morning. a lot going on. >> yeah, there is. >> we have important new developments after the murder of eight people in georgia. six of them asian women. asian-americans on edge in the u.s. and you can understand why. authorities are noting the suspect claims the shootings were not racially motivated. but he says were the result of sexual addiction. a sheriff's deputy facing backlash for this description of the suspect's frame of mind. >> he understood the gravity of it. and he was pretty much fed up and had been kind of at the end of his rope and yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did. also new, russia responds to president biden calling vladimir putin a killer. mr. biden's comments were labeled as unprecedented. we'll have much more from the white house on that in a moment. but we want to begin with natasha chen with the very latest on the georgia investigation. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. we're in cherokee county where the suspect is being held and could be arraigned soon. and let's remember the reason he's even in custody and was caught. his parents played a crucial role when authorities released surveillance images of him on tuesday evening. the parents called police to help identify him and police were then able to track his cell phone as he was moving south and to stop him. investigators believe they stopped him before he headed to florida where he may have committed a similar act. this morning, authorities are investigating why a suspected gunman killed eight people in three atlanta spas and where the massacre that left six asian women dead can be prosecuted as a hate crime. four people were left dead in the first spa. >> so do you have a description of him, ma'am? >> reporter: that desperate 911 call came from gold massage spa 30 miles from the first shooting. police discovered three asian women killed there. >> some guy came in and took a gun. some lady got hurt. i think. everybody's scared so they're hiding. >> reporter: across the street at aromatherapy spa another woman killed. atlanta law enforcement is withholding the names of victims but in cherokee county police confirmed the names of those who lost their lives. robert aaron long is charged with eight counts of murder. >> even though we have made an arrest, there's still a lot more work to be done. >> reporter: authorities say long told them the killings were because he had a potential sexual addiction. >> the suspect did take responsibility for the shootings. this is still early but he does claim it was not racially motivated. >> reporter: but keisha lance bottoms said it's hard to ignore that the majority of the shooting victims were asian women. >> i'm taking that with a grain of salt. this is a man who murdered eight people in cold blood so it's very difficult to believe what he says. >> this is an attack on all of us. >> reporter: grief and outrage are growing over the rise in attacks against asian-americans since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. at the white house, president joe biden condemned the acts of violence. >> very concerned because as you know, i have been speaking about the brutality against asian-americans for the last couple months. i think it's -- it is very, very troublesome. >> reporter: no matter the motive, georgia state representative sam parks says the shooting is spreading fear not only here but in asian-american communities across the country. >> there was an attack against asian-american women, against members of our community. and of course we want to do everything that we can do to protect everyone. >> reporter: in addition to his parents, another person called the authorities on tuesday night to help identify him. that person said that he had recently been kicked out of his parents home and was feeling emotional. >> all right, natasha chen, please keep us posted throughout the morning. i want to bring in lisa ling, host of "this is life with lisa ling." it's great to see you. i have to say, something about seeing you that's chilling because you were with us a week and a half ago and we were talking about the rise of anti-asian crime in the u.s. anti-hate crime up 150% in major u.s. cities over the last year. authorities in georgia not yet calling this a hate crime. you see something notable in that. why? >> well, john, i just -- there has been this pattern of attacks on asians. you're right, we just spoke a week and a half ago and now seven asian people -- six of whom were women, are now dead. and this was a couple days after mr. pak ho was buried after getting brutally attacked in the bay area. there's always video or reports of more asian people getting attacked. in fact, there was video of an asian grandmother who was attacked just yesterday who beat her assailant up with a stick and while it was great to see her stand up for herself and fight back, you should have heard her cry out with her bloodied face. you hear the pain and the anger in her voice. she's crying out in the language that my ancestors spoke. that they speak, cantonese. to say that this attack in atlanta was not a hate crime because the terrorist said it wasn't racially motivated and we're going to take him for his word, he specifically targeted three asian massage parlors. they weren't even close together and frankly, atlanta