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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Dems Pressure Biden To Step Up Handling Of Israeli Strikes In Gaza; Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) Is Interviewed On Biden's Handling Of Israel-Hamas Conflict; McCarthy Opposes Bipartisan Commission To Investigate Capitol Riots; Video Of Andrew Brown Jr. Shooting Released; States Loosen Restrictions As Coronavirus Cases, Hospitalizations And Deaths Decrease. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired May 18, 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]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: There could be more on the way. Stay safe out there in Louisiana and on the Gulf Coast.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Really scary stuff. Those pictures are incredible.
BLACKWELL: Yeah.
CAMEROTA: Okay.
"THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right now.
(MUSIC)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Is House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy afraid because he might have to cross Trump as a material witness?
THE LEAD starts right now.
The House Republican leader comes out against the commission to investigate the riot and insurrection against his own workplace, and now support appears to be slipping among Senate Republicans, too. Why can't Republicans in Congress even agree on the need to find out why they were attacked?
President Biden today commenting on the conflict in the Middle East that divides the Democratic Party. Will the White House get more publicly involved to try to end the carnage?
Plus, communities bracing for protests as the D.A. rules that deputies who fatally shot Andrew Brown Jr. were justified. Though Brown's family says the new video shown today proves the exact opposite.
Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
And we begin today with the world lead. President Joe Biden moments ago not directly addressing the most serious conflict between Israel and Hamas in years. Instead, the president speaking directly to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve of in congress. Biden saying he's going to do everything he can to see it that her family in the West Bank remains safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In my heart, I pray that your grand mom and family are well. I promise I'm going to do everything to see that they are on the West Bank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Today is the ninth straight day of violence in the region. More than 200 Palestinians in Gaza, including 61 children, have been killed according to the Palestinian health ministry which is run by Hamas, an organization the U.S. State Department classifies as terrorists.
On the Israeli side, officials say, ten Israelis have been killed as a result of Palestinian attacks, two of them children.
President Biden has been engaged in what officials call, quote, quiet intensive diplomacy, unquote, which has upset many in the Democratic Party who want President Biden to do more to not only push for an immediate cease-fire but to publicly criticize Israel for what progressives view as disproportionality in Israel's response to Hamas rockets.
Now, sources tell me that much of what we're seeing and not seeing from the White House has to do with lessons learned about Biden and his team from the tense relationship between then President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the belief that having a public spat with Netanyahu actually would mean reducing American influence with him, particularly since Netanyahu is in the middle of a domestic political crisis and would in all likelihood welcome any opportunity to portray himself as defending his people from both Hamas rockets and international scolding, that's showing toughness and independence from American meddling just reinforces his brand domestically. That's the theory.
And White House officials believe, my sources tell me, that poking Netanyahu with congressional floor speeches or U.N. Security Council resolutions will not move Netanyahu at all. The White House sources say believes the best way Biden can try to convince the Israeli military to pull back is by doing so entirely behind the scenes and keeping the pressure entirely private.
But that strategy is putting President Biden at odds with key members of his own party -- as CNN's Kaitlan Collins reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My name is Joe Biden, and I'm a car guy.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden's trip to a Ford plant in Michigan overshadowed by the ninth day of violence in the Middle East. After landing, Biden spoke to Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian
American woman elected to Congress who has been sharply critical of his favorable stance towards Israel.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): You don't hear the words Palestinians deserve human rights. So I hope that my president -- our president speaks up and speaks truth about what exactly is happening.
COLLINS: Biden was in Dearborn, Michigan, home to one of the largest Arab-American populations in the U.S. who protested during his visit. Biden has faced a steady drum beat of calls from Democrats to ramp up pressure on Israel by calling for a cease-fire.
SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): I think at this point, we just have to stop the fighting.
COLLINS: The president has declined to explicitly call for one and only voiced support for a cease-fire during his call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
[16:05:00]
Another sign of the administration's delicate approach, officials are refusing to comment on Israel's claims that an air strike got a Gaza building housing news outlets was justified because Hamas was operating out of it.
ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: It's my understanding that we've received some further information through intelligence channels, and that's not something that I can comment on.
COLLINS: Attempting to draw a line between their approach and their predecessor's, Press Secretary Jen Psaki made this dig at the Trump- era Abraham Accords today.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Aside from putting forward a peace proposal that was dead on arrival, we don't think they did anything constructive really to bring an end to the long-standing conflict in the Middle East.
