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Asian-American Communities On Edge After Deadly Shootings; Calls For Hate Crime Charges After Atlanta Area Spa Shootings; New CDC Guidance On Safely Reopening Schools; Interview With Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL); NCAA Cancels Oregon-VCU Game Over COVID Issues; Trump Facing Long List Of Legal Issues And Investigations. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 20, 2021 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Authorities say a Georgia man has confessed to opening fire inside three separate Asian spas. Most of the victims were women of Asian descent. And people are rallying in several cities with sizable Asian communities this weekend, insisting that these killings be treated as a hate crime.

CNNs Paul Vercammen is in Los Angeles and Paul, the FBI's position at this point is that what happened in Atlanta does not appear to be racially motivated. Many Asian American leaders fiercely disagree.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that's true. And I'm in Little Tokyo right now, Pam, and here in Los Angeles County, a massive Asian American community, one and a half million people and throughout the community, no matter what the origin of the crime in Atlanta, there is high anxiety because of this wave of anti-American sentiments that they're sensing across America.

And here in Los Angeles, you know, whether these residents original countries are the Philippines or Korea or China or Japan, there is widespread fear. And they say in talking to one community activists, that they have a target on their backs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONNIE CHUNG JOE, CEO, ASIAN AMERICAN ADVANCING JUSTICE: And our community is scared, angry and anxious right now. I've spoken to folks who say, I'm not - I'm not comfortable going outside, they refuse. We have seniors who refuse to take their daily walks to the park, go to the grocery store, and folks who are feeling like they're imprisoned in their home right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And because of this, we're starting to see legislation at a grassroots level develop here in California, and one legislator wants to put in a hotline where people can immediately call to report any hate bias type crimes.

Later on tonight in Little Tokyo, we're going to have a vigil. It will be laser focused on Japanese Americans who live in senior housing. There was one complex alone that had something like 100 cases of COVID-19 deaths. They also want to protect these seniors from being moved out of these homes during the Pandemic.

So there's a lot at play here in our very large, dynamic Asian American community in Los Angeles County. Reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you, Pam.

BROWN: Thanks, Paul. I know you'll be bringing us the latest developments from Los Angeles. We appreciate it. And now we want to turn back to Atlanta and that is we're seeing our national correspondent Natasha Chen spoke to some of the victim's family members today.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, the South Korean foreign ministry has identified four of the eight victims as being of Korean descent, one person A South Korean citizen, who was a U.S. permanent resident, and the others believed to be Americans of Korean descent. Now, those people were killed here in Atlanta at two spa locations at another spa location in Cherokee County. One of the victims was the owner of Young's Asian massage Xiaojie Tan.

I had the opportunity to sit down with her family today. And her daughter tells me that Tan was hard working, always saving money, made a memorable friendly impression on her customers and nearby business owners. She really built the American dream for herself.

She came from China and started out as a nail technician, slowly building her way to owning first one spa and then two. So I want to share with you from Jami, her daughter what Tuesday's experience was like waiting for that news of her mother. And then after Jami you'll hear from Michael Web Tan's ex-husband who explains how Tan fiercely--

BROWN: Well, we had some technical issues there with Natasha's report, but be sure to join Anderson Cooper, Amara Walker, Victor Blackwell and Ana Cabrera for Afraid, fear in America's communities of color. It's a CNN special airing Monday night at nine. Meantime, Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that the UK variant is a "growing threat in this country."

The U.S. documented its first case of the Verizon in late December and it now accounts for about 20 to 30 percent of the infections in the U.S. Right now, the states seeing the highest case numbers are New York, Florida, Texas, New Jersey, and Michigan. As per Michigan, cases there have been climbing since the last week of February, and the state has reported the second highest number of UK variant cases.

Those spikes come as health officials prepare to roll out Michigan's largest mass vaccination site at Ford Field and Detroit. Joining me now to discuss epidemiologists and public health expert Dr. Abdul El- Sayed. He was Detroit's Public Health Commissioner as well. Doctor, great to see you. Why do you think Michigan has seen such a spike in cases particularly of this UK variant, what's going on?

