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Erin Burnett Outfront

Police: Probe Into Killing of 6 Asian Women "Far from Over"; GOP Lawmaker Uses Hearing on Anti-Asian Violence to Invoke Lynching: "Find All the Rope in Texas and Get a Tall Oak Tree"; Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) Discusses About the Shooting at Spas as a Hate Crime to Asian- Americans; White House: Biden Doesn't Regret Labeling Putin a Killer; FBI Releases New Video of Officers Being Assaulted at Capitol; Actress Lucy Liu on Rise of Anti-Asian Attacks in America. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 18, 2021 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[19:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Her daughter, Jennifer, says she was known for being witty, outspoken, empathic and generous. May they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing.

Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, a Republican congressman attacks the Asian community and glorifies lynching and hearing about the rise of anti-Asian violence as investigators in Georgia say everything is on the table as they search for a motive in the deadly shootings.

Plus, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Sen. Rand Paul in a heated exchange over masks. The nation's top infectious disease experts shutting down the Senator who called face coverings just theater.

And actress Lucy Liu on what she calls the vitriol that is poisoning our country right now. Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, defending the indefensible. Tonight, investigators in Georgia say they are trying to determine the motive of an alleged 21-year-old gunman who went to three spas and killed eight people. Six of whom were Asian. The FBI Director Christopher Wray says it does not appear to be racially motivated.

But, of course, it comes in the midst of an anti-Asian crime wave and anti-Asian rhetoric in this country that is downright disgusting. And in a hearing today on Capitol Hill which the whole purpose of this hearing was to raise awareness about the rise of anti-Asian violence, Republican Congressman Chip Roy used his time to attack the very community the hearing was designed to protect and then even went on to glorify lynching. Hear it for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): There's an old saying in Texas about find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree. I'm not going to be ashamed of saying I oppose the Chicom. Now we're talking about whether talking about China, the Chicoms, the Chinese Communist Party, whatever phrasing we want to use. And if some people are saying, hey, we think those guys are the bad guys for whatever reason.

And let me just say clearly, I do. My concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric in a free society, free speech and away from the rule of law in taking out bad guys. Who decides what is hate? Who decides what is the kind of speech that deserves policing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, sometimes hate is not subjective. Hate is why major U.S. cities have reported nearly 150 percent surge in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020. Hate is what killed eight people this week, including Delaina Ashley Yaun aged 33, Paul Andre Michels aged 54, Xiaojie Tan aged 49 and Daoyou Feng aged 44.

The police have not yet identified the rest of the victims' names, including some whose families in Korea need to be notified. Not enough attention has been paid to the victims and authorities were quick to get the shooter side of the story out talking about his sex addiction more than the fact that he killed eight Asian Americans. Georgia Cherokee County Police Captain Jay Baker went even further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN JAY BAKER, CHEROKEE COUNTY POLICE: He was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope. And yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: A bad day and this is what he allegedly did, he says. Kill eight innocent human beings. Just a bad day. Now, CNN is learning Baker has been removed from the case and it comes just hours after we learned he posted an image of a shirt last year with the racist Trump slogan COVID-19 imported virus from CHY-NA. The Officer adding a caption that reads love my shirt.

Now that shirt slogan, the way it was spelled, the way that I said it is what we heard again and again from the former president from the start of the pandemic through just two days ago on the night of the shooting itself.

Now, I don't want to give Trump's words more oxygen, but it is important to know where these slurs come from. Not just to be generic and sort of talk about this surge in crime as if it's this amorphous thing that's happening right now, it is happening for a reason and these slurs come specifically from one person. Here's just a small sample of the more than 400 times Trump has used racist rhetoric to describe the coronavirus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: China virus.

Kung flu.

The China virus, it's a horrible thing.

The China plague.

The Wuhan virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And there were 400 like that. You've heard them yourself. Even tonight, when six Asians are dead in a mass shooting, the Trump sycophants will not denounce the shameful language. Just today, the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy defended a tweet where he used those same words.

[19:05:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I would wait to see why the shooter did what he did, but the virus came from China ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Those things go together. Ryan Young is OUTFRONT in Atlanta. Ryan, what is the latest there?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, still a lot of questions. But just in the last 10 minutes or so, the Atlanta Police Department released a new incident report. We're learning a little more about the victims. In fact, we learned that three of the women that were shot here were shot in the head.

