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The Situation Room

Interview With Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA); Atlanta Murder Spree; Man With Rifle And Ammunition Arrested Outside Official Residence Of Vice President Harris; Biden Speaks In Solidarity With Asian-Americans, Says He Understands Why They're Frightened; Biden Endorses Changes To Senate Filibuster Rule; U.S. On The Brink Of 30 Million COVID-19 Cases As 14 States See Concerning Upswing In Infections; Two Jurors Dismissed From Chauvin Trial After Telling Judge They'd Been Swayed By News Of $27 Million Settlement With Floyd's Family. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 17, 2021 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We're following the deadly shootings at spas in the Atlanta area, and the fear it's generating in the Asian American community.

Tonight, the 21-year-old accused gunman is charged with eight counts of murder. Police say they're still investigating the motive for the attack that left eight people dead, six of them Asian American women.

While the suspect denies targeting victims of race, the killings come as anti-Asian violence here in the United States has been spiking dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic.

Also tonight, a new U.S. intelligence report warns that racially or ethnically motivated violence extremists here in the U.S. present the most lethal domestic terror threat in the country right now.

Let's start our coverage this hour in Atlanta.

Our CNN National Correspondent, Natasha Chen, is joining us.

Natasha, I understand we're learning more about the shooting and the suspect, the suspected gunman. What's the latest?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, in the last few hours, authorities have charged the suspect with four counts of murder in Cherokee County, along with one count of aggravated assault, and then here in Fulton County, also four counts of murder.

And that is because, as you say, a total of eight people died, one person injured, across three spas. At the same time, CNN has spoken with former roommates of his who describe that he went to rehab for sexual addiction, that he was deeply religious, and felt distraught and tortured by his sexual addiction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please hurry.

911 OPERATOR: Do you have a description of him, ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need to hide right now.

CHEN (voice-over): That quiet plea came from a woman hiding in one of three spas in the Atlanta area, where, by the end of Tuesday night, eight people were dead and one injured. The killing spree in which most of the victims were Asian American women happened in the span of just a few hours.

The suspect told investigators he had no racial motivation, but that he targeted what he felt were temptations for his sexual addiction. Law enforcement sources told CNN 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long purchased the gun he used this week. One source said nothing in Long's background would have prevented the purchase.

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), MAYOR OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Whether it's senseless violence we have seen play out in our streets, or more targeted violence like we saw yesterday, a crime against any community is a crime against us all.

CHEN: At 5:00 p.m., Tuesday night, Cherokee County deputies were called to Young's Asian Massage in Acworth, Georgia, about 30 miles north of Atlanta. Four people died at that location.

About an hour later, Atlanta 911 dispatch referred two calls from spas across the street from each other, emergency calls where it took time, perhaps to cross language barriers, to comprehend what exactly was happening.

911 OPERATOR: Is it a male or female?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have a gun. (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: They have a gun, you said?

CHEN: They found three Asian women killed at the Gold Spa; 10 minutes later, this call resulted in first responders finding one Asian woman dead there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some guy came in and shoot the gun, so everybody heard the gunshots, and some ladies got hurt, I think. And everybody's scared, so they're hiding.

CHEN: When police released these surveillance images of him, they said the family of 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long called authorities. Investigators then tracked him via cell phone; 150 miles South of Atlanta, in Crisp County, state troopers intercepted him.

Investigators believe he was headed to Florida to make similar attacks. Whether or not this is called a hate crime, the Asian American community says the fear is real.

STATE REP. SAM PARK (D-GA): I think there's an enormous amount of fear and anxiety, particularly in that this crime that was not necessarily committed based on race, at least based on what we know so far, but that it was six Asian American women who were shot and killed yesterday, in light of the broader context where we have seen a spike in discrimination, hate and violence against Asian American across this country.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is tragic. Our country, the president and I, and all of us, we grieve for the loss. Our prayers are extended to the families of those who have been killed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN: And it could have been worse.