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, EPIDEMIOLOGIST & PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT: Well, there are two intersecting trends here that should have all of us worried no matter where you are. The first is that Michigan is one of the hotspots for B117, as you mentioned, Pamela, and the second is that we've had a rollback in some of the protections, some of the important public health measures that have kept any coronavirus from spreading and so you took take those two things together, you look at the surge and B117, which we know is more transmissible and new evidence suggests is also more deadly.

[19:05:00]

And the fact that people are reducing the physical distancing that had kept a COVID-19 from spreading in Michigan, and you have a perfect storm. And unfortunately, where we are seeing spreading across the United States, it's almost always in states that have one variant of concern or another, whether it's B117, here in Michigan, or in Florida, or the B5152 in the New York and New Jersey area, or B427 and 429 in California, all of these things should tell us that this is not the time to step on the gas when it comes to reopening. We've got to be very, very careful. The vaccines are on their way, but they're not here yet.

BROWN: So let's talk about that. And you mentioned New York State has identified its first case of the P1 variant that originated in Brazil. It's a Brooklyn resident, and they are 90s with no travel history. How concerning is that? And what to all of these variants emerging and what we're seeing with the trend lines mean for those who are vaccinated? What could it mean?

EL-SAYED: Yes, well, P1 is really concerning. Because P1 emerged in Manaus, Brazil, where 76 percent of people had already had COVID, which suggests to us that it's really quite resistant to the kind of natural immunity that you get from having had the disease and the fact that it's spreading the United States really should be concerning to everybody.

We have pretty good evidence that the vaccines still confer protection against these variants, although less protection than against the wild type, which is the common COVID-19 that are not these variants. All of this means that we've got to be really thoughtful, really careful about making sure that we are protecting ourselves and our loved ones, even if we're vaccinated.

And that's why if you're vaccinated, you still should be wearing masks in public. And though it's OK for vaccinated people to come together in small groups for the CDC, it's really still important to be really, really thoughtful about what risks we're going to take on, given the fact that the spread of these kinds of variants does not bode well for us.

BROWN: So I want you to help us understand this. California has had a lot of rules and restrictions, as we know, Florida has had far fewer, but California ranks only one spot better than Florida when it comes to cases and deaths per 100,000 people. California's death rate is only about 5 percent lower than Florida's.

How do you account for such similar outcomes, despite such divergent approaches? EL-SAYED: Well, what the evidence tells us about California is that

you've had these, this California variant B1427, B1429. It's sort of a cluster of variants that has been spreading in California since November. And given that it has the same, the same complex of mutations that has made it more transmissible it may be explaining that difference.

It is now the dominant COVID-19 variant in all of California. And if it is more transmissible and has been spreading since November, it may explain why California has had such a rough time both since November. And also still now.

That being said, in Florida, because of the reduced physical distancing measures, we know that B117, has been spreading pretty quickly there too. And so, you know, it's hard to look at the past and try and figure out what's going to happen in the future. But my sense of it is that, from what we know about B117, this is not a good picture for Florida either.

BROWN: But what do you say to people like Ron DeSantis, governor Ron DeSantis, who just wrote an Op-Ed boasting about Florida and saying, hey, look, our unemployment is lower than several states and our deaths per capita and so forth. And we were able to, to not have, you know, we haven't had lockdowns for months that we didn't ever have a mask mandate. I mean, he's been really kind of boasting about how we handled it.

EL-SAYED: You know, the biggest frustration I've had with our public health response to this pandemic in the first place, is this short termism. You cannot declare victory this early and assume that somehow that that victory is going to stand. And the sad thing is that Governor DeSantis has been in this place before.

He was declaring victory this time last year, when we watched this through the summer, Florida had one of the worst surges in the entire country. And so let's not declare victory so early. Let's do what we need to do right now so that hopefully this summer, we can be done with this thing.