COLLINS: Meanwhile, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Gregory Meeks, is backing off his threat to call on Biden to delay a proposed $735 million arm sale to Israel after Biden officials offered to brief his committee on their Israeli policy.
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ): I trust that their diplomacy will yield effect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And, Jake, while President Biden was at that Ford plant this afternoon, he had a little bit of fun test driving one of their new trucks, but he did get asked about a very serious issue which is this violence that is happening, and this is how he responded to those questions from reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Mr. President, can I ask you a quick question on Israel before you drive away since it's so important?
BIDEN: No, you can't. Not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it. I'm only teasing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, Jake, he said he was joking there, but this is something that President Biden has been continuously been asked about in recent days. He hasn't really spoken about it at length which I think does speak to just how delicate these talks are that are happening and how they are going on and how the administration is trying to see their way through this violence and get a cease-fire ultimately in the end.
TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much.
Meanwhile in Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu said today he'll continue the military operations, quote, as necessary.
CNN's Hadas Gold joins us live now.
Hadas, what is Netanyahu's position today, and what are you seeing on the ground there?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, my impression here and from the sources we talked to and what we're gathering here is that the Israelis feel like they have more time, that they are not feeling necessarily the intense pressure. There is international pressure of course. They recognize that, but they are not feeling the intense pressure to end their military campaign immediately.
To them, they still have military objectives they want to reach in Gaza. There are still targets they want to reach. They have been especially targeting this tunnel system that Hamas say they use underneath all of Gaza.
They say that's where they are hiding weapons and where they move around. They are also targeting the rocket launch sites and they are targeting these new initiatives that Hamas as you see, including the new sort of submarines that you're seeing, the also unmanned drones that they are calling suicide drops that they are trying to target as well.
To them though, every day of this operation that they continue to target more of these Hamas positions, they think brings them more quiet in the future, and what Prime Minister Netanyahu said today is that they will continue until they feel as though they have reached all of their objectives, that this will continue for some time, and I think that the tone that the Israeli officials are getting from the Americans and President Joe Biden where they are talking about a cease-fire but not yet demanding it, that's key for them and they are continuing to target. We continue to see air strikes.
And the militant in Gaza are continuing to throw rockets back at Israel at the current count I believe is 3,700 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel. As you noted, the death toll is rights. We're continuing to see civilian deaths in Gaza and in Israel today actually. Another two civilians were killed as a result of mortar fire bringing the total in Israel to 12 killed and in Gaza we're seeing more than 200 have been kill, including more than 60 children.
Another thing that's really worrying here, Jake, that I think isn't getting as much attention as it could be is the violence that we're seeing rising especially in the West Bank. Thousands were protesting today and people were killed as a result of these violent confrontations. That is another very concerning thing here, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Hadas Gold in Jerusalem, thanks for the update on that.
Here to discuss, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. He sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Senator Kaine, thanks for joining us.
President Biden publicly said that he supports a cease-fire but he stopped short of demanding directly a cease-fire which is what you and a dozen of other Democratic senators have been calling for.
What do you make of the president's handling of the issue?
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Well, Jake, I think the U.S. should demand a cease-fire. I asked this question yesterday, when there is a shooting war and innocent people are being killed on both sides, the U.S. is always aggressive in calling for a cease-fire. Instead, what we're reading is that there's efforts to get a U.N. Security Council resolution for a cease-fire and the U.S. is objecting to it.
I just don't think that is the place for the U.S. to be. And so, that's why I joined with Jon Ossoff and others in a statement Sunday that was about as crisply and simply written as can be in order to reduce Israeli and Palestinian casualties and in order to de-escalate violence, we called for a cease-fire.
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I think that should be the American position. Much of what the Biden team is doing behind the scenes is important. Some of this diplomacy does have to take place in quiet private discussions, not only with Israel but with Gulf State and Arab neighbors that have normalized relations with Israel. But I think standing publicly for a cease-fire is what we would do in virtually any situation and we ought to do it here.
TAPPER: Sources tell me that the Biden White House is trying to refrain from having a public spat with Netanyahu since they learned a lesson during the Obama years that having such a confrontation only reduces American influence with Netanyahu, especially at a time when he's under some domestic political pressure and vulnerabilities.
Do you -- is that what you're hearing as well and do you accept that reasoning?
