children at the door. may they rest in peace and may their blessings be with us. thank you, i am wolf blitzer, you can follow me on instagram and you can tweet the sh show @wolfblitzer at cnn. erin burnett is up next right now. this is cnn at the facilities housing migrant children. business in florida is booming despite the pandemic. state is doing better. the texas pastor convinces his congregation to get vaccinated. three out of four members to be vaccinated by easter. how did he do it? he's my guest. let's go up front. good evening, i am erin burnett.

"outfront" tonight border surge. president biden is answering questions. >> migrants are coming in because you promised to make things better. it seems to get worse by the day. >> first of all, there was a surge the last two years and '19 and '20 had a surge as well. the idea that joe biden says come, i heard the other day is they're coming because i am a nice guy. here is the deal. they're not. >> do you have to say quite clearly "don't come." yes, in the process of getting set up, don't leave your town or city or community. >> all right, this coming as the secretary of homeland security

warns "we are on pace to encounter more individuals than we have the last 20 years, we are encountering children six or se seven-year-old without adults." cnn told some children are in jail. as of tonight there are 4,200 children in custody which dw dwarves the number at the peak of the crisis. they were not ready for this. president biden himself has not yet visited the border and has no plans to do so. >> do you plan to travel to the southern border? >> not at the moment.

>> even some members of the president's own party wants to see action. >> the message can't be that if you get to our border and get across, we'll release you to our community. it has to be a strong message because the administration's message is not coming through. that's the reality of it. >> well, the problem is despite pos biden's message. don't come and don't leave your town or relatives. the message that has been coming through four months is a different one. >> we are going to work on doing t undoing the national shame from the prooevious administration, t ripping children from the arms of their father and mother.

kaitlan collins is with us. they expect more people coming than they have seen in the past 20 years. >> reporter: yes, the secretary confirmed to the job and he's coming and saying in a statement this morning before president biden during that interview with abc news pointing to past surges, explaining what's happening now. this is a surge that could be worse than the ones we have seen in the past. the question is how are they dealing with it. we know president biden is coming under increasing scrutiny right now because his administration is struggling and scrambling to find places to put these kids. a lot of them are in border patrol facility for longer than they allowed to be there. these are jails cheildren are nt

supposed to be in. and so you saw president biden kind of seeking to talk about why they believe this is happening. we have seen several reasonings coming from the administration officials. he was saying it was not. he's quote as "a nice guy." it is not just critics like some republicans saying that some are trying to cross his border. you see democrats critical of president biden's response. they view biden as the "migrant president." we should know one of biden's top migrant officials is on cnn, that's not how they view it. they're trying to take a humane approach than former president trump did. the reality is this is happening under his watch and he has to deal with it now. there is no current plan for him to go to the border. we'll see if it changes. >> thank you, very much.

>> kaitlan, i want to go to the front now. congressman, i appreciate your time. you heard president biden speaking to george stephanopoulos of the idea that people would come because i am al nice guy, don't come, don't leave your town and community. that's what he's saying. you are going to see a 20-year high if people coming to the border. is the administration doing enough right now? >> from what i am seeing from the president and mayorkas don't come. it is not an open border. they are backing this up with programs to encourage them to stay and stabilization and law enforcement. this is a problem. we do have a surge coming. it is a pent up surge started wz

donald trump. we have to separate them from who ever they come along with to make sure they are not child trafficking and put into a stable situation and this administration is doing the best they can. let me ask you though, and i understand your point right that perhaps the simple contrasts between donald trump rhetoric and action with the wall and what joe biden said being humane. is it part of the problem that there was as perception rightly or wrongly. there was a perception that when biden won, the border situation was going to change dramatically. >> i don't know if that's the case. there is no way this administration was going to continue the older administration's policies separating their parents from their kids. it was not something we can do and more as a country and ramification and the fact that we are trying to reunite 500

families. we could not continue that. at the same time this administration is putting the investment both in country as well as on the border to try to deal with humanitarian situation right now where we do have a lot of kids coming through. >> i am a border state democrat, i saw this happened under both administration, under obama and under donald trump so i seen the true unfortunate situation s of face-to-face. we have to make sure these kids are being taken care of. >> what we are seeing as as record in here as well way higher than anything trump saw is kids coming on unaccompanied. this is not the u.s. government having any decision to make whether to take them from their families. these are six or seven years old are coming on their own. >> absolutely. we have to test them for covid and make sure that they have at least some point of contact.

