welcome to our viewers, in the united states, and all around the world. we have reports, this morning, from capitol hill, south africa, texas, los angeles, india, and ukraine. this is "early start." i'm laura jarrett. >> yeah, we certainly have it

covered. only cn can this morning. i'm christine romans. it is thursday, may 6th. it is 5:00 a.m., exactly, in new york. liz cheney is on an island facing near-certain exile from house-gop leadership. the wyoming congresswoman is making a last-ditch effort. she hopes to save not her job, her leadership role, but her party and much more. republicans are rejecting cheney because, well, she insists the 2020 election was legitimate and she voted to impeach the former president for inciting a deadly mob. >> a new "washington post" op-ed, she writes this, quote, there is good reason to believe that trump's language can provoke violence, again. trump is seeking to unravel critical elements of our constitutional structure that make democracy work. confidence, in the results of elections and the rule of law. the republican party is at a turning point, she writes, and republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the constitution. >> she continues, while embracing or ignoring trump's statements might seem attractive to some, for fundraising and

political purposes. that approach will do profound, long-term damage to our party and our country. we, republicans, need to stand for genuinely conservative principles and steer away from the dangerous and anti-democ anti-de anti-democratic trump cult of personality. mean tweets that, frankly, no one seems to miss. congressional reporter daniella day yaz is on capitol hill. what is this fight about? it's for the soul of the republican party, sure. >> christine, i think that congresswoman liz cheney understands that this is bigger than her. this is the -- the point she's trying to make with why she's being so loud and -- and -- and vocal about how she sees this issue. look. the big picture here is cheney is telling the truth about what happened in the 2020 election. she is refusing to spread this big lie. that members of her own party are spreading, that the election was stolen from former-president donald trump. and she's blasted her

colleagues, in the senate, for voting to overturn the election results on january 6th. and has been vocal about how she saw january 6th as an insurrection. all of these things make her different than what's happening in the party, right now. especially, with her -- the other top-two house republicans, house minority leader kevin mccarthy, and house minority whip, steve scalise, who have stood by trump through all of this. you know, by refusing to go along with the big lie, cheney is being cast aside by members of her own party, who want to stick with -- beside trump on this issue. and she's accepted her fate. you know, she's told allies, who have told cnn, that she's fully aware that she is going to lose her leadership position, as a result of being vocal about this. but she sees this as bigger than herself because she understands that this could have future consequences on elections, going forward, if republicans continue to lie about the results of the election, going forward. so, she sees this as bigger than her. as fighting for the soul of the party. and she is sticking by what

she's been saying, time and time again, since trump has been pushing this big lie. that the election was stolen from him. >> yeah. she makes that great point that, you know, rule of law is sort of bedrock to democracy. but also, you know, law and order, rule of law, for the republican party, that is one of her core beliefs. and all of this, you know, the trump kcult of personality, as she calls it. seems at odds with that, for sure. daniella diaz, so nice to see you this morning, thank you. laura. >> christine, it's interesting. we talk about rule of law. we talk about the soul of the republican party. but what if this is just a big-power grab, christine? it seems to me, this could be inconvenient for republicans, for liz cheney to keep talking about the lies. because then, you know, it focuses on what actually happened. when instead, they would prefer to be able to wield power. and -- and obviously, change voting rights, all over the country for future elections. she makes that inconvenient. i think, it's -- it's worth

considering. >> it's a good point. >> yeah. there is a great op-ed in "the washington post" that addresses this very point. i encourage everyone to read it. major news this morning on the vaccine front. the biden administration says it supports waiving patent protection for the shots. that could help other manufacturers speed up production of doses for developing nations but the complexities of distributing the shots could limit the impact of the waiver. >> india is one of the world's biggest vaccine manufacturers but the country is facing an escalating-covid crisis right now. leaving the rest of the world to look elsewhere. let's go to johannesburg, south africa, and bring in cnn's david mackenzie. david, good morning to you. >> good morning. you know, the big issue here is that that waiver is welcomed here in india -- in india -- i mean, south africa, very much so because it's seen as a positive move by the biden administration to allow vaccines to start to be made, without patent. but the issue is, there is a very dangerous lag coming up in the next-few months. and it's caused by the crisis in