is a hot bed for sex work and sex trafficking. but yet, he chose to attack massage parlors that he knew were run by asian people. >> you know, one of the things that just in our own reporting from our cnn colleagues, one of the things that's really stood out too is the fact that, you know, the data -- even though we're seeing this rise, right, as john pointed out of nearly 150% in urban areas t realities is the numbers and the data don't capture the full scope of what asian-americans are experiencing and have been for some time. do you think this is changing the conversation at all? i don't mean just the murders in atlanta, but i mean more conversation in the last couple of weeks? is it starting to raise awareness in a meaningful way? >> it's an interesting question, erica, because after this attack on the massage parlor i saw people posting messages about solidarity and about standing up for asian people. but how many people have to die for this to really be taken seriously, for there to be more than lip service? i mean, there is real fear among asian people about going outside of their own homes right now. asian people are being scapegoated like they have for a century in this country. and this has to stop. this has to stop, we cannot be continued to be scapegoated and this is frankly a pattern of scapegoating that happens in this country. yesterday, it was muslim and southeast asian people after 9/11. when there's an economic downturn it's the latin population, you know? it's always the black community being scapegoated for so many things. and during the cold war, it was gay people. this scapegoating of entire populations has to stop in this country. >> i want to read you something written by david palumbo lew and he talks about these claims that you mentioned and the suspect and the suspect said that the killing was about sex and not about race and too many people accept that. the fact is the two are merged especially in terms of asian women and their objectification as such by men. you were quick to note, these are asian women who were killed and that's notable. explain what the professor is saying there and why this is so important, lisa. >> well, look, i mean, we keep talking about this killer's sex addiction and his mental health, but why are we not talking about the mental health of the victims and the victims' families? i mean, why are we not talking about the mental health of asian people who again are afraid of leaving their homes and fear of being attacked just because of what they look like. there has continued to be this eray suhr of asian-american's stories. kids when they grow up and are really, you know, at a time when they should be learning empathy, there's no mention in our history books about the things that asian-americans and asian people have endured in this country. how they have been scapegoated for more than a century and it's time that we change that and it's time that we collectively stand up for each other because again, today it's asian people scapegoating. it could be your community tomorrow. >> you noted to us last time, lisa, that sometimes the asian community historically has been reluctant to speak out or has been quiet at times. why? why is that? >> look, john, i come from a culture that has not culturally stood up for oneselves. we have kept our head down. we haven't wanted to rustle feathers but there's something incredible happening right now and that is the only silver lining in this. and that is asian people of all different up ethnic backgrounds are coming together and speaking out and we -- we have not going to stay silent anymore. we are not going to take this anymore. people are dying. and we have to stand up for ourselves and we hope that other people, other communities, will stand with us. >> it's impossible -- you touched on this a little bit but i have seen a lot of mentions of this. the intersection, right, of the victims. they're not just asian, but asian women and when you bring the gender and race together particularly when it comes to asian women, they have been -- asian women in general in this country have been fetishized in a way and i mean, that's so disturbing but it's very real and that needs to be called out. >> that's right. i mean, asian women have been fetishized and exoticized for generations and think of the perception of asian people in our media. asian men are emasculated and asians are constantly the butt of jokes and teasing. well, that all matters and, you know, it's time that we start changing the narrative about asians and again up, this is -- this is a real moment for all of us when we're recognizing that we just -- we can't stay silent about this anymore and that we have to stand up for each other. >> look, i'm glad you pointed out that there's been too much focus on the suspect's state of mind and not enough focus on the victims and -- >> that's right, john. honestly, every time i open my social media i see this terrorist's face, i keep hearing about his mental health. >> yeah. >> i want to hear the names of the women who were killed. in fact, i'd like to mention their names. delaina ashley you know, xiaojie tan and daoyou feng and i don't want to mention the name of the shooter. >> we don't mention it and the sheriff's deputy said he had a bad day. i was shocked to hear a law