we don't want them to stay in the housing they are now. this administration is doing the best they can considering that situation. again, it is a totally different situation of what we have under donald trump. we are not ripping them away from their parents. it is a horrible situation and the added covid stress that we can't have them all crowded into a place which we used to do. >> kevin mccarthy at the border are saying suspected terrorists are trying to cross the border. here is congressman mccarthy. >> they talk about 100 or 200 people. they said they're on the list. what list are they you talking about? >> the terrorist watch list that are being moved into this

country ill egally. >> yesterday you said you had not heard that. you were sure mccarthy is lying. the custom patrol border protection confirmed to congress that four people who were arrested since october do match names on the fbi ea's terror database. do you know anything about this? >> none of what i heard in that briefing matches this information so i don't know where that staffer who dug that information. it was not kevin mccarthy's office, it came from some unknown staffer. it does not match what i am seeing right now. this is a problem that we are having with kemccarthy. i had my hearing on this information. let me just say none of this brought up but it was similar to the problems i heard. it does not match of what i heard. i just didn't hear it. >> intelligence is telling you

these names did not match just to be clear, that's what you are being briefed. >> what i am telling you right now without going into specific details because i don't want to violate my duty here is that there is no correlation from what i am reading to what mr. mccarthy and other people are talking about. >> i appreciate your time, thank you very much. i want to go to michael smerconish and priscilla alvarez. michael, let me start with you because president biden had to address this issue. he's saying to migmigrants, stan your community and don't come. is his message effective? >> no, i think the whole thing

is so sad. 4200 are now in protection or custody. you listen to the back and forth between the congressman and the tape from mccarthy. it is all of partisan and the issue seems to be semantics, what should we call it and who could we blame more? the trump administration or the biden administration? >> i know it is complicated and it seems common sensible, all of a sudden the feeling was one of more acceptance that joe biden would be more humane. they did not set this afoot. i don't think you can say it is biden's fault but it is what it is. he needs to get out front and deliver a much more firm message that we are not open for business and don't come here. not don't come here now. don't come here.

>> priscilla, when we hear about six or seven years old coming here. what are you learning from your source ons on the ground? >> reporter: sources tell us children are alternating sleeping schedule to allow one another to get rest. border patrol agents are putting up bunk beds so children can get rest and as well as cots and mats. they're having to make due to try to accommodate these children given the sheer number of minors crossing the border alone. they can't keep up with the number of children coming as they look for shelter to place them in. >> incredible when you look at it of all your reporting o f

sunlights and days. republicans are saying biden is to blame and biden says it is not true. there is a lot of blame game going around. let me replay the part where president biden says he was not to blame. >> first of all, there was a surge the last two years '19 and '20 there was a surge. >> just to be clear and you heard congressman michael said, that's the line that started under trump. this is going to be the worse of 20 years which would mean worse in the past couple of years. >> and the data seems to suggest these are individuals who did not make ah mad dash on january 20th. rather they have been in hiding and they left those triangle nations that are at the point of

origins and had been hiding in the shadow and waiting for r an opportunity for a welcoming environment and right or wrong, they perceive this to be as humane administration and they're going to take their shots. politicians arguing back and forth, you got 4,000 kids in those conditions. people would be blamed at his feet. >> thanks to priscilla, your reporting. we know how bad those conditions are. thank you priscilla and michael for your time. a family torn apart after a suspect children turned on their father. >> he said choose a side or die. what would make a man allegedly threaten to kill his own chern. >> under attack, republicans are boo behind the efforts.

