>> tomorrow night join cnn's miguel marquez for a look of "the human cost of covid" at 9:00 p.m. eastern. i am pamela brown. thank you very much for watching. erin burnett with "outfront" starts now. "outfront" as the president and vice president speaking out in pain. the white house growing more concerns of the number of republicans won't get the covid vaccine as dr. fauci has a warning of the variant that's about to become dominant in the united states. a sitting republican congresswoman could lose their seat. the house democrats decide to overturn the results of that election. i will talk to that challenger why she believes she's the

winner. i am erin burnett. president biden is confronting the attack on asian-aasian-amer. the president is speaking to the community that's in pain and fear. >> to many asian-americans have been walking up and down the streets and worrying and waking up each morning, their safety and safety of their loved ones are at stakes. they have been attacked and verbally assaulted or killed. documented incidents against hate against asian-americans have seen a skyrocketing spike over the last year led alone the ones that happened and never get reported. it has been a year in living in fear for the lives and hate and violence often hide in plain

sight. it is met with silence. that has to change because our silence is complicity. we can't be comply icit. we have to speak out. hate must stop. all of us together to make it stop. >> president biden also addressing what has been the source for the spike in attacks, racist slurs. some of what former president trump and his allies often used to zriedescribe the pandemic. >> words have consequences. coronavirus full stop.

>> words do have consequences and those consequences now are real. major u.s. city with 150% surge in antiasian hate crimes in 2020. for vice president harris who's south asian, this is personal. her point was clear. >> whatever the killer's motive, these facts are clear. six out of the eight people killed were of asian descent. seven were women. the shootings took place in businesses owned by asian-americans. the shooting took place as violent and hate crimes and discrimination against asian-americans have risen dramatically over the last year and more. >> and tonight we are learning more names of the victims from the massacre.

the 51-year-old, a single mother of two, her son writing she was my best friend, losing her has put a new lens on my eyes and the amount of hate that exists in our world. also killed, yong a.yu. she was laid off when the pandemic hit last year and was so excited to start working again. he called his mother kind and deeply caring woman who would go out her way to feed anyone. the other two victims, soon c. park and suncha kim at age 69. >> reporter: elevated issue is

the primary goal that you heard. an issue that's been on the radar since they are opening days in office. the president signs an executive order and speaking about this all over the course of last week. it has been in an area of rising concerns. what they wanted to do and we saw the president do today was not forcefully condemn it but make clear his position on it. there was a delicate line and balance given the motive of the killer is still not fully fleshed out. they want to recognize what the asian communities feeling right now of the hate crimes over the course of the last year and what it meant for the community. white house officials have been speaking to asian-americans to the community lealeaders. it was expected for more than an hour. there was a recognition from those meetings and conversation that perhaps the recognition throughout the country of what was actually happening and what occurred and trans tpired or mae

has not been fully grappled with. that's what you saw the president going for today and you saw the vice president. the first vice president of american descent trying to make the point forward. >> phil, thank you very much. i want to go now to two local leaders who met with president biden for more than an hour. step stephanie cho is back with me and also back with me, georgia's state representative bee nguyen, a few miles from where these shootings happened. thanks to both of you for coming back. representative nguyen, let me start with you, you were in the private meeting both of you were with the president, what happened in that room? >> i want to start off i recognize the significance of us being able to sit down in the room with the president and the vice president. having the vice president there

did comfort me because she's half asian and i do believe that when we were talking about specific issues that impacts our communities, it is important to have somebody that understands our history and the full grown, and not just the horrific shooting that happened this week but also the history of asian-americans living in this country. we spent over an hour with the vice president and the president just talking to them about the concerns and what we heard from members of our community and elevate this issue and treat it seriously but also to talk about ongoing issues that have to deal with not only the shooting but the rise of crimes. >> stephanie, what stood out to you the most after that

