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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Judge's Order Restricts Brown's Family to 18 Minutes of Nearly Two Hours of Body Cam Footage That Exists; Dozens Killed as Violence Between Israel, Hamas Escalates; Atlanta Shooting Suspect Facing Death Penalty Charges; First Children Ages 12 to 15 Receive Pfizer Vaccine. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 11, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:03]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: That also didn't really need to happen but this seems even more dire.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Well, I expect to hear more sometime from Colonial Pipeline soon.

THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Three weeks later, the family finally gets to see some more of the body cam video, but still just some of it.

THE LEAD starts right now.

Right now, right this minute, the family of Andrew Brown Jr. is getting to watch a more substantial piece of the body cam video when he was killed by police. What does this new video show? And why can't the family see all two hours?

And, the powder keg exploding again. Rockets targeting Tel Aviv after a residential high rise is leveled in Gaza, and the Middle East erupts again.

Plus, a new report says the risk of getting COVID outside is almost nonexistent, and that contradicts language the CDC uses which seems frankly to wildly overstate the risk. So is it time to ditch all masks outside?

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TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

And we start with the national lead today. And 18 minutes and 40 seconds, 18 minutes and 40 seconds, that's how much video footage the family of Andrew Brown Jr. is able to watch right now in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Tomorrow will mark three weeks since sheriff's deputies shot and killed Brown, a 42-year-old black man while trying to serve of him a warrant on drug charges.

Up until now, his family had seen roughly 20 seconds, 20 seconds of body cam video of the deadly encounter. A judge's order last week revealed almost two hours of footage exists, but the judge says the family could see only relevant portions. Fewer than 20 minutes worth.

CNN's Brian Todd joins me now from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, right near the Virginia border.

Brian, the community there is anxiously awaiting to hear what this video shows.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake, and as we speak, the family and their attorneys are watching that video in this building behind me, the Pasquotank County sheriff's office. They went in a little over 45 minutes ago and they were greeted personally at the door by the district attorney, Andrew Womble, and by sheriff, Tommy Wooten. They then went in. They were viewing that tape, you mentioned, 18 minutes and forty seconds out of almost two hours.

The judge, Jeffrey Foster, that that 18 minutes and 40 seconds, that's the portion of the footage where you see images of Andrew Brown Jr. and you don't see him in any of the other footage. Therefore, the judge ruled it's not appropriate to show them any of the other footage. Of course, the family has been appeal and the public and protesters have been appealing, just release the whole thing, let us see all two hours, of almost all two hours of it and let us make our own conclusions.

But the judge holding fast in this case, 18 minutes and 40 seconds, Jake. They will come out shortly hopefully and tell us what they saw. We're going to see if it adds to any discrepancies between the district attorney and what he said occurred in the incident.

Andrew Womble saying last week, the week before last, excuse me, that Andrew Brown Jr. actually made contact with his vehicle with the deputies once moving forward with his vehicle and once coming back.

The attorneys for the family had said no, that's not what they saw in the 20 seconds they saw. They only saw Andrew Brown Jr. trying to get away and they say he posed no threat to the deputies.

We're going to see if the family's viewing of this and their attorneys' viewing of this clears any of that up -- Jake.

TAPPER: And, Brian, in addition to the push to let family see all of the video, community leaders have been calling for a public release of the footage. Where does that stand?

TODD: Well, that's a little bit unclear, Jake, because when the judge, Jeffrey Foster, ruled on all of this, he ruled on this on April 28th, and he said on that date that it would be at least 30 a to 45 days before any public release of this video would occur. So, of course, that would stand to reason, May 28th or maybe early to mid- June we might see it, but, again, they are going to go over some of the stipulations and some of the guidelines to see if we get to see the same 18 minutes and 40 seconds, whether we get to see all two hours of this. It's not really clear when we're going to see it and how much of it we're going to see. TAPPER: All right. Brian Todd in Elizabeth City, North Carolina,

thanks so much.

