School kids might finally get to see what their classmates look like.

The lead starts right now.

More and more democratic states are getting rid of school mask mandates as the U.S. waits

for guidance from the White House and the CDC, but it might be too soon to throw those

masks out.

Is Vladimir Putin's mind in the gutter?

The Russian autocrat makes a seemingly sexual joke about the Ukrainian president.

All while diplomats are desperately trying to keep Russia from invading Ukraine and the

pandemic side effect no one saw coming more and more pedestrians are being killed on

the road.

CNN visits a so-called highway of death to try to find solutions.

Welcome to the lead object app where we start with the health lead and a turning point

in this pandemic with a growing list of states making plans to drop their mask mandates.

California, the most populous state in the country, will end its indoor mask mandates next

week.

Delaware will do the same and lift its mask rules for the school soon, along with Connecticut,

New Jersey and Oregon.

This shift at the state level is coming as case counts are starting to go down as the

public has increasingly voiced discontent with the status quo.

And while the Biden White House and the CDC have been slow to offer any transition plan

out of the pandemic.

But as CNN's Alexandra Field reports for us now, a group of pediatricians is sounding

...