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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Israel and Hamas Reach Ceasefire Agreement; Body Camera Shows Black Man Tased, Kicked and Dragged By Louisiana Troopers Before His Death; GOP Support for Jan. 6 Commission Dwindling After McConnell, McCarthy Announce Opposition; Cases, Deaths, Hospitalization Drop As More People Get Vaccinated; LAPD Looking Into Violent Altercation Outside Restaurant as Possible Anti-Semitic Hate Crime. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 20, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:02]

DANIEL ALONSO, FORMER PROSECUTOR: The attorney general joining makes it more streamlined --

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Yeah.

ALONSO: -- makes the team -- adds experts to the team. So it's a good thing.

BLACKWELL: All right. Daniel Alonso, thank you so much for your insight and expertise.

So, we wrap it up here.

THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Well done.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: An off-ramp in the Middle East.

THE LEAD starts right now.

Breaking news, a ceasefire agreement after more than a week of carnage in the Middle East, and after President Biden began to take a much tougher tone publicly with the Israelis.

And after Mitch McConnell turns tail and takes cover behind Donald Trump, will enough Senate Republicans vote in favor of a commission to investigate the deadly attack on their own workplace?

Plus, newly obtained two-year-old body cam video shows Louisiana state troopers tasing, beating and dragging a black man during a deadly arrest, none of which was mentioned in their initial report.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. We begin with breaking news. A ceasefire agreement between Israel and

Hamas. Israel says it has agreed to a mutual ceasefire and a senior Hamas leader has confirmed to CNN that the group, which the State Department labeled as terrorist, has also agreed. Israel says the ceasefire will go into effect at a time to be agreed upon later. This comes after 11 days of deadly fighting. We're covering this from Israel to Washington, D.C.

Let's start with CNN's senior diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, who's on the ground in Ashdod, Israel.

Nic, what are you learning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: A ceasefire has been broken by Egyptian officials. The details of it are not clear except that it's expected that the ceasefire should come into effect in three hours time from now.

We just got a very short statement here from Benny Gantz, Israel's defense minister. And he says the security forces, Israel's security forces have achieved unprecedented military achievements in the last 11 days in their strength, accuracy, strategic significance in the fight against terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. He goes on to say the defense establishment continues its readiness to protect Israeli citizens of the security forces and IDF are deployed in the field in all formations in various sectors in defense and in attack.

Fifteen minutes ago, sirens were going off close to Gaza. We could hear impacts in the distance. This is all dependent on Hamas' weapons falling silent before 2:00 a.m. local, three hours from now. If they don't, Israel is indicating this is on again. They will strike Hamas back.

TAPPER: Nic, what can you tell us about reaction on the ground to this news?

ROBERTSON: You know, Jake, about two hours ago, sirens went off. We went into the bomb shelter to this -- in this hotel. I'm giving you that background because in there I spoke to a lady live on CNN and asked her what she thought about, what she wanted the prime minister to do while she was meeting with that security cabinet.

She said she want the strikes to continue. She lives in the south part of Israel. She is worried about Hamas' strength and more rockets coming from Gaza.

She's not alone. A lot of people around here will tell you that they want to feel secure. They want their government to make them feel secure. And they believe the way to do that is to continue to hit Hamas until they can't strike back.

I asked what about the civilian casualties in Gaza. Her answer on that was along the lines of we need to be secure. They need to understand that, you know, Hamas is using their territory to launch attacks here.

TAPPER: All right. Nic, thanks so much. Stay safe. Let's turn to CNN's chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins

now.

And, Kaitlan, President Biden is expecting to have some reaction to this news?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He is, once the White House has confirmed it. So, Jake, it appears they have not confirmed yet. I think there's a lot of phone calls probably happening right now. But we are told we will get a statement from President Biden once the White House has confirmed that this ceasefire is actually happening.

And this comes after just, you know, about an hour ago, we were in the same room as President Biden, as he was signing that hate crimes bill. We asked if he was confident a cease fire was going to come today. He did not respond to those questions, Jake.

But I think one sign that the White House felt that this was something that could happen is earlier today, he spoke with the Egyptian president for the first time since taking office. And, of course, the Egyptians played a key role in securing ceasefire back in 2014. That was the last time we saw violence as bad as what we've seen over the last 10 and 11 days.