Investigators believe that he was actually on his way to Florida to commit similar attacks. And it was actually the parents who saw the surveillance images of their son and contacted police.

Now, one person also told authorities that those parents had recently kicked him out of their home, and that he was very emotional. But it was those parents who called police to help identify him, and helped police really stop him in his tracks, Wolf.

[18:05:00]

BLITZER: All right, Natasha, thanks very much, Natasha Chen on the scene for us in Atlanta.

Let's discuss with Cedric Alexander, a former public safety director in DeKalb County Georgia -- that's outside of Atlanta -- and the former president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. Also with us, CNN legal analyst Shan Wu.

You know, Shan, when the majority of the victims are Asian women, is it too early to rule out race as a factor in this mass murder?

SHAN WU, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It is certainly not too early, Wolf.

And honestly it concerns me that the statements that we heard from the sheriff down there, they seem so hesitant to mention the fact that, from the looks of it, he targeted Asian women, and not to mention the fact that the hate crime statute says gender, as well as race.

I mean, it seems like a no-brainer that we should be talking about the fact that this is likely hate crimes. I don't think it is too early at all. And I think the hesitation is of great concern, because, traditionally, there's been a lot of underprosecution of violent of people of color, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, that's an important point. Six of the eight who were murdered are Asian women.

Cedric, what are the investigators looking for right now to try to figure out exactly what this young man's motive was for these horrific murders? CEDRIC ALEXANDER, FORMER PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF BLACK LAW

ENFORCEMENT EXECUTIVES: Well, as you can only imagine, Wolf, this is going to be an ongoing investigation.

And here again, I think it's really too premature to really draw any real conclusion as to around as to what this motive may have been. It is suggested by the sheriff's department there from statements I assume they got from him this was some type of sexual fetish that he may have been experiencing.

But here again, if we consider the moment in which we're in, in this country, where over 3,800 incidents have been logged, that have been reported, I should say, against Asian Americans of incidents and violence that have occurred, and that is probably underreported, because, oftentimes, people may not make that report.

So it's just hard to overlook the fact that race very well could be a variable here. So, what investigators will do, they certainly will talk to surviving witnesses and other witnesses who will probably be able to give some clear explanation as to what they may have heard, what they may have picked up, et cetera.

So, here again, I think we're going to know more over the next few days, a few weeks.

BLITZER: Yes, we will know a lot more about this 21-year-old in not just the few weeks, in the coming hours and certainly within the next few days.

Shan, you have written very powerfully about the importance of charging anti-Asian violence as hate crimes here in our country. From a legal perspective -- and you're an authority on this -- why is that so important. Should this case potentially be prosecuted potentially as a hate crime?

WU: It certainly should be potentially prosecuted as a hate crime, Wolf, because the whole point of the hate crime statute is that you're sending a message that if you target a whole group, a whole community of people, that makes you more dangerous than the average criminal, frankly.

This is not just a moment of passion, a manslaughter situation. He selected victims on account of their race. That's why it's got to be charged. And you have to send a message to those communities that lack a voice that they are protected, to encourage them to come forward.

To have a law on the books, and to not use it, it is like having those laws not exist at all. It's like erasing the laws. So, it's so important to do that here. And, you know, I was a prosecutor, as you know. And, really, the prosecutors have to step up here.

Law enforcement did their job. They caught the guy. Prosecutors have to show a little bit of courage and charge the crime. It's a sentence enhancement. They're not going to lose the murder charge if they fail to prove the hate crime aspect of it. So they need to show a little backbone and prosecute these cases. BLITZER: Yes, Shan Wu, Cedric Alexander, gentlemen, thank you very

much for joining us.

Let's get some more perspective right now.

Joining us, Congressman Ted Lieu, Democrat of California. He serves on the judiciary, as well as Foreign Affairs committees.

Thanks so much, Congressman, for joining us.

