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FBI Chief Says Spa Shooting 'Does Not Appear' Racially Motivated; Biden Administration to Reach 100 Million Goal as Vaccinations Accelerate; U.S., Chinese Officials Trade Barbs at First Official Meeting; GOP Rep. Rants About China During Anti-Asian Violence Hearing; Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) is Interviewed about Rep. Roy's China Comments. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 19, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Biden's scheduled trip to Atlanta taking on a whole new significance.

[05:59:59]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president offered his support for the AAPI community in Georgia and across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators take a hard look into what motivated the suspect to go on a mass shooting spree that left eight dead, including six Asian women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should not be trying to downplay what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six feet has been such a challenge, and we are actively looking at our guidance to update it.

NICK WATT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president promised 100 million shots in 100 days. Just might meet that, day 58.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could be a situation of lot more infections outpacing the ability of our vaccines to work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Friday, March 19. It's 6 a.m. here in New York. Alisyn is off. Erica Hill with me.

We made it to Friday.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: We made it to Friday. Happy Friday.

BERMAN: It's all because of you. Thank you.

HILL: Just here to help. BERMAN: All right. So this morning President Biden and Vice President

Harris will meet with Asian-American leaders in Atlanta, offering their support to a community grappling with fears and frustration after the deadly shooting spree in three spas in and around that city.

Police say they are working to determine the gunman's motive, and they say nothing is off the table in the investigation.

The shooting spotlights a rise in violence against Asian-Americans. Protesters outside one of the targeted spas calling for justice, demanding police call the attack what they say it is, a hate crime.

Now, this is a time when you think that all Americans could come together to speak out against this kind of racism, which is why the grandstanding from Republican Congressman Chip Roy was so jarring. He chose the moment for a long diatribe about his rights to criticize China, and a strange reference to lynching.

HILL: Yes, a head-scratching moment may be an understatement.

Meantime, today the Biden administration will meet its goal of 100 million vaccine shots in arms. That is 42 days ahead of schedule. The U.S. now averaging 2.5 million vaccinations reported a day.

Nearly 35 percent of the U.S. population is either partially or fully vaccinated. And the CDC is expected to issue new pandemic guidance for schools today, which includes a major change that could help get more students back into classrooms.

But we do want to begin with our top story. It is the latest in the Atlanta shooting investigations. CNN's Natasha Chen joins us live.

Natasha, good morning.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica.

We are in Cherokee County, where the suspect is being held in custody at a detention center behind us. Meanwhile, as you mentioned, later this afternoon, as part of President Biden and Vice President Harris's visit to Atlanta, they'll be meeting with Asian-American leaders from the state legislature, from local advocacy groups to discuss next steps in how to support the Asian-American community after such violence has affected them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN (voice-over): Outside three Atlanta area spas, demonstrations of solidarity, with people gathering, asking why eight people, including six Asian women, were killed earlier this month.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here to stand in solidarity with them, let them know that the country is with Asian-Americans.

CHEN: The suspect is in jail this morning and charged with eight counts of murder.

DEPUTY CHIEF CHARLES HAMPTON, ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: Nothing is off the table for our investigation.

CHEN: Atlanta area police say the suspect frequented the two spas in the city. They're combing through evidence and have not ruled out racial hatred as a motive.

HAMPTON: We had four Asian females that were killed, and so we are looking at everything to make sure that we discover and determine what the motive of our homicides were.

CHEN: At Young's Asian Massage in Cherokee County, Georgia, the sheriff attended a vigil for the four people killed there.

SHERIFF FRANK REYNOLDS, CHEROKEE COUNTY, GEORGIA: We don't want to leave any stone unturned, you know. We're committed to a solid case here.

CHEN: Atlanta's mayor emphasized that hate crimes are not exclusively race-based.

MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA: It looked like a hate crime to me. This was targeted at Asian spas. Six of the women who were killed were Asian. What we know about the definition of a hate crime is it can also be based on someone targeting women.

CHEN: Today she will join President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Atlanta to meet with local Asian-American community leaders and state lawmakers.

On Capitol Hill, a House committee held a hearing on the rise of anti- Asian-American rhetoric and violence in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

REP. JUDY CHU (D-CA): What started out last January as dirty looks and verbal assaults, has escalated to physical attacks and violence against innocent Asian-Americans.

CHEN: The discussion grew heated after Republican Texas Congressman Chip Roy said this.