india and vaccine nationalism. the awful consequence of a covid-19 tsunami. it's forcing the indian government to ban all-vaccine exports to covax, the global-vaccine alliance, so it can give precious doses to its own people. immediately, impacting at least 90 million covax doses. the crisis in india is causing a crisis here. kenyan and other african nations, where lives depend on covax, are running out of vaccines. and tour guide, martin, is one of the very last kenyans to get his first-astrazeneca shot. >> i am feeling excited. i think we just have to wait and see what happens. >> reporter: kenya got around a million doses from covax. produced by india's serum institute. kenya's supply dries up in days. >> i am concerned, because there

are supposed to be two shots. i am concerned but if it doesn't happen, what is the worst scenario? >> i want to assure you that nobody who has taken their first dose is going to miss out on their second dose. >> does this worry you? because, it seems, that it could be a scenario that the second doses don't come in time. >> very clearly, it worries me. and very clearly, the second doses will not come in time. >> reporter: a senior-humanitarian official, familiar with covax's plan, told cnn that the indian-vaccine supply isn't expected to resume, until june at best. or even later. and the millions of astrazeneca doses, promised by the biden administration, won't be enough or come soon enough. neither, will moderna's vaccine. up to a half-billion doses will be supplied to low-and-middle-income countries, but not until later this year. >> right now, there isn't equal access. so, what is the impact of that? >> the impact of that is that

maybe we are going to prolong this pandemic much longer than it would have happened, if there was equal access. >> reporter: researchers at duke university tracking dose availability say the vaccine -- could have catastrophic consequences. with some african countries facing, yet, another wave of the virus. >> they did put a lot of eggs in the serum institute basket and that was a strategic error, given that -- what has happened in india was entirely predictable. it should not have caught any of us by surprise. >> reporter: well, in the next few months, lives are at stake. but after that point, if they manage to scramble together vaccines, christine and laura, there is an interesting geopolitical aspect to this. china and russia have been pushing their vaccines on to the world as a kind of diplomacy. researchers i spoke to said, pretty soon, in the u.s., you'll reach a tipping point. where the supply outstrips the demand. and that, they say, gives the biden administration a very good opportunity to put a large

amount of vaccines into the world market. and in the words of the -- the white house at least, try to repair the relationship with the rest of the world. christine and laura. >> yeah. i think that tipping point is almost here. david mackenzie, thank you so much. all right. to the economy here. a major change for the gig economy. the biden administration reversed a trump-era policy that made it easier for companies to classify their workers as independent contractors, instead of employees who receive benefits. stocks of uber, lyft, and door dash, all, closed lower. the change fits with the biden promise of making sure the economy works for everyone. uber's first-quarter earnings, by the way, show two-thirds of its bookings came from its food-delivery service, uber eats, as more people stayed home and ordered in. uber's overall revenue fell because of money set aside for new-driver benefits in the uk. uber classified their uk drivers as employees back in march. still ahead. what about jail time for sending unsolicited ballots? the battle for voting rights shaping up in texas today. stay with us.

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vaccinations are slowing, now. but the reopening of america is gaining speed. in new york, broadway tickets go on sale, today, for shows reopening in september. at disney world and orlando, temperature checks ending, soon, for staff and guests. the cdc will allow cruise ship operators to begin simulated voyages with volunteer passengers. all of this, going out on the town. apparently, putting more americans in the mood. condom sales in the u.s., surging. all right. you also see more cities and companies using incentives for people to get vaccinated. dj vaughn trent and duane powell, confirmed as artists for

a concert series in chicago. hey, it's a concert series for the fully-vaks nighted, only. the nfl giving tickets away to the super bowl in a contest for vaccinated fans only. and that's not all. "early start" has the pandemic covered, from coast to coast. >> i'm jean, in manhattan. you want free baseball? get a vaccine. to motivate people, baseball fans in the new york city area are going to be able to go to yankee stadium or citi field. get a johnson & johnson vaccine. and then, you'll get a voucher for a free game. starting may 19th, full-capacity seating will be available for those people that are fully vaccinated. now, if you are not vaccinated, capacity will be at 33%. but remember, everybody will still have to wear a mask. >> reporter: i'm stephanie elam in los angeles. as of today, los angeles and san francisco counties are moving to the least-restrictive tier in the golden state.

