been defending the continued use of the vaccine was the news from denmark it wasn't so much about the numbers of people but the nature of the symptoms they had shown before they died. that led even countries like france that had so far defended the use to change their advice. so until thursday when we expect the european medicines agency to give its decision on whether the astrazeneca vaccine should continue or not, a bunch of countries waiting to find out and of course the problem with that is that this was a naturally vaccine-hesitant part of the world. this is only likely to increase that almost whatever the science at this stage and the findings of the european medicine agency. this is a issue way beyond the borders of europe. 3 billion doses of the astrazeneca vaccine sold worldwide. it is crucial in trying to fight the pandemic because it's the one being used primarily in the developing world. so, a huge story here in europe and one that's being very closely watched even as those covid-19 figures continue to rise and third wave restriction and restriction in growing number of countries. >> melissa bell in rome. thank you very much. that is very important. joining us now, dr. chris parnell fellow at american college of preventive medicine. we'll get to astrazeneca in just a second. first, i want to start with vaccines here in the united states where the news has been remarkably promising, right? we're vaccinating average of more than 2 million people a day now. we've had days of over 3 million. yet, and i played at the top and i want to play it again, you have very influential people on a soap box now trying to throw shade at vaccines and vaccinations. what's the impact of that sitting where you sit, what kind of concern does that cause? >> it causes a lot of concern, john. any type of reckless or destructive behavior, anti-science behavior is not what we can afford as a nation. as we push forward, as we look to achieve herd immunity, meaning anywhere between 70 to 85% of the american adult population is vaccinated. we can't afford to have influencers, influencers in any circles, republican or conservative circles come promoos the safety of the known efficacy of the vaccine. a lot has been said about hesitancy in communities of color. what we need to talk about is hesitancy that might be partisan or political in nature and it's just dangerous when science is politicized. >> that's absolutely what we're seeing. we're putting up on the screen right now dr. pernell, our cnn poll found 46% of republicans say they won't try to get the vaccine. we know this is especially concerning when it comes to white republicans. i wonder, too, your thoughts on what you're seeing act astrazeneca and want your thought in the reporting from melissa bell. are you concerned about the message that may send here in the united states, this vaccine has not even yet applied for emergency use authorization. >> right. i want to emphasize what the process is. we've been doing quite well with pfizer and moderna and j&j and the public understanding these vaccines are properly vetted. i would caution us to see what the science will show when emergency use authorization is applied for by astrazeneca. it is concerning, right it? does give you caution to say are there an increased incidence of blood clots those received this vaccine. the science doesn't definitively state that. the countries in the european union and britain considered pausing or suspended are showing a appropriate levels of caution, but for us here in the american public, i want us just to focus on what the process is able to do. it's a very rigorous process. when we follow that process, no product, no vaccine, no therapy pudic will get to the american people that has not been proven to be safe and effective and thoroughly tested. >> as of now, there is no evidence that these blood clots and the incidents that they're worried about are occurring at any higher rate among people who have been vaccinated versus unvaccinated. that's what they're looking into to see if there is evidence but they haven't found it correct? >> correct. just so people can understand, there's a difference between a core relation and causation. there's no evidence there's a direct root or direct link between the astrazeneca vaccine and the formation of blood clots. when you begin to see symptoms or begin to see certain signs emerge in the vaccinated population, you want to compare that to the unvaccinated population and you want to say, is this occurring at a higher incidence that you would normally see in the general population. that's not true. while i said it is appropriate for there to be caution, it is necessary for all of us to understand how science works. and right now, there is suggestive correlation, but it's not definitive and we just have to respect the process and allow itself to declare itself fully. >> one thing we do know that is definitive is the science has shown us the power of masks. we know these public health measures and how important they are. dr. roeshl walensky pleading with the american public not to give up on these precautions at this point and stay vigilant as we're seeing these images of people being out and about, understandably happy to try to regain some of that pre-pandemic life. do you share the same concerns as dr. woe len ski this morning? >> most certainly. we all want to go back to our pre-pandemic state, right? we all want to be able to enjoy our family and enjoy our friends. we've been through