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tonight a family torn apart after the insurrection on capitol hill. after a 16-year-old daughter testified about threats.

jessica snyder is out front. >> reporter: an accused capitol rioter guy ruffet remains behind bars because of the testimony his kids gave in court against him >> he said choose a side or die. >> reporter: his sister echoing the allegation in court her father made when he came home from texas after storming the capitol on january 6th. if she or her brother turn them in, they would be traitors and traitors get shot, his daughter testified. jackson ruffet talked to police anyway. >> it just felt the right thing and how much i love my family or dad. i didn't think he would do

anything bad but him saying anything remotely threatening to me or my sister and my family and government officials was just too much. >> reporter: reffeitt is the member of the 3% group. they view themselves as government tyranny. only 3% of the people of the colony fought against the british during the revolution. prose prosecutors say reffitt drove days before january 6th with weapons. his behavior became extreme over the past four years and they blamed trump. >> obviously the man in charge at the time i feel like really manipulated him into thinking what he's thinking now. that's the only thing i can

blame of the politics he follows and idolizes. >> reporter: reffitt's daughter insisted in court that not a violent person. prose prosecutors tell a different story. reffitt sent messages talking about going to the capitol again. >> i feel disappointed in him for making that decision even at all to go there and risk his life and endangered others and put his family in this situation. >> really incredible to hear his children saying that and how hard it is and how crazy it is for them to say those things. jessica, what are prosecutors saying now after this painful testimonies by reffitt's children? >> they are doing more investigations.

we have learned prosecutors taken 28 electronic devices and they're considering other charges against him including conspiracy. jessica, thank you very much. next, the new intelligence report just out. officials found russia did try to help former president trump win again. governor desantis had been second guess many time over his handling of his crisis in florida. tonight of a second look. >> i mean this place is booming. it would not be booming if it was shut down. that's why we're a fiduciary, obligated to put clients first. (money manager) so, what do you provide? cookie cutter portfolios? (judith) nope, we tailor portfolios to our client's needs. (money manager) but you do sell investments that earn you high commissions, right? (judith) we don't have those. (money manager) so what's in it for you? (judith) our fees are structured so we do better

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tonight a new intelligence report declaring russia attempted to help former president trump in the 2020 election. vladimir putin authorized operations aimed at demograding president biden's party and

supporting president trump. that is an attack on america and american democracy. republicans in 43 states are acting and tilting add imaginary windmills. tom foreman is out front and tom, you have been following this nationwide effort by republican legislatures to tilted windmills and limit access to voting. walk me through to what's happening now. >> this is the unbelievable. more than 250 bills to propose to reform voting procedures in 43 states to secure the elections, that's what they say. there is no evidence as you noted, there was not any kind of widespread fraud, joe biden beat donald trump fair and square. both the state house and the governor's office, a lot of gop

voters still think the election was stolen. that's where the most robust attack is underway. in arizona which pflipped from red to blue. you miss one election, you get cast out, requiring more people of mail-in voting and shorten the early voting, period. in texas, they want to standardize and cut voting hours. they want to prohibit drive-thru voting and ban the absentee ballot voting. what's that all about? that's the pandemic and everybody had to do. a lot of people turned up and now they want to push it aside. in georgia, they want to narrow eligibility for absentee voting. again, attacking many things that work. >> amazing. all that did was enabling more

people to vote. banning people to vote in consecutive elections that's stunning development. tom, when you look and how many people would be affected by these types of rules and who are they? >> well, supporters of the measure say everyone is af affected. we all have confidence in the voting process. critics say no, what you are doing is targeting minority groups who largely support democrats. take a look at georgia once again. there we analyzing the voting and some of those early voting days they wanted to cut theirs. cnn found 48,000 black voters cast their ballots on that very day. biden won by 12,000 votes if you were able to get these people to not show up by any large measure. that is could have caused the election in georgia and other places and changes could have caused the election across the