interin interview? >> when president biden says he knows and he's listening. his actions means more than his words. for us is symbolic that he's doing opposite that the former president did so ill would liko see him be consistent. >> i do know the topic of former president trump came up of that meeting and his impact and words and what they mean in the context of this surge in anti-asian vs violence say that. what did president biden say about that? >> he did mention it. one of the things he said was immed immediately to call it out. he's looking at his administration to mend the white house and so it seems like he's

trying to take it seriously but like i said i want to see more actions and not when i know it is in a crisis situation. >> representative nguyen, what did you take away from the conversation as it pertains and why this is happening, right? and how it includes the words of the former president? >> it is obviously a stark contrast between the former president. we were led by somebody who did not acknowledge xenophobic and mi want to take the strong moment when the president read the victims of the families. we know very little about the

victims. to hear those words, they were powerful and emotional. it struck me that there are so few of us in the state of georgia that are the same dozens of people involved in response of the crisis and making sure we are addressing our community but also making sure that we facing with this so the narrative around what happened is not going to be a narrative centered around the perpt tetrator. it was the first time that i was emotional of what happened this past week because i got the hear the words of the victims' families. >> stephanie, can you tell us more of what you were able to share in the room? >> those messages were private

for that room only. i will say that it was very emotional to hear the words and i think all of us in that room particularly the asian-american women in the room and it was difficult to process what was happening. we had a somber moment because it centers around the issues of violence against asian-americans. >> both of you, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> next, we have new surveillance video of what appears to be the suspect getting out of his car before as he confesses to opening fire. what this could tell investigators and growing concerns inside the white house over conservatives who are reluctant to get vaccinated and that's because of comments like this. >> there are things we don't

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branded chronic migraine treatment. so, ask your doctor about botox® today. tonight new surveillance video showing the suspected shooter in atlanta driving up to one of the spas where he carried out the deadly attacks.

ryan young is out front. >> reporter: tonight investigators are actively to piece together the movement and motive of the suspect who confessed to these attacks at the massage parlor at alabama. he faces 11 felony charges and 4 counts with murder of mall ice. for victims like mario gonzalez who lost his wife to young during the shooting, the charges are little to fill the holes in their hearts .

> >> reporter: the medical examiner re vvealed the other fr names who were shot. soon park and hyun grant and suncha kim. >> we are not done, we are working diligently and ascertain all the facts so we can have a successful prosecution because that's what's most important now. >> reporter: this afternoon, the baptist church where robert long released this comment "no blame can be placed upon victims." >> reporter: as investigators struggling to put together the pieces, there are growing call to protect the women involved.

>> to target three asian businesses and to kill six women that looks like me could be my mom or my uncle, and to call it not a hate crime is unsettling. >> it is silencing and taking away our story. >> we keep on trying to scapegoat one person and fail to see this is part of a larger issue. it was predictable. it is built up over the course of many years. >> reporter: and there is a growing asian community here in atlanta. i can tell you so many people have been walking over to us saying they want more stories of this community and what they are experiencing. this has been a difficult week to watch that main sort of happening over and over again as they are trying to relive not only their own experiences but feeling like the story of these people have been silence and we are trying to do our best to

bring these stories to life. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. i want to go to retired fbi, jim climente. we just had this video coming in. it shows the confessed shooter walking into one of the spots. he went to three spas. he shot a number of these victims in the face or head. six of them asian women. you take all these that iings together, what do they tell you? >> going three different spas owned by asians. it is premeditation, i don't think he happens to upon these places. he did manage to kill seven women and six of those women were asians. they were all engage inside the same profession and in similar type locations where they were working. they were all and many of them

were shot in the head or face. that seems like it was a targeted execution. in other words, i would classify this as a goal-driven mass murder. they represented something to him that he hated and he wanted to wipe it out. >> you use the word "hate," let me ask you, he's now been taken off the case but he originally said "tuesday was a bad day for him and it was not race based and it was a sex addiction." >> yeah, well, this indicates more planning than a bad day. actions as the president said speaks much more loudly than words do.