I want to bring in CK Hoffler, president of the National Bar Association, and Anthony Barksdale, who served as police commissioner in Baltimore.

Up until now, the public has seen only two videos that give us any glimpse into the scene. There's the surveillance video showing deputies in a pickup truck on their way to Brown's home and the neighbor's porch camera capturing aftermath which shows several deputies surrounding brown's car which is not moving.

This case is not helping law enforcement build any community trust, Anthony. Do you agree?

ANTHONY BARKSDALE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I agree 100 percent, Jake, 100 percent. This absolutely impacts police legitimacy in this community.

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How can they trust the police, believe in the police, support the police when we see things like this going on in their community? I think it is really significant and I think it is horrible to see occur.

TAPPER: CK, as an attorney, what do you make of the judge's decision to only allow the family to see what's deemed relevant video that's fewer than 20 minutes. Nearly two hours of footage that exists?

CK HOFFLER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION: Well, I think the lack of transparency in general and the release of the footage is not good at all. I wish the judge had ordered the release of all of the footage. By picking and choose, and a judge has a right to do this, certain portions of it, just breeds distrust, and right now, this family really has a right to see it, and the family is going to see the footage.

But for the judge not to allow them to seat entire footage is I think doing a disservice to the family and in fact to the community. Ultimately, the footage is going to be seen. So it's just to delay this. It's causing greater distrust and greater heartache to the family than I think is next.

And I really wish the judge had been more liberal in his opinion to allow the family to see all the video. As we know from the George Floyd footage, seeing nine minutes and 29 seconds was different than 8 minutes and 46 seconds. So it's important for the family to see all the footage, and it's important now.

TAPPER: Yeah. And, Van Jones, bringing up the George Floyd incident, I can't help but think about right now the official police version of what happened which was not even remotely close to what actually happened. How important is the release of all of the video, do you think, for the community? VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think it's incredibly

important, and I think that part of the thing that you're trying to understand what is the judge thinking? What is the judge trying to protect here?

All of this is going to come out. There will be lawsuits. There will be possibly a criminal case there. There'll certainly be a civil case. None of this is going to stay hidden.

And so, the only thing that you do when you drag this thing out and drag it out, you increase the level of trauma for the family, the level distrust for the community, and it -- it just doesn't make any sense. I would love to understand more why the judge is picking and choosing in this way when literally it's all going to come out anyway.

TAPPER: So, Police Commissioner Barksdale, as a former police commissioner, let me just ask you. There's so little that the sheriff's office is release, even in terms of information about this situation, in addition to the video. Is -- are police allowed to fire upon somebody who is fleeing the scene of a crime -- fleeing the scene even if he hasn't committed a crime? I guess they were trying to serve of him a warrant on drug charges.

I guess they are saying they are backing the car up into them. Is that an excuse? Are police allowed to shoot in that incident?

BARKSDALE: Jake, you would need to show me that an officer, a citizen was in imminent threat of being injured, and if this is on video -- if this is on body cam, then show it.

Each one, each situation is unique. We have to go case by case, but I am telling you this is a stretch to justify this man being shot in the back of his head. That's a stretch.

I don't see them being able to articulate it. It doesn't sound reasonable to me. It sounds suspicious to me.

We just need to see full -- full body cam footage, all of it, and every second.

TAPPER: Yeah, CK, the district attorneys say Brown's car, quote, made contact with the deputy twice. I'm not sure what made contact means exactly. It could be horrific. It could be incidental and accidental.

After watching 20 seconds of the video last month, a Brown family attorney called the shooting an execution.

Won't the case continue to play out in public until all of the video is released ultimately?

HOFFLER: Absolutely. This is almost foolish. It really is.

To release bits and pieces and not let the public see, but most importantly the family see the footage is almost foolish because inquiring minds want to know. There are five to ten different versions what happened, and the reality is people trust 80 percent of what they see and 20 percent of what they hear. Until this family and the public sees all of the footage, there's going to be a lack of trust and mayhem in that community.