country. >> incredible of that one example right there. keep it up for the screen for everyone to pause. there is that many days, there you go. trump would have won georgia. thank you, tom. i want to go to ben ginsburg and ben jellas, he's also the former president and ceo of the naacp. ben, so many things are hard to understand, picking people out because oh, you can't vote and you didn't vote on the before election so you are losing this one. are they makiing mistakes by pushing these? >> i think they are. it is bad as a matter of policies and politics. policies because this is a

democracy. every legal voter ought to be allowed to vote and you should not put up barriers to people voting. voters take up notice of people who get into their way of voting. republicans instead of proposing solutions to make their lives better, they're trying to stop the emerging groups in the electorate from voting. >> ben jellas, just look at that screen that tom put up in georgia. in days of the legislation being considered would become ban voting days. you had 40,000 of african-american votes of georgia. if those new rules applied, biden would not have won. do you agree with those words?

>> certainly. it is a dark contrast. we saw virginia today, governor northam issuing an executive order. the reason is a lifetime ban in virginia because of a jim crow law from 118 years ago that was put in place that ensures that white supremacy would be the law of the land in virginia. you look at georgia and texas and further out in the southwest and what you see is very similar laws in spirit and in purpose to what was put in place to facilitate the rise of jim crow. these are laws that intend to make it disproportionately difficult to vote for people of color, for working women of all colors. here is the interesting thing, erin. if you go back to jim crow. the folks who actually pushed

through those laws, they conceded and a lot of poor w whites would be impacted. you are seeing a similar type of math year, it is the math of jim crow. >> ben ginsberg, here is what he said yesterday. >> election fraud takes place and have no doubt it took place here in the state of texas. right now i don't know how many or if any elections in 2020 were altered because of voter fraud. >> according to the houston chronicle, texas ken paxton spent 22,000 hours looking for fraud, he came up with 16 cases of false addresses out of 11 million votes casted in the

state of texas. governor abbott knows this. he's saying something that's false. he's speeding a narrative for whatever political purposes. that's the question. are we seeing the real impact of trump's big election and lie? >> this is a really bad impact. the catastrophic impact is if we have elections in 2022 and 2024 in the future and the significant portion of the population refuses to accept the ele election's results. this is really bad. these laws can be overcome either in litigation or people wanting to vote and working with the rules. people lose faith in the electoral outcome. that's what the long-term problem is. >> thank you, both very munimuch.

next, florida is open for business and never really shutdown. the pandemic did not take a deadly toll on the state compares to others. we'll look at it and why. should churches be leading the way when it comes to vaccinations. the impact one pastor's message may pave the way for others. you want to hear his story and message. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! you're good. if you have postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture, now might not be the best time to ask yourself, 'are my bones strong?' life is full of make or break moments. that's why it's so important to help reduce your risk of fracture with prolia®. only prolia® is proven to help strengthen and protect bones from fracture with 1 shot every 6 months. do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. serious allergic reactions like low blood pressure,

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new tonight governor newsom battling his defense for the pandemic. >> we have 1.8% positivity today. that's lower than all of three states. we have lower death wrate and much lower than places like florida and texas. i believe we save lives. this is his response now being compared to the governors of those states specifically of florida. governor desantis did all he could to keep florida open. what are all the facts? jeff zeleny is out front. >> you look at what's happening in florida right now, this place is booming. it would not be booming if it was shutdown. >> los angeles is not booming and new york city is not

booming. >> reporter: it is booming here because you can live like a human being. a year after the pandemic began, florida is not only back in business, it has been in business and the governor gambled to take a laize seffa approach. >> while so many other states kept locking people down over these many months, florida lifted people up. >> reporter: desantis is standing out among governors on the front line of the coronavirus fight. a new measure for politicians of all stripes. he's not facing a potential recall like california like governor newsom and under

