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Buffalo Mass Shooting Being Investigated as Hate Crime; Pennsylvania Senate Candidate John Fetterman Recovering After Stroke; Calling Out Number Three Republican; Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor, Speaks of COVID Deaths; Finland Seeking To Join NATO. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 15, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:24]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta, in Washington.

Today a disturbing picture is emerging of the teenager accused of Saturday's racism motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store. Here's the very latest. Police say the teen had it scouted out, the store in advance, knowing that it was located in a predominantly black neighborhood. Now 10 people are dead and three others are injured. Officials are treating this as a hate crime. And the suspect's own words could confirm this.

Two federal law enforcement sources tell CNN investigators are reviewing a 180-page manifesto allegedly authored by the suspect and posted online. In it, the author describes himself as a fascist, a white supremacist, and an anti-Semite who picked up most of these beliefs from the internet. That includes his fixation with the racist conspiracy theory that claims whites are being ethnically and culturally replaced by non-white groups and immigrants, which is of course nonsense.

He turned those hateful words into action police say unleashing terror on workers, shoppers simply going about their weekend. Witnesses describe a horrifying scene. The suspect dressed in tactical gears spraying gunfire at the entry of the store all while live-streaming the attack. The store security guard who tried to stop the gun lost his life as a result and the former Buffalo fire commissioner showed up to the scene to discover his 86-year-old mother who had stopped in for groceries did not make it out of the store alive.

CNN anchor Victor Blackwell is leading our coverage from Buffalo.

Victor, this is just a horrendous crime. It is just heartbreaking to see what's happened there in the city of Buffalo. And officials say this alleged gunman traveled hours to this predominantly black neighborhood to carry out this attack. What else are we learning?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Yes. Heartbreaking indeed, Jim. There are a lot of broken hearts here. The music you hear in the background for people who are just joining us is gospel music. It has been playing all day here. There are prayer circles, there is a growing memorial to the 10 people who were killed here, as well.

As you said, authorities say that this community was targeted by this suspected shooter. The question, though, why a grocery store? What we've learned from our Brian Todd, who is doing some reporting in Conklin where this suspect lived, that he worked at a grocery store. According to the owner of that store, he worked there for about four months, left three months ago, gave two weeks' notice. According to a neighbor, said you'd never get more than a word or two from this 18- year-old. The owner of the store says that he kept to himself and was always very quiet.

This is part of the investigation, as they try to go into the psyche of this 18-year-old.

Let's bring in now crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz who is following the investigation here and as authorities were spreading out.

What they're learning, though, more from some comments that he made soon after he was arrested. What have you learned about those?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes. Very disturbing. It is what one person told me, certainly they describe it as just really something that they found shocking. Making it very clear to authorities allegedly why he came here to this supermarket, targeting this specific community, targeting it because it's a predominantly black community. So that's why authorities are so very clear.

They know what the motive is here. This was race related, this was an attack on the black community. And that is why he came here, and so that is why they have been so certain on the motive here.

We're also getting some recordings from the initial response here, from the police, those chilling recordings the moments the police responded. Take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possible active shooter at the Tops. There are still shots being fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This might be an individual with body armor. PD have him about 40 feet out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least three down inside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three down inside so far, two outside radio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to need some officers inside of Tops because we have numerous bodies, and we have magazines and bullets and everything so we need to keep the evidence secure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is employees that are by the customer service. They're in a room. Locked in a room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: And Victor, really, the mayor here, all these city officials here, and really members of the community are giving so much credit to the police in stopping this gunman. They say this could have been far worse had they not gotten here as quickly as they did, some two minutes, within two minutes they were on scene.

[16:05:05]

You know, there was a security guard inside that store. We've heard so much about him. He's a -- was a retired police officer. He was armed. He tried to shoot the gunman, couldn't do anything, because he was wearing the armor, the protective gear. So that did nothing. And so sadly he died, the gunman shot him and he died. We've heard the city officials here talking about him. So really touching on every part of this community from fire officials to police officers then obviously the people who live here.