We know that the vaccines are on the way, they're going to be critical to addressing long term and ending this pandemic. But let's not declare victory so fast. It's not worth a spring of pain, if we are not willing to wear our masks to continue physically distancing, to wait for those vaccines to get into those arms to get those vaccines when we can and get to the point where this pandemic is finally actually really behind us.

BROWN: Yes, that is the other big goal, of course is to reset herd immunity. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, thank you very much for coming on.

EL-SAYED: Thank you for having me, Pamela.

BROWN: And speaking of what's going on in Florida, coming up later in the hour Congressman Charlie Crist claims that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis favored friends and donors with his vaccine rollout. I'll ask Crist if he is just playing politics. [19:10:00]

And then attorney Jeff Zei details former President Trump's mountain of legal troubles, now that he's not cocooned in the Oval Office. And after a 6000-year snooze, a volcano in Iceland, let's loose a fiery river of lava.

But first, the president of the National Education Association Becky Pringle is back with us. We're going to scrutinize the new CDC guidance on keeping kids and teachers safe in class and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: I want to go back to our Natasha Chen's interview with the daughter of one of the Atlanta shooting victims. Let's listen.

JAMI, XIAOJIE TAN'S DAUGHTER: I was just hoping that was it was not my mom, if it's not my mom. So I was having this hope that maybe my mom got shot and someone else, like maybe on the farms or somewhere that it wouldn't be like took her life away.

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MICHAEL WEBB, XIAOJIE TAN'S FORMER HUSBAND: She never knows what goes on behind closed doors. She made sure that she trained them. They had meetings every week. They had signage. She didn't allow locks on the doors. She wanted to know where her employees were, who the client - who the customers were she used to tell me a lot of times she would throw customers out because they would come in and think that they could - could have sex.

And she would say, get out my business, you know, and she would throw them out. And so, you know, she was a strong mother hen over that business and the people that worked there, she protected it.

CHEN: I had to ask them how they feel about the designation of these attacks as a hate crime, which so many people have been debating. Michael Webb really wanted to make it clear that he wants to allow the investigators to complete their work, and that he didn't want to comment on that specifically.

But Jamie did say that she understands where the Asian American communities' fear and anxiety is coming from. They are sensitive to that, but simply want the authorities to complete their work without making any judgments ahead of time. Pamela, back to you.

BROWN: Thanks to Natasha. Six feet apart, we have heard that over and over and this COVID Pandemic is key to stopping the spread. But when it comes to our schools, the CDC is ready to cut that space in half in some cases. The government's new recommendations announced Friday allow for just three feet of distancing between students.

There are plenty of conditions that go along with that shorter space. But Teachers Unions are not ready to endorse the guidelines just yet. With me tonight is Becky Pringle, head of the nation's largest teachers union, the National Education Association. She's also a longtime middle school science teacher.

Becky, great to see you. Nice to have you back on the show. I first want to ask you because you teach kids about science. Let me start there. Is the science that the CDC is basing its new guidance on not good enough for you?

BECKY PRINGLE, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: It's good to be back with you. Pamela, I have to tell you that I must begin by saying that the 3 million members of the NEA stand in solidarity with our AAPI students and colleagues and community in demanding that the violence against our Asian American stop.

And that we come together in unity, to stop this hate. Pamela, you know, as you said, that I am a science teacher. And I've been saying all year for 12 months now to follow the science, to listen to the infectious disease experts and to educators as we try to navigate a pandemic that none of us have ever been - have never lived through.

And so as the CDC issued its newest guidelines about three feet of social distancing versus six feet, I will tell you that I expressed a lot of concern. And let me tell you why, Pamela. We know that as we deal with this pandemic, that it's absolutely essential and the CDC has been very clear about this, that we have to employ the mitigation strategies, the masks, and the social distancing, and cleaning and washing hands and testing and tracing, all of those things.

