welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. this is "new day." the u.s. will cross 100 million vaccine shots since joe biden's inaug inauguration. that's 42 days ahead of the biden pledge. the u.s. is averaging 2.5 million coronavirus vaccines a day with 35% of americans partially or fully vaccinated. now, there are plenty of folks that noted that 100 million was a very low bar to begin with, but if you do the math going forward, at the pace we're going, we'll cross 200 million vaccinations within the first 100 days, and honestly, you would have been hard-pressed to find anyone that optimistic. but -- and this is hugely important -- there is concern this morning the u.s. may be on the verge of a new surge. the drop in hospitalizations, i want you to look at that graph. you can see it was going down steeply for weeks and weeks and weeks, but that decline has stopped. it's completely stalled right now. hospitalizations static and may be ticking up slightly in the last few days. meantime in the next few hours, president biden and vice president harris will meet with asian-american leaders in atlanta following the murder of eight, six being asian women. republican congressman chip roy used a hearing not to address the issue but his right to criticize china and deliver a strange reference to lynching, provoking an emotional response from congresswoman grace mention. >> i'm not going to be ashamed of saying i oppose the chi-com, the chinese communist party, and when we say things like that and we're talking about that, we shouldn't be worried about having a committee of members of congress policing our rhetoric. >> your president and your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country that you want, but you don't have to do it by putting a bull's-eye on the backs of asian-americans across this country, on our grand pairchts, on our kids. this hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community and to find solutions, and we will not let you take our voice away from us. >> grace meng joins us now. that moment understandably getting so much attention, but i know you're hearing about it from your constituents as well who have told you repeatedly about the bull's-eye that they have felt directly. what has the response been? >> sure. thank you, erica, for having me and for covering this topic. you know, we've been hearing about it not just in the last few days but all throughout the last year. we've now seen over 3,800 incidents that have been reported across this country. we don't know how many have been reported. we're hearing from people who do not let their parents or grandparents go outside even for a walk around the block. they're scared something might happen. people aren't letting their kids play outside because they're scared they might get bullied. just in the last two weeks, a mom and her baby were taking a walk in the park in the middle of the day. someone came up to her, spat in her direction three times, calling her the cry nihinese vi and to go back. two days ago a 13-year-old boy was just playing basketball at a local park and a group of people threw basketballs at his head telling him he was a chinese virus and he should go home. >> it's so disturbing and yet, i think, so important to hear each account. there was a hearing regarding president trump's anti-racist rhetoric. it provoked rhetoric about 20% of the time after he used words like "chinese virus." congresswoman jayapal told john a while ago people are so caught up in the rhetoric, they can't see the damage it's doing. do you think it's that simple? >> it is simple like that. he has literally for the past year empowered this sort of racist behavior. you have to remember the mind-set of people, especially in the beginning of the pandemic. there was a lot of fear, a lot of unknown about this pandemic. people were losing loved ones, their homes, their jobs. and then when you have a leader who has a big platform constantly, incessantly using phrases like that, it's going to affect people, and it's a direct cause of some of these incidents. >> mitch mcconnell was asked several questions yesterday, which he ignored by our colleagues on capitol hill, specifically about the shootings in atlanta. would not address it. he eventually did put out a short statement. we're going to put it up on the screen, which asian-americans should not have to face discrimination anywhere. why do youly's been such a resistance to condemn attacks on asian-americans? >> first of all, i'm not surprised mitch mcconnell is ignoring what's happened. he ignores life-saving legislation in the senate all the time. but, you know, what we've seen is that even when we in the house passed a resolution that was just symbolic, didn't require any commitment of resources, and i didn't even put in the president's name in my resolution, it was simply a resolution to condemn bigotry against asian-americans, many of whom live in their districts. 164 republicans voted no on that symbolic resolution, and that really says a lot. >> do you think those numbers are changing though? do you think you will see more support moving forward? >> i hope so. we have introduced a resolution again. we think that there is a need for us to remind people that it's not okay to discrimination and to shohei tread toward anyone including asian-americans. so we're going to try again. but we're also pushing legislation. we're pushing two bills that would curb these hate crimes and get more resources out to local communities. >> i know what you're trying to do is maket easier for people to report hate crimes. the hearing was the firsthird oo deal with in years. what do you think was achieved? >> first of all, it was such a source of comfort to have that acknowledgement that this is a real pain and situation going on in our country. we wanted to have a very honest hearing and to work together to find solutions. our member panel had both republicans and democrats testifying. so we talked about legislation. we heard from community members on what resources and support they need. we talked about these two pieces of legislation, and that's part of why i was so upset that mr. roy was just completely insensitive about the focus and the point of the hearing. >> congresswoman grace meng, good to have you back with us this morning. thank you. >> thank you. major diplomatic tension this morning out in public in ways you almost never see. it