his actions showed that he targeted particular types of person. not only at one location but a second and third location. he had to travel between locations. that shows me it was the goal. it was not just to hurt people or randomly shoot people. it was to actually attack this particularly type of person and that appears to be asian women. >> and back to that word "hate" which you used specifically. georgia law, i understand classifying something as a hate crime would not be added but yet that word matters in every way and every legal way to people. is it a hate crime? >> well, i think it is. that's something that the federal government could step in and actually evaluate and investigate and make that determination. it does have many of the h

hallmarks of it but we need a full investigation. >> the vice president did not go that far today. thank you jim, i appreciate your time. the white house growing concerns that the u.s. may not reach herd immunity because of comments like this one. >> i don't trust the government and biden. >> the republican wins a congressional race by just six votes. the democratic challenger cries out wanting the house to determine the winner but should they? (splash) ♪ turn today's dreams into tomorrow's trips... with millions of flexible booking options. all in one place. expedia.

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the white house is increasingly concerned over republicans reluctant to get the vaccine. we are learning there had been several conversations about this very issue inside the white house. the u.s. can't get to herd immunity without this large group of people, right? we are not going to get there. certain pockets of the country are not going to come close and variants spread. all of the work can get undone. this is coming as dr. fauci warns the coronavirus variant

that's rapidly spreading throughout the united states is quote "more deadly and contagious" than the coronavirus. nick watt is out front. >> reporter: reopening schools just gotten easier. the cdc says desks can be at three feet and not six feet. everyone should still keep six-feet of distance in the hallways when eating or singing or exercising. physical barriers between students no longer advised but divide them into groups. >> k through 12 schools that implement layer prevention strategies can operate safely. the president promised 100 million vaccine shots in 100 days, done.

>> in 58 days, weeks ahead of schedule. >> reporter: but there is a massive mandate to climb. 12% of the population is vaccinated and herd immunity, best estimate is 70% to 85%. >> if it is that we would have to get more children. i believe if we get high school students vaccinated in the fall, we'll be able to reach that. >> reporter: starting today new york city restaurants can be half full inside nationwide and 98% of theaters are open again with restrictions. more contagious variants first found in the u.k. >> likely accounts for about 20 to 30% of the infections in this country and that number is growing. >> reporter: average new cases arising in ten states. michigan up 45% in a week.

>> we are going in the wrong direction with the key metrics that we are tracking for covid-19. >> reporter: there is a jack in the box's manager in texas showing -- the manager stabbed for asking that customer to wear a mask. >> reporter: now that manager is going to be okay. erin, you mentioned at the top that the biden administration is fearful of vaccine hesitancy among conservatives, maybe they'll launch a massive pr campaign to try to turn things around, working with rural

populations. polls show his supporters say the number they say they'll never get vaccinated is rising. >> that video is horrible. thank you, ver very much. i want to go to dr. jonathan reiner, we see the u.k. variant of now 20% to 24% cases according to dr. fauci. they are saying here as well. the biden administration is worried as they should be. when you do the math as you have been doing over the past few days. if the people right now say they're not going to get vaccinated, you won't get to herd immunity, how serious of a worry is this? >> it is a big worry. we used to worry of creating a vaccine and we do that within a year and worry about producing enough vaccines. no one would imagine we would get americans to take the

vaccines that's where we are in some parts of the country. more than 40% of conservatives will not get this vaccine, it is a huge number. so remember 74 million people voted for the formal president so if you just use the number of people who voted, those people are potentially not getting the vaccine about 30 million. that's the population of 18 states. so, you are right, we'll not get to herd immunity without those folks and we'll have big surges come the fall in large parts of the south and parts of the plains in this country. so we have to get to it. i love the idea of reaching out to nascar and country music and let's get people to think about vaccines as a patriotic duty and i can't think of better people to do it than nascar and nashville. >> gary tuckman, our cnn's reporter went to deep red county