And we can't pick and choose, we have to do them all together.

BROWN: But the testing and vaccinating are the secondary layers. But go ahead.

PRINGLE: This is my concern. We know that all of those mitigation strategies have not employed consistency - consistently, or necessarily with fidelity. And so as I listened to your previous guest talk about the variants, and the additional information that we have to learn, even with vaccinations, that we have to be thoughtful, and we have to be vigilant, and this is not the time to put our foot on the gas.

And so I'm concerned that with the guidance that we won't stay the course of making sure that we put in place all of those mitigation strategies before we change anything.

BROWN: And when you say all of those mitigation strategies, are you saying, are you lumping in all teachers being vaccinated, having full immunity and testing into that because that is what - that - those two categories are what the CDC said were not required for teachers to be back in the classroom. So I want to be specific on that.

[19:20:00]

PRINGLE: Absolutely. You know, the CDC did call for the prioritization of educators. And thanks to President Biden, we're getting it's done. And I will tell you, and I will tell you that most of our educators have now been vaccinated. So that's not the issue.

BROWN: That's great news.

PRINGLE: Yes, it is very good. It is really good news. That's not - that's not the issue. We are concerned with making sure that all of the - all of the folks have to be involved in making decisions and plans about how to bring our school - our students back to in-person learning safely, are involved in any change in plans.

That's something to CDC also said that we should come together and collaborate on making those plans. And I tell you WHAT Pamela, we're like this close - this close to having all of our students back to in- person learning. We want to make sure we not only get them back, but they stay.

BROWN: Of course, that is important. But the reality is the school year is almost over. And there is a question from parents out there that are like, when is it going to be enough? At what point can you just say, the science shows this and that outweighs the negative effects to children who are suffering from isolation over this past year.

And it is tricky. I have a sister who's a teacher, I know how hard it is. But when you look at the science on this, the WHO and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all okay-ed three feet of distancing. Several states tried it and said, as long as masks and other mitigation efforts were in place, the six feet of distance didn't matter as much. So at what point will the research and studies be enough?

PRINGLE: One of the things that I actually said to the CDC was that we have to continue - to continue to gather evidence, because one of the things that we can learn with the last studies is that we didn't have enough evidence in our large urban school districts with more diverse populations. And so we need to continue to collect that evidence.

But here's the difference. What we have to do is we have to make sure that we have plans in place to keep our students safe, and that everyone is involved in those plans. We have to be able to look at those - look those very parents in the eye, and ensure that the schools that they are sending their babies to are the safest place they can be.

And we can do it. We are doing it as a matter of fact, I visited a school out in - where they were coming together, and they were employing all of the mitigation strategies. And they were making sure their students were safe.

And Pamela, they haven't been in school all year, all we're saying is to make sure that they that you are staying the course and you are working together. And you are taking the time to think about three feet in the classroom, and then you go into a community area. And then you have to have six feet.

That's why you have to have educators involved in designing those plans.

BROWN: Well, that's because the mask would be off. Right? Right. And according to the CDC - and the CDC also requires that the teachers and adults still say six feet away, so the teachers would not be within three feet. But as we know, the COVID Relief Bill is now law, which means $125 billion for public schools, in part to upgrade ventilation and buy PPE.

So you have that you have more schools getting the resources they need as a result of the funding. And you have parents, like I said, who are really concerned. There's a study in the Journal of Pediatrics that found higher rates of suicide behavior, suicidal behavior among young people.

What do you say to the parents who would say to this teachers union, some parents, not all, that you're putting theoretical fears for teachers over the mental health concerns for kids? What would you say to them?

PRINGLE: I would say to them that every - all across this country, we have encouraged our local union leaders, as well as our parents, and our school nurses and superintendents, community members to come together and develop the plan that works for their school for their students in their community.

It's what we've been saying all along, making sure that we have those mitigation strategies in place, and you're right. Not only do we have this additional money, because of the work that President Biden and his administration and Congress have done, but they're also stepping up the testing. And we are encouraged by that as well.

