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The Lead with Jake Tapper

White House: Russian Invasion Of Ukraine "Could Begin At Any Time"; Ontario Declares State Of Emergency In Wake Of Protests; Biden, Dems On Edge As More Americans Disapprove Of Economy; Biden, Dems on Edge as More Americans Disapprove of Economy; More States Remove Indoor Mask mandates. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired February 11, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did it work?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yep.

DEBORAH PETERSON, TEACHER'S AIDE: Then I opened the card up and he said, will you go to dinner with me at David's Saturday at 6:00? I said, of course, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did you pick the Cathy's (ph) place?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Because that's where I (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: He also gave her a rose and a valentine's card.

And THE LEAD with Jake Tapper starts right now.

(MUSIC)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The White House now says we are in an urgent situation with the possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.

THE LEAD starts right now.

The Biden administration telling people to leave immediately saying Russia could launch an invasion in Ukraine at any moment.

Then a state of emergency, Canadian lawmakers trying to get things moving as U.S. automakers are being forced to use charter planes to get much-needed parts to their American plans.

And shooting that seems terrifyingly similar to the Ahmaud Arbery case, except, thankfully, this victim survived.

(BEGIIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After they fired the initial shots, they continued to chase me out of the city, again I say so. If they didn't succeed the first time, then I would only imagine what they were going to do if they had caught me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: A black FedEx driver chased down and shot by two white men while delivering packages in Mississippi. And now, he is speaking out.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Hello, and welcome to THE LEAD.

And we begin this hour, of course, with breaking news, an urgent warning from the White House that Russia could invade Ukraine at any moment.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan just a short time ago announcing that the West cannot predict Russia President Vladimir Putin's next move, but that the situation is more dire than ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We are not saying that a decision has been taken. A final decision has been taken by President Putin. What we are saying is that we have a sufficient level of concern based on what we are seeing on the ground and what our intelligence analysts have picked up, that we are sending this clear message. Yes, it is an urgent message because we are in an urgent situation. Russia has always all the forces it needs to conduct a major military action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Sullivan echoing what President Biden said yesterday urging any American in Ukraine to leave that country now. Sullivan also warning Russia today and saying -- warning that Russia could choose to launch a, quote, rapid assault on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv where nearly 3 million people live.

President Biden spoke today with European and NATO leaders to discuss the growing threat. He's expected to call President Putin tomorrow, a source tells CNN. We are covering this story across the globe.

Alex Marquardt is live for us from Central Ukraine. Kylie Atwood is at the U.S. State Department. CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House.

Kaitlan, let me start with you. How drastic is this change in tone from the White House today?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Quite drastic. I mean, Jake, they have been warning that this is a possibility. But remember just last week, the White House made the intentional decision to stop using the word "imminent," to describe the likelihood of an attack because they felt like they were sending the wrong message. And now, today, you have the national security adviser coming out and telling Americans if they are still in Ukraine, they need to get out in the next 24 to 48 hours.

And, Jake, we are told this warning and these warnings that this kind of attack could happen well before the Olympics and is coming after there was an abruptly scheduled meeting in the Situation Room last night with the president's top security aides and President Biden himself at times, as they are now offering warnings about what they think could happen and how quickly things can happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The way he has built up his forces and put them in place, along with the other indicators that we have collected through intelligence makes it clear to us that there is a very distinctive possibility that Russia will choose to act militarily and there is reason to believe that that could happen on a reasonably swift time frame.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, Jake, they said they can't pinpoint what that time frame is going to look like. But they did say the possibilities of what an invasion could look like. That's why they are offering grim warnings to Americans who are still there saying that there will be no large scale military evaluation, kind of the similar to the one that you saw in Afghanistan. You will not see that happen in Ukraine.

According to the president's top team and they're also saying that could involve aerial bombings, that could involve missile strikes, that invasion, if Putin does decide to go in. Though he said the assessment still stands that they do not believe he has made a final decision. And, of course, that comes as President Biden is scheduled to speak with Putin tomorrow. That, Jake, that will be their first conversation since the end of December.

