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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Democrats' National Abortion Rights Bill Fails In Senate; Ukraine Retakes Villages Near Kharkiv As Russians Pull Back; Veteran Correspondent Shot During Israeli Raid In West Bank; First 1/6 Committee Public Hearing Scheduled For June 9; Report: 43 Percent Of U.S. Baby Formula Supplies Are Out Of Stock; Georgia Police Officers Stop University Bus For Traffic Violation, Search Athletes For Drugs. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 11, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:01]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: The spread features Kelly Hughes. She's a model and mother whose baby was delivered via C-section three years ago. This is part of the brand's effort to shift cultural and societal narratives about women's bodies, especially around motherhood.

It's interesting. I don't think I've never seen it.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Love it. Look the step forward.

THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: That leaked Supreme Court draft prompting a Senate vote as I speak. THE LEAD starts right now.

The nays will likely have it, Senate Democrats forcing a bill on abortion rights but the legislation goes farther than Roe v. Wade does. Was this a Democratic strategic mistake?

Plus, making gains. Ukrainians retake their captured towns near Russia's border as Putin's forces make a new play in southern Ukraine.

And, stopped and searched. A woman's lacrosse team from a historically black college says it was racially profiled during a traffic stop in Georgia. The case now drawing the attention of Capitol Hill.

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

We start with breaking news in our politics lead, in what is soon to be a bipartisan rejection of the Democratic-lead bill aimed at preserving abortion rights nationwide. The U.S. Senate is voting right this minute on the Women's Health Protection Act. But ahead of the vote, the bill was widely condemned by Republicans, even the two who support abortion rights and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (AUDIO GAP) than codifying Roe v. Wade. It would eliminate, in fact, any states preexisting restrictions on abortion.

Senator Manchin explained his no vote to CNN earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): The bill we have today to vote on, I respect people who support, but make no mistake, it is not Roe v. Wade codification. It's an expansion. It wipes 500, 500 state laws off the books. It expands abortion. And with that, that's not where we are today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Democratic leaders admitted they expected this vote would fail but they pushed it through anyway, wanting to put lawmakers on the record, they said after that leak of a drafted Supreme Court opinion reveals the Supreme Court appears poised to strike down Roe v. Wade as soon as next month.

CNN's Jessica Dean is live for us on Capitol Hill.

And, Jessica, this bill is expected to fail. So what's the best case scenario for Democrats right now?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this point, Jake, the best case for them is to have this be a messaging vote and rile up the base as they turn to the 2022 midterm elections that's the best case. As well you know, congressionally, Democrats don't have any moves left here in terms of Senate action, people calling to blow up the filibuster, we know Democrats don't have the votes for that. People calling for expansion of Supreme Court, we know Democrats don't have the vote for that.

So, really, this is all they can do, the messaging vote where they can get a lot of attention for this and again try to fire up their base. As you noted, they don't have the full support of all Democrats on board. Senator Joe Manchin saying this is simply too wide ranging. That is the complain and criticism that we also heard from Senators Murkowski and Collins who do support abortion rights and have their own bill that is more limited, that would simply codify Roe v. Wade and the right to an abortion and the right for providers to provide abortion services to patients .

Jake, what this bill does in addition to codifying those rights, it also is targeted at a lot of these bills and laws that we have seen put on the books across the country that are restricting abortion access. So it would do things like end mandatory waiting periods. It would end mandatory ultrasounds, things like that. That's what it makes it different and is a bridge too far for Senator Joe Manchin and others as well.

TAPPER: Jessica, House Republican leaders who are possibly going to take over the house in November, House Republican leaders they were asked today if they would support a nationwide ban on abortion across the country. What did they have to say to that? DEAN: Well, they didn't say much in the form of a direct answer,

Jake. They kind of skirted the issue. We heard from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who responded to that by saying he didn't want to get into hypotheticals. He didn't want to talk about hypothetical situations. Steve Scalise, the minority whip, also kind of skirting that issue, not making a direct answer trying to pivot back.