KAINE: I don't accept the reasoning. Your reporter did a good job of saying on the Israeli side of this, they're not feeling the pressure for a cease-fire. If they felt pressure for a cease-fire, they'd be more likely to do it.
And again, what's the purpose of the cease-fire? Stop Israelis from being killed. Stop Hamas from lobbing rockets into Israel, and stop Palestinian kids from being killed. And then in that space where there's a ceasefire, to have dialogue about how we move forward.
The tragedy of this, Jake, is I went to Israel for the first time in 1998 and the prospects for peace in accord with the U.N.'s original goal, and U.S. policy of Israel and Palestine living peacefully side by side have only gone backwards in the last 25 years.
And now, you have governance channels and Israel that's having a hard time forming a government and a Palestine that's canceling elections, you have governance challenges on the top of frustrations about the absence to the progress of peace.
TAPPER: Yeah.
KAINE: Let's get a cease-fire and let the U.S. do what frankly President Trump did not do -- let the U.S. get back together with allies and try to figure out how we can be helpful in moving in the right direction.
TAPPER: So, today, White House Press Jen Psaki took a shot at the Trump administration for its efforts in the Middle East, including the Abraham Accords which brought peace between -- treaties between Israel and other Sunni Arab nations.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PSAKI: Aside from putting forward a peace proposal that was dead on arrival, we don't think they did anything constructive really to bring an end to the long-standing conflict in the Middle East.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TAPPER: I -- do you agree? Do you --
KAINE: I agree with the front half of what Jen Psaki said and not the back half.
So on the front half, it is true. The Trump administration put a peace proposal on the table, but they didn't even talk to the Palestinians about it, and that's not a proposal. That's not a good faith proposal.
However, on the Abraham Accords, I do support them and I'll tell you, why Jake. Arab nations for years have said they support the Palestinians. That's their -- that's their statement, but they have done virtually nothing to back it up. Once these Arab nations normalized with Israel, they really have skin
in the game right now. They have their own domestic populations saying to them you've normalized relations with Israel. What are you trying to do to help out people in the West Bank and maybe bring about some increasing order in Gaza?
I do know this. The administration -- and this is wise in my view -- is reaching out to the nations that have normalized in these Abraham Accords and saying, what can you do? There's things that the U.S. can do and things that the Arab nations have to do to try to promote greater and economic prosperity in Palestine.
So, I think the Abrahamic Accords sort of upped the skin in the game that these Arab nations have and the U.S. should be using diplomacy to get them to be more involved in a solution.
TAPPER: Senator, some experts told "The New York Times" that war crimes are being committed by both the Palestinian and Israeli sides, writing, quote, Hamas has fired more than 3,000 rockets towards Israeli cities, a clear war crime.
And Israel, although it says it takes measures to avoid civilian casualties, have subjected Gaza to such an intense bombardment, killing families and flattening buildings that it likely constitutes a disproportionate use of force, also a war crime.
I doubt that you disagree with the idea that Hamas, which the U.S. State Department considers to be a terrorist group --
KAINE: They are.
TAPPER: -- firing rockets indiscriminately at Israel is not a war crime.
But what about the disproportionality by Israel, is that a violation of international norms?
KAINE: Jake, let me -- let me come at it this way. The last thing we need right now in Israel and Palestine is more blame game for each side. You know, you started it, you're committing a war crime. You started it. You're a terrorist.
We've had that for the last 50 or 70 years and it's gotten us nowhere.
[16:15:03]
I saw former Vice President Pence today trying to blame this on the Biden administration.
If you think more blame game is going to get us to an answer here, you have not been paying attention.
So, instead of a blame game, what I'm saying as a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committee, I've been to Israel more times than any other country. I'm a strong supporter of Israel's right to defend itself, but I'm also a strong supporter of an Israel and Palestine living peacefully side by side. That should be our goal. More blame isn't going to get us there.
Let's do a cease-fire. That's what will be a small step towards possibly getting us there. No more beating around the bush.
I think the U.S. should stand strongly for a cease-fire. We called for it in Yemen. We called for it in Afghanistan. We called for it every time there's a war or crisis in the world that puts innocent civilians at risk. We need a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine.
TAPPER: And just to be clear, you do not think that the Biden White House is exerting sufficient pressure behind the scenes to get that cease-fire?