TAPPER: Alex, National Security Adviser Sullivan said that Russia has all the forces it needs to attack Ukraine. What are you hearing from the Ukrainian government today?

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, you are not seeing nearly the same level of alarm as you're hearing from the United States. We're not getting briefings from Ukrainian national security officials like the ones that we're getting from NATO national security officials, that's not to say that they're dismissing it. They're taking this very seriously but they're not speaking with the same ominous tones as NATO officials are.

[16:05:06]

Now, Ukraine is soon to be facing Russian military action on three different fronts. The Ukrainian foreign minister saying today that they are demanding an answer from Russia as to exactly what their troops are up to, even if they were get to answer, you can imagine Russia is just going to say that we're just carrying out exercises, some of the biggest exercises since the Cold War.

Ukraine's national security council has said that they are very much on the lockout for instances of provocation, which Russia has used in the past to justify military action. They think that that could be a pre-text for invasion. The U.S. has said the same thing and talked about some of the plans that the Russians may have.

But at the same time, the spokesman for the president here, Zelensky, said that the security situation has not risen to a high enough level to justify these travel advisories for Americans in other countries to justify the drawdowns at other embassies and the defense ministry is saying we have seen reports like this before. We have heard noises like this before.

Jake, can I tell you on the street, it is -- we are hearing similar things. This is just after 11:00 at night on a Friday night. It feels like a Friday night. People are in the bars, in the restaurants. I have spoken with Ukrainians. My colleagues have spoken with Ukrainians in Kyiv.

They are saying, we're not worried. It's not something we are thinking about. So, Jake, there does remain still a great disparity, a real difference between the attitudes of Ukrainians both on the street and officials than that of NATO capitals both in Europe and the U.S., Jake.

TAPPER: And, Kylie Atwood at the State Department, what is the Biden administration doing for Americans on the ground in Ukraine if they want to leave?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, we've just learned that the State Department is actually picking up the phone and calling Americans in Ukraine. I just spoke with one a few minutes ago saying he got the phone call from the State Department asking him about his plans to leave the country. Now, he is not leaving the country, but the State Department want to make sure him and his family have seen all of the very explicit messages.

The State Department has put out for some time now dating back to last year, and then, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan being very explicit about the kind of situation that Americans could face if they don't leave. And he said they should be leaving in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Those kind of risks that they are assuming include putting their own lives on the line because he said that if there were to be a Russian invasion into Ukraine, it would be carried out, most likely, with aerial bombings and with missiles that wouldn't discriminate. It kills civilians and that could include Americans -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to all three of you.

Joining us now live to discuss, a retired Air Force general and former NATO supreme allied commander for Europe, Philip Breedlove, and CNN global affairs, Susan Glasser.

General Breedlove, let me start with you. These new warnings from the White House, they're stark. Do you believe that Putin is going to order an invasion in Ukraine in the next few days? GEN. PHILIP BREEDLOVE, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, EUROPE:

Well, like others, I'm not going to speculate. Here's what is for sure. Mr. Putin has assembled all the capabilities he needs to execute several options. The option that is being talked about in the north in the Kyiv, one through the Donbas and one in the south, along Mariupol towards Crimea. So the bottom line is, people need to look at what Mr. Putin has available and take that very seriously.

TAPPER: But, General, historically, does he do this if he doesn't intend to invade?

BREEDLOVE: Well, he uses the tools that he assembles. I think he wants tie to accompli his goals without fighting here. He wants us to capitulate.

If you read the two documents that he sent to us and said sign them or else we will use other measures I think were the words at the time. All the time he has been assembling tools. Those tools have been rather administrative until about a week or so ago.

And now, they have been moving into tactical positions and they have been reinforced with all of the enablers that make them capable of doing what they're to do.