Now, they have not released the names just yet because they haven't been able to contact their families. But you can see just how brutal this shooting was.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOSELINE GONZALES, DAD SURVIVED SHOOTING: I don't really know what to do. I tried to calm myself down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (voice-over): Nine-year-old Yoseline Gonzalez is emotionally torn up about her dad being one of the victims of Tuesday's shooting. Her dad was shot in the face but survived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALES: He's really good dad. I don't want him to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (voice-over): In Atlanta, the human toll of eight people being gunned down by a single shooter is causing many in Metro Atlanta to reflect on what's been lost.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA TOOLE, SISTER OF DELAINA YAUN: She was a family going person. She like to - her family came first. Everything was her family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (voice-over): Dana Toole's sister, Delaina Yaun, one of those victims told CNN's Brianna Keilar about the sudden loss of their family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOOLE: I know that he was arrested, which I'm glad that he was. But I definitely think that he targeted for sure targeting these places and the fact that he would have kept going - yes, that's - I don't know, it's just - it's frustrating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (voice-over): Atlanta Police are still not identifying the four remaining victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEPUTY CHIEF CHARLES HAMPTON, ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: I was hoping that we would be able to release the names of the victims, but we are not able to do that this time. And the reason is we need to make sure that we have a true verification of their identities and then that we made the proper next of kin notification.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Atlanta police distancing themselves from the other spa shootings saying their investigation is still ongoing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMPTON: Our investigation is separate from the Cherokee County's investigation. Our investigation is slightly different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (voice-over): Atlanta's Deputy Chief saying that he bought the gun the day of the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMPTON: Right now, earlier in our investigation it appears that he may have frequent those locations, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) ...

HAMPTON: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (voice-over): The Deputy say the 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long has admitted to the attacks on three separate Atlanta area spas. But he says it's too soon to say whether it was a hate crime. His attorney decided to forego this morning's first court appearance but did release the statement. Our condolences are with the victims and their families." But it's the senseless violence that some feel is racially motivated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's great. We need to be here for each other. We bleed the same blood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG (on camera): Yes. Erin, one of the things that I will tell you is that as I stand here, I'm between both of the shooting sites. And all the time while we're alive, there are people who are dropping off flowers, stopping, saying prayers, crying, some of them very upset about what's happened.

And I'll show you something that happened in the last hour or so. Here are some video of what was a protest slash Memorial that happened here at one of the sites. You had several people coming and asking for more in terms of investigation. They want to know everything and, of course, they were pushing to have more sort of focus put on these Asian hate crimes, so you can see the community definitely standing up for their fellow community members, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much.

I want to go to Stephanie Cho now. She is the Executive Director of the Atlanta Chapter of Asian Americans Advancing Justice and she's been in touch with the White House about what happened.

So, Stephanie, thank you for your time tonight. I want to start with the very latest that we have learned from the FBI where the Director Christopher Wray says the massacre doesn't appear to be racially motivated. What's your reaction when you hear that?

STEPHANIE CHO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE- ATLANTA: It's troubling. It definitely feels racially motivated and when you ask anybody in the community, they're definitely going to feel that it is racially motivated. This person really thought out these spas and targeted these women. And now I just heard the report that he shot them in the head.

BURNETT: And let me ask you about that because that is the very latest that we're learning now. We don't even yet know all of their names because their families have not yet been notified. But we do know that three of the women were shot in the head. We just found out from police. As an Asian-American woman, how is this case impacting you?

CHO: This is my community. It's impacting me in so many different ways. I'm a spokesperson.

[19:10:01]

Oftentimes, I'm a leader in the Asian-American community. And just in the last couple of days, I'm always outspoken on issues around race, gender, sexual orientation and voting rights here in the Atlanta area. And now I'm getting so much hate mail. We had a community response form that went out just to gather information for folks and we're getting hate messages on that as well and it's mostly from men saying that I shouldn't be doing or saying what I'm doing and that white supremacy is not a piece of this and it definitely is.

BURNETT: So just a few moments ago, I know you heard, but I showed Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, what he said about the confessed shooter. And what he said was, "He was pretty much fed up and had been kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did." That's what they said about the confessed shooter.