KAINE: I think they're doing a lot of good things behind the scenes that ought to be done behind the scenes, but I think a more forceful call for a cease-fire like we would do anywhere else in the world is something that the U.S. should do and we shouldn't be seen as, you know, the laggard in the U.N. Security Council in calling for a cease- fire.
TAPPER: All right. Senator Tim Kaine, thanks so much for your time today. Appreciate it.
KAINE: Absolutely.
TAPPER: The House Republican leader comes out against the commission to investigate the MAGA riot. Is he afraid of the truth, of Trump, both?
KAINE: And several states report zero COVID deaths for the first time in months as the CDC issues a new warning about something that could prolong this pandemic.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: In our politics lead, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has officially announced he will not support a bipartisan commission investigating the January 6th insurrection, instead seemingly siding with the Trumpian lawmakers and big lie conspiracy theorists who are attempting to downplay that deadly day.
McCarthy says he's against the commission because he sees it as counterproductive, but as CNN Ryan Nobles reports, McCarthy could very well be trying to protect himself from going on record about a call he had with President Trump as rioters were ransacking the Capitol.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The plans for a commission to investigate the January 6th Capitol insurrection have hit a serious roadblock. In a statement rejecting the bipartisan deal, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said, quote, given the speaker's short-sighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation.
McCarthy is insistent that groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa, as well as the Good Friday death of a police officer be included in the commission's work.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: If you're going to have a commission, you should look at the whole broad spectrums. We just went through a whole summer of riots throughout this city. We should look -- grasp that as well.
NOBLES: The bill can pass the House with only Democratic support, but would need 10 Republican votes on the Senate side. Senate Republican Whip John Thune said the passage of the commission now is, quote, uncertain as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell weighs his options.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: I think I'm safe in characterizing our conference as willing to listen to the arguments about whether such a commission is needed.
NOBLES: McCarthy himself could be a key part of the panel's work, especially given the phone call he made to former president as the riot was heating up.
MCCARTHY: I engaged in the idea of making sure we could stop what was going on inside the Capitol at that moment in time the president said he would help.
NOBLES: McCarthy told other Republican members Trump told him during the call that the rioters cared more about the election results than he did. Some have even suggested he could be forced to testify in front of the commission.
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): I wouldn't be surprised if he were subpoenaed. I think that he very clearly and said publicly that he's got information about the president's state of mind that day.
NOBLES: And then there is the politics of all of it. Trump could become a focus of the investigation, and in recent weeks, McCarthy has gone to great lengths to tie himself to the Trump wing of the party, helping to purge Liz Cheney from Republican leadership.
Trump defender, Congressman Matt Gaetz, celebrating McCarthy's decision tweeting, quote, now, finally, McCarthy sees it my way.
Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries says --
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): It's hard to take Kevin McCarthy seriously at this point.
NOBLES: It's not the first time McCarthy has inserted politics into a congressional investigation. During the lengthy GOP-led probe into the Benghazi attacks, McCarthy bragged about how the process damaged Hillary Clinton politically.
MCCARTHY: When you look at the poll numbers of Hillary Clinton, they dropped.
TAPPER: Right.
MCCARTHY: Unfavorables are pretty high.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBLES (on camera): And it seems pretty clear that this measure will pass the House tomorrow and do so relatively easily and with Republican support. It's a much bigger question when it comes to the Senate side. Remember, it will need ten Republicans to pass in order to pass. The Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer making a promise today, Jake. He said he will bring this bill to the floor for a vote, period -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Ryan, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Let's discuss.
So, Abby, let me start with you,
The top three House Republicans, Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Elise Stefanik, every one of them pushed the election lie. Every one of them voted to disenfranchise Americans after the insurrection.
I suppose they might be worried about a commission finding their lies played a role in what happened.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. It's hard for me to see why people who might have played a role in the insurrection and then subsequently have spent a lot of time trying to paper over it would want to fully investigation it.
Look, I mean, this has been a picture of Republicans on Capitol Hill turning so fully back toward Trump that it's almost hard to remember that there was a moment there a couple of months ago when Kevin McCarthy said that Trump deserved responsibility for what happened on January 6.
[16:25:09]
He has had a complete turnaround from the moments after the insurrection occurred in which he now is endorsing an effort to completely whitewash what happened on January 6th and that's exactly what the whole effort to expand the scope of the January 6th commission is all about. It's not about Antifa. It's not about Black Lives Matter.