TAPPER: Susan Glasser, the Biden administration dramatically shifted its tone about the urgency of this threat just in the last day. What does that tell you?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, thanks, Jake.

I think, first of all, it does communicate quite clearly that they do not see viable prospects right now for a diplomatic end to this crisis. And this comes after a flurry of diplomatic activity, including the French President Macron flying to see Putin in person this week, the first Western leader to do so in the middle of this crisis. The result of that has not been any viable path for Putin to walk down. And that's why I think you are seeing so much more emphasis on the fact that the military units are not only in place along the border but moving into the potential for actual action to take place.

[16:10:00]

I have been very skeptical from the beginning that this was a real diplomatic outcome here possible because Putin has made such completely unrealistic demands. He's essentially asking NATO and the United States to turn back the clock. Not just to 1997 and NATO expansion, the first round of it. But in some ways turn back to the clock decades to the earlier period of the Cold War.

And this is just not obviously the kind of thing that you can negotiate with Vladimir Putin about. He doesn't believe that Ukraine is a legitimate independent state and that, of course, is at the heart of this crisis right now.

TAPPER: General Breedlove, the White House specifically is warning Americans in Ukraine to leave now. Biden said that if Americans choose to stay, the U.S. will not send in troops to get you. If Russia invades before some Americans can get out, could that be dire? Would they be in danger?

BREEDLOVE: Well, it depends on the option that he chooses. If he chooses the option in the center near option along the coast to Crimea, few Americans will probably be involved. If he chooses the option in the north and comes across the Belarusian border into the North towards Kyiv, then Americans are going to be at risk.

TAPPER: Susan, if Putin choosing to invade Ukraine before the Olympics wraps up, would that upset Chinese President Xi Jinping? Would that have a damaging effect on the China-Russia alliance right now?

GLASSER: Well, Jake, it's very significant Vladimir Putin flew outside the country and met with Xi Jinping. It's the first foreign leader that he has met with in two years of the COVID pandemic. They released an extraordinary 5,300-word document, if not outright alliance, certainly a strategic partnership against the West as they see it. And I think that clearly Putin would have communicated with Xi, some of his planning on Ukraine, and had a discussion on this very topic.

But you know Putin has used the cover of the Olympics before to take military action. So you can't rule it out when have you something like 130,000-plus Russian troops on the border right now with Ukraine.

TAPPER: And, General Breedlove, a senior defense official sells us that the Pentagon is ordering 3,000 additional American service members to deploy to Poland. Do you expect to see even larger increases in U.S. forces on the ground in the eastern flank of NATO?

BREEDLOVE: Well, I think this is a good decision, first of all, and I would do hope so, because Mr. Putin in one of his letters, one of the things he said he wanted less troops forward, less capability and less weapons forward. And by moving these troops forward, we are showing him he will get exactly what he didn't want if he carries on with his current actions.

So, if you keep moving towards invasion, you will you get more rather than less. And that, hopefully, will change his mind.

TAPPER: Susan, there's been so many efforts of diplomacy over the last week. You mentioned going to Putin. So many leaders trying to deescalate the situation, were those efforts just completely wasted? Is there any possibility of a diplomatic solution?

GLASSER: Well, you know, it's always I think jaw-jaw better than war- war up until the very last moment. Even then, beyond hat moment, it's important for dialogue to continue in that view of the Western allies. In fact, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was here in Washington and is currently scheduled still to go to see Vladimir Putin early next week as you mentioned, there is also a phone call that seems to be as soon as tomorrow between President Biden.

So, I don't anticipate that diplomatic efforts will end. It's just that right now, you heard what Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said. He said essentially it's the dialogue of the deaf right now. The two sides are not engaged in a meaningful back and forth.

TAPPER: General Breedlove, Susan Glasser, thanks to both of you.

Coming up, the trucker-inspired protests on the U.S.-Canada border are driving U.S. automakers to have to take drastic actions in hopes of getting back to work. That story, next.