And the citizens there deserve better and so does his family. Enough is enough I think it's just going to delay. This is justice delayed, and this is justice delayed in a major way where this community may not be able to come back and with the little trust that they had of law enforcement, they surely after the way this is being handled will trust them even less because there's literally from my standpoint as a lawyer of almost 40 years, no justification for delaying the release.

[16:10:12]

It's in the public's best interest, in the family's best interest and in the country's best interest, and it's definitely in that community's best interest to release all of the footage right now. And it's within the power of the court to do so.

So I certainly hope there's a reconsideration, and by giving them 18 minutes of a two-hour video, it begs the question what else is on that one hour and 30 minutes or one hour and 40 minutes?

TAPPER: Yeah.

HOFFLER: What else is on it? The context will dictate everything. The context will tell us. Did he back into the car twice? I mean, that sounds unusual.

When you hear police experts saying, well, this is very bizarre. It's bizarre because the information that we have just doesn't add up. One plus one is equaling five, and that's not good enough.

TAPPER: And, Van, one of the issues here is, you know, one of the reasons people were pushing for body cam videos on police officers is to clear them from false accusations. I mean, that can be the best witness that an officer has, but that video belongs to the people.

JONES: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, listen. If a police officer can use deadly force as was just said to defend himself or herself, to defend someone else, the problem is when you're shooting someone in the back of the head and, you know, there's reason to believe that the person was driving away, there is no justification for that. Someone who is driving away from you, even if you want to serve of them a warrant, even if they did something wrong, you don't have the right to use deadly force to do a state execution, as the term was used, of that person if they're driving away.

Now, if they are backing up towards you, that might be a different situation. But that's why we want to see, you know, what does the stuff show? What do the cameras show?

Maybe -- some of this footage they don't want to show because it might show some means and methods of policing. Well, tell the public that but then let us see all the rest of it.

The problem we have right now, it looks, smells, walks and talks like a cover-up. This is what a cover-up looks like.

TAPPER: Yes.

JONES: Where you have stuff that's happening that doesn't make any sense, and -- and you don't have full transparency, and that is what you're going through right now.

TAPPER: Transparency always an important principle when it comes to the United States of America.

Van Jones, CK Hoffler, Anthony Barksdale, thanks to one and all of you.

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TAPPER: You're looking at hundreds of rockets lighting up the night skies. Families and children caught in the crossfire. CNN is live on the ground in Israel where the violence is quickly escalating. That's next.

Plus, President Biden says new guidance is coming soon for people who are fully vaccinated. What that might mean for your summer plans ahead.

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TAPPER: Breaking news on the world lead. You're looking right now at the skies over Tel Aviv just moments ago lit up with rocket fire, the rockets from Hamas.

The firefight between Israel and Gaza reaching a critical point. Holy sites targeted, constant explosions. Children caught in the crossfire.

The Palestinian health ministry says 30 people have died in the last two days in Gaza alone, ten of them children, according to the health ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just spoke and said, quote, we're in the midst of a significant operation, unquote.

CNN's Hadas Gold is in Ashkelon, which is just north of the Gaza Strip.

Hadas, Israel launching rockets and Hamas vowing to fight. How bad is it there?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, we have been here all day, and I've lost count of the number of times the air raid sirens have sounded and we've run into the shelter due to the barrage of rocket attacks. There have been a number of rockets, more than 500 here as well as military strikes in Gaza. This is a level of tension, a level of violence that this region has not seen for years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Siren, let's go, let's go, let's go.

GOLD (voice-over): In Ashkelon and other neighborhoods near the Gaza border, the warning sirens sound all day long. As Hamas and Islamic jihad launched rocket after rockets against targets in Israel, with around 500 fired so far.