in oklahoma. 90% of that county went for trump. he struggled to find anyone who want to get the vaccine. >> reporter: does anybody in this restaurant think it is a good idea to take the vaccine? >> no. >> reporter: raise your hand if you think it is a good idea? raise your hand if you think it is a good idea. not one person thinks it is a good idea? are you going to take the vaccine? >> no, sir. >> reporter: tell me why? >> i don't trust the government and biden. >> re >> how do you breakthrough to people like that? they deeply believe this. they believe this, how do we change that. >> we got to roots level and churches and dfw post.

talk to people and with people who they trust. their local doctors. the people, the elders in the community. this information is being propagated by conservative media. when you hear people like tucker carlson, really questioning the safety and efficacy of the vaccines which have been proven in robust clinical trials safe and effective, it resonates through the conservative communities in this country. a lot of the responsibility for getting these folks have to come from doctors. i talked to my patients every week about this. i want to see the american association put a big push for doctors throughout the country to do the same thing every week for every patient >> dr. reiner, thank you as always. >> democrats are challenging the results of a congressional race, a race she lost by six votes. why she thinks she's the real

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former president trump,@i rathe it is coming from a democrat. su sunlen sefarty is out front. >> reporter: accusations is flying. over decisions by democrats to review the results of a contested race in iowa. >> a controversial move that could overturn the state's certified republican win redistrict. >> she's here and working. democrat leadership is trying to use political power to kick her out. >> reporter: rita hart was defeated, she won by just six votes. >> we need to make sure every

eligible vote counts. >> i am proud that a narrow majority of you elected me as your next member of congress. >> reporter: in the month since hart has continued to challenge the results. >> the recount was inconsistent without enough team to count the revote and it left 22 iowans disenfranchised. >> reporter: she argued 22 cast ballots were not properly counted. ballots that would flip the results in her flafl favor. >> reporter: opening the door for the full house to decide the election.

>> i see that where that takes us. >> reporter: it would be a rare move. from 1933 to 2009, the house considered 107 contested election cases. only three left the seating of a kand candidate contested the results. >> donald trump tried to overturn the results in congress and you support that. >> well, now you are saying it is not true. >> for them to call anybody hypocrite cal when two-thirds of the house voted of acceptance of joe biden, well, it is just who they are. >> reporter: both campaigns are submitting a series of written questions back to the committee and those will be due later this month essentially laying out their side of the case here.

erin, democrats are trying to push ahead of this but they are aware of the optics here of potentially replacing a republican who's now serving for months. >> all right, sunlen, thank you very much. with all the details there now, let's go to rita hart, she's out front. i appreciate you taking the time. let me ask you basic questions that i think is important for everyone to understand. people may say okay six votes is really close, i can understand why you want to challenge that. they would say go to the courts, right? like trump was told to do. you challenged these results through the house. explain why that was the decision you made. >> sure. hi, erin, it is great to be here and great to be able to talk about the facts of this case. that's the bottom line. this is the closest race in the entire country. actually the second closest race in over 90 years of races in the

u.s. house. and so after a very flawed recount process where both sides agreed that votes were left on the table. we had an opportunity to follow the law and do what needs to happen in a case like this when there is a question and we know votes were left on the table. the option to go to the supreme court was a truncated six-day operation that i decided that the only choice here would be to take it to federal contested election act so the committee would have the time to truly do the due diligence in order to take a look at the 22 votes that were lawfully cast and that were not counted due to simple errors. it is things like two people

with disabilities who made the effort to get to the office and pass their ballots and curb side and gave them to the workers and those were set aside and never counted. these were individual ballots that were specific cases, ballots that should have been counted and not. i am thrilled the committee able to take this up and due diligence and do a complete hand recount of the redistrict so we'll get accurate recount. >> i think everyone is listening and i don't know what their point of view may be. i can understand how you must feel with a margin as close as it is. 90 years. i get it. however, the state has certified the results. the winners have been serving for months. it does fly in the contaext of