BLACKWELL: Yes. There was a man, he's named Roscoe, who came up and said that he worked with Lieutenant Salter, who was that security guard, said he was a nice man. He just wanted to come here. And that's why we're seeing the scores of people around this crime scene, there really isn't much they can do other than come here to comfort one another and hopefully get some comfort for themselves.

Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much. I'll let you get back to more reporting.

Let me bring in now Erie County district attorney John Flynn.

Mr. DA, thank you for being with me for spending a few minutes. We learned from investigators that there was a threat that this suspected shooter made against his high school, Susquehanna High School in Conklin last summer, June of 2021, less than a year ago.

What can you tell us about that threat? Was it a threat of a mass shooting?

JOHN FLYNN, ERIE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, there's not much that I can tell you because obviously that alleged incident occurred in Broom County, which as you know is some 3 1/2 hours away. So, you know, what actually happened there in Broom County and what they actually did, I obviously can't comment on. I can let you know, though, that there was no threat that was brought to the attention of anyone here in Buffalo.

So no one in law enforcement here in Buffalo knew of him or he was not on anyone's radar. That's also true of the FBI, as well. So, you know, we up here, again, this was a total shock to us. A total tragedy. But again, what happened down in Broom County, I'm not privy to.

BLACKWELL: What can you tell us about this 180-page manifesto in which the author says that he is a fascist, a white supremacist, and anti- Semite? What more have you learned from it?

FLYNN: I can tell you that we are obviously going through that with a fine-toothed comb and reviewing that for all evidence that it may lead us to beside the manifesto itself. A lot of times when you get a piece of evidence, that piece of evidence leads you in a different direction. So, you know, right now we kind of have a foundational charge that's already been filed.

So he was charged yesterday with murder in the first degree, which is the highest murder charge here in New York state. So we had that charge already filed. He's been remanded on that charge and held without bail. So we did what we did to get him off the street. Now what's going to happen, in the next step, there will be a felony hearing on Thursday. That's either going to get waived for a grand jury or held for a grand jury.

So either way, we're going to be a grand jury posture. Quite frankly, I'm already in grand jury posture right now. Once we get in that grand jury investigation, we can now add on any charge, obviously that we get evidence for. So all the evidence that we ascertain from that manifesto, from wherever that manifesto leads us, other pieces of evidence that we already had, we can then use that and develop more charges potentially that we can add on in a grand jury. Specifically, we're looking at domestic terrorism charges and hate crime charges.

BLACKWELL: And based on what you have learned from investigators, learned as part of your investigation, thus far, you say potentially hate crime charges. Do you anticipate that those will be forthcoming soon?

FLYNN: Yes, I do anticipate. Obviously, I think, you know, it's, you know, important to note that a defendant here is innocent until proven guilty. That charges against him right now are just that, charges, they're accusations. And, you know, anything that we go forward on now will again just be allegations. But from what we're picking up right now, I do anticipate that there are going to be additional charges. There are definitely going to be additional charges on the three individuals who were not killed.

[16:10:03]

So obviously there's going to be either attempted murder or assault charges that, again, potentially are going to be placed on the three individuals who survived the incident. And again, there is also potential gun charges. So, you know, there are numerous, numerous charges here that we are looking at, and that we are gathering evidence on so that when we get into the grand jury investigation, which quite frankly, Victor, we're already in right now, we can then kind of go from there.

BLACKWELL: You mentioned potential gun charges. The governor says that the AR-15 used was purchased legally. Is it clear who purchased the gun, who is the owner of the gun?

FLYNN: Not at this time. But in addition to the purchase aspect of it, there's also an aspect -- any time you have an assault weapon, you know, in all my years as DA, you know, doing homicides, there's always an issue about the magazines. You know, was it loaded with additional magazines that make it perhaps illegal? Was the weapon modified at all to make it illegal?

So those are all the things that we're looking at right now and that we're analyzing, and that quite frankly, Victor, you know, I have seen a lot in past cases where you have what perhaps could be a legal rifle per se, but the modifications to it, the additional magazines to it, could, in fact, make it illegal. And again we're looking at that, as well.