Senior member of Hamas political bureau, Dr. __, saying in a written statement Tuesday that Hamas' response is to stop the Israeli occupation's violation and to halt the implementation of its aggressive schemes in Jerusalem.

Undeterred by Israel's crushing air strikes in response, and vows of harsher retaliation.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): After a situational assessment, we have made the decision to further increase both the intensity of the attacks and rate of attacks. Hamas will receive blows that it did not expect.

GOLD: Tensions have been building for weeks. A major flashpoint, protests over threatened evictions of Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at Islam's third holiest site, the Al- Aqsa mosque has broadened into a level of anger and deadly violence in the region not seen in years.

The all too familiar sight of this long-standing conflict of grief and anguish returning as mourners bury their dead in Gaza, not only Israel's intended military targets but also the young. At least ten children among the 28 killed thus far in strikes. Israel says it's investigating any civilian casualties with more than 150 civilians injured.

And while Israel's air defense or Iron Dome has intercepted most of the incoming rockets from Gaza, direct hits in Ashkelon left two Israeli women dead and dozens more injured, stoking the very real fear of the growing scope and reach of these weapons on Israeli civilians.

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And while protests pop up in various cities around the globe against the force of Israel's air response on Gaza and against the possible evictions in Jerusalem, Western nations are uniformly condemning the rocket attacks and are calling for a de-escalation in tensions, a call that has so far gone unheeded. With Tuesday night's new rocket target of Tel Aviv, a death toll all but certain to rise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLD (on camera): And, Jake, just in the last few minutes, we've received new information from the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza saying at least 30 people have been killed in Gaza, ten of the dead were children. They are also reporting more than 200 have been injured and we should also add that in Israel there was a death around Tel Aviv after we saw those rockets targeting Tel Aviv. And it seems as though we're nowhere near the end of this situation. It only seems to be escalating further. Local residents here that we've been sheltering with in the bomb shelter in their building do believe that they are expecting more rockets later tonight because in the last few minutes, we continue to hear planes buzzing overhead and we continue to hear explosions in the distance.

And the locals here believe that once they hear the strikes they expect in a few minutes usually that an air raid siren and rushing back into the bomb shelters, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Hadas Gold in Ashkelon, please be safe.

Let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann.

Oren worked in our Jerusalem bureau for almost six years.

And, Oren, this is the most violence we've seen in the region since 2014, the Gaza war which I covered on the ground there. How did this escalate so quickly?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It starts with Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the spark that can light a fire instantaneously, and militant groups in Gaza, Hamas, Islamic Jihad saw an opportunity to make a political statement. They wanted to be seen as the defenders of Jerusalem, which is why for the first time since 2014, you saw rockets launched on Jerusalem from Gaza. That was in and of itself an escalation that started this and it's only been on the up and up since.

First the shorter rake rockets in Ashkelon and then from there the barrage of rockets on Tel Aviv. Again, we haven't seen that since to 2014. Israel fairly quickly responding with escalation, taking out residential buildings, not just military targets.

TAPPER: Of course, this started with the Israeli government trying to force the eviction of six Palestinian families from East Jerusalem. I'm going to ask the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman about that, but I do want to ask you politically it's complicated there because Prime Minister Netanyahu is having not just political troubles and legal troubles.

How does that play into this all?

LIEBERMANN: Of course, Netanyahu is under trial. That's undergoing and in the background of all of this, his opponents are trying to form a government. And during this, as long as this is ongoing, they can't engage in coalition negotiations to try to unseat him, not to mention the fact that he has their support. Most of his opponents are still right wing and they are backing him in what's becoming a larger growing offensive against Gaza.

Israel's political message has gone on for two and a half years is only getting worse in the midst of all of this.

And then, of course, there's Palestinian infighting, Hamas and Islamic Jihad trying to make statements against Fatah in the West Bank and that isn't helping anything at all.

TAPPER: And then, of course, we have the fact that the Biden administration is really taking a hands off approach to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and Trump did, too, except for Kushner trying to make peace with other countries. But when it came to this specific conflict, they stayed out of it.