Plus, a black FedEx driver shot at by a white father and son while delivering packages in Mississippi, according to police. Now, that driver is speaking out.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:39]

TAPPER: In our money lead today, a state of emergency has been declared in Ontario, Canada, as protesters there refuse to end their blockades. They're protesting COVID restrictions, north of the border.

Today, demonstrators briefly opened one lane of traffic at the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit, Michigan, at times two other access points have been blocked into North Dakota and Montana.

We should know how this started. Not with the 90 percent of Canadian truckers fully vaccinated according to that country's government and a fraction upset with Canada's mandate with truckers crossing into the U.S.

As CNN's Lucy Kafanov reports, other opponents of COVID restrictions who are not truckers latched on, and now, there are plans for similar protests in the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a battle that started over vaccine mandates for truck drivers entering Canada, now a state of emergency in Ontario, Canada, the premier pushing back against blocking border crossings.

DOUG FORD, PREMIER OF ONTARIO: It is illegal and punishable to block and impede the movement of goods, people and services along critic infrastructure.

KAFANOV: Truckers protesting on the Canadian side of the border now facing legal action.

DOMINIC LEBLANC, CANADIAN MINISTER OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS: We think that that will help remove the illegal block aids at border crossings that have trapped not only the Canadian economy, but thousands of jobs that depend on that very active cross-border trade.

[16:20:06]

KAFANOV: Three Canadian U.S. border crossings in Michigan, North Dakota and Montana have been at times cut off by the demonstrations. The U.S. auto industry particularly hard hit by the protests.

Michigan governors sounding the alarm.

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN: Every minute this goes on, it's lost wages. It's damage no our businesses. This is an illegal blockade and while people have the right to protest. They don't have the right to illegally block the largest land border crossing in North America.

KAFANOV: U.S. automakers are canceling shifts and running on reduced capacity. By one estimate, workers in Michigan can lose up to 51 million in wages this week. Some truckers say they frustrated by the slowdowns that have persisted for days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep one lane open, if they want to do there little show, let them do it. But keep a lane opened.

KAFANOV: The American Trucking Association says they don't support vaccine mandates but strongly opposes any protest activities that disrupt public safety and compromise the economic and national security of the United States.

Truckers in Canada are actually vaccinated at a rate of nearly 90 percent. Yet a slow road convoys of trucks is expected to head to a border crossing in Buffalo this weekend to support the protests, stoking fears that slowdowns can impact rising inflation in the U.S.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAFANOV (on camera): And, Jake, you can see and probably hear the line of trucks behind me, the protesters have been honking their horns, they are holding firm for now. The mayor of Windsor, Ontario, telling CNN that if these protesters don't leave, one by one, they'll start towing the cars. Canada's prime minister saying that everything is on the table to end the blockades, calling on the demonstrators to go home.

Meanwhile, Toronto police say they have a robust response prepared for possible protests in their city over the weekends -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Lucy Kafanov in Windsor, Ontario, for us, thank you so much.

Trouble ahead, a possible Russia invasion of Ukraine isn't President Biden's only problem right now. Look at the other challenges plaguing the White House.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:26:50] TAPPER: In our politics lead, President Biden and Democrats seem to be in trouble with voters. A new CNN poll finds the majority of Americans say the economy will be extremely important to their vote in the mid-term election this year, just as inflation is reach a 40-year high.

And as CNN's Kaitlan Collins reports, Biden's approval rating on the economy has dropped to 37 percent. That's down 8 points in just two months. Democratic voter enthusiasm is lagging as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): President Biden facing a daunting list of challenges.

SULLIVAN: We are in the window when an invasion could begin at any time should Vladimir Putin decide to order it.

COLLINS: The national security adviser delivering that warning after Biden convened his team in the Situation Room last night amid new warnings that Russia could invade Ukraine at any moment.

SULLIVAN: We want to be crystal clear on this point, any American in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible and in any event in the next 24 to 48 hours. If a Russian attack on Ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to their nationality.