this, as both counties have a test-positivity rate over the last-seven days below 1%. and this means most indoor operations can resume business. the state, also, saying that bars that don't serve food can, now, open up, again. and they are also saying that restaurants and family-entertainment centers can now be opened at 50% capacity. these two counties, together, account for about a quarter of the state's population. >> reporter: i'm jacqueline howard in atlanta. a new-cdc modeling study projects that covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths will, likely, remain low, nationally. and even sharply, decline by july. but that's if vaccination rates remain high. and if people continue following certain covid-19 preventive measures, like wearing masks and physical distancing. the cdc warns that, not continuing certain measures could undermine the gains we've seen from vaccinations.

>> reporter: i'm amara walker in dekalb county, georgia. it's getting easier to get a covid-19 vaccination. cvs is now joining walgreens to offer same-day appointments and walk-ins, at 8,300 of its locations across the country. walgreens began offering same-day appointments, at all of its stores on wednesday. and walk-ins, at some of its locations. >> thanks to amara and the rest of our correspondents for those reports. now, to a battle for voting rights in texas today. new-proposed legislation makes it harder to cast a ballot. could get a vote in the state house. cnn's dianne gallagher is on the ground in austin. >> reporter: good morning, christine and laura. well, the lone star state is now front and center when it comes to the battle for voting rights. much like we have seen in states from coast to coast, republicans in the state of texas have introduced a whole host of bills. that would, in part, add new restrictions to an already-very-restrictive voting process here in the state of texas.

now, we're talking about dozens of bills that have been introduced, so far, this session. they would make a lot of different changes, in texas. we're talking about adding criminal penalties for voters and election officials at different parts of the voting process. like, making it a felony to send unsolicited-ballot applications. it would, also, further empower those partisan-poll workers, poll watchers, and it would add mail-in voting requirements. new ones. it's already, very restrictive, here, in texas. it would, also, target some of the tools that are used by larger counties. like, 24-hour drive-thru voting. something, we saw a lot during the pandemic. now, businesses in the state of texas are starting to speak out. a letter that was signed by 50 different businesses and organizations, including some pretty major corporations, like american airlines, microsoft, and hp. asked that there was no sort of

proposals that would be passed, that would make it more difficult for eligible voters to cast their ballots. but, look, christine, laura, republicans in texas say, okay. but, businesses don't pass the laws in texas. lawmakers do. and they claim they're simply trying to promote uniformity and secure the ballot from fraud in texas. though, i will note that, when asked to produce evidence of fraud in the 2020 election here, they have, still, not done so. >> all right. dianne gallagher. yeah. lawmakers say they are fixing a problem that actually didn't exist, in the first place. so it's going to get harder to vote in texas but carrying a handgun without any kind of license cleared a major hurdle. a permitless-carry bill on a party-line vote, with some changes that need house approval. if passed, an adult 21 or older can carry a handgun without a permit, without training. governor greg abbott has already said he will sign it into law.

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orioles pitcher john means threw baseball's third no hitter of the season. but it's unlike any we have seen before. andy scholes has this morning's bleacher report. hey, andy. >> good morning, laura. you know, you can lose a perfect game by walking a batter. hitting a batter.