enforcement official go out of his way to say something like that. >> we're all having a bad day, john. the victims of these attacks are having a bad day, john. the families of the victims are having a bad day and none of us are going out and murdering people in cold blood. >> lisa ling, i appreciate you being with us. thank you for coming on and thanks for being there a couple of weeks ago. you know, again, the tragedy of this is it was foreseeable. this is foreseeable. it is something that people knew was going to happen. thank you. we'll talk to you again i hope under better circumstances soon. >> absolutely. so a war of words escalating between the united states and russia this morning. president biden called vladimir putin a killer and now the kremlin is firing back. cnn's jeremy diamond live at the white house. major new developments on this this morning. >> reporter: no doubt. we are watching this diplomatic spat escalate in real time. the kremlin responded to the comments by president biden but first i want to play you the comments from president biden in which he said that he does indeed believe that vladimir putin, the president of russia, is a killer. >> he will pay a price. we had a long time, he and i. i know him relatively well. and the conversation started off, i said, i know you and you know me. if i establish it's occurred, be prepared. >> so you know vladimir putin, do you think he's a killer? >> mm-hmm, i do. >> so what price must he pay? >> well, you'll see shortly. >> and now the kremlin spokesman demitre peskov said those comments by president biden were unprecedented. he said that it is a clear sign that president biden does not want to improve relations between the u.s. and russia and he categorized the current state of u.s./russian relations very bad. indeed yesterday, russia recalled the ambassador to the united states back to russia for consultations on the u.s./russia relationship and so you are watching this relationship continue to deteriorate essentially. what the biden administration has made very clear is that they are not looking for a quote/unquote reset as so many previous administrations have looked for with russia. instead they're looking for stability and predictability in in relationship and we know that president biden and his top administration officials have said that the u.s. is going to impose costs on russia for its behavior. we saw already a few weeks ago, the u.s. sanctioned top russian government officials over the poisoning of alexei navalny and pointed the finger directly at vladimir putin for those actions and really the actions of russia have piled up for this administration because president trump and his administration did not address them. alexei navalny's poisoning was one of the issues, but there are a number of issues still under review including the interference in the u.s. elections and we're told to expect sanctions against russia for that as early as next week. >> again, this is developing all morning long. and one thing is clear -- vladimir putin is not at all clear with the language coming from the white house and not used to it. at least not over the last few years. so this is interesting to see. thank you for being with us. a new study looks at the chance of reinfection from coronavirus. if you had it once, can you still get it again? dr. sanjay gupta, next. ♪ comfort in the extreme. the lincoln family of luxury suvs. keeping your oysters business growing comfort in the extreme. has you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo opportunities are all about timing. so if you're turning 65 or retiring soon, it's time to take advantage of a plan that gives you more for your medicare dollar: an aarp medicare advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. call unitedhealthcare today to get $0 copays for all primary care doctor visits, $0 copays on preventive dental, and $0 copays on hundreds of prescriptions. in 2019, members saved an average of $7,200 on prescriptions. you'll even get free annual eye exams, and free designer frames. 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variants even though, you know a few states are becoming more dominant in terms of the variants and 49 states around the country now have these -- at least the uk variant. i don't think we can say that yet to your point. when you look at a place like michigan, my home state, as you just showed the numbers have been going up. there's probably lots of different reasons. one of the things i want to point out right away, you know, michigan has a mask mandate in place so a lot of people say, look, mask mandate in place, numbers still going up. you may have situations that people aren't wearing masks despite the mandates. the fact is the virus is transmissible. somehow it is jumping from person to person. we know in the prison population there's been outbreaks so there could be all sorts of things going on here but it's pretty clear that some states are being more affected than others. overall, the cases may have plateaued and let me show you as well. michigan has 50% vaccination rate right now. you point out that the cases have gone up and what we are really looking for is what is going to happen subsequently with hospitalizations and deaths. given that we have seen -- this is the united states and italy but with michigan you'll see that the death rate is still coming down overall. so you'll see that it's -- i think it was four people who had died yesterday. we will see do the increase in cases at some point lead to an increase in hospitalizations and deaths, they probably will. but probably not nearly as high given the vaccination rates. >> let's hope. hospitalizations are going up in michigan not steeply yet but let's hope they don't go up more rapidly. sanjay, one of the questions in "the lancet" has been published if you have coronavirus, can you get it again? and the study published that basically if you had it, you have 80% protection. 