eight people are dead and one suspect is in custody after shootings at three metro area massage parlors. four of the victims are of korean ethnicity. >> we heard numerous gunshots coming from across the street. >> police are investigating the theory that all the cases are connected. average new covid case counts are rising in as many states as they are falling. >> we are just starting to turn the corner and where this goes depends on us protecting ourselves and others. >> we're asking for another wave. 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," it's wednesday, march 17th, 6:00. erica hill is with me. we have details of new shootings at atlanta massage parlors that led eight people dead and this has led to increased security across the country. one suspect, 21-year-old robert aaron long is in custody. police say it's extremely likely that one person did carry out all of these attacks. the "atlanta journal constitution" reports that six of the victims are asian and this has raised obvious concerns given the rise of anti-asian hate crimes across the country. as of now, there's no racial motivation. new this morning, president biden weighing in on the filibuster for the first time advocating for an overhaul and in the same interview offering a blunt message to any migrants who are considering coming to the southern border. more on that ahead. but we begin with the top story. cnn's ryan young is live for us this morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. this is a devastating shooting when you think about it. the metro atlanta area is just trying to figure out what happened here. we do believe there will be a news conference some time this morning to sort of explain what police are thinking in terms of the motive of this case but the shootings really shut down much of the road here. it has so many people asking why. a shooting rampage at three spas in the atlanta metro area tuesday, leaving eight people dead and one wounded. police apprehending one suspect, 21-year-old robert aaron long of woodsock, georgia. it is extremely likely that the same person is responsible for all three shootings. >> georgia state patrol troopers performed a pit maneuver and the subject was taking into custody without incident. >> reporter: two people died at the first scene and one at the hospital. one individual was also wounded. >> in 2020 we had one homicide and we have had three today. it's pretty responding not only for the responding deputies but for the community here. we take this serious. >> reporter: the other two shootings took place in atlanta at spas right across the street from each other. the first at gold spa and leaving three dead and police learned of another across the street at aromatherapy spa. one person was killed there. atlanta police say this investigation is a high priority. >> we do have some witnesses that we were in the location around the location. it is a priority for us. >> reporter: according to atlanta police the suspect's vehicle was sign at the crime scene in cherokee county and also on the same street at the shootings in atlanta. >> we heard numerous gunshots coming from across the street. >> i won't say any names but they're nice girls and they do great massages. so it's just unfortunate. >> reporter: authorities tell the "atlanta journal constitution" that six of the victims were asian women. police said they had no immediate indication of a motive for the shootings. but the killings came at a time when attacks on asian americans have increased since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. that's left some people questioning whether race played a role. stop aapi hate, the nation's leading group fighting anti-asian hate and discrimination called the deaths an unspeakable tragedy and this will only exasperate the fear and pain that the asian-american community continues to endure. john, when you're talking to law enforcement sources in the area i that basically told us that video did help in terms of the investigation. that he's how they were able to get the image out there so quickly. that's how they were able to get that suspect vehicle out so quickly. but think about this, that pit maneuver, the stop, that chase happened almost two hours away from where i'm standing in metro atlanta. much of the evening we saw investigators trying to gather as much evidence as possible, but still we are waiting for the motive. we're still waiting to figure out what police know at this point, especially about that suspect. john? >> keep us posted. we are expecting to hear from law enforcement this morning and we'll bring that you live when that happens. joining me now, charles ramsey and chief ramsey, look, obviously the question this morning, was this racially motivated? the "atlanta journal constitution" reports six out of the eight victims were asian. we know there's a rise in anti-asian hate crime across the country. how will you go about proving the motive? what is the investigation doing right now? >> obviously, they're probably leaning in that direction but they're combing through evidence. they'll look at his social media. i'm sure they probably already have search warrants for the vehicle, wherever he lives. look for evidence that will verify that he had a hatred towards asian-americans and once they come up with that, then they'll officially declare a motive. but until then, they're going to be reluctant to do that. they're not going to speculate on that at all. >> you know, henry as we're look at what we do know at this hour and as we heard from ryan we are expecting hopefully a press conference this morning, is there anything that has changed overnight in terms of what we're learning because i have to say it is remarkable how quickly someone -- a suspect was apprehended. >> yeah, in terms of new developments overnight, the story really slowed down once he was captured then in south georgia. i don't know of any new developments especially not in terms of his motive. the police have been pretty cautious about saying anything in those terms. >> what are they telling you, henry, though