It's about obscuring the role of white supremacists and the anti- Semitic groups and, know, pro-Trump individuals, the role that they played in that insurrection attempt.
TAPPER: And, Melanie, Kevin McCarthy's stories about his call with President Trump on January 6th have not been consistent.
Do you think his driving force behind not wanting this commission to go forward is his fear about being called as a material witness?
MELANIE ZANONA, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, POLITICO: I'm sure that's part of it. I did catch him in the hallways today and I asked him about that. He said, I'm not concerned about the subpoenas.
But, look, the truth of the matter is, he has offered different versions of that story if he is forced to testify under oath, he'd have to tell the truth and it might not paint the former President Trump in a positive light.
I also think it's not just about having to testify. I think what McCarthy's opposition is probably worried about crossing Trump, worried about crossing his right flank. I've also heard from Republicans who said there's a lot of concerns about this story line dragging into a midterm election year.
There's no coincidence that the end date on this commission that was struck between Republicans and Democrats is the end of this year, because they don't want this to go into next year. They don't want it to overshadow their efforts to take back the House.
S I think there is a ton of politics involved behind McCarthy's decision to oppose this commission.
TAPPER: I mean, I can't even imagine being a leader in Congress and not wanting a commission to investigate an attack on your own workplace, in which your own members of Congress and staffers or Capitol Hill police officers, Abby, were under attack, physical attack.
But my understanding is that Officer Fanone, that's the Metropolitan Police officer who has talked to Don Lemon on CNN at length about his feelings about being attacked, about the denialism, he called McCarthy's office to talk to McCarthy. McCarthy still to this day has not called Officer Fanone even though he's out there doing all this back the blue stuff.
PHILLIP: Yeah, it's -- it is really incredible for a political party that has made backing law enforcement, you know, their calling card for a long time. I mean, not just last year but even longer than that.
TAPPER: Right.
PHILLIP: But again, this is about avoidance of what happened on January 6th and wanting to create a myth around what happened. I mean, lawmakers now saying that it was like a tourist trip, claiming that somehow Antifa and Black Lives Matter played a role, these are all lies, but there are also myths that are being created to mollify the former President Trump, but also to keep Republican voters and Trump voters with them.
Ands, you know, as Melanie points out, this is about politics and when you have 70 percent of Republicans who believe the big lie, it's really perilous territory here for any Republican on Capitol to try to cross 70 percent of voters in their own party. TAPPER: Yeah, that Republican congressman who said it was like any
normal day with tourists, there was photos of him on the day of the insurrection looking like he just saw a ghost, terrified, helping to barricade the Capitol.
Melanie, when Liz Cheney was the on the show last week, I asked her multiple times what she thought would have happened if Kevin McCarthy had been House speaker in January, if she had confidence that he would have upheld the rule of law, that he would have upheld the Constitution. She did not say no, but she said like you can judge somebody their action. She certainly was suggesting she thought Kevin McCarthy would have tried to overturn the election.
ZANONA: Yeah, and I interviewed her as well last week, and I asked her last week, and I asked her point blank, would you vote for McCarthy for speaker if Republicans win back the House? And she said, no, no, I would not. We need someone who leads with principle and that's not what Kevin McCarthy does.
It's just really remarkable to a step back that, you know, two weeks ago, they were on the same leadership team and now, she's out here saying she wouldn't vote for him as speaker, and I think this was one of the, frankly, dangers of kicking her off of that leadership team is now that she is not beholden to the normal constraints of leadership. She doesn't have to be nice in public anymore, and she's continuing to be a constant thorn in McCarthy's side.
Remember, she's actually the one who sort of floated the idea recently that perhaps Kevin McCarthy should or be could be called to testify about what he knew about January 6. And so, you know, talking to Cheney, she really believes this to her core.
TAPPER: Yeah.
ZANONA: But something else they asked her about was, you know, whether you regret passing on a Senate run, and she said, I feel like I am destined to sort of be in the House in this moment for this reason.
TAPPER: Melanie Zanona, Abby Phillip, good to see both of you. Thank you so much.
Today, we found out there will be no charges for any of the police in the killing of Andrew Brown Jr. But new video released today is raising more questions about the sheriff's deputies' decision to fire.
[16:30:03]
Stay with us.
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TAPPER: In our national lead today: The district attorney in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, today finally showed the body camera video that shows the killing of Andrew Brown Jr. by sheriff's deputies, a 42- year-old black man shot and killed almost a month ago.