Does the fact that Biden is so hands off right now on this apparently, at least as far as we know, does that mean that we're headed for or Israel and Palestine are headed for a full-fledged war?

LIEBERMANN: I wouldn't look at the involvement of the U.S. administration for any indication where this is going. This didn't start with the U.S., with Biden or Trump and it's not going to end with the U.S.

Biden is making the right statements, at least from Israel's perspectives, supporting it. Biden has always been a pro-Israel Democrat.

There are and have been over the course of the past few years efforts behind the scene largely by the U.N. and the Egyptians to try to mediate between Israel and Gaza. That's how we've gotten to off ramps within 48, 27 hours. I suspect those efforts are ongoing right now, but it doesn't look like they are going to succeed given what is going on in the round.

The next thing to watch out for would be for the Israel to decide to conduct a ground incursion, which would be a major escalation, one with great costs on both sides.

TAPPER: So, in terms of the eviction of the six Palestinian families, I mean, this is a land dispute when it comes to East Jerusalem that literally goes back to the 1870s, in terms of who owns what land and this and that.

But there are a lot of people that say that what's going on is the Israeli government is trying to replace Palestinians who are in Israel's view squatting on land with Israelis so that when there is ultimately some sort of peace negotiation, East Jerusalem, which until 1967 was not part of Israel, is off the table.

Is Netanyahu for domestic political reasons doing that so as to appease his right flank, so as to have the far right support him?

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LIEBERMANN: Netanyahu is very much worried about the right wing support and he has courted the far right parties, not only into the Knesset but specifically into his government. His failure at forming a government is not from that, it's from a different problem.

In his statements, he's always trying to shore up that flank to make sure that he has right wing support and the position of the government under his authority has been Israel is united or Jerusalem is united and Jerusalem is ours. This is, therefore, an extension of that, the efforts by largely right

wing organizations to try to evict Palestinians and take that land. The argument in this case is that, well, Jews lived there before '48, before the creation of the state of Israel and, therefore, we should have it back.

The argument from Palestinians, we've been here 80 years. We have generational history here as well. This is -- this is our homeland, too, and they accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing and trying to basically kick them out of Jerusalem.

TAPPER: All right. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

Coming up, the fight for facts on full display as Senator Rand Paul pushes conspiracy theories. Dr. Fauci, however, did come prepared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: You are saying things that are not correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Plus, a murder suspect on the run from police is captured, but the tiger he was with still on the prowl. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: A huge milestone in our health lead now.

The first 12-to-15-year-olds in the United States were vaccinated today against coronavirus. This is after the FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use for that age group. Some doctors say vaccinating the young could be key to turning the pandemic around.

But there are growing concerns about how parents' vaccine hesitancy for their children could affect that, especially as Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to push a new bizarre conspiracy theory about the origins of the virus today as CNN's Nick Watt reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: I am encouraging all parents to get their children vaccinated. Some parents won't want to be first, but I'm also encouraging children to ask for the vaccine.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fourteen-year-old Cameron Carrion got his shot this morning.

CAMERON CARRION, TEENAGER: I can go out more, instead of just, like stay home, just do nothing.

WATT: Expert reaction? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a big smile when I heard the interview.

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, DEPARTMENT OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE CHAIRMAN, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: I'm smiling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am quite excited, actually, as a parent.

WATT: Twelve-to-15-year-olds, that's nearly 17 million Americans, another 5 percent of the population eligible for a vaccine.

SCHAFFNER: That will spread the protection to yet another large segment of the population.

WATT: Nearly 60 percent of adults have now had at least one shot. In July, McDonald's will join the push towards community immunity with a pro-vaccine message on its coffee cups.

Uber and Lyft, in collaboration with the White House, will begin offering free rides to vaccine sites through July 4.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My guess is, free tickets and vouchers, that -- my guess is, that's probably going to work.

