at our front door never stopped. the donald trump administration didn't stop them. i am pamela brown in washington. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. you are live in the cnn "newsroom" on this sunday. in florida, brspring breakers a cutting loose after a year of lockdowns and quarantines, and health experts warn highly contagious variants rapidly can spread. joe johns has more on the collision offing spring break and the pandemic. >> that's true, pamela. good evening. the cdc said there's about 4,900 cases involving variants that have been spotted all around the country, but the biggest concern right now at least this weekend at least is there could be a spike in the numbers because spring break is upon us. spring break in south florida where college students might not be the only ones hitting the beaches. experts fear covid-19 and variants of the virus are coming, too. as the decline in cases across the country starts to level off. >> even though the numbers have gone down over the last couple of weeks they have plateaued and when you see a plateau at a level as high as 60,000 cases a day, is that a very vulnerable time to have a surge to go back up. >> adding to the concern, air travel is setting pandemic records, more than 1.3 million people screened at airports on friday, the highest number since march 15th last year. but it's not just spring breakers causing concern. in arkansas the republican governor said there's trouble in his state with loyalers of the last president that don't want to get vaccinated. >> in arkansas it's a pro-trump state in terms of the last elect summ electtion, and we see that resistance when we are opening up eligibility for the vaccine, we are moving through it quickly because we are not having everybody to sign up to take it. >> if you think it's just arkansas, you would be wrong. only 50% of republicans say they have gotten a dose of the vaccine or plan to get one according to a new cnn poll. for the record, then president trump himself quietly got the shot before he left office. trump's failure to participate in the joint covid messaging campaign did not help, but -- >> you can't pin all of it on him, there's a lot of disinformation campaigns from the right and left and a lot of people are vaccine hez stkpupbt we are doing everything we can to overcome with that public information spots. >> governor larry hogan is defending his own decision as of this weekend to relax capacity restrictions at bars, gyms and other businesses while keeping in place social distancing and face covering requirements. on twitter the current president encouraging to keep social distancing and washing hands and wearing masks. dr. anthony fauci said some cdc recommendations on travel and the workplace could be resized soon as more people get vaccinated. >> they just want to make sure they get it right. >> the good news is that across the country there are signs that for now people are still keeping their guard up. st. patrick day parades in many cities have been canceled this year, though a bit of tradition survives as the city of chicago, once again, died the river green. and a bit more good news, at least 107 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the united states so far. 69 million people have gotten at least one shot, pamela. >> that is encouraging. joe johns, thank you so much for the latest there. now we turn to cnn's natasha chen that is at miami beach where he says far too many people are coming to his town to let loose, and mix messaging on masks are making a mixed message there. >> signs along ocean drive, vacation responsibly. they don't want this to become a spring break destination, per se. they have had problems with crowds here on friday night at this intersection, miami beach police tweeted two officers were injured as they tried to disperse the crowd. restaurants could really build their outdoor dining space here, and that's where a lot of the activity has been happening this week. now, the florida governor does not allow local jurisdictions to fine anybody for not wearing a mask, so the city of miami beach can only have ambassadors and officers set up stations like this to hand out free masks in hopes that people will wear them. >> natasha chen reporting from miami beach. thanks so much. tonight astrazeneca is doubling down on the safety of its vaccine as yet another country suspends its use. next hour i will ask the doctor if the concerns are genuine or if this is an overreaction. just in time for crowds and spring breakers, texas is open for business and no masks or social distancing requiring. a republican representing texas in congress since 2003, and he's one of several medical doctors serving in the house and before going into the politics he was a obgyn in dallas. thank you for coming on. on wednesday, as we all know, texas became 100% open for business and the governor lifted mandates for covid and the pandemic, and you know a doctor and you know how serious covid is. why not wait until more people are vaccinated and the virus is more under control there? >> two things can happen simultaneously, i think, and we have had good response to the vaccine hub set up at the texas motor speed way, and they are doing 10,000 vaccinations a day throughout the week, and that's great news. some additional data is coming up, and the single shot could be more effective than originally thought, and more people will be a dead end as far as the virus is concerned. >> in texas only 2.8 million texans have been vaccinated out of a population of 29 million, so do you think it would have been more prudent to wait and enforce the mask mandate until those numbers go up and until there's a better control over the virus? >> look, this last year has humbled a lot of us who think we know something about health and think we know something about policy and think we know something about health policy. with all due respect, it might have been better to get this through the fda a month earlier and i do believe that was possible, and at the same time in texas, at least a. month ago we were shutdown from an ice storm and now the governor has released the mask mandate. i think you see people behaving responsibly, and people know they are at risk and they know there's an additional risks, and they are always taking precautions. if you are worried about it, wear