COLLINS: But as Biden waits to see what move Putin makes, he's also juggling a slew of domestic challenges at home.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let's look at the reason for inflation.

COLLINS: The president promising all hands on deck after consumer products skyrocketed last year despite his predictions that inflation was temporary and bristling when questioned about it by NBC's Lester Holt.

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: A lot of Americans are wondering what your definition of temporary is.

BIDEN: Well, you're being a wise guy with me a little bit.

COLLINS: As higher prices shrink their wallet, voters have been taking notice. A new CNN poll shows that Biden's handling of the economy has dipped 8 points to 37 percent since early December and his handling of COVID-19 dropped 9 points to 45 percent.

BIDEN: I'm going to do everything in my power to deal with the big points that are impacting most people in their homes.

COLLINS: Biden's poll numbers started to slide last fall, at the same time as the chaotic exit from Afghanistan, which Biden has continued to defend. BIDEN: Look, there is no good time to get out. If we had not gotten

out, they knowledge that we would have had to put a hell lot more troops back in.

COLLINS: He's also disputing the findings of a new Army investigative report, details of which were first published in "The Washington Post" that said administration officials ignored warning signs or were in denial about what was happening on the ground in Afghanistan.

BIDEN: No, no, that's not what I was told.

COLLINS: The president going as far as to say he rejects the findings, based on sworn testimony from several senior U.S. commanders.

HOLT: Are you rejecting the conclusions or the accounts that are in this Army report?

BIDEN: Yes, I am.

HOLT: So they're not true?

BIDEN: I'm rejecting them.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What the president is rejecting is the notion there weren't a range of preparations done in advance over course of last spring and last summer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Jake, one other major aspect of the president's to-do list is picking a Supreme Court nominee. We are told by the White House that he is not expected to have any meetings right now while he's at Camp David this weekend. But they could start those face-to-face meetings as soon as next week, though nothing is set in stone yet.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan, stay there.

I want to bring in CNN's Abby Phillip, and let's chat about all these.

Abby, 59 percent of voters say the economy will be extremely important to their congressional vote this year. Inflation is at a 40-year high.

I want to once again show our audience what the president said what he asked about inflation and what he had said about inflation earlier by NBC's Lester Holt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: You said inflation was going to be temporary. I think a lot of Americans are wondering what your definition of temporary is.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, you're being a wise guy with me a little bit. I understand that's your job.

HOLT: When can Americans expect relief from this soaring inflation?

BIDEN: According to Nobel laureates, 14 of them that contacted me and a number of corporate leaders, it ought to be able to start to taper off as we go through this year. In the meantime, I'm going to do everything in my power to deal with the big points that are impacting most people in their homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you make of that? I have to say, his first response is Lester Holt is being a wise guy. I've never heard Lester Holt described as a wise guy. That was a pretty -- I mean, that was a straight newsman question, right?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.

TAPPER: Like you said it was going to be temporary, it's not temporary. You know, what's your definition of temporary? He bristled as if it was about his feelings.

PHILLIP: And then provided a very specific number of Nobel laureates who apparently called him on this issue.

Look, I mean, a lot of presidents actually get in that head space where President Biden is right now. They're running the country. They're hearing from a lot of smart people telling them that the numbers look good. But the problem with that answer is that it doesn't actually capture, A, the answer that is important to people listening to it, which is do you understand what I am experiencing?

And he gets to it later in the question where he says, okay, we're focusing on the pocketbook issues that matter. But that should have been the first part of the answer, not the second part. No one wants to be, you know, slap in the face with some graphs and charts. I mean, at the end of the day, the American people want to know, what are you going to do about it?

TAPPER: Right.

PHILLIP: And they want to hear from the president, I understand what are you going through.

TAPPER: Yeah. And, Kaitlan, even in that answer, the president continues to say inflation is going to taper off later this year. If that doesn't turn out to be the case, won't that turn out to put the Democratic Party and the president in more trouble with voters?