We do know McCarthy said today that he did support exceptions for rape and incest which is not a uniform opinion across the Republican Party right now. So, it will be interesting to see how they move forward. And this is also coming after we heard from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier this week who said this could happen, he since kind of walked that back said it's up to states to take this issue, that that's what Republicans want to see, states addressing this issue -- Jake.

[16:05:04]

TAPPER: All right. Jessica Dean on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

Joining us now to discuss Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette of Colorado. She's a co-chair of the congressional pro-choice caucus.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us.

So, Senators Manchin, Collins and Murkowski did not vote for this bill, the Women's Health Protection Act. It's because, they say, it goes beyond just codifying Roe v. Wade. For example, it would not allow states have any restrictions on abortion whatsoever.

Now, Democrats say they want a messaging bill to put everyone on the record. So the record is going to show, ultimately, bipartisan opposition to your bill.

So, was the strategy a mistake, do you think?

REP. DIANA DEGETTE (D-CO): Well, Jake, frankly, that's just an excuse on their part. All of those three have never exactly said what they would support. But the Women's Health Protection Act the Senate is voting on, that doesn't allow all abortions. It codifies Roe versus Wade. And Roe versus Wade puts forth a pretty clear framework on what's allowed and what's not allowed.

And so, this is just an excuse on their part. And, by the way, the bill that Susan Collins says is a narrower bill that qualifies Roe v. Wade, it has a poison pill in it because it allows abortion providers to just refused to provide abortions if they don't want to on a conscious clause. So, there -- it's really an excuse. I don't think they ever intended to go forward.

But we need to do now, we need to move forward. And, frankly, the voters of America support Roe versus Wade by an overwhelming majority, over 70 percent. And so, the voters are going to have to decide in November who they want representing them in the House and in the Senate. I think they are going to vote for pro-choice candidates. TAPPER: One of the main Republican talking points today is that

Democrats on this issue are extremists, because you support abortion with absolutely no restrictions.

Take a listen to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Legislation that will allow abortion of viable babies in the ninth month with no waiting period or informed consent at the hands of a non-physician. Taxpayers could be forced to pay for it, and Catholic hospitals would be forced to perform it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What's your response?

DEGETTE: Well, aside from that being completely untrue and a lie, this has been for quite some time the efforts of Mitch McConnell and the Republicans in the house and Senate to change the subject because what we're saying is Roe versus Wade, which people support, the vast majority of Americans support, the right for women to get the full range of health care, including abortions, they're trying to make up some situation that doesn't even exist.

There is nobody in this country who, at nine months pregnant, wakes up and decides to get an abortion. That's false.

And what they are really going to do, and we've seen this in some states since the Supreme Court took the Mississippi case, some states are actually going to try to ban abortions for everybody. They are going to try to ban abortions for an 11 year old incest victim. They're going to try to ban abortions for someone who got raped. They're going to try to ban abortions for people who, if they carry a very much wanted baby to term, will die. That's really what their goal is here.

TAPPER: But just to be clear, on the Democratic legislation that the Senate is voting on right now, does it permit states to have any restrictions? Does it permit Catholic hospitals to refuse to perform abortions?

DEGETTE: So, right now, Roe v. Wade allows -- allows certain types of restrictions. It sets forth a system, by which a number of weeks, the states are allowed to have restrictions. And they do have those restrictions. And there are also rules in place that will allow Catholic hospitals not to perform abortions if it is their conscious. This is just all a whole bunch of made-up scare tactics because the bottom line is, what we are trying to do is make sure every woman in this country gets the health care she needs, including abortions. And that means codifying Roe versus Wade.

If people don't like what they're seeing, what they need to do is make sure that we have a U.S. House of Representatives that will continue to do what we did, and will continue to do with the Senate has done.

TAPPER: Right. No, I understand that Roe -- I understand Roe v. Wade allow states to have restrictions.

[16:10:03]

DEGETTE: Yes.

TAPPER: My question is, does this Democratic legislation in the Senate allow states to have restrictions?

DEGETTE: Yes. It does.

TAPPER: It does?

DEGETTE: It's a codification of Roe versus Wade. And, by the way, that's the same bill that passed the U.S. House, just a couple of months ago.