investigation like new york's governor cuomo. desantis refused to implement one of those in the first place. florida's unemployment rate is 4.8% compares to 6.8% in texas and 8.8% in new york and 9% in california. >> when he went into office i was not sure what to expect but he did not do anything to hurt me as a business owner or me as a floridian so fine with me. >> reporter: tom golden did not have much on desantis a year ago. he's not only surviving but thriving, he credits the governor. spring breakers crowding beaches, the state has weathered the pandemic stronger than most expected. >> everything deserves context. what i love to ask about florida, if we had done things differently in florida, what

would it looked like? >> reporter: comparing to other states is not right. throughout the pandemic is that defiant and combative desantis. he denied on most interviews, appearing only on propaganda programs. >> in hindsight do you think he deserves any credit? >> it is early to tell.

33,000 of my fellow floridians are dead. does he deserve credit for that? probably not. could it have been better? maybe so. >> reporter: chris and other florida democrats calling for a justice department for an investigation in to whether desantis gave preference to donors in two up scale communities? >> certain caucasian and wealthy people in my state, it secertaiy looks like it. >> reporter: desantis calling it ridiculous. desantis campaigned and governed in the mold of donald trump. he seen by many grass root candidate as a potential 2024 candidate. his future depends on the outcome of the rest of the pandemic. he hopes to make that his new

calling card. >> reporter: the full story of how states handled the covid-19 pandemic is still being written as covid cases rage on. talking to so many voters here, one floridian last night who said her grandchildren have not attended school more than a year, she found herself praising governor desantis, it is good that florida has been opened. one texas pastor's quest to get his congregation vaccinated. more than three quarters of them on tracks to get vaccinated by easter. how does he do it? reports of seven people dead at three different spas in the atlanta area. we are learning more about this horrible and developing story. yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs.

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role combatting vaccine he hesitancy? >> the church can play a leading role by educating and modeling and encouraging. there is nothing to fear here and much to be gained. >> there is been a lot of skepticisms out there and that >> i got my shot, first shot of -- to deal with the covid-19 disease this, this pandemic this past week. 65% have had at least one shot. i mean, that's fabulous. this is way ahead of the national average. i encourage you to get your shots if you have not. >> "outfront" now the pastor in

wo women wimberly, textexas, more than 7 of your congregation have got more than one dose. i appreciate being with me. i want to credit dow with talking to you tonight. he attended your church and told me last night about your story so we called you right away. the one thing he said which was fascinating, your congregation happens to have a lot of republicans and we see about half of republican men and half of trump supporters say they won't get the vaccine. your parishioners are getting vaccinated because of you. how did you breakthrough to them? >> i don't know that they're getting it because of me, but i do believe that i have been very supportive of it. i was a hospital chaplain for a number of years and i worked with doctors and nurses and very much believe in what they're trying to do and so when the

science says get a vaccine, this will make a difference, whether it's the flu or shingles or anything else, i have always tried to do that, and i believe you lead by example. so i told the folks that i'm getting my shots and i've encouraged them to get theirs. we're not a political church. so it's not really about politics and i don't go to politics, i just try to follow the science. >> so tell me about that because it been so effective. i know you've heard from members of your congregation who have said flat out that aren't going to get the vaccine. they don't want to get it. what do they tell you is the reason for their decision and how do you reason with them? how do you try to get them to change their mind if you try? >> well, one of the big issues in our church is harmony. we have catholics, baptist,

methodist, presbyterians, lutherans and so on. i mean, that's hard enough without throwing politics in it. so we really try not to talk about politics or deal with politics. what i have tried to say is simply this is what i'm going to do, and i encourage you to do it. 12 months ago, we set up a covid committee and two of the physicians that are in our church, pat and david morales, i asked them to be on the committee and they have been a big help to us in guiding us and letting us know what is safe and what isn't. >> wow, that's pretty incredible you set that up a year ago and worked with them and that level and planning and thought is incr incredible. science shows these vaccines are safe and effective. that's the science. there are some who could choose to do so who are showing doubt