what president trump did. >> it is most you ever that the republicans decided they'll not respect the will of the people. >> i will vote and defend the system of our government as we know it. we are not here madame speaker to vote for the candidate we want. we are here to recognize the candidate, the people actually voted for in the states. >> i know already there was a district wide recount. there was a recount and the votes were certified by secr secretary of state and your state certified the results. just to be consistent, is it the right thing to do to accept the laws as painful as it may be and

move on? >> the right thing to do is to make sure that every voter who casted legal votes in this election gets their votes to count. there is no comparison here. we are not talking about millions of votes and no one is saying that there was any voter fraud or anybody did anything that was outside of the law. in fact, we quite the opposite, yes, it was certified, election officials did their job with the information that was given to them and knowing it was a legal process that i had the opportunity to follow and make sure again our only concern is that these 22 voters who did not get their votes to count when they did everything right and should hav e had their votes

coun counted. she wrote on the envelope and explained the situation and signs her name and her vote was not counted. these are 22, specific situations. it is a totally different situation and it is a local process that we just want to follow until this committee has been opportunity to follow the facts. >> rita, i appreciate you are taking the time and laying it out in the details you did. thank you very much. >> thank you, erin. it is a great pleasure to be here. >> u.s. tensions with china escalating after an unprecedented and public confrontation before cameras. this was not just optics. it matters for us in america.

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saying he's, quote, very proud of secretary of state, tony blinken, after the nation's top diplomat got into an extraordinary confrontation with chinese officials over democracy and human rights. the two sides quarreling in front of the cameras. that's what's really incredible about this. before china's foreign-policy chief took the floor for a 16-minute speech, all in chinese even though he speaks english, right? translation of these comments. >> translator: let me say here in front of the chinese side, that the united states does not have the qualification to say it wants to speak to china from a position of strength. >> the united states does not have the ability to speak to china from a point of strength. this is an incredible moment. a moment in history. jim sciutto, anchor and chief national security correspondent, jim, is with me now.

so, you know, it's just an incredible moment, for china to say you are no longer the strong guy. it's not machinations behind the scenes. i saw this morning, a cartoon graphic of the two sides fighting that came from, you know, a chinese state newspaper editor who wrote china and the u.s. have never blamed each other in such a open and unceremonious way. to talk down to china is over. it's pretty incredible, jim. >> it is. listen. i have been in a lot of meetings like this, at this level. i have never seen a confrontation, like this, in public. certainly, in front of the cameras and really not to this degree, even in private. and this is an expression of china's growing confidence, frankly. they have the ambition, not just to compete with the u.s. but to surpass the u.s. their goal is to do so, around the middle of this century. there are even some chinese diplomats and others, who see

that timeline being moved up. they see the u.s. having been weakened by the trump administration, weakened by the 2008 financial crisis, long wars in the middle east. and you are seeing that demonstrated by china, not just rhetorically like this, but in -- in real-world moves like ta taking hong kong, right? in effect, stifling hong kong's democracy. the detention of a million uyghurs. this is a new, more forthright china the u.s. has to stand up to. >> it's incredible, it's not just to challenge, it is so surpass and, you know, they planned meticulously here, right? this was not spontaneous and i think that's part of the power, right? it was planned. itself it was performance. you don't choose to give it in chinese when you speak english, unless you want to force that translation in that moment, right? this was all planned. >> and we haven't seen it, at this level. there's been this phenomenon called wolf-warrior diplomacy, among chinese diplomats abroad. you will see them on twitter, they're active in their public comments.

and so on. but we have not seen that, at this level, face to face, with u.s. leaders. and by the way, erin, this goes right to xi jinping. xi jinping is a very confident, aggressive chinese leader. he's been misread for years by multiple administrations. he -- he is making his mark, and it's something that the u.s. is going to notice, in a lot of moves going forward in these coming years. >> all right. jim, thank you very much. >> thanks. and next, california's governor fighting for his political life. and here's the thing. it's not just because republicans want him out. ( doorbell ) thanks boo. ( piano glissando ) i think you better double them tots. no, this me was last year. i didn't get my madness last year, so we're doing double the madness this year.