You tweeted this. And let me read it specifically: "If the murderer's temptation is Asian women and he kills them, that is racially motivated."

What do you say to officials who say it is simply too soon to call this a hate crime?

REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): Thank you, Wolf, for your question.

Let me first say that my heart goes out to the families of the murder victims. What we know about this case is that the murderer targeted an Asian business. He then drove 27 miles to a second Asian business, targeted that business, and then went to a third one. And six of the eight victims are Asian females.

So, it looks to me that he knew he was going to places where, disproportionately, the people he shot up would be Asians, and female, and I think the investigators need to really look at these facts before sort of saying that they don't think it is racially motivated, because I'm not sure they can come to that conclusion yet.

[18:10:01]

BLITZER: Yes, I suspect you're right.

The killing of these six Asian women, plus two others, two white people who were also killed, during this mass murder spree, it comes as we're seeing an alarming surge in violence, and a lot of discrimination toward the Asian American community.

This is so heartbreaking to see what's going on. What's your message to Asian Americans who are understandably so scared right now? And it's so awful that this is happening in our country.

LIEU: The organization Stop AAPI Hate has been tracking these incidents, and since the pandemic started, there's been nearly 3,800 height incidents that have been reported.

In 2020 alone, there was 149 percent spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans. It's important that the Asian American community speaks out, that they vote, that they demand representation in government, in the political appointments, in all sorts of issues where it matters that you have Asian Americans with a seat at the table.

And, mostly, I want everyone to know that this is an issue. We have been talking about it for over a year, that there are hate crimes against Asian American, and hopefully more Americans are now aware that this is a very real issue.

BLITZER: Have you been the recipient of any of this kind of hate?

LIEU: So, if you just look at my social media feed, you will see people you routinely tell me to go back to China, or Japan, or North Korea, because they can't quite figure out the countries, and I routinely get all sorts of hate messages.

So I'm an elected official. I'm more used to that. But what troubles me is, you have Asian American students at school who are victims of hate incidents, you have elderly Asian Americans who have been assaulted and killed.

This is a very real problem. And it's something that historically has happened in the United States, from the Chinese Exclusion Act, to the yellow hysteria, to internment of Asian Americans. Asian Americans have been targeted and scapegoated in the past.

BLITZER: I assume you have beefed up your personal security a bit.

Throughout the pandemic, as you know, Congressman, the former President Trump and his alleys, they have used racist names for the coronavirus. You have urged officials to stop using those terms. How much of an impact does that kind of language have?

LIEU: When the former president used racist phrases like kung-flu, and other officials continue to use ethnic identifiers in describing the virus, that adds fuel to the fire of hate.

It also gives permission for people to attack Asian Americans. And for any elected official who still wants to use ethnic identifiers in describing this virus, I urge you to please stop. You are hurting the Asian American community.

BLITZER: Well said, indeed.

Congressman Ted Lieu of California, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck to you. Be careful out there.

And, as I say, our heart goes out to those families in the Atlanta area right now who are suffering. This was such an awful mass murder. It really is hard to believe, as my dad would once say, that this is happening in our country, in the United States of America.

Thanks so much for joining us.

LIEU: Thank you.

BLITZER: Just ahead: more than two months after the U.S. Capitol attack, a new warning that racially motivated extremists are now the greatest threat to America's security.

And health officials are raising new red flags about the COVID-19 strains first detected in California, and how quickly they can spread. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:17:30]

BLITZER: This hour, a chilling new warning that racially motivated extremists present the most greatest danger of mass killings in this country.

CNN's Brian Todd is working the story for us.

So, Brian, tell us more about this new U.S. threat assessment.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a very disturbing assessment, Wolf.

What U.S. intelligence and security officials are telling us tonight is that these extremist groups are now energized and emboldened more than they have rarely been before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): Tonight's top U.S. security and intelligence officials are again warning Congress and the public of the threat posed by extremists, including white supremacists, like many who were at the Capitol on January 6, attacking police and causing destruction.