80% protection from getting it again if you're under 65. 65 or older and i think we have these numbers to put up on the screen it's just 47%. i say just because i want you to explain what these numbers really tell us. >> yeah. this was a really interesting study and you know, everyone has been asking the question, i had it, covid, can i get it again? so the top line answer to that is that it is possible but very unlikely because when you do all of the math there, this was spring of last year to fall of last year. so over six to nine months you mentioned and before the variants really came out as well i should point out. but during that time reinfection rates across the board less than 1%. so this was good news, right? we have been saying hey, antibodies may only last three months a lot of people will be reinfected at three to four months and that didn't seem to happen in this particular study, but the researchers found out something interesting as you point out. it did break down pretty significantly by age so the immunity that's persistent seems to be much more persistent in those 65 and under, and takes a bit of a hit in terms of overall protection if you're 65 and older. i'm sure there are other variables in there so those are just sort of the top lines. it makes the case in so many ways, something we have talked about, that even if you have been infected and you have antibodies due to that infection you still need to get vaccinated especially if you're over the age of 65. >> another study to get your take on is the bulk testing, the key to opening the universities. the bulk testing where you're testing people on a regular basis to find if in is virus within that group. and the numbers are pretty impressive. if you -- you know, if you're testing this many people, i think we can put it up on the screen, the number of fewer infections. what should be our takeaway be from this? i'm getting it's we need more testing. >> i'm so glad we're talking about testing. i have to tell you, i mean, you know, beating the drum on testing since last year and obviously everyone is talking about the vaccines understandably. but this makes the case. so universities obviously university populations are going to be different. but when they do this bulk testing, testing lots of people who don't have any symptoms, you start to see a significant impact on overall reducing infections because you find people who are infected. you can isolate them. you can trace their contacts. you can do all those things to bring the numbers down. you know, for a long time the narrative was, testing more leads to more cases. if you do it right, test people and do it regularly and do asymptomatic people, you will actually bring the numbers down and this university study has shown that. people have known this for some time but now there's more evidence of this. and again, you know, you look at the testing plans i think $50 billion are allocated towards testing as part of the covid relief plan. that's going to be significant because you see the evidence of why it works and you will see a lot more testing at schools and colleges and other places where people aggregate. >> sanjay, thank you. we appreciate your help as always. a harrowing new interview from the capitol hill police officer who risked his live to save others on january 6th, detailing the racism he encountered within this mob. >> we fought against people that not only hated what we represented but they hated our skin color also. >> more of his story, next. mom and dad left costa rica, 1971. and in 1990, they opened irazu. when the pandemic hit, pickup and delivery was still viable. and that kept us afloat. keeping our diners informed on google was so important. the support from our customers, it honestly kept us going. i will always be grateful for that. you're strong. you power through chronic migraine-15 or more headache days a month each lasting 4 hours or more. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. so, if you haven't tried botox® for your chronic migraine check with your doctor if botox® is right for you and, 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the bill and now we're hearing a firsthand account from a black capitol hill police officer harry dunn who survived it. >> it was just so overwhelming that here we are giving so much and putting our lives on the line to protect democracy and to keep it and we're being called racial slurs, traitors and any -- and any weapon that the people could use. one of my colleagues said that he was called a racial slur. he was carrying a rifle, a long gun that day. and a group of terrorists came to him and said, you think you're a tough "n" word with that gun. put that gun down and we'll show you what type of "n" word you really are. and nobody deserves that, nobody deserves to be talked to like that. but especially this guy. he did not deserve -- yeah. it was rough. and i guess it's -- but we keep coming back and back and we love our country. even though it doesn't love us back. i don't think that dealing with depression and any type of stress or whatever related to the incident is a color thing. you have several white officers, asian-american officers, that went through -- hispanic officers that went through the hell also, but the black officers' struggle was different as in, like i said, we fought against not just people that were -- that hated what we represented but they hated our skin color also. that's just a fact and they used those words to prove that. they showed that they hated us and they hated our skin color. a lot of people don't know what that's like. officers of color, black people, we are -- we feel like sometimes we're alone. even though we're not. officers -- white officers have expressed that, hey, we're sorry, this shouldn't have happened, however, besides just i'm sorry that that happen, they don't know how it feels and it's hard to even put it in words because everybody is affected by things differently. but black officers can relate with each other and we kind of lean on each other a little more as a support system. because we know what it's like to face racism as a minority. >> officer harry dunn. in a newly released report, u.s. intelligence agencies make a direct poe connection between the capitol insurrection and the potential for future violence and it says, quote, newer sociodevelopments will spur some domestic violence extremists to try to engage in violence this year. joining me is abigail spa spanberger. thank you for being with us this morning. 12 republicans didn't vote for the congressional medal. and we see this report from the intelligence communities warning that more could be coming because of the false narratives. what are your concerns this morning? >> i want to first start by saying thank you very much for giving a platform to officer dunn to tell his story, extraordinary story, and frankly his testimony of his and so many capitol police officers. i was there on the day on the january 6th insurrection and the incredible work of the capitol hill police officers is what saved democracy that day and it's what kept so many of us safe and unfortunately three police officers have lost their lives and so many more have faced life-long consequences because of their fight to save our democracy and the fact that we have colleagues who are unwilling to call an attack on the united states capitol by fellow americans an insurrection and an attack on the united states capitol as we were there to do our constitutional duty of recognizing the results of the 2020 election, they were there to disrupt that effort. they were there to stop it. they were there to essentially assert their will over the will of the american people and if -- i mean, that is what an insurrection is. and when we look at the threat of domestic violence that we had heard from fbi director wray, from secretary mayorkas, when we look at the new dni report recognizing the unclassified dni report, recognizing the efforts of the russian government to sow disinformation and division in our community, the most important thing is that lawmakers and anyone with an elevated voice tell the truth and the truth is there was not widespread fraud. the truth is joe biden won the election and many people may be disappointed by that fact, but it is the truth and the fact that i have colleagues who continue to be unwilling to tell the truth to their constituents it's dangerous to democracy and it's a grave disappointment. >> you brought up the other intelligence report about russian interference in the election and there's a diplomatic battle now between the u.s. and russia and russia is lashing out at the biden administration for these comments that president biden made about this report that russia once again attacked the u.s. election. listen. >> you know vladimir putin. do you think he's a killer? >> mm-hmm, i do. >> so what price must he pay? >> the price he's going to pay you'll see shortly. >> mm-hmm, yes, he thinks that vladim, is vladimir putin is a killer. and the russian ambassador has been recalled. was it important enough to send that message to russia? they have recalled their ambassador. >> the starting point of the relationship right now where we are in march of 2021 is that we are beginning a new administration, having just finished four years of a president of the united states who stood by while russia, while vladimir putin, aggressioned against our elections, sowed division within our community, and when faced with the undisputed intelligence and information provided by the intelligence community, the former president chose the side of defending russia instead of believing the intelligence community. so it's important in context to recognize that this is -- this where we are right now is a result of four years of not pushing back up against an authoritarian government, pushing back up against a former kgb officer who we know has meddled in our elections. who we know engaged to