And so, they spoke about getting a ceasefire. They agreed to stay in touch, the Egyptians and the Americans about getting toward this. And the White House wouldn't say earlier, Jake, if they felt they had made that progress that Biden had called for during that phone conversation with Netanyahu yesterday, where he said he wanted to see significant de-escalation on a path to a cease fire.

[16:05:09]

And so, we are waiting to hear from them, Jake. We should note we do not believe there have been any other conversations between the Israelis -- between Israeli prime minister and President Biden directly since that blunt phone call yesterday, which we were told was probably one of the most frank and candid, ever since Biden has taken office, and those calls have been happening between the two of them, really giving you an indication of his growing impatience with the violence that is happening, and wanting it to come to an end.

TAPPER: Yeah, sources tell me White House officials were determined to not have this conflict last as long as the one in 2014, between Israel and Hamas. That one lasted 50 days. This is 11. Hopefully, the ceasefire will hold.

What are sources telling you about Biden's shift in tone and whether or not he thinks that is a reason for the ceasefire?

COLLINS: Well, I think that he's hoping that that was what was going to -- what was going to happen, because remember, he had been pretty quiet for a few days, not calling for a ceasefire, even though lawmakers were pressuring him to do so. You were seeing several U.S. allies try to call for one. And, one key part of that, Jake, was that they were worried about

calling for a ceasefire, calling pressuring Netanyahu to impose a ceasefire and then not getting one, because essentially then you lose the leverage to still call for one as a major ally of Israel.

I do think, Jake, going forward, even if this ceasefire is confirmed by the White House, there are going to be big questions about what this looks like with policy going forward inside the Democratic Party because what the last several days have shown is there is a big rift inside the Democratic Party over to how to have a favorable stance toward Netanyahu with several progressives telling Biden, even to his face, as you saw with Rashida Tlaib in Michigan the other day that they want him to be more critical, even though he has had a very favorable stance towards Netanyahu for decades in his political career.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

We're joined now by CNN global affairs analyst Aaron David Miller. He's a former State Department and Middle East negotiator.

Also with us in studio, CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger.

Aaron, let me start with you. Your reaction to the ceasefire agreement?

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Great for the people of Gaza, for sure, if it holds, and for the people of Israel. I mean, I don't think there's any doubt that it was a combination of Biden's honey, standing by the Israelis for the first period of this, and vinegar, the application of pressure over the last 48 hours that led the Israelis to stand down.

I think this would have continued for several days longer. And as long as it did continue, you really risked the chance of a mass casualty event on either side. Mr. Netanyahu wanted a big, political victory, perhaps the killing of Mohammed Deif, who they long sought to get rid of. And Hamas was looking for an end of conflict spectacular.

Hopefully, all of that is going to be avoided and the ceasefire will hold.

Last point, ceasefires are made to be broken. So, let's see what the reality on the ground plays out in this.

TAPPER: And, Aaron, just a follow here. According to the Israelis, the ceasefire is going to start at a time to be determined later. Does that surprise you?

MILLER: Well, it's worrisome. Hamas issued a statement saying this was a mutual and simultaneous ceasefire. They wanted to avoid the reality that they would go first, the political problem they would go first. The fact that it's supposed to take effect in three hours and you have a statement if the Israelis indicating TBD is concerning.

But again, you could go through a few false starts on this before it's secured. I hope that's not the case. But it certainly is possible.

TAPPER: And, Gloria, President Biden has been increasing the pressure.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yep.

TAPPER: Especially privately but a touch publicly. Not really all that much, though, on Netanyahu to negotiate a ceasefire.

My sources have been telling me the Biden philosophy is don't get into a big, ugly spat with Netanyahu because you lose influence with him. That's what happened with Obama.

So, assuming the ceasefire holds, did this work?

BORGER: Yeah, if it holds, of course, you know, is the big question. But I think what the White House has been talking about and we've heard them say it for days now, is quiet, intense diplomacy. Nothing with Joe Biden is quiet but I can guarantee you it was pretty intense. And you saw how it ratcheted up over the last number of phone calls, and we got readouts about it every day.

And you see that Biden did not want to get into a kind of a spat like Barack Obama did with Netanyahu. You'll remember, Netanyahu came to the floor of the House and railed against the Iran nuclear deal.

TAPPER: Yeah.