or by an error in the field. but never in the history of baseball, have we seen someone lose a perfect game the way john means did yesterday. the orioles pitcher strieging out sam haggerty in the third. but allowing haggerty to reach. no error charged on the play. but it means the perfect game is over. means, dominant after that. striking out 12 and completing the no hitter. gets mobbed by his teammates right there. means becomes the first orioles pitcher since jim palmer in 1969 to throw a complete-game no hitter. and he knows his father who died of cancer last year was with him. >> i looked at my glove, right before i went out there. for the ninth. has his initials on it. and -- and i, you know, i said to myself that, you know, he wouldn't care. i'm having a good time. the whole -- the accolades and

everything like that never mattered to him but it was pretty special and i know he'd be proud. >> all right. the nhl and the rangers and capitals game turning into fight night. right after the puck dropped, the bad blood from these two teams stems back to monday, when the caps' tom wilson slammed to the ice after also punching a teammate back in the back of the head. the nhl didn't suspend wilson. only fining him $5,000. and the rangers taking matters into their own hands. they are livid. right when wilson got on the ice, they took it out on him. as you can see right there. there were a hundred penalty minutes in the first period, alone. forcing some pretty crowded penalty boxes for both teams. now, the caps were to win the game, 4-2. pretty cool moment for washington's tj oshie. he scored a hat trick in his first game since the death of his father, tim. and he was pretty overcome with emotion as he came off the ice. breaking down in tears when he sat on the bench. oshie said later, that he was

grateful he got to share that moment with his teammates. finally, cubs and dodgers last night. cubs down a run in the tenth. john peterson. he hit a walk-off home run. flips the bat and everything. well, it got hung up in that chicago wind. mookie betts catches it for a sacrifice fly. look at peterson's face. the cubs would go on to win the game in the 11th to sweep the dodgers in the series. but, christine, one of those examples. don't count your chickens before they hatch because i'm sure peterson's teammates gave him a hard time about flipping the bat and everything, thinking he had won the game. >> i bet. all right. andy scholes, nice to see you. thank you so much. all right. it's the one thing president trump and president biden seem to agree on. so, why is the pandemic-eviction moratorium, suddenly, at risk? i can tell that they used your milk, matilda. great job! [moo] you're welcome. breyers natural vanilla is made with 100% grade a milk and cream and only sustainably farmed vanilla. better starts with breyers.

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all right. good morning. this is "early start." i'm christine romans. >> and i'm laura jarrett. it's about half-past the hour, here, in new york. history is watching. our children are watching. we must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and our democratic process. i am committed to doing that, no matter what the short-term, political consequences might be. those words, from republican liz cheney in a new "washington post" op-ed. the wyoming congresswoman, all but certain, to lose her number-three house-leadership post, after a lonely defense of the truth. that last year's election was not stolen. >> those facts, inconvenient for most of cheney's republican colleagues, who not only want to rise in a party in the grip of former president trump. but benefit from the aftereffects of the big lie, as it fuels the gop's current

attack on voting rights across the country. the current president weighing in. >> it seems as though the republican party is trying to identify what it stands for. and they're in the midst of a significant, sort of, mini revolution going on in the republican party. i've been a democrat, for a long time. we've gone through periods, where we've had internal fights and disagreements. but i don't ever remember any, like this. >> a mini revolution. the house go -- the house gop message is -- is chaos, frankly. that, no doubt, distracts from president biden's accomplishments and his agenda. >> an agenda that the gop will oppose, at all costs. this isn't being done in secret. it's a time-tested strategy. even yesterday, by senate-gop leader, mitch mcconnell. >> 100% of my focus is on

stopping this new administration. >> president biden shrugged off those comments, which echoed exactly, basically, what mcconnell said during the obama administration. the president is due to host his first-bipartisan meeting with republican leaders, including mcconnell, next week. all right. a moratorium on evictions, imposed by president trump, and then extended by president biden, shot down by a federal judge. she paused the order, from going into effect, immediately. but the future, suddenly, very tenuous for the one in seven renters -- one in seven renters -- behind on their payments. more, now, from cnn's kyung lah. >> reporter: christine and laura, news that potentially could affect millions of renters in this country. i'm talking about the eviction moratorium. it is something that stopped evictions in its tracks, here in this country. it was imposed by the cdc. well, a federal judge ordered that the cdc did not have the authority to extend that