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tonight marks the first anniversary of california's covid lockdown under governor gavin newsom. the governor now admitting to mistakes as he is facing a massive-recall everffort other bandling of the pandemic. and it's not just republicans who want him gone. kyung lah is out front. >> reporter: 4:30 in the morning. >> every day. every day. >> reporter: at his pasadena, california, parking lot.

alex moves exercise machines from inside his fitness studio, one by one. >> 18 machines here. 350 pounds, each. >> reporter: for hourly-morning classes taught by his wife and co-owner, jen yates. >> you got it. keep going. keep pressing. >> reporter: a year into california's covid restrictions, they are still tens of thousands of dollars in debt. after shutting indoor studios, and pivoting to virtual classes. >> beautiful, go, katie. >> we're in survival mode. and we're just powering through it. >> reporter: how do you think the governor has done, this past year? >> i'm not sure if he's done a good job. i know he hasn't done a great job. it didn't seem like there was a planning process. it was just haphazard. you know? >> reporter: a year of open-and-close orders with shifting standards has helped fuel a recall effort against democratic governor, gavin newsom, led by republicans and conservative donors.

recall organizers say they have collected more than 2 million signatures. governor newsom is now launching a counteroffensive. >> i think we saved thousands and thousands of lives. >> reporter: telling cnn that those seeking to oust him. >> they are supporters of qanon-conspiracy theorists, white-supremacist groups. that's not just -- that's -- that's factual. >> reporter: that's false, say recall organizers, who claim it's not just republicans. >> the governor should be fired right now. >> reporter: it's also independents, like tom. for him, the recall is not political, it's personal. are you scared? this was a year ago. his west hollywood restaurant and bar closed, like all the others, because of covid restrictions. >> i'm concerned. i mean, a year ago, i really thought there wasn't really light at the end of the tunnel. >> reporter: since then, he's reopened, and closed, again. then, turned his parking lot into an outdoor-dining space. >> make sure six feet there. >> reporter: pivoting with ever-changing protocols.

>> you choose whatever you want. >> reporter: his business is still standing. his faith in the governor, though, has fallen. >> i voted for the guy. but i actually agree with the recall. we have to pivot. we have to learn how to adjust. but somehow, the government didn't. >> it just doesn't seem like we're his primary interests. >> reporter: but this couple wouldn't support the remecall. because in a year of crisis, after crisis, they don't want a political one. >> i don't know if somebody else that steps in is going to change things. >> what assurance do we have? like, who is going to come in? and who are they? >> reporter: all those signatures that have been turned in now have to be verified by the individual counties. it will take weeks for us to know the outcome. and then, there have to be at least a million and a half signatures verified in order to trigger this recall election. erin. >> all right, kyung, thank you very much. and, of course, as kyung's

saying they need a million and a half verified. they have already got more than two. they are padding it out to make sure they are going to get there. thanks so much to all of you for joining us. don't forget you can watch "out front." just go to cnn go anytime you want. anderson starts now. a new covid forecast offering hope, but also, a warning against letting our guard down. we begin, though, with the -- the president and vice president who traveled to atlanta, today. they visited the cdc. highlighted the ways, in which it's helping the country stop covid. but their prime focus was on a city, and a country, in need of a different kind of healing. the president tied the two together, today, speaking out against anti-asian violence in the wake of this week's mass killings there. but also, making it clear that words and acts of hatred against asian-americans did not come out of nowhere. >> we are learning, again, what we've always known. words have consequences.