BLACKWELL: Yes. The governor said that that extended magazine that was used here, her question is, was that purchased potentially in Pennsylvania, that border being so close here?

Erie County DA John Flynn, thank you so much for mapping out what's next as part of your process. You say you're already in grand jury mode. Thank you so much.

Jim, I'm going to send it back to you, as this is moving forward on several fronts. The investigation here on the scene but also the investigation from the DA's point, and then potentially, as our Shimon Prokupecz said, will there be federal hate crimes charges moving that direction as well?

ACOSTA: All very important questions in this investigation.

All right, Victor, we'll talk to you soon.

And coming up, breaking news ahead of Pennsylvania's high-stakes Senate primary. Democratic candidate for Senate and current lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, suffers a stroke. What we're learning about his condition, that's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:53]

ACOSTA: We have breaking news. Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor and Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman announcing he has suffered a stroke, and that happened on Friday, just days before his state's primary this Tuesday.

CNN's Dan Merica joins us now by phone. He's been covering the race there in Pennsylvania.

Dan, what's the latest?

DAN MERICA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Yes, hey, Jim. Fetterman just made the announcement, saying that he had a stroke that was discovered on Friday, and that the stroke was caused by a clot from his heart being in a fib rhythm or an irregular rhythm for too long.

I'm going to read directly from his statement on his prognosis. He says, quote, "The good news is, I'm feeling much better and that doctors tell me I didn't suffer any cognitive damage. I'm well on my way to a full recovery. The doctors have assured me that I'll be able to get back on the trail but first I need to take a minute, get some rest and recover. There's so much at stake in this race, I'm going to be ready for the hard fight ahead."

Now this announcement comes on the third day that Fetterman had been off the campaign trail. It began on Friday when he was meant to hold a campaign event outside of Lancaster. But his spokesman was forced to, you know, as the event was about to start, take the stage and basically announced that Fetterman was not feeling well and that they had to cancel the event.

The same happened for an event on Friday night and then for event on both Saturday and Sunday. And Fetterman's campaign had been pretty mum about what caused the cancellation. You know, polls show Fetterman with a pretty significant lead going into Tuesday's primary, so there was really no sense for him missing three days of campaigning would change balance of the race.

Now Fetterman's two top primary opponents have responded to the news with Conor Lamb, a congressman from the western side of the state, saying that John and his family are in our prayers and wishing him well of a full and speedy recovery. And then Malcolm Kenyatta, a state representative, saying that John -- that my prayers are with him and his family as he recovers from this stroke.

Obviously, you know, everyone's thoughts go out to someone who is in this sort of situation. But there are political implications, as well. Fetterman is likely, you know, to win the primary on Tuesday and if he does that, he has a grueling campaign ahead of him in a state that will be key for Democrats. Arguably one of the best chances Democrats have to pick up a seat in the Senate in November.

So, you know, a lot is going on in this announcement. There'll certainly be a lot to digest. And, you know, obviously, everyone who is thinking about Fetterman and his family at this time.

ACOSTA: All right. Dan Merica, we're going to keep an eye on this one. Obviously it has the potential to impact this primary on Tuesday, and as you said, the general election coming up after that.

Dan Merica, thank you very much.

Coming up, the head of the NAACP joins me live as we learn the suspect in the mass shooting in Buffalo allegedly spewed white supremacist theories online before driving hours to carry out the attack in a predominantly black neighborhood.

Our coverage of all this continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:24:23]

ACOSTA: Racially motivated violent extremism. That's what the Department of Justice is calling Saturday's mass shooting in Buffalo that killed 10 people and injured three others. Investigators are now combing through a 180-page manifesto that allegedly shows the gunman's fixation on, quote, "great replacement theory" which claims the white population is dwindling and being replaced ethnically and culturally by people of color, which of course is nonsense.

It's a theory that has been linked to other recent mass shootings in this country, including the murders of 51 people and also overseas, including the murders of 51 people at mosques and Christ Church New Zealand. The murders of 23 people at a Wal-Mart store in El Paso, the murders of 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and the murders of nine people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.