BORGER: Right here. I think Biden went through that. They had their issues but they know how to talk to each other and also let them know, I'm sure, that the Democratic Party has changed tremendously and that he may not have the support he once thought he had in Congress.

TAPPER: Yeah. And, Aaron, take us through -- take us inside these negotiations. How does a ceasefire agreement such as this one come together?

MILLER: Well, it's not a traditional --

[16:10:03]

TAPPER: We lost Aaron.

Let me, Gloria, until we get Aaron back, this is -- this has been one of Biden's first and biggest foreign policy tests. And I think it's fair to say that he has distinguished himself, again, regardless whether or not ceasefire holds, as different from his former boss, President Obama.

BORGER: Well, he has a lot more experience in this, quite frankly, from day one. Don't forget, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, former vice president, understands how to talk to foreign leaders. Bibi Netanyahu is a known quantity to Joe Biden.

So they can be very frank with each other. And I think what we saw was starting out, okay, Bibi, this isn't -- this isn't what we want. We've got to figure out a way for this to end. And he had to find a way for Netanyahu to get to yes, I think.

And if he had made a big public kerfuffle about this, it could have backfired on him because Netanyahu might have flexed his muscle more. So, I think Biden is clearly -- and his foreign policy team were clearly calculating about the best way to get to a ceasefire, and they were coming under a lot of pressure, as you know, from Democrats like Bernie Sanders, who were saying you've got to do this. You've got to -- you've got to make this stop. So, he did it in his own way, on his own timetable.

TAPPER: He also, I think -- we can't overstate that he was under pressure from not just the far left progressives, like Rashida Tlaib and other progressive who I think is questionable even if they think Israel has a right to exist.

BORGER: Right.

TAPPER: But more moderate senators like Tim Kaine or even Chuck Schumer, people who traditionally support Israel, who didn't want to watch against as Israel conducted airstrikes on Gaza in a way that these Democrats perceive to be disproportionate.

BORGER: Right, exactly, disproportionate. And I think that that is exactly what Biden was probably telling Netanyahu, that there's no blank check here, that there has to be accountability here. People are seeing these pictures. People are seeing what's going on. And I am not Barack Obama. I am Joe Biden.

TAPPER: Right.

BORGER: And you can talk to me about this. And we can get to a place where we can come to some agreement.

So, it's very different from the Obama administration when basically Bibi Netanyahu thumbed his nose at Barack Obama. I don't think he's going to do that at Joe Biden. He doesn't have the supporter all in all the time that he had with Donald Trump, obviously. So, Biden is going to be more nuanced in his attitude and his foreign policy.

TAPPER: Yeah, two guys that have been on the world stage for a long time.

BORGER: Yep.

TAPPER: We can't forget that Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972.

BORGER: Do not forget.

TAPPER: Gloria Borger, thanks so much.

Aaron David Miller, sorry for the technical problem.

Police body cam video that took two years to surface showing a savage attack on a black man during a deadly arrest. Why was this video not released sooner? And Dr. Fauci giving new hints about when you might need your booster

COVID shot.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:23]

TAPPER: In our national lead now, an explosive body camera video that makes you wonder how long Louisiana state police would have taken to release specifics, true specifics of a black man killed by troopers more than two years ago.

This is Ronald Greene. He was 49 years old at the time. His family says police have been covering up details since day one. Initially, Louisiana state trooper claimed that his car crashed into a tree during a chase in May 10, 2019, in Union Parish in northern Louisiana. Police went on to say that Greene became unresponsive shortly after being taken into custody after resisting arrest.

But the body cam video obtained by "The Associated Press" shows troopers beating Greene. I want to play some of the video, but a warning now, it is graphic.

Here is clip one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me see your hands, mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Come here, mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm scared. I'm your brother. I'm scared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That's clip one.

In clip two, Greene is out of the car, and troopers begin tasing him. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taser, Taser, Taser. Put your hands behind your back.

(INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands behind your back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God (EXPLETIVE DELETED) get up here. You better not move. You better not move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you all right?

(INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: "The A.P." posted three clips about two minutes in total length. Clip three, which we'll show you right now, may be the worst part. "The A.P." does not explain why there's no audio. Troopers have Greene handcuffed and shackled by his legs, and then Louisiana state troopers are seen dragging Greene on the ground, face down.

[16:20:06]

Police claim that Greene died on his way to the hospital. "The A.P." says a longer 46-minute recording exist. CNN has not reviewed that.