TAPPER: All right, because my understanding was that it did not allow restrictions. That is the reason why Manchin and Collins and Murkowski say they oppose it, because it doesn't allow states to keep the restrictions they may already have in place.

DEGETTE: Well, there's some -- there is some restrictions the states have put in place that we don't think are in the spirit of Roe. For example, making people go through unnecessary ultrasounds, or putting -- making doors be a certain width, or something like that.

But the basic tenant of row is that states could put restrictions after a certain number of weeks. And a number of states, most states, have done that. That will be allowed under this bill.

This is what I'm saying, Jake, is that Manchin, Murkowski and Collins are simply -- it's not true whether saying that no restrictions would be allowed. That's just not true.

TAPPER: All right. Democratic Congresswoman Diana DeGette, thank you so much. Appreciate your time today.

Coming up next on THE LEAD, fight back and gaining ground. The strategic stretch where Ukrainians say Russians are worried. Plus, the announcement today that there could be a breakthrough in the national shortage of baby formula, but still cannot come fast enough. Stay with us.

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[16:15:44]

TAPPER: The war in Ukraine tops our world lead. For the first time, a civilian in Russia has been killed as a result of cross border shelling from Ukraine. Russian authorities say it happened in a town near Belgorod, which is about ten miles from the border.

A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeastern part of the country appears to be making progress. Ukraine says that it has freed some of the communities around the town of Kharkiv, amid signs of a Russian retreat in the area. New pictures show abandoned and burned out Russian military vehicles, re-capturing the battered area would be a significant accomplishment for Ukrainian forces.

However, there are worries that a Russian counter-defensive may be in the works. President Zelenskyy, citing the Russian war crimes committed in Bucha and Mariupol, says, with each new atrocity the desire and possibility of negotiations with the Russians evaporates.

Despite all the suffering in Ukraine, there is occasionally good news.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh found a woman whose life almost ended, but then she emerged from the rubble.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): Sometimes places speak only of death throw up a jewel of life. This is the first time Ayuna has stood in this spot since sent 72 days ago, she was tracked out from the rubble here.

Her husband Andrey had been scouring, looking for her for three hours.

She remembers the cupboard.

AYUNA MOROZOVA, KHARKIV BLAST SURVIVOR (through translator): That was where I was standing,

WALSH: The multiple rocket attack on the Kharkiv regional administration was an early sign of the ferocious cowardly brutality, that Russia would unleash on civilian targets. This is Ayuna then. She had been serving coffee and cookies to soldiers, saw a flash, and curled into a ball.

MOROZOVA: I feel a physical manifestation of fear. I do not like cookies anymore. The box fell on me, and I remember the smell.

WALSH: She asked to step away, saying she was sick with butterflies, like she has not felt since she used to swim professionally.

Andrey picks up the story.

ANDREY MOROZOV, AYUNA'S HUSBAND (through translator): When I heard her voice, I was crawling across the road. The emergency services were trying to kick me out. I pulled a man out, and then heard her. I did not plan to leave her here.

WALSH: The soldiers were waiting in the corridor outside from her died. The young woman in the basement below her died, that body was not found for three weeks. And yet somehow, the concrete here fell, shielding Ayuna.

MOROZOVA: I knew I was alive, in pain but nothing broken, I was worried that I would be left and never be heard. The first time that they heard me, they started to get me out, and when the second missile came, and I was properly trapped.

WALSH: A rescuer eventually heard her.

MOROZOVA: Andrey got closer, and I said it was me, and he cried.

They said they should not lift the baton on me, but Andrey did alone. It got easier to breathe. I was surprised as I thought that I was still at ground level. The ambulance guy said it's your second birthday, you're live.

WALSH: Fragments of Kharkiv are now past, they peppered the shells, cleaning up and trying to sweep away the trauma.

MOROZOVA: I sleep with the lights on, and when there is a loud car or, God forbid, a jet plane, I brace. The nightmares that I'm again lying there in shivering cold, and that nobody hears my cries. That also stops me from sleeping.

WALSH: Ayuna was born in Russia, but could no longer talk to her relatives there. She says that they believe Russian state media's absurd claims this is a limited operation against Nazis.