comes in the first face-to-face meeting between top biden administration officials and their counterparts from china. it's going on in alaska. it began with secretary of state antony blinken. >> the alternative to a rules-based order is might makes right and winners take all, and that would be a far more violent and unstable world for all of us. >> this was just the beginning. then there were the cameras sent out and brought back in and statements made about each other you almost would never see. we have the very latest here, and it's still very much ongoing. >> yeah, it is. these talks are still ongoing in action. they had their first two sessions yesterday, a third this morning. i want to reflect what happened there. behind closed doors, sometimes fireworks explode. this happened, as you said, john, in flonlt of cameras. that's really not normal. after secretary blinken gave his remarks, it went to the chinese. they went on for much longer than they traditionally door and they offered some really aggressive statements about the u.s., going to divisions in the united states, calling out black lives matter protesters. blinken felt like he had to respond. he told the cameras not to leave the room and he talked about the united states not being a perfect country, making mistakes and also making reversals. and national security adviser jake was there calling it the secret sauce. then the cameras left and they were asked to come back into the room. it was clear the chinese wanted their return at a rebuttal, and they accused the u.s. of having a con descending tone. this is in front of the cameras. that ial said the u.s. isn't qualified to speak to china from a position of strength. all of this unfolding as a senior official accused the chinese side of grandstanding. the chinese said they had no intent of grandstanding. we're hearing after the first session, a senior administration official said there were serious direct and substantive conversations that essentially unfolded after the cameras left the room. they got down to business. but this is really extraordinary. you know, this is the first face-to-face meeting between chinese and u.s. officials of the biden administration, and we should also note this is unfolding as u.s./russia relations are kind of on unsteady ground as there are things happening there that are really challenged for the biden administration. so this is something to keep an eye on, and we'll see how these meetings wrap today. >> unsteady ground and shifting, but the biden administration clearly showing it will take a tough posture in different ways to both russia and china. we'll watch this throughout the morning, kylie. thank you so much for that reporting. so there are numbers to look at in terms of the coronavirus pandemic that are very concerning this morning. hospitalizations have stopped dropping, may be ticking up. there are signs that the u.s. could be on the precipice of a new surge in cases. that's next. [ "could have been me" by the struts playing ] ♪ don't wanna wake up on a monday morning ♪ ♪ the thought of work's getting my skin crawling ♪ hey, mercedes? -how can i help you? ♪ i can't fear you, i don't hear you now ♪ ♪ wrapped in your regret ♪ ♪ what a waste of blood and sweat ♪ ♪ oh oh oh ♪ ♪ could have been me ♪ the 2021 e-class. motortrend's 2021 car of the year. ♪ ♪ it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? ...delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. rand paul and dr. anthony fauci over whether people who have recovered from coronavirus or have been vaccinated should still wear masks. watch this. >> if we're not spreading the infection, isn't this theater? if you've been vaccined and wear two masks, isn't that theater? >> there you go again with the theater. let's talk facts. when you're talking infection and you don't keep in context the variants that's an entirely different ball game, that's a good reason for a maf snook joining us now is an epidemiologist. i don't want to spend much time talking about rand paul's health prescriptions for the country. what i want to talk about is what they maybe imply in terms of what we're seeing around the country, which is cases have stopped dropping as much as they are. we've plateaued in the 50,000 cases a day, and hospitalizations which is maybe the most consistent means of measuring where the pandemic is. hospitalizations have stopped dropping, and in some ways, i think we can put that screen back up, you can start to see a little tick up there again. so, doctor, i'll ask you simply, are we on the verge? are these signs we may be on the verge of a new surge here? >> these are definitely signs. if you look across the atlantic, italy was the canary in the coal mine if our first surge last year, and they're in lockdown, which suggests that the spread of b.1.1.7. coupled with the fact we've made policy based on the idea that vaccines are still on the way -- just on the way. we're only 12% fully vaccinated in the country -- suggests we're at a deep risk for another surge. the problem here is these policies have sent a message to the country just like senator paul was right there, grandstanding about this idea that somehow masks aren't still important, and we've got these variants that are bearing down our door. yes, we may have put ourselves back at risk for another surge, and that really is devastating to hear, given the fact we've lost 535,000, 537,000 people now, and we could lose yet more as we note with the flattening out of hospital numbers. >> and you heard dr. fauci. he said we need to stop focusing on this herd immunity. we don't know the magic point that. plays into the messaging, right? people are so eager to go back to 2019, that we're kind of ignoring -- there are multiple canaries at this point. >> you're absolutely right. herd immunity is not a destination. herd immunity is a journey, and we need to look at it that way. we've got to keep doing what we can to increase that community immunity, that herd immunity. meanwhile we've got to do what we can to stop the spread of the virus, so we've got to get all on one page here, that we are still at risk for this. it could still be spreading in our communities, and we have our responsibilities to do what we can to stop it. i'll be honest with you. we have to lay it at the governors' feet. we hear governor abbott saying that. the variants are saying, we can keep doing what we're doing and