[16:35:07]
The district attorney today calling Brown's death -- quote -- "justified."
We want to play a little bit of the video shown today, with a warning: Some viewers may find this difficult to watch. Here's the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(GUNSHOTS)
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) EMS!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: EMS!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gunshot wounds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in CNN's Brian Todd in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, not far from the Virginia border.
Brian, we just heard from the sheriff about what's going to happen to the three deputies involved. What did he have to say?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, just a short time ago, Sheriff Tommy Wooten issued a statement saying that the three deputies who did the shooting will keep their jobs, but they will be disciplined and they will be retrained, that coming just a short time ago from Sheriff Tommy Wooten.
So, not only will there be no charges brought against these three deputies who did the shooting. They will get their jobs back, and they will be retrained, according to the sheriff.
The sheriff did say that there were things that they should have done better and that he is outlining those things. He said that two of the deputies on the scene did not turn on their body cameras, that they should have, that they should have had EMS teams ready for any injuries that would have occurred there, and that they -- those teams were not ready. He outlined those problems.
This, of course, coming just hours after the district attorney, Andrew Womble, said that this shooting death of Andrew Brown was justified. He said that his conclusion was that Brown posed a threat to the deputies involved, that they had a reasonable feeling at the time that their lives were in danger.
Here is what Andrew Womble had to say this afternoon:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANDREW WOMBLE, PASQUOTANK COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: When you employ a car in a manner that puts officers' lives in danger, that is a threat.
And I don't care what direction you're going, forward, backward, sideways. I don't care if you're stationary, and neither do our courts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: And a short time ago, we spoke to the attorneys for the Brown family, who reiterated that they believe still that he posed no threat to those deputies.
They said that Mr. Womble's announcement was an attempt to whitewash an unjustified killing. They called this an insult and a slap in the face to the Brown family -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right, Brian Todd in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Brian, thanks so much.
Did what you saw prove that the shooting was justified? I'm going to ask a former police commissioner next.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:42:40]
TAPPER: And we're back with our national lead.
The family of Andrew Brown Jr. today disputing the district attorney in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. They say Brown's actions with deputies did not justify their deadly shooting of him.
This is video of the intense 44-second encounter. A warning: Some viewers may find this very difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(GUNSHOTS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in Anthony Barksdale. He served as Baltimore police commissioner. And, also, let's bring in former federal prosecutor Elie Honig.
Anthony, let me start with you.
What was your reaction to the video, deputies rolling up in a pickup with long guns drawn? We had been told that they were just serving -- they were serving him with a warrant. What do you make of it?
ANTHONY BARKSDALE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It appeared to me that they were poorly organized. Looked like poor planning.
And that's at the supervisory level. The sergeant needs to know exactly, what's going to happen when we get there? What's plan A? What's plan B?
You had Mr. Brown behind the wheel of a vehicle. And they're hopping out of a pickup truck. So, from the beginning, their planning clearly wasn't there. The Elizabeth City mayor, police chief saying that they had no idea that that was going to happen.
When you have a situation like that, you want to have as many uniforms available. You want more cars available. You want a bigger game plan than what we saw in that particular footage.
TAPPER: And, Elie, what was your reaction, as a former prosecutor?
ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I agree with what Commissioner Barksdale said.
And I'll tell you what I certainly disagree with, when the DA and the sheriff's office announced the findings on the case -- you just played the clip in the last segment -- and they said, it doesn't matter which direction the car was facing, or was it in forward or neutral or reverse or how fast it was going.
That, to me, sends off a worrying signal, because, when you're investigating these cases from a legal point of view, every fact, every detail matters, because these can be really close calls. And if you're just sort of painting with a broad, dismissive brush, saying, I don't want to hear about that, that makes me question the specificity that they applied to this case.
TAPPER: And, Commissioner Barksdale, the district attorney in Elizabeth City said the deputies fired the first shot after Brown drove his car toward them.
[16:45:05]
The Brown family says deputies fired when Brown was driving away. The video, I can't really tell what's going on, but it certainly doesn't look like he was trying to drive into them. It looks like he was just trying to escape.
What do you think and is the D.A.'s conclusion the final say?