about what they're investigating and what they have been doing over the last ten hours or so? >> so i hadn't been touch with any police this morning. i was the night shift person working last night, so i was working through midnight last night communicating with police. so our last official communication came around hid night. >> chief ramsey, as we're seeing and as ryan touched on, this is raising the concern and alert level far outside metro atlanta. really across the country as there are concerns, again, while it has not been stated that motive here was race, it is a concern. and hate crimes -- anti-asian hate crimes are growing nationwide. if you're looking at this, what is your biggest concern this morning and where is it? >> well, that you'd have a copycat or if this individual is part of a larger organization which probably is not the case, but you always have to be concerned about copycats. there have been a lot of cases, hate cases against asians in this country, unfortunately. you have to assume there may be others that may take place, so you have to be cautious and provide additional security or at least special attention to asian-owned businesses to make people aware because this is a serious situation we find ourselves in and you have to take every step possible to protect people. >> what has the atmosphere been in atlanta or georgia specific in terms of concerns about possible crimes toward the asian community? >> i think that they have been, you know, relatively high just like everywhere in the u.s. it's been a problem that's been on people's mind. i know that when the pandemic first began, we did a lot of reporting on asian restaurants that were suddenly seeing a huge drop in traffic and, you know, even since then over the past many months that has certainly been a concern. police did tell us last night that they were increasing patrols in the area. that they were checking in on businesses and i can say tha t test. test. a landscaper. a hunter. because you didn't settle for ordinary. same goes for your equipment. versatile, powerful, durable kubota equipment. more goes into it. so you get more out of it. 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. your ring should shine the same way you do. shop exclusive styles from our collections, including vera wang love, enchanted disney, endless brilliance and so much more. shop online with a virtual consultant. exclusively at zales. the diamond store. some companies still have hr stuck between employees and their data. shop online with a ventering data.ant. changing data. more and more sensitive, personal data. and it doesn't just drag hr down. it drags the entire business down -- with inefficiency, errors and waste. it's ridiculous. so ridiculous. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own data in a single, easy to use software. visit paycom.com, and schedule your demo today. that's a very good question. will there be an ev for me? what about me? an ev for me? what about me? can i get one too? an ev for this princess? what's an ev? and there better be one for me. and what about michelle from michigan? me? what about me? us? will there be an ev for me? me? me? me? ♪ first of all, the idea that joe biden said come because i heard the other day that they're coming because they know i'm a nice guy. >> we're seeing this. >> yeah. here's the deal. they're not. >> do you have to say quite clearly don't come ? >> cnn's precilla alvarez has more. we discussed the idea that the message they're trying to send is being manipulated by smugglers. what's to make of this? >> john, this is a message that officials have been sending since last fall but as you mentioned one of the biggest challenges that's running up against is the misinformation and rumors being spread by smugglers to make the journey north and many of the migrants and they're fleeing the pandemic which decimated economies in latin america, two major hurricanes passed through last year and that devastated the region. all of the factors perceived with the relaxation of enforcement is bringing people to the border. >> meantime, when they arrive at the border, i know you have some new reporting about the conditions inside some of the border facilities. what more are you learning? >> that's right, erica. we are getting a glimpse of what it looks like inside the border patrol facilities. the children are alternating schedules so they can sleep and that's because the facilities are not meant for kids. they're intended to process adults. they look like jail-like facilities with concrete walls and concrete benches but until the administration can begin to accommodate these children in shelters, that's where these kids are staying and that is one of the biggest challenges facing the administration right now. >> precilla, i'm hoping you can clear up, what's happening around the country is a bunch of different issues are getting conflated here. i don't think there's any question that there's a rise -- a very steep rise in unaccompanied minors coming to the border and now in custody in various places around the u.s. and there's a rise in encounters at the border, but most of the encounters are people being turned back, correct? so that in terms of the notion that there's a wave coming across the border overall, what's the reality? >> john, this is key. the biden administration is still relying on a trump era policy put in place during the pandemic that allows them to turn away single adults and families. so essentially border patrol will encounter them and kick them back to mexico or back to their country of origin but the biden administration said it would not take this policy and subject children to it. so that is why we are seeing so many children come into custody but seeing single adults and families turned away. >> so that is a big difference there. it's important to make that distinction. that doesn't get to the other issue which you have done terrific reporting on which is the conditions that the children are living in once they get here. it's complicated but thank you for covering it for us. with us