unprecedented public health crisis, very traumatic experience, but we cannot afford to cost our success and victory to date. i deliberately use that word victory. the fact that we had over 100 million americans either receive one or two doses over 38 million fully vaccinated is something that we all should celebrate as we continue to accelerate toward our goal. we know from over the summer federal researchers have shown when ever states relax their universal mask mandates, you do see a rise in infection. like wise, when states ease those restrictions in their restaurants, whether it's indoor or even outdoor eating, you can see a rise of infections within six weeks and rise in deaths by two months. we don't need to see more destruction that we've already seen. that's why it's so destructive when you have a tucker carlson who politicizes the vaccine. we know that this vaccine, all three of these vaccines that have been approved by emergency use authorization, we know they're safe. we know they're effective. we all need to get on the same side. this isn't a republican virus or a democrat virus. isn't a conservative virus or liberal virus, this is a virus stealing lives and virus that has undeniably changed the course of our civic, our social and our cultural interactions so we all need to be rowing in the same direction. >> dr. pernell, always great having you on. thanks so much for helping us this morning. >> thank you. two men charged with assaulting capitol police officer brian sick nick before he died. the charges they face creating new questions. that's next. ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪ ♪let's make lots of money♪ ♪you've got the brawn♪ ♪i've got the brains♪ ♪let's make lots of♪ ♪uh uh uh♪ ♪oohhh there's a lot of opportunities♪ with allstate, drivers who switched saved over $700. saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate click or call to switch 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(vo) buy your next car 100% online. with carvana. psst! psst! allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! you're good. i'm a verizon engineer. we built our 5g nationwide so millions of people could do what they love in verizon 5g quality. and in parts of many cities, we have ultra wideband, the fastest 5g in the world. this is 5g built right. only from verizon. developing this morning, two men arrested for allegedly assaulting u.s. capitol police officer brian sicknick during the storming of the capitol on january 6th. sicknick died a day later. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, erica. this represents a major break in this case. prosecutors and investigators have spent weeks pouring over pictures and videos, trying to figure out who the two men were who actually assaulted officer brian sicknick and what they found was that the entire incident was caught on body camera video. they have video now of these two men spraying some sort of chemical irritant at officer brian sicknick as well as two other officers. together these two men are facing nine charges. these are charges of violence, charges of assault. however, there's a footnote here, erica, which is neither man is actually charged in the death of officer brian sicknick. so still a little bit of justice there hanging in limbo. however, this is a major development, major progress. that's really one of the themes here in d.c. right now because we're standing outside the capitol along this outer perimeter fencing. we have learned that some time in the next two weeks fencing like this surrounding the capitol grounds will be taken down. uscp feeling more confident they can take on any potential threats. they acknowledge we are still in this heightened threat environment. we're still in a toxic political climate. however, at this point they think lone wolf style attacks present the biggest risk and feel more confident in their intelligence flow, more confident in their ability to handle possible threats. a couple weeks after this outer fencing comes down, they're going to re-evaluate the need for the national guard. so, things slowly returning to normal here in d.c., erica. >> whitney wild with the latest for us this morning. thank you. joining us now cnn counterterrorism analyst phillip mudd. good to see you this morning. so as whitney just laid out for us, nine charges, neither man is charged in sicknick's death. what do you make of the charges that you're seeing and where this investigation stands. >> well, you can assume one thing and that is prosecutors at the department of justice will want to bring murder charges. the question in their mind is whether they can. we have one missing element here and that is the medical report. before you can bring a murder charge, you have to know why officer sicknick died and whether there's a district link between the spray used by these individuals now charged for assault and the death of the officer. and until we have the medical experts explaining exactly what happened to him, it seems to me you'll have a prosecutor saying i can't charge somebody with his death until we know whether they're responsible for it. i'm telling you they want to charge these guys, but until the doctors speak, the people assessing why he died the toxicologists can't bring those charges. >> it's worth noting it's still a serious crime whether or not it's charged in the death of the officer, just assaulting the officer is still a very serious charge that carries very serious jail time. phil, removing some of the fencing around