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Right now, at this point in time, domestic violent extremist, the lone wolf, the loose affiliation of individuals following ideologies of hate and other ideologies of extremism, that are willing and able to take those ideologies and execute on them in unlawful, illegal, violent ways is our greatest threat in the homeland right now.

TODD: That threat assessment ordered by the White House in January was just produced by the Department of Homeland Security, the director of national intelligence and the Justice Department.

The assessment says racially motivated extremists and militias are the most likely groups to conduct mass casualty attacks against civilians, law enforcement or government personnel. FBI Director Christopher Wray recently told senators this is a threat he has made a top priority since 2019.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We -- I elevated racially motivated violent extremist, the vast majority is of which you would call white supremacist violence, to our highest threat priority, where it has stayed.

TODD: And following the Capitol insurrection, one Anti-Defamation League official told us some extremists may be more energized to become violent in the future.

OREN SEGAL, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: It will likely animate them moving forward. When you think your election is stolen, when you believe that you are the only thing to protect the American people from a tyrannical government, right, those are the types of narratives that inform people and, frankly, animate them to action.

TODD: This comes the same day as the Anti-Defamation League is out with a new report saying there were more incidents of white supremacist propaganda across the United States last year than it's ever recorded before, that incidents of that propaganda nearly doubled from the number reported in 2019.

[18:20:06]

The ADL says there were an average of 14 of these incidents a day last year.

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO AND NATIONAL DIRECTOR, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: These extremists have been able to penetrate the public conversation, and they have moved really from the margins to the mainstream.

TODD: The ADL says their propaganda included distribution of racist, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ flyers, stickers, banners, and posters across America. The ADL's top executive says we shouldn't make the mistake of believing that propaganda itself isn't dangerous.

GREENBLATT: It starts with propaganda and name-calling. It escalates to harassment. It then extends to vandalism. It then amplifies into violence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: And this comes as there are new concerns tonight about extremists, including white supremacists, in the ranks of the American military and law enforcement communities.

In recent days, a U.S. Capitol Police officer was suffered after anti- Semitic reading material was discovered near his work area -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Brian, thank you very much, Brian Todd reporting.

Let's bring in CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd, a former CIA counterterrorism official.

Phil, this assessment says the racially motivated extremists are the groups most likely to conduct mass-casualty attacks here in the U.S. It also highlights the challenges of dealing with these lone wolf extremists.

Is the intelligence community equipped to prevent these sort of attacks?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: No, and there's a couple of reasons why.

Number one, you mentioned the simple reason, lone wolves. If somebody wants to plot something in a basement, Wolf, unless a family member, a friend, a clergyman, somebody in the community says something, you're not going to know.

So these people who are radicalizing themselves by looking at something off the Internet or reading some literature, you can't find them from the U.S. law enforcement perspective.

The other thing I'd tell you is about American culture. I still do not believe that Americans are having the conversation that this report is heading us toward. And that is, do you want law enforcement looking at hate speech that some people will characterize as free speech?

Hate speech is a great indicator of somebody who is going to commit an act of violence, but it is also protected in America. That's a conversation we need to have, Wolf.

BLITZER: I know you have read this report. I have now read it from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, "Domestic Violent Extremist Poses Heightened Threat in 2021."

What surprised you the most, Phil, in reading this?

MUDD: Well, there are two Washington things, as someone who did this for 25 years, that jumped out sort of behind the scenes. Number one is speed.

You realize the president's been around for less than two months. The intelligence community on a report of this magnitude typically does not move this fast. You have got to get all the people together from these different intelligence agencies, get the data together, draft the report, review the report, deal with differences, get it cleared by the agencies' supervisors, like the FBI director, In less than two months.