COLLINS: Well, it will almost certainly put them in trouble with voters if inflation is still very high when it comes close to the midterms. The White House is well aware of that, and I think it is notable when he says inflation will likely taper off by the end of this year, he is attributing that to forecasters. He's not saying that it's his own prediction. And, of course, in the past, he had been repeatedly saying transitory, transitory, transitory, to describe inflation, so were his aides, and you heard the federal chairman say probably not a good word to describe this, given it's clearly not temporary and has not been for the last several months.

But I think that's a factor into all of this. And when you see the CNN polling that shows he's dropped seven-to-nine points on the economy since early December, I think a lot has to do with expectations, because yes, people can understand that last year was unprecedented. We had two variants that came and really changed expectations for how they were going to be exiting COVID-19.

But the White House repeatedly describing it as something that it ended up not being and not only describing it as temporary, but criticizing people like Larry Summers who are saying it's not going to be temporary I think speaks to the expectations game and making sure people are aware of realistically what's going to happen and aware that, you know, it may not taper off and that may not go according to those forecasts.

TAPPER: Yeah, the expectations game is not a game they have excelled at playing, the Biden White House, whether it's COVID, whether it's inflation, whether it's Afghanistan.

And, Abby, let's turn to that, because another answer that jumped out of me from Lester Holt's interview was the president was asked about a recently uncovered U.S. Army report first obtained by "The Washington Post" that revealed that there were plenty of military leaders frustrated with the White House and the State Department officials over how the evacuation in Afghanistan, the preparation for it went down.

Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLT: They've interviewed many military officials and officers who said the administration ignored the handwriting on the wall. Another described trying to get folks in the embassy evacuate and encountering people who are essentially in denial of this situation.

Does any of that ring true to you?

BIDEN: No, no, that's not what I was told.

HOLT: Are you rejecting the conclusions or the accounts that are in this Army report?

BIDEN: Yes, I am.

HOLT: So, they're not true?

BIDEN: I am rejecting them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:35:00]

TAPPER: So two things, one he says that's not what I was told. Okay. Well, you're the president, you're supposed to be getting all this information. That's on you. It is obviously a long history of that bad information wading its way out before it goes up to the primary.

Second, he says, he says -- Lester Holt asked him. Are you rejecting the conclusions or the accounts? Yes, I am.

So you're rejecting what these like grunts are saying to the U.S. Army? These -- like these rank-and-file soldiers and marines are saying?

PHILLIP: Well, look, I mean, President Biden has from the beginning, his position has been -- it really doesn't matter what you all say are the consequences of doing this, I want to get out of Afghanistan at all costs.

And the view inside the White House, frankly, is a reflection of the president's view on this. They believe that this was a successful effort that he promised to get out. He got out. Maybe it looked a little bit messy, but he got out. It would have been messy for everyone.

That is President Biden's view, report or no report and the defiance in that answer, that is truly what he feels about the situation regardless of what is being said and what has been reported by the U.S. Army, itself.

TAPPER: By the Army, itself, exactly.

Abby Philip, Kaitlan Collins, thanks to both of you. And if you didn't get enough Abby Phillip, and let's be honest, who gets enough of Abby Phillip? Be sure to join Abby this Sunday for "INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY." It's at 8:00 a.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

Coming up, it's not the news a lot of parents of America's youngest kids want to hear. A new announcement from the FDA, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:57]

TAPPER: In our health lead, the flood of states changing COVID protocols and going against the Biden administration's recommendation is growing. There are only six states in U.S. plus Puerto Rico and D.C. that still have indoor mask mandates in place.

As CNN's Alexandra Field reports for us now, even President Biden admits the current CDC guidance is too confusing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a country that's been so deeply divided over how to handle COVID and mask mandates, most states are now on the same page two years later.