try to influence the elections as well. it's a real challenge for the biden administration because there hasn't been consistent u.s. policy pushing back against the aggression of russia which is nothing new, but what is new is we had departed -- the former administration didn't denounce it, didn't fight back against it. that's why president biden's comments are so extraordinary, at least they seem so at this moment because it's coming after four years of really not standing up for the american democracy in the face of an authoritarian regime trying to undo it. >> in fact, all of the things are connected, right? there's a lot of connection between the different threads that we're talking about this morning. the former administration didn't just not push back, in some cases they tried to distract it seems and maybe even offered dishonest statements. in this new report that came out, it talks about china and china's efforts to influence the election or lack thereof. the report says that china did not interfere. china considered but did not deploy interference efforts. that just from a report in the intelligence community. nevertheless, john ratcliffe said this, the former director. >> china is using a massive and sophisticated influence campaign that dwarves anything that any other country is doing. >> and the report says china did not interfere, considered but did not deploy interference efforts. both things can't be true. >> i would agree with you. both things can't be true. so then the question has to become why are we hearing such a departure? the men and women, the professionals of the intelligence career, career public servants who focus in day and day out on collecting information, analyzing said information and putting it forward in reports that are meant to inform policymakers, that are meant to inform administration officials, those folks didn't change. and so, you know, i'm grateful at this point that we have this unclassified version of the dni report out in the public sphere so that we can understand what's been happening for the -- we can speak publicly about what's been happening and who in fact has tried to impact our elections and sow division in our society. >> let me play more sound from william barr with our wolf blitzer. listen to this. >> the intelligence community has pointed to russia, china and iran. which is the most aggressive in this area? >> i believe it's china. >> which one? >> china. >> china more than russia right now? >> yes. >> it's just stunning when you read the report that came out -- i'm not dismissing the threat that china poses to the united states. but the report says china did not interfere and you have ratcliffe and the attorney general saying they did. it just seems -- i mean, were they lying? >> well, what's telling in that interview is that he said i believe it's china. it's not about his belief system, but the undisputed intelligence. but this is consistent with the former administration's constantly, constantly trying to divert attention towards china. trying to create some sort of punching back conversation and let me be clear. we face significant challenges as it relates to the chinese communist party but this sort of rhetoric constantly trying to create a distraction away from russia, away from iran, away from north korea, and towards china, is not only detrimental to our national security. but we see it here domestically. we see a president who was constantly talking about the coronavirus in terms of, you know, it's -- it links back to china and here domestically to bring it full circle, we see the increases of anti-asian hate that i'm hearing about from my constituents back home in virginia and certainly we see the tragic murder of eight people, six of them asian women in atlanta. all of these things have some connection within our society and it all comes back to telling the truth. and so, you know, my heart goes out to the people of georgia. my heart goes out to any asian-american person who feels fear at this moment, but we have to demonstrate that what matters is telling the truth and when it comes to who's attempting to meddle in our elections it's the russians. >> congresswoman abigail spanberger, great discussion. thank you for coming on this morning. i appreciate your time. >> thank you, john. so police in washington apparently stopping a threat against vice president kamala harris outside her home. we have a live report, next. so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business. developing this morning a texas man is facing weapons charges after being arrested outside vice president kamala harris's official residence in washington, d.c. metro police say they found an ar 15 rifle and ammunition in his car. whitney, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. this was quite a bit of ammunition, in fact. 1300 rounds of ammunition found in the suspect's vehicle and in addition there were five 30-round magazines. d.c. has strict laws here, so that was the wrong arsenal to bring to d.c. he's now facing a list of charges. here's how it all happened, erica. as you mentioned this man is from texas, so there was an intelligence bulletin issued by texas law enforcement that went out region wide here in d.c. law enforcement spotted this man, recognizing him from the intelligence bulletin