the capitol because we're now told there is no direct credible threat on the building itself. what does that tell you? >> it tells me a couple things. first, if you think about the intelligence that the capitol police are collecting, i'm sure they're talking to people like the fbi, the intelligence before january 6th you didn't need intelligence. you could watch cnn. a mountain of intelligence about people approaching the capitol. you have to believe all the analysts and they have analysts at the capitol police, seeing not only do we see a mountain of people coming to washington, d.c., obviously not, but do we see these groups talking about going to washington. and the message by removing the fencing is they don't. one other thing behind the scenes, john, that is the cooperation among the agencies that clearly didn't cooperate well before january 6th has got to be improved and so the information flow of any agency that might see stuff that would lead to threat that stuff is going to go to the capitol police now even if it wasn't perfect before january 6th. so i think they're just not seeing very much and that's why they're taking this down. >> in terms of seeing stuff, you know, you've looked at this and said it's not just about there's a lot of talk about some of the groups who were represented on january 6th. but i know you made the point it's not just about these groups. this is also about individuals and how they are feeling and were feeling and the license they saw they were given. can you touch on that first a little bit. >> yeah. i think this is really important. i spent almost my entire career looking at extremism. we're looking at this through the wrong lens. we're looking at this as ideology as maga, for example. this is not an ideology. this is an excuse. think of the motivations that led people to come to washington. if you don't like immigration, if you don't like vaccines, if you don't like democrats f you want a wall, if you don't like gay marriage, all these things fit under one umbrella and that is an umbrella that's america. these are americans saying we're angry and the former president gave us an umbrella excuse to come to washington and demonstrate. so this is about an excuse as i said, a reason to come demonstrate. not about a unified ideology. thinking you want you can find in maga. those are the people that showed up in washington. don't think about it through a lens of political ideology. think about it through a lens of hate and anger. >> that lens of hate and anger now is being directed at probably more directions than it has been in the recent past. there was a capitol police officer suspended after semetic reading material was found near this officer's work area. how should we be reading that, phil? >> boy, as a practitioner, this is really tough. if you want to look at a center of activity, which is what you do in intelligence, how do i find the leadership? how do i find their communications? how do i find who they're training or inspiring? there is no leadership across this country. somebody in a basement, as you're saying, an officer looking at anti-semitic material. you can't find those people without state and locals saying or a friend and family member saying, hey, my brother, my sister, my father and we saw that in some cases by, for example, former girlfriends identifying people who were january 6th. i'm seeing somebody who is doing something wrong. but the other thing, the overamping thing, john, you cannot have leadership and we're seeing this with the vaccine, you cannot have leadership validating people's anger. you cannot tell people it's okay to demonstrate in an angry way if you don't like immigration. i think this is a political problem as much as it is a law enforcement problem. politicians have to say stop, i don't care. you can't do it. >> good point. phil mudd, as always. thanks so much for being with us this morning. >> thanks. a convention center in dallas will soon be used to house thousands of unaccompanied migrant teenagers. we have new information at the surge at the border and the biden administration is doing about it next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ new projects means new project managers. ♪ ♪ you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home. so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business. ♪ developing this morning, the biden administration plans to move thousands of teenage migrants to a convention center in dallas to relieve overcrowding at facilities on the u.s./mexico border. cnn's priscilla alvarez covers this for us. she joins us live. what should we see in this? >> the administration is trying to keep up the sheer number of minors crossing the u.s./mexico border alone. one of the steps they're now taking is to use a convention in dallas for boys ages 15 to 17 years old to alleviate overcrowding in border patrol facilities. this has become a problem again because increasingly more encounters of children on the u.s./mexico border alone and those numbers have been growing almost daily at this point. and so to try to start alleviating that, the administration taking steps in finding new facilities to put them in. now, the administration is facing criticism from democrats and republicans about the handling of the situation. the white house press secretary pushing back yesterday and saying they are focussed on working on solutions, john. >> priscilla alvarez covering this for us. thank you very much for us. joining us now errol louis. priscilla