MOROZOVA: They say it was my stupidity, and that I do not need to be here.

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I hope when time passes my children can talk, but I can't talk to them now.

Russia has lost its mind, and cannot control its president, they are all each responsible, every citizen.

WALSH: The story here, not of ruins, loss, or burial in dust, but instead of a feverish energy, that burns through the buildings bones. As Kharkiv gets to decide where it's pieces fall now.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kharkiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Nick Paton Walsh for that report.

Also on our world today, veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed today while covering it is eerily military operation at the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank.

CNN's Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem for us.

And, Hadas, there are conflicting accounts about who shot her, tell us more.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, I'm standing outside of Shireen's house in East Jerusalem. You can see that family and friends have been gathering here to mourn the passing of this veteran Palestinian-American correspondent who has spent decades covering the Israeli Palestinian conflict. And she was killed this morning while covering an Israeli military operation in the West Bank town of Jenin.

What we understand is that she was shot in Jenin. We have seen really disturbing video where you can see right after she was shot. She's laying on the ground, and it's very clear, Jake, that she's wearing the protective gear that we so often see journalists out in the field, wearing a protective vest and a helmet, with a clear sign on her chest and back saying that she is a member of the press.

Her producer, Ali, he was also in the shot, but he's in stable condition. He says that it was Israeli forces who shot them, and that there were no Palestinian militants next to them while this occurred. The Al Jazeera network is placing the blame on the Israelis, they are calling on the international community to hold tem accountable.

Now, the Israeli Defense Forces say they were in Jenin, undertaking what they said were counterterrorism operations. The Israeli military has stepped up their operations in the West Bank, especially in the last few weeks. This has been in response to a series of attacks targeting Israelis that have killed 18 people. Now, the Israeli Defense Forces say that they were in Jenin for the counterterrorism operation when they came under heavy fire, and that they returned fire.

Now, initially, Israeli officials and military said they had reason to believe that it was likely that Shireen was shot in indiscriminate firing from Palestinian forces. However, that has been soft recently, and they say it is not possible to determine who shot her, that they have set up a special team that will clarify the facts and present them in full as soon as possible -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Hadas Gold, thank you so much.

The January 6th investigation by a select House committee is about to enter a new phase. What the panel is expected to reveal when public hearings start soon.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:51]

TAPPER: Breaking news, as anticipated, the Democratic-led bill in the Senate aimed at preserving access to abortion nationwide has failed. The final vote was 51 to 49, all of the Republicans, plus Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia opposed the bill.

Also in our politics lead today, CNN is learning the details to the highly anticipated hearing set to begin next month on Capitol Hill that will reveal what the January 6th house select committee found over the last ten months, including what former President Donald Trump was doing while the riot on Capitol Hill, the insurrection unfolded.

CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel joins us now with her new reporting.

And, Jamie, there are going to be multiple hearings. Can you explain the timing and what we know about the topics so far? JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So, we know that the first

hearing is going to be on June 9th. We expect eight hearings over the month of June, some during the day, some in primetime.

We expect to see video from January 6th, as well as some nearly 1,000 interview that the committee has conducted behind closed doors, as well as presentation that incorporate -- look, they have had thousands of documents, research, text messages, call records.

And Jake, we're told the main goal of the hearings is really to show that even though Donald Trump was told that there was no election fraud, December 1, his Attorney General Bill Barr says that there is no widespread fraud, and even though Trump was warned, that there could be violence, he continued to push toward relentlessly, with his campaign to turn over the election that led to January 6th.

We also have been told that the committee is going to focus on three words, dereliction of duty. As you said, what Trump was doing, but also, maybe more important, what Trump didn't, that while we are all watching the attack on the Capitol, while his staunchest Republican allies and family were calling and texting and pleading for him to act, Trump sat there for hours, reportedly watching television, re- winding the television for some of the attack before aides were finally able to convince him to make that video at 4:17, to finally say to the rioters, go home.

So, that is a point that we really expect them to focus on, why did he not tell them to stop, to go home right away?

TAPPER: Of course, everyone is interested, Jamie, in who's going to testify publicly.

