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New Day

Eight Killed in Massage Parlor Shootings, Suspect in Custody; Biden to Migrants, Don't Come to United States; New Cases Rising in 14 States Sparking Concerns. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 17, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

DR. MARC VAN RANST, VIROLOGIST: Rather than the emotional-based thing.

[07:00:02]

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Whatever the European Medicines Agency decides on Thursday, some say that the damage is already done, not only to Europe's ambition of vaccinating 70 percent of its population by September, but to its ambition of doing that as one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (on camera): And on the problem, is that even if this crisis was born in and of the European Union and its particular structures and ambitions and problems, it goes, of course, in terms of its consequences way beyond its borders. It is 2 billion doses of AstraZeneca are due to be delivered this year to 70 countries and almost whatever the Europeans Medicines Agency decides tomorrow, whatever its verdict, that problem of vaccine hesitancy of confidence that people worldwide could have in the vaccines is unlikely to go away. John and Erica?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: All right. Melissa, thank you very much.

New Day continues right now.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is New Day. Alisyn is off, Erica Hill with me this morning. Great to have you here.

Developing overnight, security increased in cities across the country, new concerns of anti-Asian crime after a deadly murder spree near Atlanta targeting the massage parlors, at least eight people killed. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, six of the victims were Asian women.

ERICA HILL, CNN NEW DAY: A suspect, 26-year-old Robert Aaron Long of Georgia, is in custody this morning. And police at this hour not talking about a motive but the concern, as John mentioned, that these shootings could be racially motivated is real.

Ryan Young is in Atlanta with the late-breaking details for us this morning. Ryan, good morning. RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica, just a devastating attack leaving a lot of people in this community asking why. You can see one of the massage parlors across the street here and this was surrounded by police for hours and we're still waiting to hear what the motive was.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG (voice over): A shooting rampage at three spas in the Atlanta metro area Tuesday, leaving eight people dead and one wounded. Police apprehending one suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long of Woodstock, Georgia. Law enforcement is saying that video evidence suggests that it's extremely likely the same one person is responsible for all three shootings.

SHERIFF FRANK REYNOLDS, CRISP COUNTY, GEORGIA: Georgia State Patrol Troopers performed a pit maneuver, which caused the vehicle to spin out of control. The subject was taken into custody without an incident.

YOUNG: The first shooting took place about 30 miles outside of Atlanta at the Youngs Asian Massage in Cherokee County. Two people died at that scene and two more died at the hospital. One individual is also wounded.

JAY BAKER, CHEROKEE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: In 2020, we had one homicide in Cherokee County. So we have had at least three today. So it's pretty shocking for not only our responding deputies and public safety but also for the community here. We take this very serious.

YOUNG: The other two took place in Atlanta, spas right across the street from each other, the first at Gold Massage Spa, leaving three dead, while police responded, they learned of another across the street at Aromatherapy Spa. One person was killed there. Atlanta Police say this investigation is a high priority.

SERGEANT JOHN CHAGEE, ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: We do have some witnesses that were in the location around the location.

It is an extreme priority for us.

YOUNG: According to Atlanta Police, the suspect's vehicle was seen at the crime scene at Cherokee County and also on the same street at the shootings in Atlanta.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just heard numerous gunshots coming from across the street.

I won't say any names but they're really nice girls. They just do great massages. They do great massages over here. So it's just unfortunate.

YOUNG: Authorities tell the Atlanta Journal Constitution six of the victims were Asian women. Police said they had no immediate indication of a motive for the shootings. But the killings came at a time when attacks on Asian-Americans have increased is since the coronavirus pandemic, that's left some questioning whether race played a role.

Stop AAIP Hate, the nation's leading group fighting the anti-Asian hate and discrimination called the deaths an unspeakable tragedy and added, this latest attack will only exasperate the fear and pain that the Asian-American community continues to endure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG (on camera): John, one of the things we're waiting for today, there may be a news conference with several of the agencies involved in this. Let's not forget that Georgia State Patrol officer was able to make the pit maneuver on the roadway after the great description came from Cherokee County. We know video surveillance played a role in all this, but we're hoping that police can also tie all of the little pieces of this investigation together for us and give us a motive.

BERMAN: Ryan Young for us in the area of the crime, thank you so much for being there for us. Please keep us posted. Again, we're waiting to hear from law enforcement as the morning progresses.

I want to bring in Cedric Alexander, the former public safety director for DeKalb County in Georgia. Cedric, thanks so much for being with us.

Look, law enforcement tell us or has not released any evidence of a racial motivation yet, but, obviously, there are questions and concerns this morning. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reporting six of the eight victims were Asian.