GOV. DAN MCKEE (D), RHODE ISLAND: We can safely make the shift, which will also put us in line with other New England states.

FIELD: Rhode Island and Delaware, the latest Democratic-led states to join the growing list of states doing away with mask mandates leaving six states with mask mandates in place, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.

MCKEE: We're the second-most vaccinated state in the country. Right now, we're the third-most boosted in the state in the country.

FIELD: Governors in growing numbers turning to their own metrics for how and when to move forward in the absence of updated federal guidance. While cases fall precipitously nationwide, the CDC continues to encourage the use of masks, citing high or substantial COVID transmission in 99 percent of the nation's counties.

Deaths remain disturbingly high. On average, more than 2,500 Americans losing their lives daily and the pace of Americans taking extra steps to protect themselves by getting booster shots have slowed. It's now at its lowest point since the end of September. A sign perhaps that the precautions people do or don't take will increasingly be based on personal tolerance for the risk of getting COVID.

DR. ALI RAJA, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: The thing that we are doing now right now is we're yo-yoing, right? We're going from lots of mask mandates to opening up completely potentially. It's things like vaccinations and things like testing that are going to keep us from having to keep yo-yoing back and forth.

FIELD: Still, tensions remain. A man in a hot dog shop in Chicago seen in this video is throwing snow, then smashing glass after an employee asked to him wear a mask.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (on camera): And a big delay for vaccines for children under five. They are likely to come before April. Vaccine advisers will wait to review three doses versus just two -- Jake.

TAPPER: Alexandra Field, thank you so much.

Joining us now to discuss, Dr. Ashish Jha. He's dean of the Brown University School of public health.

Dr. Jha, what should we make of the FDA postponing this meeting for the Pfizer vaccine for kids under five? Is it a big deal?

DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Yes, thank you for having me back. Certainly for parents under five, it will feel like a big deal. I am sympathetic by that.

You know, what I have been saying for weeks is that we've got to be guided by the data. All the data so far it's exceedingly safe to vaccine kids under five, but the question has been effectiveness. Do we have enough evidence that these vaccines are effective in kids under five and what we're hearing from the FDA is they're not convinced and they want to wait. Waiting has its own costs. We got to make sure they're safe and effective and I think it's worth waiting to make sure that that is the case. TAPPER: What advice would you someone who came to you and said, we

don't have masks or proof of vaccinations rules anymore? So, can I go to a concert again? Can I eat in a crowded restaurant?

JHA: Well, first, I'd start out by saying, you got to make sure you are vaccinated and boosted, because if you're not, then you're in substantial risk of getting really, really sick and get infected.

Second, I would advise some of these decisions by local community spread. Some places in America, infections are way down. Other places, it's high. For more high risk, I would wait longer until infections are down.

And then there's also your own risk and how risky it is. But this is the kind of decision-making that people are going to have to make on their own moving forward.

TAPPER: Will it matter to you if the person was over 60 or a smoker or morbidly obese? Would that go into your decision-making for your advice?

JHA: Yeah, I certainly would, especially if are you not fully boosted. I mean, if you're boosted, look, everybody is way safer boosted. If you're not and you have any of those high-risk conditions, then the consequences of getting infected are much, much higher.

So, first piece of advice, get boosted. Beyond that, you do have to think about your own risk and factor that in, in terms of the kind of risks.

TAPPER: What do you think the CDC is waiting for when it comes to changing its masking guidance? And at this point, how much does the CDC timing matter?

JHA: Yeah, I think a lot of us are trying to come one what is a workable, durable solution for guidance. What's going to hold kind of fast for many months ahead. And the challenges, there's no single metric to pull off, so my senses are working through it, to come up with guidance that will be sensible for the whole country. It's a complicated task.

TAPPER: Dr. Ashish Jha, thank you so much. Good to see you again.