Back in April, Baker, the Police Captain, also allegedly posted a photo on Facebook of shirts with a racist and anti-Asian message about COVID-19, talking about COVID-19 are from CHY-NA, C-H-Y-N-A. Do you see a connection between these two things?

CHO: I think the connection around increasing violence and hate speech around Asian Americans is increased and this is what everybody feared would happen is that we kept saying that these incidents of hate and harassment and attack were escalating. And I don't feel like it was getting the attention that it deserved. We talked about how language matters, everybody talks about actually how language matters. But for some reason, it's been swept under the rug on things around Asian- Americans.

And I think now in this moment, it really changed, and it's really opened people's eyes that this is actually the hate speech and then it actually incites other violent acts.

BURNETT: Stephanie, thank you very much. I appreciate your time tonight.

CHO: Thank you.

BURNETT: And I want to go straight now to Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu who immigrated to the United States from Taiwan when he was three years old. He was also inside that hearing today where Congressman Chip Roy made those comments that I played earlier.

Congressman Lieu, I appreciate your time. So, let's just start with this, no matter what this wasn't we know what it was, it was hate crime. It was done out of incredible hate. Do you think it should be handled and charged as such? REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): Thank you, Erin, for your question. Let me first

say that my heart goes out to the families of the victims of their eight victims. We know that the murder in this case went to an Asian business and shot up for Asians.

He then drove 27 miles to a second Asian business, killed more Asians. And then went to a third Asian business. So you have six of the eight victims who are Asian. To rule out that this is not a hate crime is way too early and on the fact itself, it seems like he was targeting Asian businesses.

So my hope is that they continue to do the investigations and then do what prosecutors do, which is they rely on the facts.

BURNETT: So it sounds like you're also questioning what the FBI director said when he said it does not appear to be racially motivated at this point. If I'm drawing a distinction between the hate crime and racially motivated, it sounds like you also think that that he may be jumping the mark there.

LIEU: I do. I think it's still early investigation. I'm not sure all these witnesses even been interviewed, and the local Korean press has interviewed at least one witness that said that the murderer did make remarks that would suggest that this was in fact a hate crime. But we don't know yet until law enforcement interviews all those witnesses.

BURNETT: So let me ask you about where you are today. You were there with Congressman Chip Roy and you heard those comments I played earlier from your Republican colleague. Let me just play this again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY: There's an old saying in Texas about find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree. I'm not going to be ashamed of saying I oppose the Chicom. Who decides what is hate? Who decides what is the kind of speech that deserves policing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: How did it make you feel to hear that in a house committee hearing today, which was talking about the rise in anti-Asian violence when we're talking about six Asian women being shot this week?

LIEU: I served on active duty in the United States Military to defend the right of anyone to say stupid racist stuff, including Rep. Chip Roy.

[19:15:02]

He glorified lynching at this hearing. Lynching has had a profound effect on African Americans and also on Asian-Americans. The largest mass lynching in U.S. history was against Chinese immigrants. I call on Chip Roy to apologize. He shouldn't have been glory glorifying lynching at this hearing and he's confusing the fears of a foreign government with what this hearing is about, which is attacks on Americans who happen to be of Asian descent. And is that inability to separate the two that caused the Japanese

American internment in World War II and it's causing hate crimes against Asian-Americans right now.

BURNETT: And to that point, Republican Congressman Rodney Davis was just asked by CNN if he believes that public figures using words phrases like China virus, kung flu, which of course are used constantly by the former president are connected to the dramatic increase in hate crimes against Asian-Americans. And he said point blank, "No, I don't." "It's all political correctness." How do you respond to that?

LIEU: The expert witnesses at the hearing today testified that the reports and research showed there is a link between racist rhetoric and the rise in hate crimes. So when the former president use racist terms like kung flu, you can see that there was also an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans last year, nearly 150 percent spike in 16 major cities.

And as of March, there's been nearly 3,800 reported incidents of hate crimes and hate incidents. I just asked my Republican colleagues to please stop using ethnic identifiers in describing the coronavirus. I am not a virus and when they say this, it hurts Asian-Americans.

BURNETT: Congressman Lieu, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

LIEU: Thank you.

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, Dr. Anthony Fauci clashes with Sen. Rand Paul over masks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: No, it's not.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): You have the vaccine and you're wearing two masks. Isn't that theater?