is a national politics reporter for "the washington post." you know, we have talked about biden's comments this morning and i want to pick up on his comments about the filibuster. i mean, is this the president admitting that bipartisanship is going to be a really tough road, which most people realize. i mean, the d.c. of 2021 is not the d.c. he left behind. >> yeah, that's exactly right. if you look at what happened with the coronavirus relief bill, that was the clear test of whether bipartisanship was going to work in a biden administration. there's hardly anything more bipartisan on biden's agenda than trying to provide relief for the country that's going through the pandemic, that has a number of small businesses and people who are going through economic stress and trying to get republicans on board. not only did he not get the ten republicans that you would need to overcome the filibuster, he didn't get a single republican in the house or in the senate. that was a clear signal for him, if he's going to get anything done on the broader, more ambitious proposals whether it's on climate change, on the environment, on immigration, on the economy and taxes, that it's going to be very hard to get republicans to sign up to support whatever his agenda might be and for that reason he's going to potentially have to change his view on the filibuster and try to get other democrats to come on board to reforming or overhauling the filibuster so that he might be able to get more things done in the future. >> well, he has now officially changed his view on the filibuster in terms of being willing to reform it. the question i have is how big of a change would this be? it would be theater. i mean, we have the mr. smith goes to washington moments where members of the senate would be speaking for hours on end, but if functionally joe manchin and others require the 60-vote threshold to move legislation forward it isn't necessarily clear that the specific reform requiring the senators to speak would make more legislation actually pass. >> yeah, it's not clear this would change things. i think what biden and the other democrats are trying to do is get some of the moderate democrats on board with the idea of making changes to the filibuster, trying to say that it's not getting rid of it and having them ease into the process of maybe allowing exceptions to the filibuster whether it's for civil rights or types of bills to make it harder for the republicans to filibuster all of the legislation coming out of the democratic house. so it may not change things by having it become a speaking filibuster, but it might make it easier for someone like joe manchin or kristin sinema to say maybe we should look at ways to provide carveouts and exceptions so that democratic bills can pass. otherwise, it will be hard for anything on biden's agenda to move beyond the $1.9 trillion bill that he just signed. >> yeah. listen, the president also talking about governor andrew cuomo here in new york. really the first time he's actually weighed in and went pretty far. here's that moment. >> if the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign? >> yes, i think he'll probably end up being prosecuted too. a woman should be presumed of telling the truth and should not be victimized by her coming forward, number one. but there should be the investigation to determine whether what she says is true. >> the fact that he went there and said i think, you know, he could be prosecuted too, that sends a clear message not only to cuomo, but to the democrats. >> yeah. he didn't say if he was a suspect in the criminal investigation, but he raised the prospect and made it very clear if the allegations are proven to be true, not only would he call for andrew cuomo's resignation but would call for him to be prosecute as a criminal as well. that's an escalation of the language that biden and the white house are using about cuomo. now, they haven't called for his resignation yet. they want him to get due process and even raising the idea that the leader of the governor's association across the country could be a criminal could be essentially a sexual assaulter this makes it even a more tenuous situation for governor cuomo and can only hope this investigation proves him innocent because anything short of that makes it harder for biden and the white house and any other democrats who have not called for his resignation to hold out and stand with him. it seems like cuomo does not have many friends and he can't count on joe biden to help him even if the allegations prove against him. >> there's a practical standpoint and the president continues to give governor cuomo the cover of the investigation, right? but saying he might be charged with a crime, that politically is just not what governor cuomo wanted to hear overnight. no question about that. thank you for being with us. coronavirus cases have been declining nationwide for weeks. this morning though, there's concern about new potential hot spots emerging and questions about whether more transmissible variants to blame. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ excuse me ma'am, did you know that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? thank you! hey, hey, no, no, limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ 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 four, five, turn, kick. we got chased by these wild coyotes! they were following her because she had beef jerky in her pocket. (laughing) (trumpet playing) someone behind me, come on. pick that up, pick that up, right there, right there. as long as you keep making the internet an amazing place to be, we'll keep bringing you a faster, more secure, and more amazing internet. xfinity. the future of awesome. all right. this is what scientists have been worried about this. more than a dozen states are seeing a rise in the number of coronavirus cases. this comes as the cdc is asking people not to take part in st. patrick's day celebrations today. cnn's robyn curnow outside of a mass vaccination site that is opening. >> reporter: hi, good to see