moratorium, in this country. so now, this moratorium was scheduled to expire on june 30th. this pushes the deadline up to, essentially, right now. so now, what does this mean? does this mean that we'll see evictions, immediately, start to take place? as we saw during some states during the height of this pandemic, it's a little unclear. so far, there have been a rush of legal appeals. the department of justice has already filed an appeal. the department of health. expect nonprofits to get involved to try to stop evictions. if you live in a state, like california, that has a state-eviction ban. that means that the people in the state of california would not, directly, and immediately, be impacted. or other states, that have these types of state-eviction bans. but certainly, christine and laura, this is concerning news for any renter who's gotten behind on their rent. christine. laura. >> all right, kyung, thank you so much for that. president biden, all in on

raisin raising taxes for companies and the rich. >> deprive any of these executives of their second or third home. travel privately by jet. it's not going to affect their standard of living, at all. not a little, tiny bit. but i can affect the standard of living of people i grew up with if they have a job. >> the president wants to raise taxes on high earners, investors, and companies, lifting the top-income bracket back to 39.6%. but biden argues the rich won't feel it. and economists point out, companies have been paying less, for years. even before the 2017-tax cuts. the effective-corporate tax rate, that's taxes as a share of earnings, look at that. it's been falling for about-50 years and is at historic lows. senator joe manchin, a key-democratic vote, has said he would not agree to a corporate-tax rate above 25%. biden says he is open to compromise on the final number, and vowed taxes won't rise for

anyone, making less than 400 grand a year. overnight, india reporting its highest 24-hour covid surge. over 412,000 new cases, and a new-record death toll. the country's healthcare infrastructure, already, crumbling. and now, a new warning from india's top-health adviser. live on the ground for us, in new delhi. i don't know how this situation really could get any worse, at this point. so, what is the plan to turn it around, if any? >> laura, imagine you are in a war. you are losing soldiers. you're tired. you're fatigued. and then, all of a sudden, the person who is commanding your troops says, there's another war we have to fight. that's exactly what happened on wednesday when there was a health pressor held where the representers came out and announced there is a third wave that is going to hit us. it is inevitable. we must prepare. and that is happening, at a time when we are in our second wave. we are losing people. we have got the highest numbers, globally, and even our death toll is the highest that india

has ever seen, to date. and that wasn't the only announcement. finally, the health ministry came out to say, yes, there is a link between the indian variant. and in the last one and a half months, the deaths and the numbers that you are seeing as far as the caseload is concerned, there is a link. but that has to be clinically co-related. so these are big, two takeaways from the health press conference yesterday. and this comes at a time when india, itself, has projected very staggering figures. they are saying by june 11, india could see 50 million confirmed cases of covid-19. and almost double of its total fatalities, that currently stand as data here in india. so, it's a very grim situation. supplies are now, finally, being sent and distributed across india. that's coming in globally. and what's interesting is even the cdc in the u.s. has said that the indian variant, for them, is a variant of interest. laura. >> all right. thank you so much for all of your reporting, as usual. so, concern about india's covid catastrophe is spilling

across its borders. neighboring, nepal, reported a record-number of cases, wednesday. the surge now reaching one of the world's highest peaks. "early start" is covering the pandemic around the world. >> reporter: i'm anna coren in hong kong. as a second wave of covid wreaks havoc across india, in neighboring nepal, the red cross is sounding the alarm. warning of a human catastrophe. the number of infections and deaths has reached record highs. with authorities confirming that cases have exploded across the country by more than 1,200%, since mid-april. for largely impoverished population of almost 30 million people, its health system is on the brink of collapse. with hospitals at full capacity, and medical supplies in desperately-short supply. the prime minister has appealed to the international community to assist with emergency aid and vaccine. so as to prevent a worsening-humanitarian crisis. >> reporter: i'm paula newton in ottawa. and canada says it is the first country in the world to approve