FAUCI: No, it's not. Here we go again with the theater.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Plus, a potentially dangerous stare down between Putin and Biden as President Biden refuses to back down after calling the Russian leader a killer.

And I'm going to speak with actress Lucy Liu. She'll tell me about the racism that she has experienced throughout her life and career.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:59]

BURNETT: Tonight, Dr. Anthony Fauci clashing with a familiar foe, Republican Senator Rand Paul, who a year into the pandemic is still questioning the need to wear masks after grilling the nation's top infectious disease expert over whether people who are infected with COVID are vaccinated against it should still wear one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: You're telling everybody to wear a mask, whether they've had an infection or a vaccine. What I'm saying is they have immunity and everybody agrees they have immunity. What studies do you have that people that have had the vaccine or have had the infection are spreading the infection? If we're not spreading the infection, isn't it just theater?

FAUCI: No, it's not.

PAUL: You've had the vaccine. And you wearing two masks. Isn't that theater?

FAUCI: No, here we go again with the theater. Let's get down to the facts.

When you talk about reinfection and you don't keep in the concept of variance, that's an entirely different ball game. That's a good reason for a mask.

Let me just state for the record that masks are not theater. Masks are protective and we ...

PAUL: Mask immunity (ph), they're theater. If you already have immunity, you're wearing a mask to give comfort to others, you're not wearing a mask because of any science.

FAUCI: I totally disagree with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Dr. Jonathan Reiner who advised the White House medical team under President George W. Bush.

Dr. Reiner, your reaction to Sen. Paul?

JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, one of the two people in that conversation is wrong and I have a news for Sen. Paul, it's not Dr. Fauci. So let's just state the facts.

Neither vaccination nor prior infection are perfect guards against reinfection and then by extension transmission of the virus. So we know that - let's look at the Pfizer vaccine, for example. It's phenomenally effective, but its efficacy is not a hundred percent in terms of preventing symptomatic disease. It's in the 90 percent, but it's not a hundred percent, so you can get both doses of that vaccine and a small number of people will still get the virus.

Let's talk about prior infection. A large study just published this week out of Denmark looking at that at their second surge was able to calculate how protective prior infection is for subsequent infection. And what they found for all commerce, having a prior infection with the coronavirus is about 80 percent protective. And once you get over 65, it's even less protective, so it's dropping down to about 47 percent.

So neither vaccine nor prior infection is a perfect guard against becoming reinfected or having a new infection.

BURNETT: Which you've laid out perfectly and also then, of course, there's variants as well, which they're changing quickly. But in the case of variants, the protective level of the vaccine is somewhere between the two. But the point is, it's lower than that full Pfizer and those variants are now running rampant, so that's yet another reason.

REINER: Right. So look, the vaccines will greatly reduce your risk of getting infected, but it will not remove it entirely. So that's why we are going to wear masks until the level of virus in the community is much lower what it is now.

Now, this kind of libertarianism that Sen. Paul continually goes back to is just selfishness and his freedom ends when virus leaves his mouth. Two years ago during the measles outbreak, he said that he does not favor relinquishing his freedom for a false sense of security.

So he needs to read about this virus because he is woefully ignorant. He needs to wear a mask. He should set an example.

BURNETT: Well, he's woefully and willfully, I mean, the guy is ...

REINER: Exactly.

BURNETT: ... he's a very smart person, so this would be his choice to be ignorant on it. And by the way, he has imposed that on others. He goes on the Senate floor constantly without a mask.

[19:25:02]

When he had been exposed to coronavirus and was waiting for his test results, he went maskless to the Senate pool with everyone else around him. Obviously, definitionally most of them were older. Never had a problem with that. Never had a problem with that. He has a medical degree. What explains this?

REINER: Well, having a medical degree doesn't protect you from being a fool and he's acting foolishly. And he's setting a bad example for a large portion of this country. Look, 25 percent of legislators in the U.S. Congress have not been vaccinated. How is that possible? How is it possible that our leaders are not setting the example?

If we don't vaccinate 70 percent to 80 percent of this country, we are going to be dealing with this virus going forward for a very long time. People like Sen. Paul need to set an example, need to promote vaccination to promote mass wearing. Parts of this country, I won't say surging again, but parts of this country are no longer dropping in terms of cases.

If you look at parts of the Midwest and Northeast, cases are rising in some places. The way to stop that is to get people to mask up. Whether you've been vaccinated or not.