[16:25:08]

And joining me now is the head of the NAACP Derrick Johnson.

Derek, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it on such a -- just a terrible day for the people in Buffalo, New York. As you know, the authorities say the suspect in the Buffalo shooting drove hours to a predominantly black neighborhood where he then shot 13 people, killing 10 of them. What was going through your mind when you heard about that, that there was this premeditation obviously behind all of this?

DERRICK JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, NAACP: Well, the real question is what do we do as a community, as a society? Are we going to continue to allow domestic terrorism to dominate the public discourse every so many months? We have seen this before. The question is now, what? When will the Justice Department aggressively pursue these domestic terrorist cells that are populating on social media platforms?

When will social media platforms finally stand up to their community responsibility and remove these cells? When will News Corp stop funding FOX News to promote theories that only divide and create tribalism using NFL funds? We have to talk now about now what? How are we going to pivot away from this domestic terrorism that we have seen?

For African-Americans, we know what it means for domestic terrorists not to be held accountable. It means for us more domestic terrorism. We have to come to grips with white supremacist behavior and all of the racist dogma that's out there that's causing harm to the African- American community, to the Jewish community, to Latino community. We have to stand up as a society.

ACOSTA: And Derrick, I mean, you teed up my next question because as we mentioned so many of these mass shooters have been motivated by this insane theory that they need to save the white race. But this idea isn't something that just exit on the dark fringes of the internet. As you know, this rhetoric has been main streamed by right- wing media figures like FOX's Tucker Carlson.

We've put together a compilation of just some of the things he said on his show about this great replacement theory as he call it. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX HOST: I know that the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term replacement, if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots with new people, more obedient voters from the third world, but they become hysterical because that's what's happening actually. Let's just say it. That's true.

We've never seen demographic change like this. It's roughly the equivalent of a brand-new city of Chicago every year. A city populated entirely by poor people with limited education who can't speak English. And the question is, how is it good for America?

Where exactly is all this criminal white supremacy, this right-wing domestic terrorism that poses, quote, "the most lethal terrorist threat in the homeland"? Where is it? Well, of course it doesn't exist?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And those are just a few examples, Derrick. When "The New York Times" recently ran an expose on Carlson's record of promoting white nationalism and replacement theory, he tweeted out this, a picture of himself holding up the article, the front page of the "New York Times" and laughing about it.

Derrick, as you know, millions of people absorb this garbage on a regular basis on his program. FOX does nothing about it. They make millions of dollars off of it. We have not shied away from calling that out and calling Tucker out on this program because what he is doing is very dangerous.

What do you think can be done about this, and what do you say to all of that?

JOHNSON: Well, first of all, FOX News is funded through carriage fees from Comcast and other platforms. And that funding is the result of News Corp getting NFL contracts which generates millions of dollars. The advertisement for NFL, the NFL must stand up and tell News Corp to drop FOX News, stop funding them.

Secondly, all media have to create a new narrative. Every 12 to 18 months we get more red meat, whether it's critical race theory before, replacement theory now, defund police before that. It's all red meat to generate this type of energy that's negative, that's based on tribalism, and destructive to our democracy.

So there are ways to get to it. But finally, if we're going to charge rappers with the RICO Act, shouldn't we be looking at the RICO Act to charge domestic terrorists who have harm, murdered individuals and terrorized our nation? At some point, we have to come to grips that this is a national security issue.

For African-Americans, we have it decades long. There are things to be done. Is there the political will to make it happen? In the corporate space and the political space, and in the community space, we must demand more and different.

[16:30:00] ACOSTA: And, Derrick, it's happening up on Capitol Hill, too. I mean, Adam Kinzinger is calling out the number three Republican in the House, Elise Stefanik. She has been, essentially, pedaling this great replacement theory, too.

Here's Adam Kinzinger. Did you know, Stefanik pushes white replacement theory, the number three in the House GOP? Liz Cheney got removed for demanding truth. GOP leader, talking about Kevin McCarthy, should be asked about this.