was talking about criticism from democrats and republicans. there's criticism period right now in some instances about how the biden administration is handling, part is what happens to these migrants once they're over the border and the second issue is how they're being approached before they get to the border. and to that point, a democratic congressman from texas had this specific criticism. listen. >> this friday i was there and i talked to some of the people that had come across, there were about 20 of them. i asked them which message have they heard? never heard the president but they heard from their friends and neighbors they were coming across, saw things on tv that people were coming across. and they were getting recruited by people to come over across. so, it has to be a strong message because with all due respect the administration's message is not coming through. >> the message is not getting through, errol. that from a democratic congressman. >> yep. that's right, john. we're going to have to see this administration do on the migrant crisis, on the border crisis, something akin to what they've done when it comes to dealing with covid-19. which is clear messaging, strong action, the truth, even if it's a difficult truth. and to sort of make good on some of the campaign promises that were made, which is to sort of go upstream. these kids don't just materialize out of nowhere. they are coming from some place. they're supposed to be diplomatic means, supposed to be aid tools that this administration promised to use to try to stop the flow. all of that has got to be brought to bear but there's got to be transparency. only thing we see is suddenly thousands of kids are being housed in what looks like confinement the middle of dallas, it's going to be a political disaster as well as an on going humanitarian crisis, john. >> we're already arriving at that point. seems two messages needed here from the administration. there is the message to migrants and there is the message to the american people to take stock and ownership of what this, quote, big problem, which is what it's being called currently, really is. >> yeah. i mean, absolutely. you know, look, this is something -- you can go back to the reagan administration. the last time there was a large scale attack on immigration and changes to our system. we don't know and certainly the biden administration did not anticipate this was going to be this big of an issue this quickly, but we can already smell political blood in the water. republicans circling. they want to make this a huge issue for the mid term elections and we're not 100 days in. when the history of this administration gets written, one of the first crises they didn't quite anticipate and have to be staying up late and working around the clock and trying to figure their way out of a very, very sticky political situation, well, this is it. >> errol, the administration is dealing with the issue of vaccine hesitancy, right? the vaccination rate in the country right now has been remarkable, more than 2 million people a day are getting vaccinated. the supply seems to be increasing. the logistics seem to be getting smooth. i think the administration is anticipating a moment when actually the demand isn't there and one of the reasons would be for vaccine hesitancy and one of the main causes is republican vaccine hesitancy, nearly half of republican men said they have no plan to take the vaccine. president biden was asked whether he wants the help of the former president who himself was vaccinated. >> they say the thing that has more impact than anything trump would say to the maga folks is what the local doctor, what the local preachers, what the local people in the community say. so i urge, i urge all local docs and ministers and priests to talk about why. why it's important to get that vaccine. >> errol, is it a question of either or? why can't it be both? >> it would be nice if it was both, but i think the president is in some ways trying to be a little diplomatic here. everyone watching this right now, john, realizes that donald trump is going to be of absolutely no help when it comes to this. the fact that he took the vaccine and didn't tell anyone about it tells you everything you need to know. this is not going to be reliable source of information and never has been. it's a sore point. it's the reason frankly he lost the white house. it's not reasonable to expect that all of a sudden he's going to turn around after a year and a half of doing, you know, almost systematically the wrong thing and being a completely unreliable source of information that all of a sudden he'll be a trusted voice of authority. that, i think, is just wishful thinking. and the reality is it wouldn't be reliable any way. he could wake up the next day and decide he has an entirely different approach for political reasons or just that of sheer ignorance. that's not a basis for public policy. so i think president biden is right to try to figure out some other source of trying to connect with people. you know, and by the way, if people want to put their -- themselves, their families, and their communities at risk for that purely political reason, it's not clear whether a doctor or anything else is going to change their minds. there's a deeper sickness here that has nothing to do with the virus. >> errol louis, food for thought. thank you very much for that. appreciate it. >> thanks. new mexico congresswoman deb haaland making history again. confirmed as interior secretary, the first-ever native american to serve in the cabinet, everything is key republicans joined senate democrats to support her confirmation. she was one of the first two female native americans elected to congress. texas's governor says he is not aware of any fraud that happened in his state during the 2020 election. so why then is he pushing to make it harder to vote in texas? that's next. hi sabrina! >>hi jen! so this aveeno® moisturizer goes beyond just soothing sensitive skin? exactly jen! calm + restore oat gel is formulated with prebiotic oat. and strengthens skin's moisture barrier. uh! i love it! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ texas republicans rolling out two dozen bills that would make it harder to vote. it's just the latest in a massive push to suppress voting rights across gop-led states. cnn's diane gallagher live in houston this morning with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. yeah, those two dozen bills join the more than 250 that are already being tracked across the country. the governor of texas actually traveled here to houston to announce his support for those bills, but critics who live here, diverse and increasingly democratic area say they believe the bills are a direct target of the record turnout. already home to some of the most restrictive election laws in the country, texas is now the latest state with the republican legislature introducing bills that could make it even harder to vote. >> election fraud is unacceptable. and that's exactly why i made it an emergency item this session. >> reporter: despite no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, texas republicans are calling for measures that would impose new limits on early voting hours and added requirements on mail voting. some of the legislation appears to be aimed at harris county, a recent democratic stronghold and home to houston which saw surge in turnout last year after the county implemented methods during the pandemic, such as 24-hour drive-thru voting sites. >> uniformity, transparency, consistency. wherever voters are, they should be having the same access to that type of voting activity for early voting. >> reporter: the attorney general's team looking for voter fraud in the 2020 election found just 16 examples of false addresses on registration forms in harris county after more than 22,000 hours of staff time investigating. the houston chronicle reported. it's clear what texas republicans are trying to do. >> obviously these republicans are hoping that their work is going to disenfranchise mostly democrats, but the truth of the matter is, it's going to disenfranchise both parties. >> reporter: the left-leaning brennan center for justice says it's tracking more than 250 bills and 43 states that would restrict voting access in some way so far this year. election experts say that many of the proposals would place a greater burden on voters of color, with dramatic effect. >> in many ways it dwarves what we saw during the jim crow era in terms of numbers of people, numbers of states and numbers of laws. >> that's a point echoed by stacy abrams, about the sweeping election bills moving forward in her home state of georgia. >> i do absolutely agree it's racist. it is a reducks of jim crow in a suit and tie. so the only connection that we can find is that more people of color voted and it changed the outcome of elections in a direction that republicans do not like. >> reporter: georgia became ground zero for former president trump's big lie after president biden flipped the state in november and then democrats won a pair of senate seats there. but not all republicans in georgia support the bills being advanced. >> republicans don't need election reform to win. we need leadership. >> reporter: but in iowa republicans have already acted. the state's gop governor last week signed a new law that cuts election day voting hours and reduces early voting by nine days. >> there are americans across the state that have some concerns about what happened in this last election. and again, i think it's imperative that it's not just understood but they feel that there's integrity in election process. >> reporter: the state was sued just 24 hours later. right now democratic attorneys tell me they're waiting and will sue if other states pass these bills into law. iowa may stand alone, but election experts tell me that there's probably an easy way to predict which states are most likely to eventually make these laws, erica. those that have a trifecta, that means that republicans control the state house, the state senate and the governorship. those are more likely to pass them into law 23 states in the country have that try fek ta, erica. of course it's a process and we've seen changes already happen on this level at each state. >> important to keep this reporting going as well, diane. great as always. thank you. big-name colleges are setting records for admissions applications. which is also up ending that process. we'll look at how the pandemic is changing campuses next. so you want to make the best burger ever? 