I was vaccinated three months ago, I wear a vaccine - not a vaccine, I wear a mask everywhere I go because it's the right thing to do medically and I want to set an example. I expect our legislators to do exactly the same thing.

BURNETT: Dr. Reiner, I always appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

REINER: My pleasure.

BURNETT: And next, a meeting between the U.S. and China just descending into a heated confrontation before the cameras. This is Putin and Biden increasingly trade personal barbs.

Plus, chilling new video from the FBI of what it calls some of the most violent attacks on officers during the deadly Capitol insurrection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:00]

BURNETT: Tonight, the White House doubling down on Joe Biden calling Vladimir Putin a killer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Does President Biden regret calling Vladimir Putin a killer?

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Nope. The president gave a direct answer to a direct question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: That coming just hours after Putin said this to Biden --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): What would I answer him? I would tell him, be healthy. I wish him good health. I say this without irony, without jokes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: You know you don't have to say that if it's true.

The back and forth between the two leaders all starting off this interview with Biden, who, unlike former President Trump, did not fall back in his criticisms of Putin and put him on notice of interfering in the presidential elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He will pay a price. We had a long talk, he and I, but I know him relatively well, and the conversation started off, I said, I know you and you know me. If I establish this occurred, then be prepared.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: You said you know he didn't have a soul?

BIDEN: I did say that to him, yes. And to end, his response was, we understand one another.

I wouldn't be the wise guy. I was alone with him in his office. That's how it came about. It's when President Bush said I looked inside his eyes and saw his soul. I said, I look if your eyes and you don't have a soul.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you know Vladimir Putin. Do you think he's a killer?

BIDEN: Uh-huh, I do.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, what price must he pay?

BIDEN: The price he's going to say, well, you'll see shortly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Kaitlan Collins is at the White House, Matthew Chance is in Moscow tonight.

Kaitlan, look, this is a remarkable thing that President Biden said, and the Kremlin said Biden's comments about Putin are, quote, very bad, and that, quote, there hasn't been anything like this in history. It seems true actually.

What's going on behind the scenes at the White House, Kaitlan? Because they obviously are choosing this path purposely.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They are, but there also certainly hasn't been anything like this in the last four years. I mean, this is a very different U.S. president that we are now seeing the Russians deal with, because former President Trump, you know, not only embraced them, he often praised Putin on the world stage. So now this is a complete turn of events to where the White House says they want to start a -- or chart a path forward. You see Joe Biden not holding back.

And I don't know if this is a strategy that they were pursuing. I'm not sure they knew ABC was going to ask President Biden about Russia during this interview. But this is something that President Biden has long maintained, this running criticism of Vladimir Putin. It's been something that's been since he was a vice president, when he was running and now in office.

And so, you're seeing how it's just breaking out into the open here, because you're seeing the Russians are basically erupting in fury over these comments he's made, agreeing that, yes, Putin is a killer. So, how that affects things forward, the conversations that they have is going to be what is to watch, because you saw how clearly irritated Putin was with that, wishing Biden good health, of course, very dryly there, but also inviting him to have a live conversation broadcast live if they want to continue the January phone call they had.

So the White House is aware of this. We should note, they also said more actions against Russia are coming in weeks, not months according to the press secretary earlier today. That would be in response to the Russian meddling in the U.S. elections.

BURNETT: So, Matthew, Putin saying, I would tell him, be healthy, I wish him good health and then adds I say that without irony, as a smirk crosses his face, seems to be anything but. Some see it as a threat. But former President Medvedev also said about Biden, time hasn't been kind to him. So what are they trying to do here?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRSPONDENT: Yeah. I can say, Erin, I might see that as a threat, those remarks about how President Biden stays healthy.

But I don't think it was intended in that way.

[19:35:02]

I think it sort of plays into a much broader campaign that we are seeing played out in the Russian state media at the moment, trying to cast President Biden as someone who is too old for the job, someone who's mentally frail, is not in charge of his sort of faculties. We're hearing that a lot on Russian state television.

One anchor earlier tonight was saying that Biden when he said this thing about Putin being a killer. He had not taken his pills. Another one said that maybe he's got some sort of dementia.

I think that Putin was playing into that idea. You called me a killer. You know, take it easy, make sure that you get your health well.