GOV. JANET MILLS (D-ME): I think it'll be an incentive to those who still may be still hesitant.

WATT: Today in Washington, another round of Paul vs. Fauci.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Dr. Fauci, do you still support funding of the NIH funding of the lab in Wuhan?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Senator Paul, with all due respect, you are entirely and completely incorrect.

WATT: Meantime, average new daily case counts fell 22 percent in just one week, further fueling pushback on remaining restrictions.

When loosening the outdoor mask guidance, the CDC director said this:

WALENSKY: Less than 10 percent of documented transmission in many studies have occurred outdoors.

WATT: Today, "The New York Times" calls that number almost certainly misleading.

WALENSKY: The top-line result was less than 10 percent, published in "The Journal of Infectious Diseases," one of our top infectious disease journals. That is where that came from.

WATT: Way overstated. One expert told CNN: "I think it's a disservice to the public."

Some accuse the CDC of being too cautious, sticking with guidance that's no longer necessary.

Today, Dr. Fauci once again warning against preemptive complacency, India as cautionary tale.

FAUCI: They opened up prematurely and wind up having a surge right now that we're all very well aware of is extremely devastating.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Now, this morning, President Biden said that we are going to see more aggressive efforts on our part to lay out exactly what the vaccinated can now do.

He did concede, maybe we went a little slower, but just to make sure that we were exactly right on the science and the numbers -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Nick in Los Angeles, thanks so much.

Joining us now to discuss, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University.

Dr. Reiner, you saw those physicians and doctors smiling at the news of 12-to-15-year-olds getting vaccinated. What's your response? How big a deal is this?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It's a really big deal.

The 12-to-15-year-old population comprises about 20 million people, about 6 percent of the population. So, that's another 6 percent of Americans to protect from this virus.

The issue, though, is that the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that only about one in -- about three out of 10 parents are willing to vaccinate their kids right now, so about 30 percent. Another 25 percent or so want to wait and see.

[16:35:13]

So, that leaves almost half of the kids in that age group not going to get vaccinated, unless we can convince their parents that it's the right thing to do. And, not surprisingly, the parents' willingness to get vaccinated completely tracks their willingness to vaccinate their kids. So we still have a long way to go.

TAPPER: So, to be clear, I'm part of the 30 percent that's excited to get my kids vaccinated as soon as possible. We're -- we have a 13- year-old going to get vaccinated this week. An 11-year-old, we're waiting for the approval.

But let me be a skeptical parent for a second, since that is apparently a majority of the parents in the country. I'm worried about side effects. We don't really know what's going on. What would you tell me?

REINER: It was studied in a really very well-sized trial. The -- and the vaccine has been shown to be 100 percent effective at preventing kids in this age group from becoming infected, and with very tolerable side effects. It's important to remember that, during the surge in April in

Michigan, almost 800 kids a day between the ages of 10 and 19 were testing positive, 800 a day in the state of Michigan. That's the reservoir for this virus now.

And kids can have long-term consequences. So, even though most kids will do well in the long term, kids can be long-haulers, and some kids will get pretty sick.

TAPPER: So, I have a kid who's 11, so not in this group.

REINER: Yes.

TAPPER: When is he going to be able to get vaccinated?

REINER: Well, probably, technically, as soon as he turns 12.

But, physiologically, there's probably not much difference between an 11-year-old and a 12-year-old. But it's been studied between those age groups. And, most likely, pediatricians are going to stick to that.

TAPPER: So, President Biden heard from some Republican governors today who complained about the messaging when it comes to what vaccinated people can do.

You and I are both vaccinated. You and I are sitting here in a studio. I will ask you what I asked Jeff Zients, the COVID coordinator for the White House. Why is President Biden wearing a mask in a room full of vaccinated people? Isn't this discouraging people from seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? I can finally have guests on the set.

REINER: Yes, and it's good to be here.