Once again, it's the video revealing an entirely different account from what law enforcement initially described, entirely different.

And as CNN's Josh Campbell reports, the Ronald Greene case is, sadly, just the latest on a very long list.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George Floyd, Walter Scott, Breonna Taylor, Laquan McDonald, just a few names of black people dying at the hands of police officers, police whose initial narratives were found to be inaccurate once video surfaced, telling the real story.

The official police report documenting the arrest of George Floyd simply stated, officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance.

No mention of Floyd being handcuffed, with a knee on his neck for over nine minutes.

Walter Scott pulled over by Police Officer Michael Slager for a broken taillight in South Carolina in 2015 was shot in the back five times. Slager initially claim he shot Scott because he feared for his life after Scott grabbed his Taser, but video showed Slager shooting him in the back from 17 feet away, according to prosecutors, then dropping his Taser by Scott's body.

CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD POLICE SERGEANT: What we see again, time and time again, are officers punishing black folks who run, who don't comply, who don't comply quick enough.

CAMPBELL: Breonna Taylor, a black EMT, was shot and killed by Louisville police officers in March of last year during a botched raid on her apartment. The initial police report stated there were no injuries and no forced entry. Taylor was shot at least eight times, and police used a battering ram to execute their no-knock warrant.

In Chicago, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot when he walked away if police on a side street while holding a knife. Chicago Officer Jason Van Dyke initially said McDonald raised a knife at him. At no point on the video released a year later was McDonald seen lifting the knife in the manner Van Dyke described.

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: The length of time it took to release the tape, lying in the initial reports by the officers, all of these things, that's part of a cover-up.

CAMPBELL: Without the emergence of cell phone video and release of body cam footage, these officers' stories would remain the final word.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL (on camera): Now we know when it comes to Ronald Greene, his death in Louisiana is being investigated by the civil rights division of the Justice Department as well as the FBI, where you hope to get more fidelity on what exactly transpired. But, Jake, this is just the latest example of an incident raising questions when you compare what police initially said with what is exactly on the video.

And when it comes to police body camera footage, it's worth pointing out there are still departments in the United States that do not have body cameras for their officers. There's no national mandate. Even in those instances, Jake, where you have someone who dies in the custody of an officer with a camera, it can be sometimes be months, sometimes even years before that's released publicly.

TAPPER: Two years for this one. Josh Campbell, thanks so much.

Let's bring in Dimitri Roberts. He served as a Chicago police officer.

Also with us, DeRay McKesson. He's cofounder of the organization for police reform. It's called Campaign Zero.

Dimitri, let me start with you. Your reaction to this video in the Ronald Greene case, why it's taken so long for the public to see it and why it's so different from the initial report from the law enforcement officers. DIMITRI ROBERTS, FORMER CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER: Well, it's obvious to

everybody, Jake, that what we see on camera is Mr. Greene getting murdered. It's as simple as that. And how do you really respond when we're watching somebody getting murdered, and the Louisiana state officials saying that they don't have any statement to make?

That is cowardice at its finest. And we just can't stand for it any more. But my initial reaction is the same reaction as those across this country, including Mr. Greene's family. And it's deplorable, and it's horrific and it should not be going on in this country at all.

TAPPER: DeRay, what's your reaction to the actions of these troopers? They knew that the body cameras were working.

DERAY MCKESSON, HOST, "POD SAVE THE PEOPLE": Yeah. There are a couple of things come to mind. First is remember that Louisiana is one of the 20 states as a police officer bill of rights, state-level protections that protect the police from accountability. So, in Louisiana, those officers couldn't even be interrogated for 30 days after that incident because state law prohibits it. They destroy police officer disciplinary records and complaints in Louisiana.

And even in the municipalities, Baton Rouge is a particularly bad example of a police shooting contract and city policies that are bad.

[16:25:05]

So, that's like the first, the structural issues in Louisiana.

The second is I'm reminded that police have killed at least 380 people that we know of this year, and those are coded as killings. This was essentially a medical emergency, right? It wasn't sort of coded as a killing in any of the databases because the initial reports didn't suggest that there was any wrongdoing, that he just sort of died while he was being transported.

The third thing, Jake, goes exactly to what you said, is that research on body cameras is clear. The body cameras might do good things, they might lead to accountability and things like that. What we know they don't do is they don't actually change officer behaviors.