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): I'm not going to be ashamed of saying I oppose the Chi-Coms? Who decides what is hate? Who decides what is the kind of speech that deserves policing?

CHEN: But one Democratic lawmaker pushed back.

REP. GRACE MENG (D-NY): This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community and to find solutions, and we will not let you take our voice away from us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:05:11]

CHEN: The four people killed here in Cherokee County have been identified, but in Atlanta, the four people killed there, all of them Asian women, they have -- their names have not yet been released. Atlanta police say part of the difficulty is reaching next of kin --

Erica.

HILL: Natasha with the latest for us. Natasha, thank you.

More shots in arms this morning as the race between vaccines and fast- spreading variants intensifies. And that's fueling concerns of another surge. Meantime, the Biden administration, when it comes to vaccines, is set to hit its goal of 100 million vaccinations since taking office. That goal will be met today.

CNN's Athena Jones live in Hoboken, New Jersey, which is loosening some of its restrictions today. We're seeing a lot of that around the country, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica.

We are. And starting today, starting this hour, in fact, the state of New Jersey is increasing capacity limits at places like restaurants, and gyms, and barbershops to 50 percent and slightly increasing gathering limits to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors.

These changes coming not just in this state. They're coming as there are new concerns about these coronavirus variants.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One hundred million shots of vaccine in people's arms.

JONES (voice-over): Today the Biden administration expects the U.S. to reach its goal of 100 million shots in arms in his first 100 days in office. The administration is crossing this goal on his 58th full day, 42 days ahead of schedule.

And while Biden's vaccine goal is above schedule, the administration's reopening plan for schools is still in flux. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to update its social distancing guidelines for schools from a recommendation of six feet of distance between masked people to three feet.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: This is urgent. Don't -- please don't get me wrong. This is urgent.

Six feet has been such a challenge. This comes as concerns are growing the United States will experience another surge in coronavirus cases.

Eleven states have seen an increase in new COVID cases since last week, with Alabama seeing cases rise by more than 50 percent. The increase coming in part because of the spread of coronavirus variants. But some states are rolling back coronavirus restrictions and easing mask mandates. Experts urging even fully vaccinated people to continue to mask. That recommendation the subject of a clash on Capitol Hill between Dr. Anthony Fauci and Senator Rand Paul.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): What studies do you have that people who have had the vaccine or have had the infection are spreading the infection? You've had a vaccine and you're wearing two masks, isn't that theater?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: No, it's not -- 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 variants, that's an entirely different ball game.

JONES: Sixteen states do not have statewide mask mandates. Paul's home state of Kentucky does have a mask mandate in place but is easing restrictions and upping restaurant capacity to 60 percent.

Fauci says Paul is dead wrong in his assessment of masks and stresses reinfection can occur, especially because of virus variants that are emerging and spreading.

FAUCI: You have an elderly person who's been infected, and they decided, Well, Rand Paul says, Let's not wear a mask, they won't -- they could get reinfected again and to get into trouble.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: And this potential or expected change to guidelines for social distancing in schools from six feet to three feet is important for two reasons. One, it's a recognition that, in many schools across the country, six feet in distance has been hard to achieve. Changing this recommendation, assuming everyone remains with masks on, is going to make it possible for more children to go back to school.

BERMAN: Yes. Among other things, it is a statement about the strength of masking. The liberty you can have if you continue to wear a mask in the right way, that it absolutely will change the landscape for so many schools.

Athena Jones, thank you very much.

BERMAN: So this morning the type of diplomatic tension you almost never see in public, top U.S. and Chinese officials in their first face-to-face meetings -- this is happening in Alaska. It was an on- camera conversation that began with Secretary of State Tony Blinken, calling China's behavior into question.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We'll also discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber-attacks on the United States, economic coercion toward our allies. The alternative to a rules-based order is a world in which might makes right and winners take all, and that would be a far more violent and unstable world for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, to say this set off an unusual back-and-forth would be an enormous understatement. CNN's David Culver live in Shanghai this morning. The back and forth between the Chinese and the U.S. still going on as

we speak, David. And this is a clear signal, as clear of a signal as you can get, on how this relationship stands right now and what it will be going forward.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, I'll tell you, it's also a major sign that the Chinese are realizing in this moment they are no longer dealing with the Trump administration. I'll expand that in just a moment.