Look, I think it's the wrong message. It's confusing people. There was just a study today that was published out of the Cleveland Clinic. They looked at 47,000 of their employees and looked at the incidence of hospitalization from January through the middle of April.

And what they found is that, of the people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 who work for the Cleveland Clinic, 99.75 percent were not completely vaccinated. Said another way, only point 0.25 percent of people -- that's 2.5 out of 1,000 -- who were hospitalized for COVID- 19 had received both vaccines.

So the message really needs to be that the vaccines work. And if two people, like we're sitting here are vaccinated, there is no risk to either one of us. There's even less risk out in public.

So, what the administration really should be doing is, instead of continuing to hawk the message of masks in public, they should be hawking the message that vaccines are incredibly effective and vaccines work.

So, if you're completely vaccinated, you're two weeks after either your second vaccination or two weeks after the single J&J shot, go out and about. You don't need a mask. TAPPER: And same message, I would think, for kids going to camp. If they're 12 to -- 12 and older, get them vaccinated, and then go have fun. Take the masks off.

REINER: Forget the masks.

TAPPER: Yes.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thanks so much. And thanks for coming in studio. Appreciate it.

REINER: My pleasure.

TAPPER: Breaking news out of Georgia, where the suspect in the Atlanta spa shootings is now facing upgraded charges. We're going to go live on the ground there.

That's next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:43:23]

TAPPER: And we have more breaking news for you in our national lead.

Prosecutors are now upgrading the charges against the suspect in the Atlanta area spa shootings to include hate crime charges and attempt for the death penalty. Police say that Robert Aaron Long shot and killed eight people at two different spots in the Atlanta area back in March. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent.

Let's bring in CNN's Amara Walker. She's in Fulton County, Georgia, where these new charges are being announced.

Amara, what are you learning about the charges?

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, you're right. The headline here are the hate crime charges.

So ,the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, has filed the necessary paperwork notifying the defendant that she will pursue hate crime charges on the basis of race and gender, and that she also intends to seek the death penalty.

Also, a grand jury here in Fulton County has indicted the suspect, 21- year-old Robert Aaron Long, on 19 counts. It's a very long list, eight of which are murder charges.

And just to refresh your memory here, this happened about two months ago, March 16. A total of eight people were killed, six of whom were Asian women. This happened at three separate spas, two spots in Atlanta, one in Cherokee County.

So, at this point, though, it's unclear what Cherokee County prosecutors are going to do. Are they also going to pursue hate crime charges? We do know that a separate grand jury will convene and decide whether or not to indict Robert Aaron Long.

But, Jake, as you would imagine, as we have been covering the story from the beginning, this is going to be very welcome news for many in the Asian American community.

[16:45:01]

Many in the Asian American community have been living in the fear until this day as this wave of anti-Asian attacks continues and many leaders of the AAPI community have been calling and pushing for those crimes that we've been seeing, including this spa shooting to be prosecuted as hate crimes.

In fact, I did get a statement from an Asian American state representative here in Georgia, Bee Nguyen. And her statement to me reads in part: To acknowledge the victims were targeted because of their race is a necessary measure that will help Asians living in this country feel seen and heard -- Jake.

TAPPER: And, Amara, correct me if I'm wrong, but Georgia's hate crime laws are fairly new. So I would think these charges will be a test for prosecutors.

WALKER: It absolutely will be a test, Jake, you're right to. In fact, to our knowledge, this is the first time that this new Georgia hate crime law is being applied. This law was actually passed last summer and signed by the governor right after the shooting and killing the public outreach that we saw of Ahmad Arbery.

Also want to mention in practicality. This is a sentence enhancer, so it won't mean much in enhancing the sentence of a convicted murderer -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Amara Walker in Fulton County, Georgia, thanks so much.

And our politics lead now, a federal judge has dismissed the National Rifle Association's petition for bankruptcy, saying it was filed in bad faith in order to avoid litigation by the New York attorney general's office. The suit alleges that NRA leadership spent millions of dollars funding lavish trips on private jets, meals and other personal expenses, and that chief executive officer Wayne LaPierre hand-picked associates to, quote, facilitate his misuse of charitable assets.