Let me give you the message, Wolf. The White House told them to do this fast. And I would bet a paycheck on this, because the White House wants to use this document to say, we have intelligence that says we need to move harder against this problem. It's not just a political problem. It's an intelligence problem.

One minor comment to close, international connections are talked about in this report, Americans going overseas. That means we can't afford not to move, because the French, the Germans, the British and others are going to look at us and say, your guys are infecting our guys. Do something about it, America.

BLITZER: And they said the greatest threat are what they describe as those who promote the superiority of the white race.

MUDD: Yes.

BLITZER: And the concern in this intelligence report is that they have connections with what they call transnational -- transnational connections with individuals that have these white supremacy views outside of the United States, and potentially they could work together to conduct terrorist operations here in the U.S.

The assessment also makes it clear that these conspiracy theories, particularly about the U.S. presidential election, could spur these domestic extremists to move on, to try to engage in more violence this year.

What's your reaction to that?

MUDD: Validation.

That is, if you look at the political environment in America over the past four or five years, people who five years ago who thought about conspiracy theories, there's a deep state, there's people in the U.S. government who are secretly opposed to the U.S. government, there's people who are trying to subvert the president of the U.S. government, five, six years ago, you would have said that's nuts, that's a conspiracy theory.

The power of politicians has been to tell people that their weird conspiracies are valid. When you deal with extremists, whether it's Islam, kinds of racial extremists, when you validate them, you cause them to say, the weird thoughts I have are now accepted across America, including by politicians. It's not only right for me to act. I have to act, because what I'm doing is legitimate in the eyes of a politician.

[18:25:02]

The validation of the past five years is deadly, Wolf. It's deadly.

BLITZER: Yes.

Phil Mudd, thank you very much, as usual.

Just ahead: COVID strains out in California are now adding to the concerns about a new surge in cases, as the variants threaten to outpace the race to vaccinate.

Also, President Biden has some very tough words for Vladimir Putin, as he promises payback for Russian election interference here in the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're getting new information into THE SITUATION ROOM right now on a potential, potential threat to the vice president, Kamala Harris.

[18:30:05]

Our Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez is joining us. Evan, what do you learning?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the D.C. police arrested a man from San Antonio, Texas, today. He was the subject of an urgent law enforcement bulletin from Texas. It appears that there was some information that the law enforcement had that indicated he could be -- pose a threat, here in Washington. He was arrested outside the U.S. Naval Observatory, which is home to the vice president's residence. At the time of the arrest, Kamala Harris and her family were not there. It should be noted that that building, that the residence is under renovation at this time. So she was not there. Her family was not there.

But this was something of a scramble for the police department here in Washington, as well as the Secret Service, trying to urgently find this man. He was here in Washington, according to the D.C. Police. They've charged him with carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying a rifle, a shotgun outside of a business, possession of unregistered ammunition, as well as large capacity ammunition feeding device. These are all D.C. charges here.

And, Wolf, it just adds to the picture of the threats that we're seeing here in Washington. This is not at all connected to January 6th, not connected to these overall threats to the U.S. Capitol. But police are definitely on edge. And today, they were trying to find this man. They ended up arresting him before there were any issues.

BLITZER: Near the vice president's residence, a very, very disturbing, Evan Perez, thank you very much, from the vice president's residence.

Let's head over to the White House, where President Biden spoke out in solidarity with Asian-Americans today after the deadly Spa shootings, the mass murder in the Atlanta area.

Let's go to our Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, the president says he understands why so many Asian-Americans are feeling so frightened these days.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, he was careful to say he didn't want to assign any kind of a motive to the shooter given the investigators are still investigating and trying to figure out what that motive was, and they would not say earlier, but he said, you cannot ignore the identities of these victims, six Asian women who were killed in Atlanta last night.