keep spreading. we have to continue to practice safe practices. that means wearing a mask, practicing safe distancing, getting the vaccine as soon as you can, washing your hands, being vigilant. >> the good news is the u.s. is expected to surpass 200 million vaccinations at the rate we're going, going across joe biden's 100 million. and then the schools are saying kids can be three feet apart instead of six feet apart if they wear masks. this will be an opportunity, i think, dr. el sayed, for a lot more schools to open up. >> i think you're right. it reflects a number of thingth. number one, we know wearing a mask is really, really powerful. it really can make a difference. number two, more and more teachers are getting vaccinated, and they really were the folks at the highest risk for potentially getting the disease at schools. and as they're vaccinated, it makes it a safer environment. number three, new evidence suggesting to us three feet does most of what six feet does, and it's as safe. it helps us go back to the kinds of life that we've been accustomed to that has been so disrupted through 2020 and into this year, and it's really good news for kids and parents. >> if you wear your mask, if you wear your freaking masks, you can do so much more. there are so many opportunities. thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you, john. the last 24 hours, truly a remarkable moment in u.s. diplomacy. very public, very unusual fights with both russia and china. what do they tell us? that's next. keeping your oysters business growing 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 never run dry of... killer attitude. or hydration. neutrogena® hydro boost. the #1 hyaluronic acid moisturizer delivers 2x the hydration for supple, bouncy skin. neutrogena®. for generations. in some ways personal spats. what does this tell us about how the biden administration wants to position the u.s. in the world? joining us now, ambassador nicholas burns. thank you so much for being with us. look. i think it's clear the big picture represents a repositioning overall of the biden administration in terms of where it wants to put the u.s. in the world. but if we can let's talk about each separately. first in russia where we saw the president use blunt lainch regarding president putin saying he was a killer and now there's a remarkable back-and-forth in terms of what russia is doing questioning the president's mental acuity. what's going on there? >> what's going on is an intense competition between russia and the united states. president biden is telling the truth. russia has bombed syrians and incarcerated tens of thousands of syrians itself, elected to kill a major opposition leader, and so it's time the united states stood up to the russians. you did not see it under president trump. you're seeing it under ben bernanke -- president biden. sometimes in diplomacy you need to recalibrate. and after four years of really saying nothing to defend democracy, president biden is doing that. i think it's the right step. >> what does it tell you that one of the responses may be obliquely from vladimir putin but directly from other russian leaders is to take the very trumpian line, ripped from the pages of the trump campaign to question joe biden's mental acuity? >> it's ridiculous and obviously an attempt to deflect from the real point, and that's the weakness of the russians achz system and the russians are the human rights violators. putin doesn't belong on the same spaj of a democratically led president of the united states. at the same time he won't listen to anyone in his own country. if you speak up against putin in russia, you're jailed. it's a little bit of theater. you have an american president finally standing up for democracy and human rights. i think, frankly, john, the rest of the democratic world has been waiting for the united states to do exactly what president biden has done this week. >> i think what the united states is trying to do with russia is say russia is a diminished country. china, very different saying they're a major competitor and we're going to treat them as such. how do you attribute this back and ba back-and-forth you're seeing in alaska? >> i saw it as grandstanding by the chinese delegation. they're responding because of the treatment of the uighurs because they smothered hong kong's democracy over the last year. i thought it was trying to change the subject here, but you saw a very measured, i think, very effective response by our secretary of state secretary tony blinken who said, look, the united states has never claimed to be perfect, but we're transparent and we work on our faults. the larger story is president biden has been saying we need to stand up for democracy, we are going to compete with these authoritarian countries. you saw rounds 1 and 2 this week. i think this is the recalibration we need in american foreign policy. >> i think it is interesting. the chinese more than anything seem to be upset about the fact that the united states has been trying to strengthen alliances. that may have been the biggest threat to biden. the other thing is the biden team is taking a different approach not just to the trump administration, but the obama administration as well. >> i think president biden has been also right to suggest that the united states is going to be far stronger in the world if we embrace our allies, and that's nato to counter russia and that's japan, south korea, and australia, and our strategic partner india to counter china. you saw secretary blinken go to japan and south korea with secretary austin. that's a power play by the united states to remind the chinese we have the benefit of this huge alliance system of countries that think like us, train with us militarily, and it's a recognition obviously that we're competing with china for trade because the chinese have been unfairly ripping off the property of american companies. we want this to be peaceful obviously. but finally we have -- the united states is standing up for itself after four years of not doing that. and, again, i think it's been an important week to reposition the united states. >> very quickly, cnn and others reporting that the biden administration is considering a six-month delay in the promised troop withdrawal from afghanistan. how wise is that? >> i don't know what decision will be made by the biden administration, but i do think this is such a