BARKSDALE: I hope that the D.A.'s conclusion isn't the final say. I hope that someone intervene, maybe the DOJ steps in because what we all listened to, what we saw today makes me very concerned about what the Brown family will get in terms of justice. We're still not discussing the shot to the back of the head. You can stand on your ground all you want to, but what happens when an individual is past you and going in a different direction away from you. I'm also looking at, you know, several times he mentioned the one law
enforcement officer who was in danger. How about not putting yourself in the way, jump out of the way and then reassess? Start all over again figuring out where we are with terms of use of force.
And, again, Jake, the shot to the back of the head, let's hear him, this district attorney, explain that.
TAPPER: Yeah, Elie, set the video aside for one minute. Brown was killed on Wednesday, April 21st, that will be four weeks ago tomorrow. The district attorney was very descriptive in his version of events.
Do you see any reason why he had to wait almost a month to show us this video?
HONIG: No, I think the district attorney has completely dropped the ball on transparency from day one. Look, the law in North Carolina is you have to go to a judge to get public release of the video. They dragged their feet before they did that.
The investigation is over now. Any legal justification for holding back that video is over. They need to get it out there and they need at a minimum to be transparent.
TAPPER: Anthony Barksdale and Elie Honig, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.
Phone lines jammed as one state sweetens the vaccine pot with a lottery. How the literal shot to win a million bucks is going.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:23]
TAPPER: In our health lead today, we have reached another positive milestone in the U.S. fight against the coronavirus. In today's White House task force briefing, officials announced for the first time since the pandemic started in this country, cases are down in all 50 states. Not only that, but 15 states reported zero coronavirus deaths yesterday.
As Erica Hill reports, the positive trends are prompting more places to loosen restrictions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reopening 2021 brought to you by vaccines and falling case numbers.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Yesterday, CDC reported 17,724 new cases of COVID-19, the lowest daily case numbers since June 2020.
HILL: Hospitalizations and deaths also dropping. These 15 states did not report a single COVID-related death on Monday. ANDY SLAVITT, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER FOR COVID-19 RESPONSE: We're
winning with the war on the virus, and we need you to help us finish the job.
HILL: Nearly 60 percent of the adult population in the U.S. has now had at least one shot. In less than a week, more than 600,000 12 to 15-year-olds got their first vaccine.
Kentucky's governor urging kids in his state to do the same.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY: We need your help to protect people. We need your help to overcome a challenge that we adults can't do on our own.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three.
HILL: Ohio's governor noting a major boost in vaccinations on the heels of that FDA authorization for 12 to 15-year-olds and his state's new Vax-a-Million plan announced last week will award five $1 million prizes to vaccinated Ohioans.
GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: Last Friday, May 14th, was the highest day of shots administered in the last three weeks.
HILL: The CDC warning in a new report that low vaccination rates in rural areas could prolong the pandemic. The nation's top infectious disease expert embracing the CDC's latest guidance.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: I am now much more comfortable in people seeing me indoors without a mask.
HILL: California won't adopt that guidance for another month, but fully vaccinated New Yorkers can drop the masks and distancing tomorrow.
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: If you're vaccinated, you win freedom. It's as simple as that.
HILL: Baltimore not ready to loosen restrictions despite Maryland dropping its statewide mandate last week.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a little confusing county versus city.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL (on camera): And, Jake, in Texas, requiring masks could earn counties, public health officials and even school districts a $1,000 fine. Governor Greg Abbott today signing an executive order which bans mask mandates from state governmental entities.
Now in public schools, they can still be required through June 4th, but after that date, you can not require a mask regardless of the person's age or vaccination status. Texas, of course, got rid of its statewide mask mandate on March 2nd, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Erica Hill, thanks so much. The world watch as MAGA insurrectionists and terrorists attacked the
U.S. Capitol and how, House Leader Kevin McCarthy is pushing to stop a bipartisan commission to investigate what happened. Why? What is McCarthy so afraid of? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:59:19]
TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.
This hour, the violence in the Middle East continues. CNN is live on the ground as pressure grows on President Biden from his party's progressive base to more forcefully and publicly demand a cease-fire.
Plus, will the games ever begin? New calls for cancellations of the 2020 Olympics with COVID cases in Tokyo surging.
And leading this hour. A blow to the effort to get to the bottom of what really happened on January 6th when a Trump-inspired mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. Today, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy announced he opposes an inquiry into the attack after a group of bipartisan members of Congress negotiated an independent commission.