But you saw what Secretary Blinken said there. You saw his prepared remarks.

The response in that moment from the Chinese was really quite aggressive, quite strong. They say, as of just a few hours ago, that it was the U.S. that provoked this, that they were the ones coming in, aggressive and taking more time than was agreed upon.

But in that moment, I want you to hear what the Chinese top official had to say via a translator. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Chinese side felt compelled to make this speech because of the tone of the U.S. side. Isn't this the intention of the United States, judging for the way that you have made your opening remarks, that it wants to speak to China in a condescending way from a position of strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CULVER: So they come off very strong in there. But I think what you need to realize is that the Chinese seemed to approach this as though they were dealing with the prior administration and going after, for example, secretary of state at the time Pompeo, who would come in with harsh rhetoric.

They did not encounter that in this moment. It almost seemed as though they were planning to go up against ego, if you will, and instead they encountered Secretary Blinken who, in his response, which was off- script, was very self-aware, acknowledging the issues that are within the U.S., saying that the U.S. is transparent about that; that they're open and that it's really a self-awareness to say that's how you get to a better union or a more perfect union, in his words, by being clean about it, by being willing to acknowledge it in the open.

The Chinese, however, now have to reassess. They have to look at this new approach. Because in many ways, John, it's a very challenging situation for them. And this wolf warrior diplomacy that they carried through the past four years, to figure out how do you recalibrate and now approach the Biden administration?

And if it feels like it's -- it's all just heated rhetoric and there's no substance, where one senior official said behind the scenes there is a bit more substance. And perhaps there will even be some cooperation between the two countries, mainly in the areas of climate and if you look at pandemic response.

There is no question that right now the Chinese are probably having to figure out how to reassess the U.S. going forward, because they seem to have gone into this, John, quite frankly, looking for the domestic headlines. And the domestic headlines for state media, for government- controlled media are reflecting that. They say that the Chinese officials essentially went in and held the U.S. to account, and the U.S. was condescending. That's being reflected here, but going forward, it does seem there is some hope for constructive back-and- forth.

BERMAN: The U.S. domestic headlines very much said Secretary of State Tony Blinken going toe to toe with China, standing up to China, so both sides maybe playing for their own countries. It is complicated, and it is very notable.

We have much more to talk about this as the show goes on. David Culver, as always, thank you very much for your reporting.

So six Asians gunned down in Georgia, hate crimes against Asian Americans spiking across the country. So naturally, Republican Chip Roy of Texas seems to think the biggest victim here is him and his right to criticize China. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This morning growing backlash against Republican Congressman Chip Roy after he referenced lynchings and criticized China during a hearing on discrimination against Asian-Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY: There's old sayings in Texas about, you know, find all the rope in Texas and get a taller tree. You know, we take justice very seriously. And we ought to do that, round up the bad guys.

I'm not going to be ashamed of saying I oppose the Chi-Coms. I oppose the Chinese Communist Party.

Who decides what is hate? Who decides what it the kind of speech that deserves policing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining me now is a congresswoman who was part of that hearing, Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for being with us. Remind me again: What was this hearing supposed to be about?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): This hearing was supposed to be about anti-Asian hate, and it had been planned, of course, some weeks ago because of the rising tide of hate crimes against Asian-Americans across the country. Elderly men and women being attacked in streets, people you know,

seeing a rise in slurs across the country. And then, of course, Georgia happened a couple of days before. And we are all suffering still with the murder of at least six Asian-American women in Georgia. And that's what the hearing was supposed to be about. Rising hate crimes against Asian-Americans.

BERMAN: Why does Chip Roy think it's about his ability to criticize the Chinese government?

JAYAPAL: It was a stunning statement. First of all, the reference to lynching, proudly referencing lynching.

But then on top of that, the callousness of not recognizing you can criticize a country, of course, but that's not what we're talking about. We are talking about words, racism, discrimination that is targeted towards a group of people and that incites violence and hate across the country.

You know, John, just a couple of weeks ago in a hearing, in a budget hearing, I think it was, some of my Republican colleagues continued to use the term "China virus," which we all know is a racist slur. It -- the WHO has clearly said don't tie the virus to a country. That is not accurate.

[06:20:13]

I spoke up and asked them not to use that, because I think that all of these ways in which Asian-Americans are depicted, a part of why we are seeing the rising hate crimes and discrimination against Asian- Americans.

They continued to do it.