The New York attorney general tweeting about the decision, quote, the NRA does not get to dictate if and where it will answer for its actions, and our case will continue in New York court. No one is above the law, unquote.

CNN has reached out to a spokesman for the NRA for comment.

Everything is bigger in Texas, including apparently the house cats. Police captured a murder suspect but still can't track down his escaped pet tiger.

Stay with us.

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[16:51:32]

TAPPER: The national lead, Texas tells Florida, hold my beer today with news that the police in Texas are on the lookout for a runaway Bengal tiger. The tiger was spotted by neighbors and nearly shot by one of them right before his apparent owner who is out on bond for a prior murder charge took off with the big cat. Police have tracked down the suspect, but the tiger remains on the prowl somewhere.

CNN's Rosa Flores is live for us in Houston.

Rosa, the police have any clue where this tiger might be?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, if they do, they are not saying, but what we do know is that the last sighting was on Sunday in West Houston, in a neighbor. Police there started shooting video. They called police.

An off-duty deputy responded and confronted the suspect when was later identified as it a 25-year-old Victor Hugo Cuevas (ph). The Houston Police Department then arrived but say that by the time they got there, Cuevas had already placed this cat in a vehicle, and then took off, according to police. There was a short pursuit and Cuevas got away with the tiger.

Now, having a tiger in the city of Houston is a misdemeanor. Evading police is a felony. Cuevas was arrested yesterday on evading police charges, and he face a judge this morning and he's being held on $50,000 bond.

But, you know, documents -- court documents show that he was already out on bond in two separate other cases. One out of Fort Bend County for murder and another out of Austin County for evading police.

Now, I talked to this man's attorney, Jake, and he tells me, and he's adamant about this, that his client is not the owner of the cat but he does say that the name of the cat is India, that it's a male and it's 9 months old and he knows the individual who owns the cat. At last check with HPD, the cat has not been located yet -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. (INAUDIBLE) basket on the case maybe.

Thanks, Rosa. Appreciate it.

Coming up on THE LEAD, our CNN crew running for cover as rockets rain down on Israel and the Mideast explodes again. We're going to go live to the region next.

And CNN gets exclusive access to a training exercise with some of America's elite military forces in Vladimir Putin's backyard.

Stay with us.

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[16:58:20]

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, the new moves from the White House that the Biden administration hopes will get more people vaccinated more quickly.

Plus, prices up at the pump. The cyberattack on the largest U.S. fuel pipeline sparking long lines at gas station and a growing number even running out of gas.

And leading this hour, violence exploding. Hundreds are injured and dozens dead as tensions flare between the Israelis and Palestinians. In moments, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will join me.

A source telling CNN U.S. military and intelligence agencies are monitoring the situation as rockets fly over Tel Aviv with the echo of sirens and loud explosions. Hamas is saying that the rocket barrage is retaliation for Israel leveling a high-rise residential building. Tel Aviv's airport has been closed because of the threat.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying a short time ago saying we're in the midst of a significant praise.

Let's go to Tel Aviv right now where we find journalist Elliott Gotkine. He's been hearing sirens and explosions there throughout the night.

Elliott, what's it like on the ground in Tel Aviv right now? Have you had to seek shelter?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Earlier this evening I did, yes. So, it was about quarter to 9:00 local time, so about like three and a half hours or so ago, the first siren sounded. I had to wake my 9-year-old and 8-year-old from their sleep and take them down to the communal shelter at the bottom of the building here and overhead we heard loud booms, probably the Iron Dome system intercepting rockets that were being fired on Tel Aviv.

And then as we came back up, the siren sounded again, about five times we went through this. Obviously quite, you know, unsettling and upsetting for the children, but there were no immediate damage in this vicinity, but in and around --