Of course, more broadly, that plays into the broader persona of Vladimir Putin. He likes to portray himself as the vital, youthful guy. We all remember pictures of him riding bare back -- bare-chested on a horse, rather. You know, he was 68 years old.

But in comparison to President Biden, he is trying again to mask itself as a youthful, vital leader.

BURNETT: Kaitlan, before we go, the Biden administration today had its first in-person meeting with China. And this is pretty stunning. It got off to a really rocky start. Tell me about it.

COLLINS: This is really stunning. You don't often see something like this in front of cameras, but we are and we did earlier just a few moments ago, as this first meeting between Biden security officials and the secretary of state and national security adviser, you can see them seated there on the right, and you can see at one point, they were trying to get the press out of the room, and the national security adviser for the U.S., Jake Sullivan, said no, no, come back inside. They both started with their opening statements, the U.S. side, they were pretty brief, about two minutes, and then China responded with their own sharp remarks, accusing the U.S. of being condescending their turn, breaking protocol. And you saw then the press was going to be ushered out of the room,

and Secretary of State Blinken was about to respond, and so, they said, no, stay in the room. And then the press was going to be ushered out again, I believe a camera actually left the room after that. And then Chinese complaint saying, no, we want them in here for our response, as well.

And so, you saw them going back and forth with the Chinese officials, bringing up things like Black Lives Matter in the U.S. You saw Sullivan and Secretary of State Blinken responding to that. It was quite remarkable to see them defending the U.S., basically saying it's an evolving country that talks about the rights and wrongs here, and going after the Chinese officials in that sense.

It was remarkable because you don't often see this play out in front of the camera. You never see this play out. And, of course, this is the first meeting between these officials. So the question is, what tone did this set going forward for the Biden policy with China? That we don't know yet.

BURNETT: Yeah, I mean, it is pretty incredible. Despite of the press being in and out of the room, to speaking about each other, calling some condescending in public, it is incredible.

Thank you both very much.

And next, shocking new video tonight from the FBI showing rioters violently attacking officers at the Capitol with fists, polls and spraying them with chemicals. Tonight, authorities need your help.

Plus, actress Lucy Liu is my guest. She has a message about the growing number of attacks on Asian-Americans that she wants everyone to hear.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:53]

BURNETT: Tonight, the FBI releasing dramatic new video of officers being violently assaulted during January's riot at the U.S. Capitol, asking the public for help in identifying ten individuals, suspected of carrying out some of the most vicious attacks that you'll see against police.

You're looking at four of the suspects that they are hoping to catch in these videos. You can see one rioter grabbing an officer by the helmet. Others attacking officers with fists, poles and spraying them with chemicals.

Oren Liebermann is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHANTING)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid a chorus of patriotic chants, the mob advanced. And in the chaos, someone called for reinforcements.

On the left, the man labeled by the FBI as BOLO, Be on the Look Out, number 153, wanted for assault on a federal law enforcement. In newly released video and images from the FBI, he's seen attacking officers with what appears to be a stick. He has a light and a gas mask in other images.

BOLO number 123 wearing a striped shirt is seen in the video grabbing an officer's gas mask and repeatedly pulling it toward the door. More than 300 people are facing federal charges stemming from the January 6th attack.

The Department of Justice has charged more than 65 people for assaulting law enforcement. The FBI has released video and pictures of ten more people seen attacking officers on January 6 during the riot.

STEVEN D'ANTUONO, FBI: They are captured on video committing appalling crimes against officers who have devoted their lives to protecting the American people.

LIEBERMANN: BOLO number 170 swings directly at a camera, his face briefly visible between punches. You can see he reaches over an officer's riot shield as he tries to get closer in the attacks.

BOLO number 191, charges officers after pushing through the gates.

BOLO number 231 reaches above shields to spray an orange substance on officers and he throws the spray paint can. In another clip, he's seen attacking officers with the riot shield.

The list goes on, evidence of a mob made up of mostly Trump supporters as they launched what officials are calling a coordinated attack.

D'ANTUONO: We know it can be difficult to report information about family, friends, and co-workers. But it is the right thing to go.

LIEBERMANN: BOLO number 255 walks to the edge above the riot and unleashes a cloud of chemicals on a large group of officers. Overhead, American flags are waving.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN (on camera): The FBI has made it clear that tips from the public have been an enormous help in making these arrests. Now more than two months after the January 6th riot, the work is far from over. The FBI still has 250 unidentified individuals from that day -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Oren.