It really is about them all working together to make sure not only that our students - that our students and our educators are safe, but that we keep them safe. That's all we're asking is to make sure that you're coming together, you're developing a plan and you're sticking with that plan.

BROWN: Pringle, thanks again for coming on the show.

PRINGLE: Thanks, Pamela. Stay safe.

BROWN: You too. Well, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis boasts about the state's lack of lockdowns and mask mandates. That freedom has sent Spring Breakers fleeing to Miami Beach and now the city has declared a State of Emergency. When we come back, I'll speak to Florida Congressman and former Governor Charlie Crist about that.

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You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A short time ago Miami Beach declared a State of Emergency and imposed a curfew due to larger than expected Spring Break crowds. The mayor telling tourists to stay out.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DAN GELBER (D), MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: We're always going to be one of the best destinations in the world, frankly, because we have so much to offer and that's probably why people are coming.

But right now, if you're coming here, because you've been pent up and you want to let loose and you think anything goes, please, don't come here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well as crowds flocked to Florida's beaches, sparking concerns of a COVID spike, Governor Ron DeSantis has been doing a victory lap for his handling of the pandemic.

He boasted about his state's COVID and economic numbers in a "Wall Street Journal" op-ed, writing, "Florida cut against the grain of elite opinion and bucked the media narrative."

One thing he left out, allegations that he gave preference to donors at invite-only vaccine clinics. These clinics allowed some 6,000 people to cut the line ahead of seniors on waitlist.

We invited the governor to come on the show, but he declined.

Democratic Congressman Charlie Crist of Florida has been called for -- has called, rather, for the Justice Department to investigate this matter. Congressman Crist joins me now. Thanks for coming on, Congressman.

I first want to start off with what we're seeing happen in Miami Beach. This curfew there. There is no denying that Florida has fared better than many expected with this pandemic. But considering the lack of restrictions that has been allowed to huge crowds, and I think we can show that on our screen here that these crowds gathering there in Miami Beach or we have pictures -- do you think the governor's celebration is premature? Are you concerned that we are about to see a surge and your state?

REP. CHARLIE CRIST (D-FL): Of course, it's premature. You know, I'm an old football player. You don't celebrate a touchdown until you get in the end zone. We're not in the end zone on this thing yet. We have a long way to go.

And I think the leadership of President Biden has been extraordinary, getting out over a hundred million vaccines in 55 days of his administration. They'll probably hit 200 million vaccines. That's the right approach. Being responsible, being thoughtful, not spiking the ball. It's no time to be doing that.

We need to be making sure that when this is over, we will have something to celebrate, but there isn't much to celebrate. Sadly, 33 of my fellow Floridians are dead now.

BROWN: Absolutely right. So you agree that the curfew should have been implemented and the state of emergency, right? CRIST: Oh, absolutely. Mayor Gelber is a friend. Dan, he is doing the

right thing. He is being responsible. The Governor ought to be doing that, but he's not and he's not required.

He is giving away the vaccines to white, Republican, wealthy donors. I mean, my God, it's just uncouth and inhuman.

BROWN: I'm going to ask you about that in just a minute. But before we get to that, I do want to point out. Florida never had a mask mandate, and has been open for many months, yet the state has had comparatively low unemployment and COVID mortality rates per capita below the national average.

Do you think that DeSantis deserves any credit for the state's handling of the pandemic?

CRIST: No. Mayors like Dan Gelber deserve credit. In my home in St. Petersburg, Rick Kriseman deserves credit. You know, it's the local -- the local mayors that are doing the right thing and staving off the irresponsible leadership that we see from Governor DeSantis. It's very sad.

And, frankly, Florida deserves better than that.

BROWN: So let's talk about this vaccine clinic scandal. This is a huge obligation of a pay to play scheme for COVID vaccinations. Have you spoken to the administration? Is the D.O.J. going to look into this?