Those officers knew they had cameras on. That didn't make them kinder, nicer, gentler, more humane at all, right? So, you think about -- imagine if you had a job where it was impossible to get in trouble. That's what policing is.

People often say police are above the law. They're not above the law. They have their own laws. They have a whole different set of policies and practices that protect and enable this behavior time and time again.

So, sadly, I was not surprised. We'll see, though, will any Louisiana legislators stand up and do something? Who knows?

TAPPER: Dimitri, on the same day of this incident, this is how law enforcement described what happened. Quote, Greene was taken into custody after resisting arrest in a

struggle with troopers. A short time later, Greene became unresponsive and was transported to Glenwood Medical Center by Pafford Medical Service. Greene died while en route to Glenwood medical center, unquote.

How on earth does a law enforcement department release a statement like that?

ROBERTS: Because they're full of -- let me not get too emotional on your show, Jake. They're full of it, and they know it. They wanted to cover this up from the beginning.

Listen, as an officer who has worked in one of the highest crime areas in the country, I know what it looks like to cross the line. I also know what it feels like to have your adrenaline pumping after a high- speed chase, to be dealing with a combative suspect, all of those things.

But these folks went beyond crossing the line. That was done with intent. They murdered Mr. Greene. And then they covered it up. Those are the facts.

And, of course, they're not going to want to release the body cam or wait until the administration changed so they can cover their asses. That's not acceptable any more.

What I said I'll say it again, we have to clean house in these police agencies. The racist behaviors, nefarious activities and those officers that are doing things like this, that are bringing shame about a bad name to the badge and the honor that thousands, if not tens of thousands of other thoughtful law enforcement and caring law enforcement officers are taken on every day, and they're doing the job right is bringing shame to their name and all of our names and the oath we took before God and this country.

And they need to -- they need to be in jail, Jake. We've got to do something about it. We've got to stop talking. It's time to take some action.

TAPPER: And, DeRay, let's talk about that, because there are a lot of really good, well-meaning officers who went into law enforcement to try to protect their communities.

Do you think, however, that the police departments want to have this kind of transparency so as to, you know, reward the good officers and weed out the bad ones?

MCKESSON: Yeah, I'm less interested in what motivated you to get to the job. I'm more interested in how you act on the job. So, what's interesting about these officers, same thing in Baltimore, with the Gun Trace Task Force, it's impossible officers act like this and nobody knows. I just don't believe it.

So, when people talk to me about the good cops, there is no way that officers are doing things like this and people, their peers in the departments don't know. I used to work in school systems, we all knew who the not great teachers were. Everybody knows.

So, when I think about like if this was my brother, if this was my sister, I would want somebody who just knew to say something. I would want somebody to stand up. So, I'm not convinced by the idea of like the good people who are also in the profession see this, because we see time and time again that these people don't operate -- they can't do it alone. There's a system that allows this to happen.

There's somebody else saw this body camera footage. There are people who read their reports. There's somebody who examined the body.

Like there's a host of people who had to participate or knew something was questionable about this, and we didn't hear from those people until now. So I'm worried about that.

The second thing is we've been here before. The protests began in 2014. We've seen viral video every year come out. And what have we seen be the response from legislators? Not much, right?

So, you know, at this point, I'm in a place of like will the people in Louisiana stand? Will the governor do something? Who knows? He didn't really do much last time.

Will the state legislature do something? I don't know. Like that's where the pressure is. That's -- we should -- you should get them on the show. You should get the governor on the show and ask him what will he do, because that's where the power is at this point. Will he challenge the policing or not?

[16:30:01]

ROBERTS: DeRay, it's not going to matter. It's not going to matter. I hate to cut you off. It's not going to matter.

We can get all of those folks on. And it's just going to be more talk, DeRay.

You put your life on the line. You've been arrested. You've been out here on the front lines. So have I. We've got to do something about this.

Jake, thank you so much for bringing these issues to the national spotlight.

(CROSSTALK)

MCKESSON: Not the same.

ROBERTS: We will very soon, but my point is --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Let me just give DeRay --

ROBERTS: Bringing the governor on and folks on will be more talk, Jake.

TAPPER: DeRay, final thought from you? MCKESSON: Yeah. I just think that in doing this across the country,

most of the powers and state legislators in the municipal offices, we need those people to step up and do something. You should press the governor, the legislature. Police are not stepping up. All these supposed good cops who exist are also not stepping up. We got to press the other people.