And next, I'm going to speak with actress Lucy Liu about the spike in attacks on Asian-Americans and the racism that she has experienced in Hollywood.

Plus, Georgia Republicans are pushing to restrict voting access and Democrats want Biden to do even more. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:28]

BURNETT: Tonight, San Francisco police investigating an assault on an Asian man around woman. This 75-year-old Chinese woman says she was standing at a traffic light when a man punched her in the face. That same suspect also attacking an 83-year-old Asian man.

The woman and her daughter speaking to our local affiliate after the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see, she is extremely terrified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: This rise in hate crimes inspiring some to speak out, including actress Lucy Liu, who wrote, quote, my heart goes out to the families of these innocent victims. I know we can be better than this, we must be.

And Lucy Liu is OUTFRONT.

And, Lucy, I know you don't speak lightly, you know, you don't take this decision to speak out lightly. And I know you believe that the vitriol or rhetoric and the violence against Asians over the past several years, especially during the pandemic, your words are as poisoned people.

Do you think things are going to get worse before they get better?

LUCY LIU, ACTRESS: I do. I think that even a percentage that we currently know in the rise of hate crimes, 1,900 percent against Asian-Americans. But I think there are more that are unreported personally. I think, culturally, we are not a people that speak out and talk about being victims.

And I think that's something we learn -- I mean, I was born in this country, my parents were not born in this country. But it is something that is passed on. So I think there's more that we don't know about, and I think it's going get worse before it gets better.

BURNETT: You live in New York where we have seen these attacks against Asian-Americans in recent months. 52-year-old woman shoved outside of a bakery. This was caught on video. She ended up in the hospital.

On a subway, a Filipino-American man slashed in the face with a box cutter.

There is a lot of talk right now about stopping these crimes. And yet the truth is, Lucy, I feel like I see a new case every single day. Do you think enough is being done to protect people right now?

LIU: I think the recent murders in Atlanta have really brought more attention to the fact that so many Asians are being targeted. And I really do think it starts with words and language, and how people speak, and how people understand what's really going on there.

[19:50:09]

And because there's so many different facts out there and beliefs, people are frustrated, and they're taking out their anger through violence on Asians. And this is unacceptable, and it is an absolute hate crime. And I think there has to be more awareness before anything can be done.

BURNETT: So, when you talk about the hate crime, the numbers show Asian-American women are especially vulnerable to this hate, 68 percent of the incidents over the past year against Asian-Americans have been targeted at women, 68 percent. So, that's the vast majority. You're talking about two-thirds.

You have experienced racism throughout your life and your career, and I know this is a hard thing to talk about because it's not something that you just want to come out and emphasize, but it's really important.

Can you share any kind of experience or a story so people understand that truly this can happen to anyone?

LIU: Absolutely. I mean, there have been so many -- I mean, throughout my entire childhood and my career, slurs, assumptions about how someone's presented just because they're Asian. They must be unable to speak English or that they must be super intelligent.

I've had many times where I was in an interview with somebody and we were at a lunch and I poured them water. And they just assumed I was subservient because of that.

And even in the roles that I've been in, you know, cast in, you know, people reviewing them or people sort of instead of saying that these other women that are in the movie with me fighting against other people, that my role was sort of highlighted as stereotyping Asians and perpetuating that stereotype of kung fu. Or even the character I played on "Ally McBeal," as Ling Woo, people would often times compare me to a dragon lady, which I, Erin, had to look up at the time because I didn't know what that meant.

I found that astounding that if I'm doing something in my job, acting, that also has to be prescribed as well as an Asian stereotype. That continues to perpetuate something as opposed to she's just doing this job and she's doing it well.

BURNETT: Can I ask you one other question? We're both mothers. Your son just turned five a few months ago. And on his birthday, you know, you posted a photo with the comment: We must come together to fight for a brighter and safer future for our children.

How do you try -- I don't know if obviously at this age you do or don't -- how do you try to explain all this to him? LIU: Well, I haven't yet explained the violence because, as you know,

children are -- have an innocence and have a very magical quality about them. And I think once that is shattered or cracked, it starts to open up very quickly.