Are you worried about the direction that we're heading? It's not just on Fox. It's happening in Congress.

JOHNSON: It happens in production studios across the country, mainstream, Fox News and social media platform. The question is, what type of America do we want? Do we want to allow people to use this red meat to try to get tax concessions, or do we want to pull this nation together and focus on the external threats, as opposed to allowing the internal threats to continue to pull us apart? That's the real question for all of our platforms.

ACOSTA: Well, it's very dangerous. And people who have positions of power, positions of influence, to use those positions in ways that animate terrorists, domestic terrorists, to inflict the kind of harm that we saw in Buffalo, it is just despicable.

Darrick Johnson, thank you very much for your time this afternoon. We appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Coming up, the U.S. surpasses one million deaths from COVID. And now, a growing share of those deaths are happening among the vaccinated. What's to come? Dr. Anthony Fauci joins me live. He will talk about that. There he is. We'll talk about that next.

[16:31:39]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Vaccine misinformation got people killed. That's one takeaway from a new study that found better vaccination rates could have prevented half of COVID deaths in the U.S. since the vaccines became available. It concluded that 319,000 lives could have been saved between January 2021 and April 2022, if peak vaccination rates were sustained across the country.

That frustrating news comes as the nation seems to be ripping off the masks and ushering in a so-called new normal. Even though, as former Trump COVID response coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, told me yesterday, the toll of this virus is still very high.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, FORMER CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR, DONALD TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: The fact that since this January 1st, 175,000 Americans have died, just in the last four and a half months. That's five times any annual flu deaths.

So, we need to take this five more times seriously than we take flu.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Makes a good point. I'm joined now by President Biden's chief medical advisor and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Dr. Fauci, it's always great to have you on. We appreciate it. Thanks for doing this on a Sunday afternoon.

You know, we have the vaccines. We have the treatments. The deaths keep piling up. You know, the number of infections are going up. I mean, it's very alarming. And I know we're supposed to be moving on with our lives and everything.

But experts keep warning of surges. Dr. Birx says, we could see one in a matter of weeks. We may be in the midst of one now, I suppose. Why does it seem like there's no way out? What are we doing wrong?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, it's not a question of doing anything wrong. It's what we can do more of. And if you look at the data, Jim, it's so clear. That when you look at hospitalizations and deaths, clearly people who are vaccinated, you're going to have some of them who will get hospitalized and who will die. But the overwhelming proportion of people who get into serious trouble with hospitalizations and deaths are those who are unvaccinated.

So, we still have got to get more people vaccinated in the first place. We have about 66, 67 percent of the total population in the United States is vaccinated. But only about half of those have actually gotten a booster who are eligible for a boost. Anyone 12 years of age or older is eligible for a booster shot.

And the data clearly speak for themselves. There's no doubt what you said is true. That we're starting to see surges of cases, so protection against initial infection we know wanes. And we know with this highly transmissible variant of omicron, it's a sub-lineage of omicron, it's clearly surging now in multiple states.

We've got to make sure we don't make a decision, which would be a wrong decision, that we're completely finished with COVID-19. We are not. We still have a lot to do, with regard to vaccinations. With regard to boosters. With regard to making it very clear that we have anti-virals that are available for people, particularly those who are at high risk for a serious outcome that might lead to hospitalization.

So, we still have a big, big challenge in front of us. We shouldn't feel at all, and it would be incorrect, that this is completely over.

ACOSTA: And a growing share of COVID deaths are now from breakthrough infections. In January and February, more than 40 percent. And of those people, less than one-third were boosted. Help us, you know, interpret these numbers. Because on the surface it seems counter to what we were just saying about vaccine rates. Help us out there. [16:40:00]

FAUCI: Well, Jim, you are going to see people, who have been vaccinated and people who have been boosted, who are going to get into trouble. Because there's a great degree of variability. There are people who don't get a robust response. Most of the people, even those who are getting vaccinated and boosted who wind up in the hospital, and some unfortunately and tragically die, are people who are weighted towards the elderly and also heavily weighted towards those with underlying conditions.