TAPPER: All right. Well, that sound you hear, my booker calling the office of the governor. We'll let you know if he agrees to come on to talk about this.

Dimitri and DeRay, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

Coming up, the fate of the January 6th is now in the hands of the very folks who voted to acquit Donald Trump for inciting that same insurrection. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:59]

TAPPER: In our policy lead, the bipartisan January 6th Commission now in the hands of the U.S. Senate where it looks like it will not pass. Today, key senators following Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's lead after McConnell announced his opposition to the creation of the committee yesterday, claiming that the bipartisan bill is not fair to the Republicans because the Democratic chair would be in charge of staffing for the committee, which is 50/50 Democrat/Republican.

Instead of McConnell offering up a solution to those concerns, which frankly seem fairly simple enough to fix, McConnell has decided to torpedo the commission all together.

Quite the change from his impassioned comments on the Senate floor just hours after the capitol insurrection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: We will not be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs or threats. We will not bow to lawlessness or intimidation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also fully unapologetically embraced the big lie. His call with President Trump as the MAGA terrorists were storming the Capitol expected to be part of that commission's inquiry.

Today, McCarthy talked about it.

CNN's Ryan Nobles joins me now.

And, Ryan, what did McCarthy have to say?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the first time, Jake, McCarthy said if you were called in front of this commission to testify that he would be willing to do it. Now, he didn't elaborate on his faults. When asked if he would come forward and testify he simply said yes, next question. And it is interesting that McCarthy is now taking this bold stand that he'd be willing to testify after it seems as though Republicans are now in a position to effectively kill this commission.

McCarthy also went even further, criticizing Speaker Nancy Pelosi for leaving open the option of forming a special select committee to investigate the January 6th incident if for some reason this commission does not pass through the Congress. He said that she was making the process political which, of course, is interesting, given the way McCarthy has conducted himself in this process over the past couple of days -- Jake.

TAPPER: Ryan, if this dies in the Senate, as -- frankly it looks like will happen. What happens then?

NOBLES: Yeah, that's the big question. It goes back to this power that the House speaker would have to form an additional committee that would be able to have subpoena power on call witnesses and investigate the events of January 6th.

Now, this is something that Nancy Pelosi has kept very close to the vest. She has said many times when asked if she would take that route that instead she wants the bipartisan commission to be the independent commission to be the path that she goes down. But she was asked about it today in a press conference, and she was very calculating in her answer, saying that she wants Republicans -- she wants to give them the opportunity to pass this commission, but she reminded them that the speaker of the house does have the power to form a committee such as this.

So, she's not saying she's going down that route but, Jake, she is clearly leaving that option open.

TAPPER: All right. Ryan Nobles, thanks so much.

COVID vaccine booster shots might be coming. But when?

What Dr. Fauci is saying now. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:43:44]

TAPPER: The fight against the coronavirus tops our health lead today. And we are seeing more positive trends as cases, deaths and hospitalizations in the United States decline and vaccinations increase, but, but there are wide variations in just who is getting vaccinated and where they live.

CNN's Erica Hill looks at the trends.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The push is on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a deep breath please.

HILL: A high school gym now a vaccination site.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To see my grandparents again. It's been a long time.

HILL: Shots in arms at Richmond's Raceway.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't believe it, like I can't wait to go to a music festival.

HILL: While in Minneapolis, they're on the move, to meet people where they are.

KECIA HAYSLETT, REGISTERED NURSE: I want to make sure our community is aware of things that are available to them so that they could feel safe.

HILL: Just 22 percent of black Americans have gotten a shot, according to a new analysis of CDC data, compared with 29 percent of Hispanics and a third of white Americans. Native and Asian-Americans have the highest vaccination rates.

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN OF EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT GRADY: We've got to continue vaccinating. The more we can vaccinate people, the better it can be.

HILL: At least half the adults in D.C. are now fully vaccinated.

[16:45:02]

Maine has fully vaccinated more than half of its total population, the first state to reach that milestone. Mississippi has the lowest record. And is the only state to see a rise in average new cases over the past week.

DR. COLLEEN KRAFT, ASSOCIATE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: The longer that we're perpetuating cases and transmission, the more likely we will need a booster.