And that was something that the president had even talked about last week in his first prime time address, talking about the recent uptick in violence and harassment against Asian-American in light of the coronavirus pandemic. And, of course, Wolf, those comments came after he had just been briefed this morning by the attorney general and the FBI director.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice over): President Biden briefed by top law enforcement officials after eight people were killed in Atlanta.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The investigation is ongoing. And the question of motivation is still to be determined.

COLLINS: While Biden isn't commenting on the shooter's motivation yet, he added this given six of the victims were Asian women.

BIDEN: But whatever the motivation here, I know that Asian-Americans are in a very -- very concerned.

COLLINS: Tonight, another concern for the White House, the developing situation at the U.S. border. Biden's Department of Homeland Security secretary defending their handling of the surge involving thousands of unaccompanied children.

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, DHS SECRETARY: Congresswoman, the border is secure and the border is not open.

COLLINS: After being criticized by both sides of the political aisle for his response, Biden says his policies aren't to blame.

BIDEN: What do you do with an unaccompanied child who comes to the border? Do you repeat what Trump did, take them interest their mother, to move them away, hold them in cell, et cetera? We're not doing that.

COLLINS: But Texas' governor is pointing the finger at Biden, not Trump.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): These sites are a direct result of President Biden's reckless open border policies.

COLLINS: In the same sit-down with ABC News, Biden offered his most direct comments yet on weakening the procedural tactic known as the filibuster.

BIDEN: So you 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 is supposed to be.

COLLINS: Forcing senators to hold the floor could make it harder to sustain opposition to bills, though Republicans are responding to progressive efforts to gut the filibuster with these harsh warnings.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Nobody serving in this chamber can even begin to imagine what a completely scorched earth Senate would look like.

COLLINS: Biden says he's looking for other ways to achieve his agenda, including passing possible tax hikes without Republican support.

BIDEN: Anybody making more than $400,000 will see a small to a significant tax increase. If you make less than $400,000, you won't see one single penny, in additional federal tax.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How are you going to get a Republican vote for a tax increase?

BIDEN: I may not get it but I'll get the Democratic vote force a tax increase.

COLLINS: On the foreign policy front, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a price for meddling in U.S. elections without saying how.

[18:35:06]

BIDEN: He will pay a price. The price he's going to pay, you will see shortly.

COLLINS: Asked flatly if he considers Putin to be a killer, Biden answered quickly.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you know Vladimir Putin, you think he's a killer?

BIDEN: I do.

COLLINS: That answer standing in stark contrast to how his predecessor responded in 2017.

REPORTER: Putin's a killer.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: There're a lot of killers. We've got a lot of killers. Why you think our country is so innocent?

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS (on camera): And Wolf, after Biden made those remarks, Russia had summoned in their ambassador to the U.S. back home for, quote, consultations. So we'll see where that ends up.

But I do want to note one other important deadline that is changing for American people. That federal income tax filing deadline, typically April 15th, is being moved to May 17th, this year by the IRS and the treasury department, because, of course, so many people are having so many more complications in dealing with their taxes and filing those because of the pandemic.

BLITZER: Yes. And, clearly, Wall Street remains very, very happy with what's going on right now, the DOW Jones Industrial Average reached another all-time record high today, for the first time ever, going above 33,000, a very significant moment, especially for those of you who probably have a 401(k), very good numbers on Wall Street.

Kaitlan, thank you very much for that report.

Just ahead, did the judge in the Derek Chauvin trial make the right decision by dismissing two jurors? We'll ask the lead attorney for George Floyd's family, Ben Crump, he's standing by live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: Tonight, the United States is on the brink of hitting 30 million COVID-19 cases, as we're seeing concerning increases in infections in 14 states.

CNN's Alexandra Field has our nightly report on the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The urgency to get as many people vaccinated as possible is growing as the CDC officially labels five strains of the virus already detected in the U.S. as variants of concern. Meaning they could be more transmissible and perhaps less treatable.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We are in a race to stop transmission, and the emergence of variants that spread more easily has made that even more challenging.