a mask, and wash your hands and watch your distance. >> let's talk about people acting responsibly, because since wednesday obviously we know there have been a lot of spring breakers going to travel and a lot of them at gal galveston beach in texas, and we have photos of people not masked and in groups together and so forth, and you see that and there's no mask mandate and so forth are you concerned there will be a spike after spring break? >> look, we still do have to be careful and the news that is coming out of italy is concerning and not sure why what is happening there is happening, so people need to keep an eye on the fact that the virus has not left us. the good news is, you know, a year ago, nobody thought we would have any vaccine let alone three vaccines with 95% of protections, and that's truly an unbelievable accomplishment of the men and women that put their lives on hold and developed these measures. >> no doubt it is a huge accomplishment. i want to ask you about the vaccine and the hesitancy we are seeing. according to polling, there's more hesitancy among republicans. what is your message to them? have you seen that in texas? how concerned are you about that, that hesitancy about republicans in particular? >> well, it's not anything new. i do live in an area where vaccine hesitancy, even back in the days when i was in practice, it was something that i recognized that perhaps our educational efforts have to be a little more precise because people do have -- seem to ask a lot of questions, but on this one, let me just tell you, people who are listening, i have had the vaccine and i didn't break in line and got it at the right time, and my family has had the vaccine and they did not break in line, they went when they were called, but take the vaccine when it's your turn. >> let's turn to the border now with another wave of unaccompanied line of children are arriving, and do you see a way to get beyond the partisan finger-pointing stage and actually come up with some solution here? >> well, 2014 was when i first became acutely involved with what was going on at the border, we had a surge of unaccompanied migrants, unaccompanied children, and of course, the agency that my committee is responsible for, energy and commerce, we have health and human services under our jurisdiction and they have the officer refugee settlement in their organization, so the kids essentially are the responsibility of our committee and our sub committees. it was important to me back in 2014 to make sure we were doing the proper screening exams, and making sure somebody had a tb test before they were released with the family out in the country. none of that was happening in 2014, so i credit the folks on the energy commerce committee for allowing that and getting that to happen. now, look, it has taken various trysts and turns through various administrations. i will be down on the rio grande valley tomorrow. it requires constant vigilance and attention. the answer, unfortuna khau -- unfortunately, is not just more beds, and it's looking at what is causing this, is it coyotes and traffickers monetizing in their neighborhoods, or is it fearing for somebody's safety, and we have to address that and get on top of that. that should be a bipartisan effort. it's costing an enormous amount of money. >> it certainly is. i want to get your response to a democratic congressman that told nbc he has a basic requirement before he can work with a republican. at the fundamental level i need an affirmative statement that joe biden is the legitimate president of the united states and the 2020 election was a fair election. can you agree with that? >> i have not been asked that -- >> can you agree it was a fair and free election and joe biden was legitimately elected. >> we saw the president inaugurated -- >> no, no, no, was glegitimatel elected? >> there are always going to be questions. >> but you are making it sound like -- so you cannot just say definitively that joe biden, the majority of americans voted him into office? is it accepted -- go ahead. >> i saw him inaugurated. >> is this really a good standard to say, well, back years ago they also used russia to request legitimacy, with donald trump hillary clinton conceded and he was welcomed into the white house, and can you say a majority of americans elected joe biden into office. >> we have a big pandemic to get over and let's get to work. trump conceded and -- >> thank you for coming on the show. appreciate it. >> thank you. later this hour, half of italy goes into lockdown tomorrow to try and stop the rapid test of contagious new covid variants as president biden kicks off his road show. a food bank in vegas said it will take more than short term stimulus checks to fix its economy. and this just in, a trash folder on the investigators's device. i will talk to laura coates about it in our next hour. plus, as fema is called in to help meet a migrant surge, a sobering reminder of why so many people are desperate to reach the u.s. >> i crossed in two times because i was desperate because i didn't have a job here in mexico, and we don't get that many opportunities here in mexico, that's why you do it. >> first, lawmakers under fire. two democratic governors who were praised early on in the pandemic are facing an uncertain political future tonight. meantime, senator ron johnson is facing pressure to resign after his controversial comments about the deadly capitol attack. but they can't be held back. they want to be set free. to make the world more responsible, and even more incredible. ideas start the future, just like that. ♪ and a little bit of chicken fried ♪ ♪ cold beer on a friday night ♪ ♪ a pair of jeans that fit just right ♪ ♪ and the radio up ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. tempur-pedic's mission is to give you truly transformative sleep. so, no more tossing and turning... because only tempur-pedic's proprietary material adapts and responds to your body. so you get deep, uninterrupted sleep. during the luxe event save $300 struggling to manage my type 2 diabetes on our most premium mattresses. was knocking me out of my zone, during the luxe event save $300 but lowering my a1c with once-weekly ozempic® helped me get back in it. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic® ♪ my zone? lowering my a1c and losing some weight. now, back to the show. ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. once-weekly ozempic® helped me get in my type 2 diabetes zone. ask your health care provider how it can help you get in yours. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic® ♪ you may pay as little as $25 for a 3-month prescription. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ visible is wireless that doesn't play games. it's powered by verizon for as little as $25 a month. but it gets crazier. bring a friend every month and get every month for $5. boom! 12 months of $5 wireless. visible, wireless that gets better with friends. brand-new court documents pertaining to the january 6th insurrection reveal a disturbing picture, literally. a well-known nazi sympathizer, his dedication so deep he once sported this hitler mustache. he was rebuked for it on the navel base where he was a contractor, and according to an internal navel review many of his colleagues say he spouted nearly daily extremist or racists comments, and some of them include, you're not jew isjewish are you? jew jewish people are running everything. that's something who stormed the capitol while allegedly recording himself shouting obscenities at a female police officer. he joined others armed and on a mission, and republic republican center ron johnson said this was a fine group of citizens. >> i knew those were people that loved this country, that truly respect law enforcement and would never do anything to break a law so i was not concerned. had the tables been turned -- this get me in trouble, and had the tables been turned and those were black lives matter and antifa mob, i would have been concerned. in york governor andrew cuomo continues to tune out the chorus of voices for resignation. both senators from new york, including senate majority leader chuck schumer doubled down on their stances today. >> there are multiple serious creditable allegations of abuse so that governor cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and of so many new yorkers, so for the good of the state he should resign. >> it's clear that governor cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners as well as the people of new york. that's why i believe that the governor has to resign. >> cnn political commentator louis joins me now, and he's a political anchor for spectrum news and he is no stranger to new york politics, and he covered it for year, so give us the breakdown of what is going on behind the scenes. does his response surprise you? >> his response does not surprise me. he turned down publicly any offer to go into the biden administration, even as a high level, as attorney general a job for which he was qualified and might have been considered. he liked being governor, really liked being governor. he travels and makes sure without exception he's back in new york before the sun goes down, and that includes trips to puerto rico and the middle east and so on and so forth. i am not surprised he has not resigned. pam, i also have to say new york has had a very high level of dysfunction in its state government, and we have had periods of time where weeks and months the budget was late, and we have had periods of time when two contending groups both claim to be in charge of the state senate and were both dry trying to conduct business at the same time, and so the fact that we have a governor nobody wants to work with will not stop >> you're saying new york has been dealing with dysfunction for many years, but how ten tauable is this for him to hang on after calls for him to resign. >> we in the media raise the question, of course. the reality, pam, is that the relationship between the governor's administration and his partners in government was never all that great. we have a ten-year documented history of angry phone calls and people being shouted at and competent people being driven out of government, and it was standard operating procedure for this administration. what you are seeing right now with the rest of the world, a bunch of people are saying enough of this. the mayor of new york, most of the congressional delegation, and our two senior and junior senator. people are saying we have had enough of this and this doesn't work, because if the tradeoff is supposed ton cuomo and his people act like savages and we get things done, well, lately they have not gotten things down and there are real problems and there's misrepresentations and concealment of information related to nursing home deaths and that's when a lot of folks in government said this is not worth it, and then when the sexual harassment allegations came, it led people to reach the ultimate conclusion which is that it's time for a change. >> all right, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> next hour i will speak to a senator that worked with cuomo for seven months, and her experience as a work culture as toxic. and president biden hitting the road to sell americans on his $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, but how will that help those in need? >> italy, headed for another lockdown. a report from rome is ahead. stay with us. what about me? an ev for me? what about me? can i get one too? an ev for this princess? what's an ev? and there better be one for me. and what about michelle from michigan? me? what about me? us? will there be an ev for me? me? me? me? ♪ as carla wonders if she can retire sooner, she'll revisit her plan with fidelity. and with a scenario that makes it a possibility, she'll enjoy her dream right now. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. overseas tonight, new coronavirus cases are surging so high in italy that government health officials are taking very drastic measures. full lockdown for about half the country starting in a few hours from now. we're in rome tonight. >> italians are preparing once again to head into lockdown starting on monday. half of italy's 20 regions including cities like rome, milan and venice will be a full lockdown. although italy's hospitals are still able to manage, we are not yet in an emergency situation. they are seeing their daily case numbers rise. the latest count was just over 26,000 cases daily, and is that a record since november and they are particularly concerned about that presence of variants that increase the rate of transmission, so the prime minister said on friday the