Who do you expect to be called? And has anyone been notified yet?

GANGEL: As far as we know the committee is still finalizing the witness list. We reached out to some likely witnesses. We are told no one received an invitation yet.

That said we know there are some likely people the committee will want for the public hearings, for example, acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and his Deputy Richard Donahue, also top Mike Pence aides, like his former chief of staff Marc Short and General Counsel Greg Jacob.

What's happened, Jake, is there's been videotaped interviews behind the scene like Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Don Trump Jr. What e don't know yet is whether the committee is going to rely on those taped interviews or will call them back for public hearings. And as we said before, it's unlikely we believe that vice president pence will testify in public. It's also unlikely the committee would call former president Trump. Two sources told me they did not think it would be productive and that he probably wouldn't show up -- Jake.

TAPPER: There have been so many new bombshell revelations that you have told us that other people in the media have told us. Do you expect anything new to come out of this? GANGEL: I think there's a lot that we do not know. And the other

thing I point out is, for those of us old enough to remember the Watergate hearings. There was a bombshell in the middle of the hearings when Alexander Butterfield, the presidential aide, revealed the White House recording system. So, they are still collecting evidence. I think there could be more bombshells to come.

TAPPER: All right. Jamie Gangel, great reporting. Thank you so much.

Coming up next, the major announcement that could help ease one of the most frustrating crises right now for parents of young babies.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:53]

TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you now on the baby formula shortage in the United States. Formula maker Abbott Nutrition says its Michigan plant at the center of the February recall could restart within two weeks, pending approval by the FDA but the company cautions it would then take at least six weeks for the product to be able to hit store shelves. This comes as a new analysis outlines the extent of the worsening baby formula crisis, which we first covered last month. The average out of stock rate for the U.S. has climbed to 43 percent. By comparison the number was between 2 and 8 percent during the first half of last year.

In addition to the recall, analysts say stores have had a hard time keeping stores in stock due to inflation as well as supply chain problems. The White House said it's working 24/7 along with the FDA to address the shortage.

Let's bring in "Washington Post" opinions columnist Alyssa Rosenberg who wrote about this today.

And, Alyssa, just to establish your cred here, you're the mom of a 6- month-old and a 4-year-old. You get the anxiety a parent would feel not having a stable supply of nutrition for their child.

ALYSSA ROSENBERG, WASHINGTON POST OPINION COLUMNIST: I do.

TAPPER: You wrote a column in "The Post" calling this shortage an outrage and saying it shows how deeply indifference towards babies in this country goes. Tell us more.

ROSENBERG: Look, I think that people think of formula like a utility, something that's always there. But it's a vital food source for a lot of kids. Three quarters of American babies will have eaten some formula by the time they're 6 months old. If they can't get it, it can be a catastrophe.

It is especially challenging for babies who have metabolic issues, who have severe milk allergies and have to eat special or known as immuno acid formulas, and some of those formulas are the ones that are particularly hard to find. If you have a baby or if you're an older child using a feeding tube or even some adults, and you can't go buy the store brand formula.

You can't just substitute, you know, Enfamil for Similac, you have to have the specific brand. And so, the shortages are inconvenient at best for parents who formula feed, for having spend hours going from store to store, or swooping on, you know, websites like Target when the inventory gets restocked.

But if you have a baby or child that only eats a specific brand of formula, a shortage can be life threatening.

TAPPER: And, you know, some of the post -- I mean, look, social media is a cesspool no matter what. But I've seen women writing about this on a personal level what a crisis it is for them and the idiocy of the responses, almost always from men, of course, is really staggering -- just use your breasts, what do you think breast milk is for, et cetera, et cetera.

Explain for the unenlightened why that is not the right answer.

ROSENBERG: I really want to emphasize that breast-feeding is wonderful. I've been lucky enough to do it for two kids. It's not something that automatically happens for a woman. You don't give birth to a baby and flip a switch and have, you know, milk just pouring out of you.

You know, some women aren't born with the glandular tissue that they need to produce milk.