FIELD: President Joe Biden now pushing more Americans to get their shots.

BIDEN: 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 don't you be a patriot and protect other people?

FIELD: This, as concerns mount about a slowdown in vaccinations in Europe, with at least 16 countries pausing their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, citing concerns over a small number of reported blood clots, despite no known link between the clots and the vaccine.

The World Health Organization today saying the benefits of AstraZeneca's vaccine outweigh any risks. Dr. Anthony Fauci taking a similar position.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The incidents of the clotting is not more than you would expect in the population in the absence of the vaccination. So that's why they're insisting that the concern is not founded on the reality of what is going on.

FIELD: AstraZeneca has not yet applied for emergency use authorization in the U.S. Some promising news on the vaccination front, an Israeli study, not yet peer reviewed, showed vaccinated pregnant women transferred antibodies to their infants.

Here in the U.S., we are seeing a study rising vaccinations. 22 percent of the U.S. population, nearly 74 million people have received one vaccine dose already. 12 percent of the population, nearly 40 million people are fully vaccinated. But there are worrying signs of a possibility of another surge.

DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: It's going to be a close call. We are vaccinating really well. That's the good news. These variants are spreading pretty quickly across the country. That's the bad news.

FIELD: Nationally, new cases remain down overall. But 14 states are reporting a week to week increase of more than 10 percent. Delaware, Montana, and Alabama, all posting gains of more than 30 percent, with Michigan leading the way, cases there up a whopping 53 percent since last week.

DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: I do think the next six to eight weeks could be rough.

FIELD: Spring breakers are flooding beaches and bars in some cities. That's worrying to health officials, combined with the St. Patrick's Day parties. The CDC hasn't yet issued updated travel guidance for people who are fully vaccinated.

WALENSKY: We're revisiting the travel question.

FIELD: Yet, there's already a new record stretch of air travel during the pandemic. According to the TSA, more than seven million people flying in the last six days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (on camera): And while we can be on the lookout for new travel guidance, we can also be on the lookout for new guidance from the CDC for schools. The CDC is currently looking at studies that show that three feet of physical distance in classroom may be sufficient, Wolf. That would go a long way toward the Biden administration's goal of getting more kids back in the classroom, a goal shared by parents everywhere.

BLITZER: It certainly is. All right, Alexandra, thank you very much.

Let's discuss all of this with our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, how worried should we be about these two new COVID strains originally detected out in California, which the CDC has now labeled, quote, variants of concern?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think we have to pay attention to these variants, Wolf. You know, so far, none of these variants, none of them, these ones that you're talking about, or the previous ones that we've talked about, have risen to the level of variants of high consequence. Those are the sorts of variants where you think they're starting to escape from the immunity of the vaccine and things like that.

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But, you know, the idea that you have variants that are more transmissible, that's of concern, because people who maybe letting their guard down a bit, thinking they can get away with things are going to have a harder time with that, if the virus is more transmissible.

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One thing I want to show you, Wolf, if we can put up these numbers in terms of how serious is something if it's more transmissible, versus more lethal? It's actually more concerns if it's more transmissible and more contagious, and you can see there, after a month, it can lead to 11.5 times roughly more deaths if it was 50 percent, for example, more transmissible. That's because, Wolf, people who are vulnerable are more likely to become infected.

Luckily, vaccines are increasingly happening for vulnerable people. But that's the real concern here, Wolf.

BLITZER: Certainly is.

Let me also get your take, Sanjay, on this new study out of Israel, which found that vaccinated pregnant women passed along protective antibodies to their babies during pregnancy. How encouraging is that research, and do you believe all pregnant women should take the vaccine?

GUPTA: Yes. I mean, this is encouraging, and not surprising. I mean, this is a concept known as passive immunity. So you're passively pushing on the antibodies from mother to baby, so in this study they measured antibodies in women who had been vaccinated and they measured it in the babies as well that had just been delivered and they found the presence of antibodies.