about them, unnecessary doubt. here is a sound byte from fox news host tucker carlson last night. let me play it for you, pastor. >> howf effective is this coronavirus vaccine? how necessary is it to take the vaccine? administration would like you to take this vaccine. joe biden told you last week if you don't, you can't celebrate the fourth of july. but it turns out there are things we don't know about the effects of this vaccine. >> so as you've been a leader in your community on this issue, you've talked about the science, pastor. you know, what do you think when you hear someone with a powerful platform sewing doubt and discouraging people from stepping up and getting this vaccine? >> well, it's a free country. everybody has a right to their opinion. i've always believed that. the -- i don't try to argue with people. if somebody says they're not going to get the vaccine, then

that's their choice but i have tried to be very vocal that i'm going to get it and i've been trying to be very vocal that others should get it, but it still up to the individual. what has happened in our church is that people are getting the vaccine. we're now up to, i think, the number yesterday was 73% have had at least one shot and i'm delighted. i thought it would be a lot less than that. so once we found that out and that was through our phone care team that also was set up 12 months ago, so we could keep in touch with each other when the church is shut down, we did a survey and that's the number that came back. >> well, that's incredible, and i think one of the things that i take away from this, pastor, is just the organization with which you approached this and having that phone care, the care you gave to your community is incredible during all of this.

thank you very much. i know your congregation, whatever domination they come from must appreciate you so much. thank you. >> thank you. thank you for having me. all right. next we have reports of several atlanta area spas and trying to figure out what is going wrong. we have more information. seven people are dead, including four women that appear to be asian. we have an update for you on the ground. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa tonight... usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. i'll be eating chicken tikka masala with garlic naan. [doorbell chimes] cheers. i win again, patrick. that's siiir patrick. oooooow. sir.

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this disturbing story is coming into cnn right now. investigators on the scene of three deadly shootings at spas in the atlanta area. police say four people who appear to be asian women were killed at two of the locations. three others killed at a third. an asian massage parlor. ryan young is on his way to the scene and joins us on the phone. ryan, what are investigators saying whether these shootings could be connected. >> reporter: that's what their work -- they're working on now. officials are trying to see if they are connected. the first shooting happened many cherokee county about 47 minutes

outside the city of atlanta, and while police were investigating that case, that's when the two shootings happened here at the spas in the city of atlanta where four women were shot at two different locations, right now, there is a large police presence and one highway being shut down but definitely looking for a vehicle. they put out pictures of a car that might be involved in this. police are looking for that vehicle. there is a conversation right now between all the different jurisdictions here about trying to coordinate the next efforts because no one has been captured in this right now. there is no significant description given of a suspect just yet. there is some robberies in the area but people are not sure if that's connected at all but right now, the numbers in terms of this is what is shocking to people. you have four women shot. pretty much in the middle of the afternoon here and then also in another location 45 minutes outside the city, you have three other women shot now. all those investigators are working to try to figure things

out. there was just a news conference where they are pushing all their resources into this to figure out exactly what happened but obviously, this is breaking details as we try to figure out exactly what happened. >> seven killed as we see this in the context of this rising anti asian violence across this country. so much we don't know. we'll continue to cover the breaking news. let's hand it off to "ac 360." and good evening. we're tracking those shootings. we'll bring you more as the information comes in. it is a busy night. we begin with this just in, president biden for the first time addressing the surge on the southern border and kcriticism his break on policy from the last administration is to blame. we spoke with abc news's george stephanopoulos. >> why are migrants coming in saying you promised to make things better? it seems to be getting worse by the day. was it a mistake not to anticipate this surge? >> well, first of al