[07:05:00]

We know there's a rise in anti-Asian crime across the country. So how is this being investigated now? What would you do to answer that burning question that so many people are asking?

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, FORMER PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR, DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA: Well, I think as evidence continues to be collected as a result of what happened last night, and I think we all could pretty much reasonably assume, John, that considering this climate that we're in today, living in this pandemic, we certainly have seen an uptick of attacks towards Asian-Americans across this country.

And, actually, since March of last year up until February of this year, there's been over 3,800 cases that have been reported of attacks toward Asian-Americans in this country, primarily in the large -- in many of our large cities across the country. But we also have to keep in mind that a lot of these events are incidents that are not being reported at all, so the numbers are far greater.

I think we can reasonably conclude that race is going to play a part in all of this. So now it's incumbent on all of us as Americans to make sure that we are all in tune with our Asian communities and we're there to provide the support that they need as they go through this very horrific time in the history of this nation.

BERMAN: So what do you go, go through social media in terms of the suspect, searching the car for any kind of evidence, interviewing associates? I mean, if it does bear out that this was racially motivated, then an obvious concern would be are there others involved or could this spread just be on him, correct?

ALEXANDER: That's absolutely true. But we also must consider the fact that there are attitudes out there in our country where people believe somehow that Asian-Americans and they all get lumped into one group, even though we know that there are a variety of Asian-Americans across the globe, around the globe from a variety of different countries.

But Asian-Americans are pigeon holed, like many other minority groups in this country, and then many will deem somehow, as a result of this pandemic, they're the cause of it. And that is not true whatsoever. So I think it's important for us to acknowledge that this type of racist attitude do exist and here, again, I think we can reasonably conclude that there's going -- that race is going to be a variable in all.

But I know -- I certainly do -- I'm optimistic enough that we as a nation, all of us, are going to take some responsibility and do what we can to make sure that every American, and particularly right now Asian-Americans in this country feel safe. So many police departments across this country at this very moment are taking actions in terms of going into the Asian-American communities, making sure that high levels of patrol and connectivity to those communities more so than ever is now being practiced.

But this is something I believe that we will get through, but we cannot minimize this in any regard.

BERMAN: What specific precautions would you take?

ALEXANDER: Well, I would tell you what I would do if I were chief. I would certainly reach out to my Asian-American communities. I would make sure that they have liaisoned (ph) with us. I would make sure that they feel comfortable in contacting us if need be so that (INAUDIBLE) I would -- other citizens throughout our entire (INAUDIBLE) to make sure that they stay very vigilant and keep their eyes and ears open. Because the statistics, the number the data is clearly stating to us there's an uptick in these types of attacks, both passive and aggressive. So we need to take some real action.

BERMAN: Cedric Alexander, we thank you very much for being with us. I appreciate your time.

One addition to this, we should note, our White House team tells us the president has now been briefed, the president has been briefed on these shootings, eight people dead in the Atlanta area. Again, we're expecting a news conference this morning. We'll bring that to you live when it happens.

HILL: As you just mentioned, John, the president has been briefed. I want to go straight to CNN's Jeremy Diamond who is live at the White House with more on that for us this morning. Jeremy, good morning.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica. We have a statement from the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, she says that the president of the United States was briefed overnight about the horrific shootings in Atlanta. She says, quote, White House officials have been in touch with the mayor's office and will remain in touch with the FBI.

So, clearly, the White House keeping a close eye on this, of course, it was just last week that President Biden talked about the uptick in violence against Asian-Americans in the United States. He condemned it wholeheartedly in his first primetime address in the Oval Office, as he was addressing matters related to the coronavirus pandemic.

But some other news happening overnight, and that is President Biden's comments on the filibuster in this interview with ABC News, the president, for the first time, offering his most direct endorsement yet of overhauling the filibuster process.

[07:10:09]

He's not talking about eliminating the filibuster altogether, which is what some progressive Democrats would like to see the president's support in the Senate. But he is talking about major reforms, requiring senators to actually hold the floor and talk if they want to object to legislation. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't think you have to eliminate the filibuster. You have to do what it used to be when I first got to the Senate and back in the old days when you used to be around there and that is that if a filibuster, you had to stand up and command the floor. And you had to keep talking -- you couldn't call for, you know -- no one could say quorum call. Once you stopped talking, you lost that and someone could move in and say, I move the question of. So you have got to work for the filibuster.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS HOST: So you're for that reform, you're for bringing back the talking filibuster?