I did explain because we have been in New York the entire pandemic and the lockdown and continue to be about the peaceful protests and what it means and why people are protesting and why they're walking in the rain, in the sun, and why it's important to be able to make your voice heard and to unite with other people.

And I think that's one thing that, you know, we have to understand. In America there is still in come ways a caste system where they always want to abbreviate another race. 9/11, it was about Muslims and against people from the Middle East. Now, it's about Asians.

So, obviously, Black Lives Matter, AAPI -- I mean, all of these communities are not separate. We are band together or to unite. That is how we can produce results frankly.

BURNETT: All right. Lucy, thank you so much. I appreciate you're being with me tonight and taking the time to share. Thank you.

LIU: Thank you, Erin. Thanks for having me.

BURNETT: And next, Biden and Harris about to make their first trip to Georgia as the president is under pressure there to make good on his promises.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:33]

BURNETT: Tonight, President Biden ordering flags to be flown at half staff in honor of the eight people killed in the series of shootings at massage parlors across Georgia, six of whom were Asian. The move coming one day before Biden and Vice President Harris plan to visit the state.

Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIAMA DAVIS, MANAGER, THE BEEHIVE: You still just feel the relief in the air.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mariama Davis is watching President Biden's first two months in office with hope and gratitude.

DAVIS: We actually are about to head back to somewhat of a normal situation that we were used to before. So, honestly, I'm satisfied.

ZELENY: She's among the voters who not only helped him carry Georgia but helped Democrats win control of the Senate, a triumph that paved the way for Biden's agenda. Inside the Beehive, an Atlanta boutique her sister owns and she

manages, Davis is already feeling the effects of the American Rescue Plan.

DAVIS: This week alone, we have been gloriously overwhelmed by the numbers we've had.

ZELENY: Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are visiting Georgia on Friday, the first time since taking office, a trip to promote the COVID relief bill taking a somber turn as they cancelled a rally and instead will meet with Asian-American leaders after a rampage here this week killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent.

The White House has stopped short of calling it a hate crime, despite calls to do so.

BIDEN: It is very, very troubling.

ZELENY: For Biden and Harris, there is no state like Georgia.

BIDEN: One state -- one state -- can chart the course not just for the next four years but for the next generation.

ZELENY: In November, Georgia went blue for the first time in a quarter century.

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Well, hello, Atlanta, Georgia.

ZELENY: In January, that win made sweeter for Democrats after Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff swept their run off races ending Republican control of the Senate.

NSE UFOT, CEO, NEW GEORGIA PROJECT: I shudder to think what would have happened if Georgians not come out in historic numbers and flipped the Senate.

ZELENY: Nse Ufot leads the New Georgia Project, a voter registration group. Her jubilation has been tempered by backlash as Republicans are trying to pass new laws to make voting more difficult here. She hopes Biden will prioritize federal election reform which may only happen by eliminating the Senate filibuster.

UFOT: I think the president could clearly and forcefully say there are no both sides to this debate.

ZELENY: She echoes the sentiment among progressive Democrats, who like Biden but are eager to hear concrete plans on his promises, such as a $15 minimum wage.

A new season is dawning but old signs of the Biden-Harris campaign remain.

For Democrats, it's been a moment to exhale.

KEVIN RANDOLPH, GEORGIA VOTER: Yeah, much more peaceful. You come out here and everybody's smiling again. There's a weight lifting off because you come out and just -- it's what, Tony Morrison. You can breathe again, you know?

ZELENY: That's how you felt when President Biden?

RANDOLPH: Oh, definitely, definitely. You can see it in town. Oh, yeah, everyone was so excited, so elated.

ZELENY: It's hat's that elation that comes to life with conversation with Biden supporters like Davis, who understands the urgency in the minds of some Democrats. But she's willing to give him time.

DAVIS: Just be patient. It's coming. Everything doesn't happen overnight. Folks know that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (on camera): Now, in addition to meeting with Asian-American leaders here in Atlanta on Friday, President Biden is also we're told set to meet with Stacey Abrams. Of course, she took a lead in registering all of those African-American voters that contributed to Biden's victory last year. But now, Erin, front and center in this conversation is voting rights, and what role Biden will play in it -- Erin.

BURNETT: Jeff, thank you very much.

Thanks to all of you. I'll see you tomorrow.

Anderson starts now.