outside of the vice president's residence. they contacted him through the course of the investigation, figured out he had this arsenal in his vehicle. as i said, he's facing a list of charges. right now he's behind bars in d.c. luckily, encouragingly, john, secret service officials tell us >> whitney wild, thank you for bringing us that report. we've been talking about the shootings in georgia. the number of brutal attacks against asian americans is on the rise. john avlon with a "reality check." >> we don't yet know exactly what motivated the alleged killer of eight people at atlanta area spas but the asian spas were targeted and most victims were asian women. that alone says a lot. it's more than a case of a suspect having a bad day as the sheriff's spokesperson callously described the killings. because we know that hate crimes against asian americans have been on the rise since covid hit. asian americans have been targeted more than 500 times so far this year according to stop aapi hate with at least 3,795 complaints received since the pandemic started. about 68% were verbal harassment. around 11% involved physical assaults. in recent weeks we've seen the killing of an 84-year-old, robbery of a 67-year-old, both in san francisco. in l.a., denny kim said his attackers shouted you have the chinese virus go back to china. in new york city last year, there were 24 reported attacks against people of asian descent but the nypd described as coronavirus motivated. it's a fact the first outbreak was reported in wuhan, china, but pandemics don't care about politics or race. that doesn't stop racial scapegoating. and that's why there was a pushback on attempts to label this the china virus or kung flu by ex-president trump and right wing media. >> say it with me, tucker. wuhan virus. chinese virus. maybe even the cunkung flu. a little off color but funny. >> yeah, folks were warning against this because of political correctness. it was an awareness of the ugly impulses it could unleash. anti-asian language and conspiracy theories spiked 85% on twitter in the 12 hours after trump first tweeted about his covid diagnosis. in addition, white supremacist propaganda nearly doubled in 2020 to the highest levels they've recorded. much of it featured veiled white sfre supremacist language. and the dhs secretary just described domestic violent extremism as the greatest threat to the united states. we're a nation of immigrants. asian-americans may be the fastest growing immigrant group but they've been part of the american tapestry for a long time. they've experienced periods of profound discrimination from the infamous 1882 cheinese exclusio act to internment camps during world war ii. this is a horrific side of american history. discrimination does not define us as a nation. a decade after the internment camps closed they hired the first asian-american senator mean was soon joined by senator daniel inouye who served in the senate for nearly half a century. we're a composite nature as frederick douglass declared in his speech in 1869. so if you want to look for patriotic tradition to defend, that's the one. you want to engage in brute blame or group hate, you should know that you're on the wrong side of american history. and that's your "reality check." i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? fewer 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"new day" continues right now. >> a killing spree in which most of the victims were asian-american women happened in the span of just a few hours. >> this is so heartbreaking. >> this family is broken because of this man. >> this is a man who murdered eight people in cold blood. it's very difficult to ignore that the asian community is once again targeted. >> there are worrying signs of the possibility of another surge. states reporting a week to week increase of more than 10% p. we're in a race to stop transmission and the emergence of variants that spread more easily has made this even more challenging. >> this is "new day" with alisyn camerota and john berman. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this is "new day." alisyn is off. erica hill with me. great to see you. >> always good to be here. fear and anger building after the killing spree in georgia that left eight people dead, six of them asian women. anti-asian hate crimes up nearly 150% in major u.s. cities since the start of the pandemic. now the suspect in georgia is claiming to law enforcement that the killings were not racially motivated. he says they were the result of a sex addiction. there are new questions this morning about how the case is being handled after this comment from a cherokee county georgia law enforcement officer. >> he understood the gravity of it, and he was pretty much fed up. had been at the end of his rope and yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did. >> also developing this morning, a growing rift between the white house and russia. the kremlin reacting to president biden's reaction of vladimir putin as a killer. recalling its ambassador to the u.s. while labeling president biden's comments as unprecedented. we have a live report from moscow coming up in just a moment. we're going to start with the situation in georgia and the fear being held in the asian-american community. joining us, georgi