BIDEN: I am. That's what it was supposed to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now, I should note, of course, that the White House press secretary, as recently as last week, said that President Biden does not support it, would not advocate for any changes to the filibuster, not even just that he was opposed to eliminating it, that he was opposed to any reforms. Clearly, the president's position has either changed or those comments last week were inaccurate.

The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, for his part, has vowed that if Democrats take steps to eliminate the filibuster, there will be a scorched earth campaign in the Senate, in what he described as a hundred car pileup with legislation going nowhere. Erica?

HILL: Jeremy Diamond at the White House for us this morning, Jeremy, thank you. President Biden also talked about the surge at the southern border and had a message for migrants who may be thinking about heading to the U.S. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

BERMAN: So, President Biden sending the clearest message yet to migrants at the southern border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: First of all, the idea that Joe Biden said come, because I heard the other day because they're coming because they know I'm a nice guy and I won't do what Trump do --

STEPHANOPOULOS: They're saying this?

BIDEN: Yes. Well, here's the deal. They're not.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you have to say quite clearly, don't come?

BIDEN: Yes. I can say quite clearly don't come and what we're in the process of getting set up, don't leave your town or city or community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining us now, CNN Political Analyst Maggie Haberman, she's a Washington Correspondent for The New York Times.

For everything he said there, the most telling words, Maggie, might be quite clearly. That might be what he was going for more than anything else there. Why do you think the president was sending that message?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: John, I think that's right. And I think, look, the numbers at the border, particularly the numbers related to unaccompanied children, have been alarming to immigration advocates and to the administration, which, you know, knows that they need to get their hands around this and regardless of what is causing it that there is a crisis and it is something they need to deal with.

Biden sending the message because many people have made the point because people had heard -- seen Biden as a welcoming presence. Biden definitely reversed a number of former President Trump's policies that were seen as regressive related to immigration and restrictionist in terms of immigration. And from that, people got the message of we can come, and it's safe to come up and cross the border. Biden is sending a very clear message, and to your point, that's what he wanted to say, that that is not what this administration is doing.

It does not mean that everything is black versus white, Trump versus Biden on immigration. These issues are complicated and it's very easy to demagogue. But Biden is saying -- without saying it, he is saying, we need to get our arms around this and then there can be a discussion later. HILL: If not black and white, but as we know when it comes to politics, things can feel kind of black and white in the way that they are presented, and Republicans certainly taking this as a moment, Maggie.

HABERMAN: Republicans have been arguing that this is an example of open border policy. We have seen Republicans focus on this issue in part because, as I said, it's very easy to demagogue and in part because it's easier for Republicans to talk about for a couple of reasons than say the stimulus package, which some Republicans might be opposed to what's in it a number of their voters actually like that package because it's going to provide help after a very difficult year for people and because there are visuals from the border, which are also very easy to explain to people and there are a number of Republicans who have a significant policy difference with this administration on this topic. All of those reasons are why they're talking about it. And the Biden administration knows that. So they are trying to get their arms around this.

But there are some -- and, again, it is not -- as I said this is not black and white, not entirely for political reasons. There are some who are predicting a more extensive crisis if things don't slow down, which is why you heard what President Biden said last night.

BERMAN: I think the most surprising part of the president's interview with George Stephanopoulos was when they discussed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. So let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: If the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign?

BIDEN: Yes, I think he probably will end up being prosecuted too.

A woman should be presumed to telling the truth and should not be scapegoated and become victimized by her coming forward, number one. But there should be an investigation to determine whether what she says is true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: A lot of people saw that, Maggie, and said, wow. I mean, look, yes, the president is still saying there should be an investigation. But to lean into the idea that the governor can be prosecuted politically, that can't help the governor.

HABERMAN: No, that was stunning. And, honestly, John, I can't imagine that Governor Cuomo was happy about that because, at the moment, no one is talking about prosecution. President Biden is the person who introduced that into the discussion. There is an investigation, but that investigation at the moment is not criminal. It's a fact-based investigation about what happened.

But he also affirmed that he thinks that if is concluded that Governor Cuomo Cuomo engaged in misconduct, then he should resign, and that's very different than what he had said on Sunday night on a topic that President Biden has been trying to avoid getting dragged into for a variety of reasons.

[07:20:12]

I don't know that this necessarily moves the ball forward but it does suggest that President Biden, who is one of two people who can actually impact Andrew Cuomo's faith, the other being a legislative leader, Carl Heastie in New York, Joe Biden is sensing that he needs to take a step back publicly too.

HILL: It would be interesting to see what more we hear as this unfolds throughout the day, more reaction to those comments.