the pfizer-biontech vaccine for children as young as 12 years old. now, public-health officials here say this will be a game changer. especially, since canada continues to struggle with a punishing, third wave of the pandemic. now, some kids could see the vaccine in their arms as early as next week. but more likely, mass vaccinations of children, adolescents, really, won't happen until summer. >> reporter: i'm cerealyril vann london. in wales, preliminary data suggests more people are now dying from flu and pneumonia than covid-19. the covid-death toll in england and wales, last week, was 260. compare that to more than 8,000 deaths, the last week of january, at the peak of the third wave. since then, a strict lockdown and a rampant vaccination campaign have brought covid-19 deaths to their lowest level, in seven months. >> reporter: i'm blake essig, in tokyo. medical experts, specifically in western japan, say the medical

system has completely collapsed. in osaka, according to the website, the hospital-bed occupancy rate has maxed out at 103%. nearly 3,000 people are waiting to be hospitalized. nationwide, despite the case count going down, the number of patients with serious symptoms is climbing. setting a new record, nearly-each day, this week. officials say virus variants are becoming dominant with cases among younger people who are getting seriously ill on the rise. >> all our reporters for those updates. we also just found out that tokyo wants to extend its coronavirus lockdown, until may 31st. obviously, not good news for the olympics that are set to begin this july. so we will keep an eye on all of that. all right. now, to this story. we brought you yesterday. the u.s. military says it is not considering shooting down that out-of-control chinese rocket that is plunging toward earth. the rocket is set to reenter the earth's atmosphere, sometime this weekend. now, the military could use a kinetic strike to break up the

rocket. but the pentagon says it's too son to make that decision, until they have a better sense of where it will come down. to ukraine now, u.s. secretary of state tony blinken is in ukraine meeting with president zelensky and other leaders. we can see him live. we will take you there andin jua minute. feeling stressed in your skin? not with new olay retinol body wash. which improves skin 3x better. from dry and stressed, to bright and smooth. so, i can feel my best in my skin. olay body. fearless in my skin.

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this morning, u.s. secretary of state tony blinken is in ukraine meeting with president ze zelensky and other leaders. coming at a critical time for ukraine, which wants more-u.s. support, as tensions with russia, obviously, ramp up. cnn's matthew chance is live and, matthew, we are since supposed to hear from them at a conference, is that right? >> yeah. a sort of joint press conference halfway through this visit by

u.s. secretary of state antony blinken to ukraine. and already, so far, president zelensky's made a formal invitation to president biden to come, at some point, with his vice president. to ukraine, on -- on an official visit. secretary of state has said he is here to underline the biden administration's support for ukraine's sovereignty, all that, of course. as ukraine fights a long-running war against russian-backed rebels in the east of its country, and faces direct threats from russia, as well, in terms of its buildup of -- of forces across the border in western russia and the buildup of its naval forces in the eastern seaboard towards the eastern seaboard of ukraine, as well. the visit, laura, is also seen, as a way of trying to draw the line, as well. under what's been a very difficult, very uncomfortable chapter in the relationship between ukraine and the united states. namely, former-president trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani.

he is being investigated by the fbi, now, about his dealings in the ukraine. earlier, i spoke to the ukrainian-foreign minister about that very painful thorn in the side of that crucial relationship. take a listen. >> do you believe he may have engaged in criminal behavior? >> well, i'm not a lawyer, to make my judgment on the criminal nature of his behavior. >> how would you characterize it? >> but he was definitely playing politics. and he put the situation at risk for ukraine. and for ukraine's relationship with the united states. and we did our best to avoid that trap. >> some quite-critical words there from the ukrainian foreign minister about rudy giuliani. they have to tread a very careful path. they don't want to take sides in what they see as a very internal, very toxic, u.s.-political battle. the question, now, though, i

think for everybody in ukraine is how much support the biden administration is actually prepared to give this country, in its standoff with russia and russian-backed forces? it wants money to prosecute its war. but at the same time, remember, the biden administration wants to find in his words, a stable path with russia. and so, if there is any of those things, it potentially will upset moscow and escalate tensions here, laura. >> tricky line there to toe. matthew chance, thanks so much. well, first, it was a little bragging around the water cooler at work. then, it was a failed match on bumble. now, a grandmother's gossip leading the fbi to a man who took part in the capitol riot, on january ev6th. the new jersey man turned himself in this week after a chain of conversations outed his participation in the insurrection. the mother of robert told a good friend, her son had been at the capitol riot. that friend, then told her grandchild. that grandchild, then told the