[16:40:03]

If you have a traumatic birth, I had a friend who had a post-partum hemorrhage, or if you have placenta after you deliver, your body maybe too busy healing to make the milk that your baby needs.

And, you know, that doesn't even begin to get to questions to public policy, you know? It's appalling how many women in the country don't have access to safe, sanitary spaces to pump or the time at work to do it. So, you could want to breast-feed anywhere in the world and it could just not happen through no fault of your own.

And, you know, in previous generations a baby in that circumstance would have a wet nurse, it would starve or eat a homemade formula of evaporated milk and syrup, and formula is a blessing that can keep babies alive and healthy, but it has to keep babies available. It would be wonderful if every woman in America who wanted to breast-feed her children had the physical capability to do it and employers made that a priority. That's absolutely not the case.

TAPPER: So, the White House said the FDA has taken a number of steps to address the situation. But the supply situation has been getting worse and worse for months. What does the Biden administration need to do now to help parents? Is the Defense Production Act a possibility?

ROSENBERG: You know, when I talked to Rosa DeLauro, who's the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, she brought that up as one possibility. I want to be sympathetic to formula manufacturers here, because I think this is a difficult problem. There were issues in the supply chain that were showing up even before the plant in Michigan shutdown.

Baby formula is a highly regulated product that uses specific ingredients. It has to be safe. The reason the plant was shutdown was because there was a whittle-blower report suggesting there were unsafe practices at the plant and also because two babies died after drinking formula that was produced there.

So we want to get this right. You can't do it slip shod. But I think it is striking that this is an area there have been so few suggestions. When I set out to write this column, I reached out to Abbott, I reached out to Danone, which is another manufacturer, and said what could the government do to help you make more formula faster and I couldn't get an answer from either company or the nutrition council.

You know, it's -- I think it's fairly neutral for a journalist to call up a company and say what corporate boondoggle would you like from the federal government, and not get a response to the question.

TAPPER: Right.

ROSENBERG: But I think that that gets to the point I was trying to make, Jake, which is this is a substance that is vital to the survival of American babies and yet there's no plan for what happens if a bunch of it suddenly disappears. It's not like we have a stockpile of formula that we can release to the public. If you are a wick recipient you're limited to buying certain brands of formula. So what this crisis revealed is that there is no plan. And obviously, we can't let that happen again. We just can't.

TAPPER: Yeah. Alyssa Rosenberg, thanks so much for your time and your passion on this issue. We appreciate it.

Coming up next, a sheriff's denial after a woman's lacrosse team from a historically black university says it was searched for drugs during a traffic stop for no apparent reason.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:48:14]

TAPPER: There is growing outrage after police in Georgia stopped and searched a bus driving a lacrosse team from a historically black university. Officers say they pulled the bus over because the driver was driving on the wrong lane of the highway. But then they began to search students' belongings. They said they were looking for marijuana and other drugs.

Obviously, if the driver was in the other lane, that says nothing about his passengers who are mostly Black. As CNN's Amara Walker reports, the team is now saying they were racially profiled.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLICE OFFICER: Are you a college student? Oh, good.

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This body cam video shows Georgia deputies searching college students bag during a traffic stop. On board, the women's lacrosse team from Delaware State University, a historically black college, on their way home from a game in Florida.

POLICE OFFICER: If there is anything in y'all's luggage, we're probably going to find it. I'm not looking for marijuana but I'm pretty sure you'll be disappointed if we find it.

SANIYA CRAFT, DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY FRESHMAN: I don't really know whether there's a crime.

WALKER: Nineteen-year-old Saniya Craft recorded parts of the encounter with her phone, thinking it would be part of her video blog about her lacrosse team. She didn't think she'd gather evidence of what she says was racial profiling by the Liberty County Sheriff's Deputies.

CRAFT: I don't think if I -- if we were a different colored team, like majority of lacrosse playing teams, that that wouldn't have happened.

POLICE OFFICER: We're going to find out exactly what it is.

WALKER: Delaware State University president Tony Allen said in a statement he was incensed and the video taken by players shows: law enforcement members attempting to intimidate our student athletes to confessing to possession of drugs and/or drug paraphernalia.