Maggie, I also want to get your take on -- there's been a lot of talk about how helpful former President Trump could be in terms of vaccine hesitancy, specifically among his supporters. So he actually addressed that last night, calling in, and saying that he thinks people should get the shot, right? He sort of understands if you may not want to, but he thinks it's a good idea. With the impact -- we do have the sound, I'm sorry. I can play that quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT (voice over): I would recommend it and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don't want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly. But, you know, again, we have our freedoms and we have to live by that and I agree with that also. But it's a great vaccine, it's a safe vaccine and it's something that works.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: A little couching in there but that's sort of the way it always rolls out, I feel like, with the former president. Impact, do you think that could have, Maggie?

HABERMAN: I think it's important that he said it. I think there have been -- there's been clear polling that conservatives are very hesitant about this vaccine. And part of the reason that people believe that is the case is -- I mean, there are a number of reasons but one that could mitigate it is former President Trump talking to his supporters.

I do think it's important that he said that and it was unequivocal, I don't want to understate that. But I also think that I'm not sure, given how ingrained these attitudes now or about the vaccine and how much he repeatedly told his supporters the coronavirus was overdone or was done to harm him in some way, I'm not sure that one interview is going to do the trick. I think if he really wanted to do something, it would probably take a sustained public service campaign.

We'll see, I'd be surprised if that happened, but it definitely could.

BERMAN: It could. Let's hope. I mean, let's hope he takes the opportunity to continue to speak to people as clearly as he did last night on that subject. Maggie Haberman, thanks so much for being with us.

So, coronavirus cases now rising in more than a dozen states, what do these rising case numbers tell us? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

HILL: This morning, new coronavirus cases are rising in 14 states compared to the numbers we saw last week. And take a look at Michigan on that map in deep red, where infections are up 50 percent. Newer more contagious variants, as we know, are becoming more prevalent in the U.S. So, is another surge on the horizon?

Joining us now, Dr. Paul Offit, he is the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and also a member of the FDA's vaccine advisory committee. Dr. Offit, always good to see you.

Are we facing another surge at this point?

DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: I don't think so. I mean, there are two things that are working against the virus right now, one is the weather. I mean, as it gets more warmer and more humid, it is more difficult for this virus to get transmitted and more people are getting vaccinated. So, although it's true that there has been this bump up, I think, in general, the trend over the last few weeks for both cases and hospitalizations and deaths have been down.

But I do think the next six to eight weeks could be rough. I mean, we're not there yet, it's still winter and it's just hard to watch people sort of all come together for the spring breaks, you know, maskless, not social distancing. I think there may be a couple surges related to that. But it is hard watch. I feel badly for the CDC because they're trying to just test the water with one foot, they're allowing people some freedoms but people have just opened the doors. And opening businesses makes sense, but doing that at the same time that you release mask mandates just doesn't make any sense.

BERMAN: Obviously, as we see the cases going up in certain places, in Ontario, in Canada, there are concerns of a third wave there as well. It makes vaccination all that much more important. And moments ago, we heard from President Biden on this subject and what I think is a perceived increase in vaccine hesitancy as well. So, let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: How do you get the politics out of this vaccine talk?

BIDEN: I, honest to God, thought we had it out. I, honest to God, thought that once we guaranteed enough vaccine for everybody, things would start to calm down. Well, they have calmed down a great deal. But I just don't understand this sort of macho thing about I'm not going to get the vaccine. I have a right as an American, my freedom to not do it. Well, why won't you be a patriot, protect other people?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: What do you think of that, Dr. Offit.

OFFIT: No, I think he's right on. You know, this is going to become an issue over the summer. I mean, right now we don't have enough vaccine for the people who want it. I think by the summer, when we have enough vaccine for everybody, then you're really going to see the percentage of the population that doesn't want to get vaccinated.

We need to get at least to 80 percent population immunity, either from natural infection or immunization. And if we can't get there because a critical percentage of the population is choosing not to vaccinate, that's a problem. It is amazing to me. This is the first virus in history that has become political. Certainly the virus doesn't consider it that, to be that. I mean, it will kill Democrats or Republicans. So it's just hard how to understand how this came to be.

HILL: I mean, it's hard to understand too, I think, we've talked so much for the last several months about just how effective these vaccines are, right? And we have heard from a number of experts about their safety. That part too is somewhat remarkable. But I know there's growing concern too about what we're seeing in Europe and how that could include the hesitancy here when it comes to that pause of the AstraZeneca vaccinations in Europe. I mean, is there any reason that should give anyone pause this morning?

OFFIT: Well, we need to understand what's going on in Europe. We need the data.

[07:30:00]

We know that there have been tens of millions of doses of the U.K. AstraZeneca vaccine that have been administered. We know that some people had suffered flood clots following that vaccine.