HILL: But a booster isn't a bad thing.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI,L BIDEN CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER: When you get a booster, you increase dramatically the level of antibodies that would be protected.

HILL: Meantime new efforts to ban school mask requirements in Iowa and Utah, even for kids too young to get the vaccine. This, as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend kids continue to mask up in spaces until they can be vaccinated.

KRAFT: If we wear a mask, we're going to just prevent that transmission. So, it's unclear to me sort of the rationale behind that decision. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL (on camera): Jake, one other note on a booster shot. You heard from Dr. Fauci, we could eventually need one. After we heard from the CEO of Pfizer yesterday that it could be needed in 8 to 12 months, Dr. Fauci a short time ago telling CNN we simply don't know when or if it could be needed and stressing that you don't want to put a time on it. We need to watch and see what happens with the vaccines, and that will determine when and if that booster is needed, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Erica Hill, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Mideast tensions possibly inflaming hatred here in the United States, an attack at a restaurant now being investigated as an anti-Semitic hate crime.

Stay with us.

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[16:50:49]

TAPPER: In our national lead today, as news about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict spreads throughout the world, tensions are rising in communities outside of the Middle East.

The LAPD confirms to CNN that they're investigating an altercation at a restaurant as a possible hate crime. Video of the incident shows a group of apparently pro-Palestinian men getting out of their cars, draped in Palestinian flags, and then attacking Jewish diners on Tuesday night. We want to warn viewers what you're about to see might be disturbing.

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TAPPER: I'm not sure what you could discern through the beeping, but you might have heard one of those men say Israel kills children. A woman eating at that restaurant told CNN they were also -- that the men were also yelling, quote, dirty Jew, death to Israel.

CNN's Nick Watt joins us from outside that restaurant.

Nick, what else are you hearing and what is the LAPD saying about this hate crime?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the LAPD is calling this an altercation, Jake. For now they say they confirmed to us this incident is being investigated as a potential hate crime. That, they say, could change as the investigation rolls on.

But the mayor of Los Angeles tweeted very unequivocally, he said that this was an organized anti-Semitic attack and he said, we will respond with the full force of the law. Now, this incident left five people with minor injuries. Three suspects, we are told, left in a Jeep. But, obviously, it is what was potentially said that is also of great concern here. Now, in the video, you can see some cars driving along this street,

horns being beeped, flags, Palestinian flags. As you mentioned, we hear one man say "Israel kills children and women every day." then some curses are thrown back at them from the sidewalk. Then this altercation begins.

Now, one woman told us she heard the words "dirty Jew." She said bottles were being thrown at the people dining outside. One person was asking who's Jewish. Another woman said she fled inside and heard people saying "F Israel, F Jews."

She says she eats at this restaurant every week and it's very, very scary to see such violence in your own neighborhood -- Jake.

TAPPER: Yeah, it's terrifying.

Nick, what are civil rights group saying about this incident?

WATT: Well, the Anti-Defamation League, Jake, has offered a reward in trying to track down these people. They're also saying that they've seen since tensions have been inflamed in the Middle East, an increase in anti-Semitic incidents both in person and online in this country. In one week, they say that they found 17,000 references on social media, on -- variations of Hitler was right.

Now, the Council on American Islamic Relations has also condemned this attack, and said no matter what happens in the Middle East, it is never acceptable for that violence to land on the streets in this country -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Nick, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up, police body cam video that took two years to surface, showing a shocking attack on a black man, deadly arrest from the, far different from the police report.

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

This hour, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. We're live on the ground in Jerusalem and we expect President Biden to speak this hour.

Plus, Democrats bracing for a possible announcement from Speaker Pelosi as to whether or not she wants to remain the top House Democrat. What are we learning about her time line? And who might replace her?

And leading this hour, disturbing videos of Louisiana state troopers tasing, kicking, and even dragging a black man named Ronald Greene, who later that night died.

The videos are raising questions about the details of the arrest that police left out. An initial report police say Greene crashed into a tree after a chase with police outside Monroe, Louisiana. Police say Greene resisted arrest and became unresponsive shortly after being taken into custody. But now, "The Associated Press" has obtained and released just over two minutes of police body cam video from the interaction. And in those videos, you can hear Greene saying he's scared and that he's sorry.

"The A.P." reports that Greene was left bloodied, lying face down, moaning for more than nine minutes.