We don't know how long those antibodies will last in the baby. And we don't know the best timing of the vaccine. It seemed if you gave the vaccine closer to the time of birth, it was better in terms of passive immunity. But that's still not clear. But, you know, we've seen this with other types of vaccines as well. So, you know, potentially some protection to the baby for at least a period of time.

BLITZER: All right. Sanjay, thank you very, very much.

Just ahead, why two seated jurors have now been dismissed from the trial of the former police officer charged with killing George Floyd. Ben Crump, the lead attorney for the Floyd family, he's standing by live. We'll discuss.

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BLITZER: We're following new developments of the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with the killing of George Floyd. Two jurors have now been dismissed after they told the judge they've been swayed by news of the $27 million settlement between the city and Floyd's family.

Joining us now, Ben Crump, lead attorney for the Floyd family.

Ben, thank you so much for joining us.

Do you believe the judge made the right call by dismissing these new jurors, who said news of the settlement might actually influence their judgment?

BEN CRUMP, LEAD ATTORNEY FOR GEORGE FLOYD'S FAMILY: Well, Wolf, I think Judge Cahill use his extraordinary measures available at his discretion to ensure that a fair and impartial jury will be empanelled for this trial.

BLITZER: Did you think it was a mistake for the city of Minneapolis to announce the settlement during the middle of jury selection? CRUMP: I do not, Wolf. There is nothing that says that black people

are not entitled to the Seventh Amendment of the constitutional rights. And the fact that you have hour press conference which was only carried live for about 20 minutes, against 100,000 or more hours of news coverage on George Floyd and videos have been seen 50 million times at least by clicks on the computer, probably 50 million by programs like CNN and other cable news.

And so, to try to say that a 20-minute press conference about a settlement would sway anybody is just ludicrous when you think about how much coverage George Floyd's case has gotten.

BLITZER: Are you completely confident that the trial will still take place in Minneapolis and on schedule because you know the defense attorneys, they want to move this trial to a different location?

CRUMP: I believe so, Wolf.

You know, Wolf, it is quite interesting to me. I have been a civil rights lawyer for my professional career and I've been black all my life in America, and I have never once heard when a black person was on trial for murder that anybody says we need to move the trial to another city because we are worry about whether we can get a fair trial or not. It goes along this whole way of thinking that is a difficult case.

This is not a difficult case. Had George Floyd been a white citizen, nobody in America, nobody would not be saying this is a hard case. It would be murder and it would be clear as day. When it is a black person killed unjustifiable by police, we make all kind of excuses to exonerate the police and continue to perpetuate the legalized genocide of black people.

BLITZER: Overall, Ben, what's your assessment of the jury selection process, at least so far? Are you satisfied?

CRUMP: Well, obviously, we want as much diversity as possible, because we want to make sure the jury will respect George Floyd's life experiences, his culture and his background, knowing that it is the intent of the defense attorneys to try to assassinate the character of George Floyd like they have done with every other black person that's been killed by police, to try to distract them from the facts.

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BLITZER: All right.

CRUMP: We won't be distracted. We all saw this video. And if we can't get justice from what they did to George Floyd in this video, where can a black person get justice in America?

BLITZER: Ben Crump, thanks as usual for joining us. Appreciate it very much.

And we're going to have more news right after this.

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BLITZER: Finally tonight, we share more stories of people who died from the coronavirus.

Charles Henry Krebbs of Arizona was 75-years-old. He worked as a statistical appraiser for 20 years, and was a hands-on father and grandfather who love gardening, jazz music and walking his dog. His daughter Tara says their family misses his goofy smile and his zest for life.

Pradip Shah of New Jersey was 62. His daughter Danki (ph) says her father became her everything after her mother died when she was a child. She describes her dad as generous and loving, the pillar of their family who took care of everyone, including relatives in India.

May they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing.

Thanks very much for watching.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.

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