And so I think we were all stunned by Chip Roy. We're stunned by what happened in Georgia. And the intersection of racism, classism, and sexism altogether.

BERMAN: I think what stunned me was that we are clearly in a moment when Asian-Americans feel that they are under attack. I mean, that's undeniable that there is a feeling right now they're being singled out; you are being singled out. It's undeniable that the statistics show that there was a rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans.

And my -- when I was -- as I was watching that, I just kept wondering where's the empathy? I mean, where is the outreach? Where is the sense that I acknowledge that this is a moment of real pain?

JAYAPAL: There was really very little of that, if any, from the other side. And in fact, at one point one of the Republican colleagues said, Oh, you know, the statistics are not that bad, and proceeded to say, Well, it's only "X" percent for Asian-Americans, versus "X" percent for Latinas and blacks. And it was really stunning, as if somehow that was OK. And in the wake, of course, of Georgia, which just made it so much worse. And I -- I think my Republican colleagues are so caught up in the

racist terminology that has been made popular, mainstream by the -- Donald Trump and his administration that they are not able to see that compassion any more. They're not able to see, as my colleague Grace Meng said later, the target that they are putting on our backs, on the backs of our elders, our children, our neighbors. They're just -- they're unwilling to see any of that.

BERMAN: On a separate subject, Kevin McCarthy yesterday, the House Republican leader, had an interesting exchange with CNN's Manu Raju. Manu was talking to the leader about his votes to overturn the election in certain states. Let's play this out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I disagree with the premise of your question. If you challenged Arizona and Pennsylvania, would that have changed and lowered President Biden's numbers below 270?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You supported the Texas --

MCCARTHY: No, no, no. You ask me questions every week. I just asked you a question. If you removed Arizona -- not removing it, but you were just asking about it. If Arizona and Pennsylvania were removed in an Electoral College, would President Biden's number be below 270?

RAJU: No, but Donald Trump said --

(CROSSTALK)

MCCARTHY: No, no, no. I'm not Donald Trump. So you're asking me the question. Let me answer your question. Let me answer your question, since you asked me. Let me follow through. So you gave a premise that's not true.

RAJU: Donald Trump tried to overturn the results in Congress, and you support that effort.

MCCARTHY: Now you're saying something that's not true. Let me answer your question and show you how your premise is not true.

RAJU: Did you not support his efforts?

MCCARTHY: And I'm showing where your question doesn't hold merit. But let me show you another answer.

RAJU: But you supported the Texas lawsuit. Do you regret supporting that?

MCCARTHY: No, no. No, I don't. Do you know why, because it's going through the court?

RAJU: Did you or did you not support Donald Trump's plan to overturn the election in Congress?

MCCARTHY: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: We played out the whole thing, because I think people needed to see sort of the gymnastics going on there. What's your takeaway?

JAYAPAL: Well, he's a rabbit. He's hopping from one side to the other, and rewriting history. And that is -- Kevin McCarthy is trying to play all sides here when he clearly was supporting overturning the election. He clearly has been continuing to court Trump, going down to Mar-a-Lago.

And at the same time, he -- you know, he doesn't want to be seen that way, because he knows it's wrong. I mean, I think this is absurd for him to try to rewrite history.

But honestly, John, very little surprises me these days about the Republicans. They continue to be obstructionists. They have decided they're going to continue down the same path that they were on for the last four years.

And if that means that the Republican Party embraces Proud Boys and, you know, discrimination against Asians and -- and rewrites -- tries to rewrite history about whether or not they -- you know, whether or not they supported overturning the election, they don't care. There is no truth anymore on the other side. I'm sorry to say that.

[06:25:01]

BERMAN: Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, we appreciate you coming on this morning. Thanks so much for being with us. We'll talk to you again soon.

JAYAPAL: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: So Italy and France locking down. New lockdowns there. They've missed their chance to stop a third wave. It is fully on. So how will the reintroduction of AstraZeneca help? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Developing overnight, Germany becoming the latest country to resume use of AstraZeneca's vaccine after the top drug regulator endorsed it as safe, but did caution that they can't entirely rule out a link with rare cases of blood clot.

And joining us now is Professor Adrian Hill. He's the director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University where AstraZeneca's vaccine was developed.

Great to have you with us this morning. British medical regulators just before we heard from their European counterparts, had said there was no evidence the vaccine causes blood clots.