A delivery nightmare, a fed-ex driver shot while just doing his job. He speaks out. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:49]

TAPPER: In our national lead, a black FedEx driver who was chased and shot while delivering packages in Mississippi is speaking out. Police say a white father and his son shot at O'Monterrio Gibson last month. The pair, Brandon and Gregory Case, have been arrested, charged and let out on bail.

Gibson talked about the incident earlier today on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

D'MONTERRIO GIBSON, FEDEX DRIVER: I told him to stop, which I didn't do. They essentially just chased me out the city, and I had to file a police report after that. Shots were fired into my van as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Gibson says he felt like Ahmaud Arbery, the young black man gunned down while jogging in South Georgia.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins us now live from Jackson, Mississippi.

Nick, we understand Gibson was put on unpaid leave by FedEx, but now, that's changed?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. Gibson's attorney says as of this morning, FedEx reached out to his client after more than a week of not being in touch. They've since reinstated his pay, made it retroactive to January 31st.

But O'Monterrio Gibson is incredibly frustrated that he was put in a rental vehicle that day, going down that road. He believes that put him at risk. We understand from FedEx, that there was a shortage in their fleet, which is why O'Monterrio was in that rental vehicle and he says it was a liability. He is not making any excuses for what Brandon and Gregory Case are accused of doing. In his eyes, it is clear that he was targeted only because he's black.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: You are convinced that this was racism?

GIBSON: Yes, sir.

VALENCIA: Why?

GIBSON: I mean, what other reason would there be shooting me at night? I had a statement to them (ph). (INAUDIBLE) I had no type of interaction at all. All it was me. I was in an employee uniform.

VALENCIA: So this is about being black in America, doing your job while black?

GIBSON: Yes, sir.

VALENCIA: You could have been another name like Ahmaud Arbery.

GIBSON: Yes, sir.

VALENCIA: Did you think about that?

GIBSON: I did think about that, and that's why it's very important for me to speak out currently because (INAUDIBLE) for this, I will speak for them, as well as myself. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Gibson says this has changed his life, Jake.

TAPPER: And, Nick, what happens next to Brandon and Gregory Case, the alleged shooters?

VALENCIA: Well, they're out on bond right now. According to police chief, the case file has been handed over to the FBI as is their policy. They haven't confirmed that to us. We know the department of justice has received a request to review this, to see if any hate crimes occurred.

The district attorney also tells us he plans once he gets the case, he plans on putting them in the hands of the grand jury who will then consider whether or not there was an attempted murder here. That's what Gibson and his attorney want. They believe that one thing is clear, that night the Cases tried to kill him -- Jake.

TAPPER: Nick Valencia, thanks so much.

It's the big question over the Olympic Games right now, will Russia's top figure skater get to take to the ice again in? The answer is up to a court.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:58:19]

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

This hour, icy reaction. The International Olympic Committee now taking Russia superstar skater Kamila Valieva to court after the 15- year-old failed a drug test and the decision could land team USA with a new gold medal.

Plus, it's not supposed to happen. Two Democratic senators raising a major red flag about the CIA allegedly spying on Americans. The ACLU claiming this was done without court approval and demanding this invasion of our privacy must stop. So what data did the CIA get their hands on.

And new this hour, do not touch those boxes, that warning from the senior Trump official as the former president headed out of the White House. We have some brand-new CNN reporting for you on how classified documents improperly ended up at Mar-a-Lago.

And as CNN's Pamela Brown reports, why it took so many months for the national archives to get those records back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMALA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON POST (voice-over): White House aides began the process of collecting documents that needed turned over to the National Archives soon after Trump lost the November election. But while Trump was trying to figure out how to remain in power, the once standard process seems to have gone awry, multiple sources tell CNN it was chaotic when no one were following protocols were followed at the end.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: They've rigged an election. They rigged it like they've never rigged an election before.

BROWN: It wasn't until May of last year that the Archives noticed several items were missing from their catalogue at Trump White House records. Significant items, like letters he exchanged with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and the infamous sharpie-altered map of Hurricane Dorian.