CRIST: Well, I sent a letter to the new Attorney General Merrick Garland, along with the entire Democratic Florida delegation and I'm grateful to my colleagues for helping us coordinate, the unity of how all over the state, there is this problem.

We don't know if the D.O.J. have launched an investigation already. The Manatee County Sheriff's Office -- the Commissioner of the Manatee County Sheriff is a Republican. That gives you a sense of not -- the mayor goes around, he gives out, you know, Lakewood Ranch in Manatee County, 3,000 vaccines in a mostly white, mostly Republican, mostly wealthy neighborhood, did the same thing at Ocean Reef down in the Florida Keys, did the same thing in The Villages.

And I just found out yesterday, he gave over a thousand more vaccines, his administration to the City of Palm Beach. So what does that tell you? And then he gets a bunch of donations after he goes and he saves lives.

BROWN: Where are you getting this information?

CRIST: It's in the news. It is all over Florida. It's in the "Tampa Bay Times," "The Bradenton Herald."

BROWN: When you said you found out yesterday about Palm Beach, I'm just curious about that and the donors. Go ahead.

CRIST: I heard it from a producer with "60 Minutes" that I was talking to you yesterday. I mean, this stuff is ongoing. It's an unattractive of the governor to be doing this. It's unconscionable because the thought of this, there are 3,000 people who don't get the vaccine, Pamela. What happens to them? Do they die? More likely than not, if they don't get a vaccine.

BROWN: And we just want to point out, sorry, I think we're having some technical issues. I didn't mean to interrupt you there. But I do want to point out that a spokesman for DeSantis said: "The insinuation that politics play into vaccine distribution in Florida is baseless and ridiculous."

CRIST: Well, I don't agree with that.

BROWN: But I do want to ask you, there has been -- well, I imagine you don't agree with the statement. But I do want to ask you, before you go, have you decided whether you're going to run for Governor and challenge DeSantis next year?

[19:35:21]

CRIST: I have not made that decision or concluded that as yet, but I'm getting closer to it by the day.

BROWN: What does that mean, getting closer to it by the day? Where do you stand today?

CRIST: Where I stand today is that I'm giving it serious consideration and by getting closer to it by the date, it is like, what I told you about, you know, as an old football player, I'm about on the 10-yard line, probably going to go in the end zone. I hope so.

BROWN: All right. Congressman Charlie Crist, thanks so much.

CRIST: Thank you. God bless you.

BROWN: Well, this just in, one year after the pandemic shut down March Madness, a big dance game has been cancelled over COVID-19 protocols, details up next.

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[19:40:04]

BROWN: And this just in to CNN, the NCAA men's college basketball tournament game between Oregon and Virginia Commonwealth has just been cancelled because of COVID issues. CNN's Andy Scholes is in Indianapolis with the very latest -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Pamela, you know, this really is the NCAA's worst nightmare. This is something they were hoping that would not happen during this tournament.

But VCU is now out of March Madness because of COVID protocols. The tournament, you know, they had said before going in, you had to have five players available in order to play a game. So that means that you know, multiple members of VCU's teams are not available to play because of COVID or contact tracing. The NCAA putting out this statement just earlier this evening about

the cancellation of the game. I'll read what they said. They said, the NCAA Division One Men's Basketball Committee has declared the VCU- Oregon games scheduled for Saturday night at Indiana Farmers Coliseum a no contest because of COVID-19 protocols. This decision was made in consultation with the Marion County Public Health Department.

As a result, Oregon will advance to the next round of the tournament. The NCAA and the committee regret that VCU student athletes and coaching staff will not be able to play in a tournament in which they earned the right to participate.

Because of privacy issues, we cannot provide further details.

Now, the issue here, Pamela, is that it looks -- it appears that VCU has contracted the virus here in Indianapolis because they had to be tested seven days out before arriving here. It's what the NCAA was calling a controlled environment. The team has been continued to be tested daily, and they didn't find out until just today that they weren't going to be able to compete against Oregon.