The thing that make it more likely that you'll get a serious outcome. And we know what those are. It's hypertension, diabetes, obesity, chronic lung disease. All of the things that we know. Some of those people, even though they're vaccinated, they're going to wind up getting in trouble.

But, for the most part, on a population basis, the difference between vaccinated verses unvaccinated, striking difference in severity of disease.

ACOSTA: Yes. Well, there's no question about that. And I have to ask you about this meeting Dr. Deborah Birx details in her book. She talked to us about this yesterday on this show. She says, it was towards the end of the Trump presidency. It was in this meeting, and you were there. And she says that Vice President Pence yelled at her when she called the pandemic one of the worst catastrophes in U.S. history. And she writes that she was disappointed that you didn't stick up for her in that moment.

Now, Dr. Fauci, I know for a fact, because I've spoken with you many times, you have stuck up for her, Deborah Birx, on many occasions. But she says, in that occasion, you did not. Do you remember that episode playing out that way?

FAUCI: No.

ACOSTA: Tell us about that.

FAUCI: No, I -- no, I don't, Jim. I don't recall that episode at all. And, as you well know, behind the scenes, in front of the camera, I've always been very supportive of Dr. Birx. And that's clear. You know that. I've been that way with you. So, I'm not sure --

ACOSTA: Yes.

FAUCI: -- what she was referring to there.

ACOSTA: And let me ask you this, because I got into this with Dr. Birx yesterday. If Trump were to return to the White House as president, and COVID is still a threat or there is some other public health emergency, would you have confidence in his ability -- would you have confidence in his ability to deal with a pandemic of this nature? Would you want to stay on in your post?

FAUCI: Well, no to the second question. The first question -- ACOSTA: I think I knew the answer, but I had to ask you.

FAUCI: If you look at the history of what the response was during the administration, I think, you know, at best, you could say it wasn't optimal. And I think just history will speak for itself about that. I don't need to make any further comment on that, Jim. It's not productive.

ACOSTA: You would not serve with Trump again though. That's fair to say.

FAUCI: Right.

ACOSTA: Right.

FAUCI: For sure. Yes.

ACOSTA: OK. And Dr. Fauci, you know, with what we saw in Buffalo yesterday, I have to ask you about this epidemic of gun violence in this country. You know, we seem to be drowning in guns in the United States, and drowning in hate on top of that.

CDC data shows gun deaths are the highest they've been in America since 1994. This is beyond a crime problem. It is a public health emergency.

How do you see it? Do you see it that way? I know it's a little out of your purview.

FAUCI: Yes.

ACOSTA: But we do have an epidemic of gun violence in this country, and it has -- and of mass shootings in this country, it seems.

FAUCI: You know, Jim, you're right. It's out of my lane and I don't want to talk about things that are out of my lane. I'm certainly -- I'm very concerned about gun violence. I mean, obviously, we're having a very difficult part in this country. But -- time in this country. But, you know, I don't want to be getting out of my lane, making a comment that becomes a sound bite. And then, I get criticized for being out of my lane. Let's leave the experts to talk about that. Not me.

ACOSTA: All right. Dr. Anthony Fauci, I had to try there at the end, because it's such an important issue right now.

But thanks for coming in to talk about this very serious surge in -- and you have not -- up until this point, have not gotten COVID, correct? You've been able to make it through all the way to this point.

FAUCI: No, I have not.

ACOSTA: Yes.

FAUCI: Yes, I'm lucky, Jim. I have not. I have not. ACOSTA: All right. Good for you. All right, Dr. Fauci, thank you so

much for your time. Again, we appreciate it. Thanks for coming on.

FAUCI: Thank you for having me, Jim. Always good to be with you.

ACOSTA: All right, good to be with you.

And it is a seismic shift for European security. Finland announces it wants to join NATO after seeing what neighboring Russia has done in Ukraine. Coming up, an incredible look at the underground network of bunkers and tunnels Finland has built out of deep distrust of Moscow.