POLICE OFFICER: What is it?

[16:50:01]

POLICE OFFICER: Vyvanse (ph).

WALKER: While the university and ASUN Conference say they are conducting their own investigations, the Liberty County sheriff, who is Black, pushed back against allegations of any wrongdoing, citing the bus violated state law by not staying in the two most right-hand lanes. The sheriff also said that patrols pulled over another bus, where contraband was found.

SHERIFF WILLIAM BOWMAN, LIBERTY COUNTY, GEORGIA: Although I don't believe that any racial profiling took place based on the information I currently have, I welcome feedback from our community.

WALKER: While Craft says that the incident saddens her, she says she is now focused on a brighter future for her and her teammates.

CRAFT: I know for us, as black women, sometimes we get looked down upon, and I don't want that to happen, I don't want that to ever happen to any of our teammates.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER (on camera): Now Jake, Saniya Craft also tells me, as you would imagine, that this was a scary and dramatic experience for her and her teammates, but she says that she was glad that she was recording this incident, that has garnered -- because she says that the public needs to know what's people of color go through. By the way, the liberty county sheriff's department is investigating this as well, Jake.

TAPPER: Amara Walker, reporting for us from Atlanta, thanks so much.

Let's talk to Pamella Jenkins, who's the head coach of the Delaware States Women's lacrosse team and was on the bus with her student athletes that day.

Coach, thanks for joining us.

What was going through your mind when the officers boarded the team's bus and then said that they were going to search through everyone's luggage?

PAMELLA JENKINS, HEAD COACH, DELAWARE STATE WOMEN'S LACROSSE TEAM: I felt violated to hear them say that. I trust my student athletes, and being a Division I athletes, marijuana is not something that they take part in. And so, to hear the police say that, in that accusatory tone, it made me very upset, and then also helpless because there was no way in that moment that I could keep them safe.

TAPPER: Do you think that if this had been a bus full of white lacrosse players, the same thing would've happened?

JENKINS: I do not think that, for the simple fact that before searching our bus, the police officer came on the bus, and saw the demographic of our team, and when the word narcotics was brought up, he went straight to marijuana. And, you know, unfortunately, stereotypically that is a drug that is connected to African Americans.

He saw the demographic, he made that assumption. And I feel like, you know, he acted accordingly based on the demographic that we are.

TAPPER: Officials in Delaware are now calling on the U.S. Justice Department to get involved. Are you satisfied with how things are going so far in terms of the national attention it is getting and the sympathy that has been expressed by your senators, and house members, for the students?

JENKINS: I am so proud have the support that we have received, and for those getting involved, it is our hope that this does not happen to anybody else in the future. This is the way that you bring about change, and I think that is why we are so adamant about talking about it. We want to make sure that nobody else has to go through what we went through on that day. To feel that way, and then just in the days after, just thinking about that traumatic experience, it is our hope that from this, people understand that this is still going on, and hopefully it will be the last team to experience something like this.

TAPPER: And lastly, Coach, I know some of the athletes have headed back home since the school year is over, how are they doing? They are college kids, how are they?

JENKINS: I think in the moment, it was traumatic, and we really did not get a chance to process, because they got back, and it was getting ready for final exams, and then to go home. In some sense, with everything happening right now, in their homes surrounded by their families and communities, and they still have the love and support of their DSU community. And also their community and family at home. So, I think we are so focused on bringing about change, that we, at the moment, are focused on that, and not so much on ourselves.

I'm proud of how they are handling everything, and they are definitely the cream of the crap when it comes to scholar athletes

TAPPER: Well, I'm glad you're proud of them. We are too.

Coach Pamella Jenkins, thank you so much. I appreciate your time today.

Coming up next, allegations of war crimes.

[16:55:02]

New video captured obtained by CNN capturing what Russian soldiers did at a car dealership in Ukraine.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

This hour, singled out. A German airline apologizes after some passengers said they were not allowed to board their fight because they're Jewish.

Plus, CNN captures video from inside Ukraine capturing incredibly brazen and barbaric actions of Russian soldiers, then showing even more callousness after their attack.

And leading this hour, the cost of living.