And we've just recently received a statement from VCU head coach, Mike Rhoades, I'll read you what he said he -- I mean, he's obviously devastated that they're not going to be able to compete saying: "We've been tested every day for the past three weeks.

But within the past 48 hours, we received multiple positive tests. We're devastated for our players and coaches. It's been a dream for all of us to play an NCAA Tournament. We appreciate the care of our doctors and administrators this year, and all the efforts and attention will be put into our players at this time."

You know, it is just one game of the 67 right now, Pamela, but this has to be a very big concern now for the NCAA as the controlled environment it seems to have been compromised here in Indianapolis.

BROWN: And of course, a big blow to VCU and VCU fans. I want to ask you about something else. The NCAA is facing a lot of criticism for its handling of the workout facilities between the men's and women's tournament. And today the NCAA, tweeted out a photo of the revamped workout room for the women to use in Texas. Tell us about that.

SCHOLES: Well, yes, so the women's players there in Texas really shed a light on the vast discrepancy between the equipment they were provided with compared to what the men had here in Indianapolis. And once they posted the videos, and the pictures to Twitter. I mean, it really just took off on social media.

You know, between NBA players, WNBA players, you know, athletes everywhere, just couldn't believe what they were seeing what the women basically had a set of small dumbbells and yoga mats compared to the men having a massive weight room.

So you know, the NCAA came under heavy fire for what everyone was seeing and it wasn't just the weight room, people were saying the swag bags that the women received compared to the men were less, the meals the women were receiving in Texas compared to the buffet style the men were getting here in Indianapolis.

So the NCAA, it finally did come out and say, you know, we messed this mission up. This was not done correctly. We're going to you know, try to make things right. And they did come up in that weight room, it was put into place today.

Sedona Prince was on CNN earlier this afternoon and said that they got to work out in the new weight room facility that you're seeing on the screen right now.

But Pamela, you know, it just -- a lot of people were just shaking their head that the women weren't given the same amenities that the men were. Considering that, you know, everyone went through such a trying season with COVID and all the protocols to get to this point and this should be the highlight of the season for both the men and the women.

BROWN: Yes, they were understandably shaking their heads. But good to see the NCAA did something about it. Andy Scholes, thank you so much.

Out of office, but he is not out of prosecutors' minds. Former President Donald Trump still has several legal threats on the horizon. More on that I had with former federal prosecutor, Jeff Tsai.

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[19:49:04]

BROWN: Former President Trump is facing an onslaught of legal problems including investigations and dozens of lawsuits from states across the country from Fulton County in Georgia that is investigating potential obstruction of justice stemming from Trump's attempts to overturn the election results, to New York State looking into his taxes.

So just how vulnerable is the former President now that he no longer has the immunities afforded to him by the White House? Joining me now to talk about this is former Federal prosecutor Jeff Tsai.

Jeff, good to see you. You have prosecuted former high profile politicians before. These investigations don't just cover former President Trump's time in office. He also no longer has immunity. Just how much of a threat are these multiple investigations to him?

JEFF TSAI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, Pamela, it's great to be with you today. Thank you for having me.

You know, I'll start by saying that the only worse thing than having one prosecutor investigating or possibly prosecuting you is having two or more prosecutors doing that and I say that as both a former prosecutor and also now a current defense lawyer.

[19:50:07]

TSAI: And I think that what these multiple investigations and potentially prosecutions highlight is that the cloak of immunity obviously only goes so far and that now as a private citizen, what former President Trump is seeing is that there are so many of these various factual and legal issues that have been left in spaces that now are ripe for review by these prosecutors.

I will note, however, that obviously, nothing has been proved. But what these various investigations highlight is that there are two very real categories of things that the prosecutors are going to be looking at, and some are related purely to the time in which Mr. Trump was in office.

And now perhaps, more dangerously for him, those investigations, a couple of which you mentioned, are now based on conduct that has nothing to do during the time that he was President.