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>> when you see the number crest 100,000, i think my stomach did just do a little flip and say, wow. now i've entered a whole new world. i thought oh dear lord how are we going to get through all of this. >> reporter: harvard university reported 42% increase in applications. the university of virginia saw almost 17% increase. and coal gate university received more than double the applications this year than it did last year. >> trying to put their best foot forward in a way they think might have a school give them a chance when they wouldn't have in the past. >> reporter: these eye-popping numbers are the exception, though. >> our enrollment was down about 10% in the fall. and it's down about 18% in the spring. >> reporter: at middlesex community college in massachusetts where 40% of those attending are first-generation college students, officials did everything they could to get students enrolled. >> we extended registration deadlines. we forgave as much debt as we could afford to do for students. we allowed students longer time to pay off any expenses they had from previous semesters. >> reporter: fewer students also means less tuition, straining budgets that were already under pressure before the pandemic. which disproportionately affected low income students and students of color. >> a lot of our students, they are struggling economically. they've been out of work for some time. they're broke. and many of them are just struggling to put food on the table. their goals, their dreams, their aspirations for an education and a better life have been quite rudely pushed off the table at this point. >> americans who can benefit the most from the mobility that a higher education provides are the least likely to be able to attend college right now. and that's a problem for all of us today and for generations ahead. >> reporter: the concern now is on when or even if they will return to that dream. bianna golodryga, cnn, new york. >> our thanks to bianna for that report. so the road to the final four is set. who are the favorites? 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i just emailed my wife's social security number to the entire company instead of hr, so... please come back. how hard is your business software working for you? with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo. hon? first off, we love each other... uconn earns the top seed in the women's ncaa tournament. lady huskies, very nice. they have to play without their head coach. coy wire has this morning's bleacher report. boy, this is a tough one. >> yeah, good morning, erica. he is having to isolate away from his number one seeded huskies. he has tested positive for covid-19. uconn says the 66-year-old hall of famer received his second vaccine shot last wednesday. he's not currently experiencing symptoms. he will miss the first and second rounds of the tournament games in san antonio, though. he has won 11 national titles so far, that's more than any other women's or men's college basketball coach. stanford is your overall number one seed n.c. state and south carolina are the other top seeds. first round tips off on sunday. super bowl mvp winning qb tom brady's phone might be ringing off the week. he gave out his cell phone number on social media. >> so listen, rule number one before we get into any of this, no texting on game day. sometimes it gets hard to sort through the you suck brady in the comments. i know there's quite a few of those over the years. it's usually from the jet fans. but to be clear, if you do text me you suck, yes, i'll see it. and i may or may not respond. >> i have to ask, john, what would your first text to tom brady be? i feel like you would be best friends. >> i think they were texting this morning. >> you ask like it's a hypothetical. >> his text would be i love you, tom. >> they're all emojis, unicorn em emojis, first of all. we don't use words. we communicate emotionally, on an emotional level. >> don't forget the avocado. he loves his avocado ice cream. >> thank you for all that. appreciate it. >> i'm sorry. "new day" continues right now. ♪ spring break! >> people enjoying spring break festivities maskless. this is all in the context of still 50,000 cases per day. germany, italy, spain, portugal and fence suspended the ast zen ka rollout. >> i'm concerned this is overkill in terms of stopping vaccination. the department of health and human services has opened an emergency in-take site to help shelter migrant children. >> all because the policies of our president has changed. >> we recognize this is a big problem. but we're going to do everything we can to solve it. >> announcer: this is "new day" with alisyn camerota and john berman. >> welcome to our viewers in the eyes and all around the world. this is "new day." alisyn is off. erica hill for a big morning as a co-member of the parent of teenage boy union. >> yes, yes. this is a huge moment that we're about to learn about. >> that's right. because we have big, breaking news that pertains to us and so many parents around the country. moderna, we're learning now is launching a new clinical trial to determine whether its coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective for children. cnn has learned the first participants have already been vaccinated. >> the study will enroll thousands of children as young as 6 months old in the u.s. and canada. it's being conducted in collaboration with the national institutes of health and the department of health and human services. for more, let's bring in cnn chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta and member of the parent of teenagers club. >> that's right. girls, but you know, they've been asking about this vaccine as well. and you know, we've gotten some hints along the way over the past several months that these trials were going to be starting. we know that pfizer alread