fbi. hope you can keep up with that. he was released on bond. he faces multiple charges related to the insurrection now. facebook oversight board the independent board says facebook cannot make the suspension indefinite, without some official rule permitting that. that means one of the platform's biggest dilemmas is back on the desk of ceo mark zuckerberg. >> so right-wing media had a fall field day with the world's decision. but let's be clear here, day after day, including yesterday, most of facebook's top-ten links are straight from conservative sources. but the broader issue of policing global leaders on social media is not confined to the u.s. facebook's decision will affect other nations where leaders are known for inciting violence on the platform. think about leaders in myanmar who inspired violence toward muslims. historically, social media companies have been weary of stepping into political debates

and it is even more complex overseas with different laws, languages, and histories. a firing squad could be added to south carolina's list of execution methods. the state house voting for a change because of a shortening of lethal-injection drugs. condemned inmates would have to choose between getting shot, or being electrocuted if lethal-injection drugs aren't available. republican governor, henry mcmaster, has said he will sign the bill. adding his state to a list of those that include oklahoma, mississippi, and utah. all right. let's get a check on cnn business this, thursday morning. first, over to markets around the world. asian shares closed mixed. european shared opened slightly lower here. moving up just a little bit. it was a mixed day in the u.s., on wednesday. the dow up 97 points. s&p 500 finished up but the nasdaq dragged down by losses in healthcare. stacks of vaccine makers fell on news the u.s. supports waiving patent protections for coronavirus vaccines. moderna, down 6%. biontech fell 3%.

moderna, volkswagon, and anheuser busch report first quarter earnings before the opening bell. we will also get a look at the labor market. weekly jobless claims are expected to hit a new pandemic low as layoffs slow. google is changing its options for employees to return to the office. google said workers around the world can work remotely until september 1st. after that, they can choose between going back to their pre-pandemic office. they can work out of a google office, in a different city. or they can work from anywhere, if their role allows it. google previously said all employees would need to go into the office, three days a week. peloton has recalled all of its treadmills and admitted it was wrong to fight the government's request that it do so. about 125,000 treadmills are included in the recall. a federal-safety agency said there have been 70 accidents and the death of a child tied to the treadmills. peloton said it will work with the government to set new industry-safety standards for treadmills. peloton stock, seven-month low,

chosi closing down 14.5%. >> starship heading back to the landing. >> a big day for spacex. a mars rocket prototype landing upright back on its launch pad. this was the fifth spacex prototype to attempt such a landing and the first to do it successfully. it flew six miles above earth and went through a series of aerial acrobatics before two engines were relit for its return. >> all right. put your bidding hats on. jeff bezos company is now offering the only seat for sale to the public. online bids can be placed until june 12th. a live auction will determine the winner. the mission launches, july 20th. she was only expecting seven but a woman from mali gave birth to nine. count 'em. nine babies at a clinic in morocco. all the newborns were delivered via c section. five girls, four boys.

and the 25-year-old mom are said to be, all, doing very well. this appears to be one for the record books, as well. the current-guinness record for the most-livebirths at one time, christine, get this, is eight. >> oh, my gosh. one crying baby is a lot. nine crying babies. you know, and i think that the doctors were surprised, right? because they saw -- they could see seven on the ultrasound. >> i guess, some were hiding. >> the nine -- the nine was a surprise for them. but wish them all well. is thanks for joining us, i'm christine romans. >> i'm laura jarrett. "new day" is next. mom! ( ♪ ) ( ♪ ) this is how mom shines. with 30% off everything. at zales. the diamond store. with schizophrenia, i see progress differently.

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hello, i'm brianna key keeler. liz cheney being ostracized so we pointed out all the business czar ways the catch tall insurrectionists have been caught. we'll speak live with a scientist behind the pfizer vaccine about whether that's a risk