BROWN: Right. And you mentioned that prosecutors, what do the appointments of prosecutors in New York, as well as in Georgia tell you about where these investigations may be headed?

TSAI: One of the prime directives of prosecutors when they are looking at cases, they're looking at facts is first, she will ask herself, what is the path of least resistance for me in making my case based on the facts and based on the law? And I think that's what you're seeing right now.

And in the course of these investigations, in particular, you can look at what Cy Vance and his office are doing in Manhattan or what is happening in Tish James's office in the New York A.G.'s Office with respect to their investigation as they are looking at that conduct, again, irrespective of Mr. Trump's time in office, based on various potential tax improprieties, whether it's in connection with the tax returns themselves, whether they evidence crimes in association with tax deductions that he's taken.

And again, all of these show that they're going to look at those sets of facts based on the law that they might be able to most easily prove.

BROWN: I want to switch gears quickly and talk about something else, of course, the multiple shootings in the Atlanta area this week, do you think the shooter will be charged with hate crime? Should he? And why are hate crime charges so rare in cases involving Asian-Americans?

TSAI: Well, I think, this first, in talking about an issue like this to say that one thing that is irreducibly clear is that these are hate crimes. They are crimes based on hatred, based on animus, whether or not a court of law would be able to judge a person guilty of that is a different story and I think your question goes to the heart of the problem.

It is difficult to prove what someone's intent is, what is in the heart of any man or woman in his or her head. And when you're talking about something as invidious as bias motivated crime, you've got probably the most tough, the hardest kind of case that a prosecutor could prove.

But that's also the reason why this is an opportunity in a very real way for elected leaders like Tammy Duckworth, for example, who has issued a letter calling for more Intelligence gathering to really focus on what can be done from a policy level, such that you don't have to only resort to law enforcement because, I will say this, if in crimes against, for example, Asian-Americans, we are talking about just a prosecution, it's too late and that's the biggest problem.

And I say that as both a person who is Asian-American, I say that as a father of two Asian-American little girls who are also Puerto Rican. I say that as a brother of four Asian-American women, a son of an elderly Asian-American woman, that there are opportunities there for us to both not only be more attuned to what's happening in our society, but also to be able to have our government, our law enforcement take a more directed, coordinated approach so that law enforcement prosecutions are not the only tool that we have.

BROWN: Thank you so much, Jeff. It's really good to get your perspective on that. We appreciate it and hope to have you back on the show soon. Thanks so much.

TSAI: Thank you so much.

BROWN: Incredible pictures coming in out of Iceland, a volcano is erupting near the country's capital sending toxic gas into the air. More on that ahead.

But first, coronavirus has changed every aspect of our lives. As we begin to march toward another new normal, the medical leaders of the war on COVID break their silence.

Don't miss the unprecedented event with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's special report "COVID War: The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out" begins Sunday March 28th at 9:00 p.m. And here's a quick preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Sanjay.

ANNOUNCER: In an unprecedented event, the leaders of the war on COVID break their silence.

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: They wanted to make sure that we stopped saying that the risk to Americans was low.

[19:55:06]

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, FORMER DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: I finally hit a moment in life where I said, you know, enough is enough.

ANNOUNCER: What they saw.

STEPHEN HAHN, FORMER COMMISSIONER, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: That was a line in the sand for me.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're in for a disaster. ANNOUNCER: What they believe.

REDFIELD: People are not being transparent about it, you know, I could use the word cover up.

BIRX: I knew I was being watched. Everybody inside was waiting for me to make a misstep.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Were you threatened?

ANNOUNCER: And what's next?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As bad as this was he could be worse and there will be another pandemic. Guaranteed.

ANNOUNCER: Join Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

GUPTA: We were not testing enough.

REDFIELD: Agree with you.

GUPTA: Why not?

ANNOUNCER: CNN Special Report "COVID War: The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out" March 28th at nine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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