[16:44:48]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: We want to show you brand new video. A drone video of Russian attacks on the steel plant in Mariupol that has become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance. Look at that. Just incredible video here.

Hundreds of wounded Ukrainian soldiers are still trapped inside that plant. Many of them missing limbs and not knowing when they can be evacuated. Still being bombarded there, as you can see in that video.

And Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine has led neighboring Finland to make a historic decision to apply for NATO membership, despite Russia's warnings of retaliation. CNN's Nic Robertson shows us Finland's distrust of Russia runs so deep, they have built an underground network of bunkers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): The question is, when is a parking garage not a parking garage?

[16:50:00]

ROBERTSON: And the answer is, when it's part of a tunnel of bunker network to be used in case of war. And there's one country threatening that war, potentially. The big threat, Russia.

Tommy Rask, Helsinki City Rescue Department is going to show us around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, if we go and see that main entrance.

ROBERTSON: Twenty meters, 60 feet below ground, cut into Helsinki's bedrock.

(on camera): How quickly can you put this together in case of war?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In 72 hours.

ROBERTSON: And 6,000 people in here. How many people can you fit in shelters in the whole of Helsinki?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over 900,000.

ROBERTSON: So, that's enough for the population plus visitors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes, it is.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The government's been building bunkers here since the 1960s. Fifty-five hundred in Helsinki. More than 50,000 across the country. Enough for 80 percent of the country's 5.5 million population.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deeper and deeper.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Yes.

(voice-over): But the scale of it, not the only surprise. Some of it's open to the public.

(on camera): What's this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a bunker with a sports hall.

ROBERTSON: Oh, my goodness. Much of it dual use to offset the costs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, this is one example of our dual-purpose use of the shelter.

ROBERTSON: Dual purpose, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON: Yes. So, sports every day of the week. In a time of crisis, what happens here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the sporting goods are stacked away. All these halls, these sheltering halls, are divided by smaller sheltering rooms.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): And not just sports halls. Children's play areas, possibly the safest in the world, cafes, even a swimming pool.

(on camera): Just the sheltering hall --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON: But with a pool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. With an Olympic-size pool.

ROBERTSON: Olympic-size, OK. Wow. Wow.

(voice-over): But everything here with one purpose in mind, blast doors, gas barriers, decontamination areas, even the two billion-year- old bedrock more than just blast proof.

(on camera): So, if there's a nuclear bomb, the rock, itself, absorbs the radiation and keeps everyone here safe. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the idea.

ROBERTSON: And the tunnels as well, they're curved so that they also prevent some of the blast coming through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they take the most of the hit.

ROBERTSON: And now, it's a car park.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a car park.

ROBERTSON: Again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again.

ROBERTSON: That's quite a bizarre feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON: One minute you're preparing for a war, the next minute you're playing hockey. And now, it's a car park.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Here, you can see the different layers.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): And before we leave, Rasc (ph) shows us another shelter, just begun.

(on camera): Drill a hole in it. Put explosives in. Blow it and move forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bye.

ROBERTSON: Goodbye. Cheers. Goodbye. Here come the traffic. This looks like the way out. Absolutely fascinating. Intriguing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Incredible story there from our Nic Robertson.

CNN heroes wants to share their stories with the world and help them continue doing the work that makes them so special. This week, Anderson Cooper has some tips to help you help them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST OF "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Since 2007, CNN Heroes has honored hundreds of everyday people, making the world a better place, to shine a light on their causes. Help them raise funds for their life-changing work, all while inspiring people with their incredible stories.

But the first step in the CNN Hero's journey is the nomination, And that's where you come in. It only takes a few minutes, and you can do it right now at CNNHeroes.com. Just think about what makes this person special and tell us about them in a paragraph or two. We want to know about their impact and what makes their work unique.

You don't need to know your nominee personally. They could just be someone you admire from afar. And they can be from almost anywhere in the world. This is your opportunity to help that amazing person you know reach more people and change more lives and maybe even become the next CNN Hero of the year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And you can nominate your hero right now at CNNHeroes.com.

[16:54:48]

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