you, john. this is one of five new vaccination sites, mass vaccination sites opening up here in the state of georgia, this as georgia tries to ramp up its vaccination drive and to address the disparities in dosage supplies. it's much more easier if you're in a rural area to get a vaccine than it is if you're in one of the metro areas like atlanta. this comes as authorities across the country warning people if they're eligible, if they're vulnerable to take up the offer of getting a vaccine at a place like this, particularly to prevent any future surges. new fears that coronavirus is on the rise in key hot spots this morning. even as parts of the united states inched towards normal. average new infections are increasing in more states than where they're falling. with michigan seeing a jump of over 50% from last week. but across the united states, travelers are on the move. and an average of 1.3 million of them passing through tsa check points daily from friday through monday. with scenes like this in florida's beaches, some local leaders and top spring break destinations fear tourists are bringing the coronavirus along with them. >> we have too many people coming who want to just let loose in ways that are unacceptable and we have a pandemic including really ground central for the variant. >> reporter: the centers for disease control and prevention are asking people to keep their celebrations at home or outdoors and socially distanced today. >> there's a lot we can do safely. the problem is that if we decide that if it's over and go back to normal, we're asking for another wave. >> reporter: more states plan to expand vaccine eligibility. thanks to an increase in supply. >> on march 29th, eligibility will open up in ohio for every ohioan who is 16 years of age and older. >> reporter: wisconsin also allowing those over 16 with certain medical conditions starting march the 29th. nearly 12% of the u.s. population is now fully vaccinated. but health experts warn the relaxing of pandemic restrictions and the highly contagious variant could cause another surge in coronavirus cases. >> the next several weeks are going to be about all about b.1.1.7. and the race between the vaccine and the variant and loosening up, we are creating a problem. >> reporter: it's key to get vaccinated when eligible. >> we need incentives to get vaccines into arms here it is. all three approved in the united states are very effective against the uk b.1.1.7. variant. >> reporter: don't get complacent. even if you have been vaccinated, you only rarely have full coverage, full protection, about two weeks after the final dose. after that second jab. so folks need to still wear a mask. still social distance, even if they come and get a vaccine here today. john, back to you. >> robyn curnow, thank you. the asian-american community is taking new precautions. we have new information on the shootings at the massage parlors. eight people are dead. we have new reporting coming up. swollen, painful. tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms in adults with active psoriatic arthritis. some patients even felt less fatigued. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™. janssen can help you explore cost support options. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™. the lasting cologne scent of old spice dynasty helps get you off your couch. and into the driver's seat. 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>> i think we're seeing a new wave. it's starting in the north. and actually, we have seen it for quite a while. we have seen a steep drop after the christmas and new year's peak, but that plateaued. we didn't really continue that drop. and now we're seeing in many of our states upticks. that's what you would expect as people relax in the midst of what is a still a very dangerous pandemic. and i'm afraid it's not just st. patrick's day. it's going to be the spring break that could drive it across the country again, drive it up across the country. we don't have enough people vaccinated yet to make a real difference in infections. and it's not just the virus you encountered last year. this is a new and more dangerous virus. in new york city, where i'm speaking from, half of the new infections are a mixture of two variants. one from the uk and one home grown. the home grown looks actually worse than the uk. so when you take those considerations together, this is no time to relax. >> you mentioned that other variant here in new york, the one that was first identified here in new york. when you look at those variants, we know they're more transmissible. we know that specifically when it comes to the one that's identified in the uk there's concerns about more severe illness perhaps leading to more deaths but do we know it's enough sequencing happening to know that it's the variants that are pushing this spread or new wave as you point out that we may be in? >> i don't think it's entirely the variants. i think it's partially the variants. the variants are more transmissible. they do cause more serious danger and when they get into the family they don't infect one member, but the whole family, including very importantly children. these variants that we have been looking at have a much higher propensity for infecting children as well as adults. so this is pretty serious. >> let's talk about astrazeneca which is the vaccine that in many ways is the dominant vaccine being used in europe. nation after nation has paused, suspended use of it. they say because of concerns over possible blood clots. they're going to review this and we may get a decision from the eu shortly after this. what do you think is going to happen? how do you access these concerns, professor? >> well, from the data i have seen, i'm not particularly concerned. that doesn't mean there aren't things i haven't seen. but from the data that we have seen so far that's publicly available, it looks like it's not going to be a serious problem. the w.h.o. doesn't think it's a serious problem. the european regulators don't think it's a serious problem. i remember when some of the vaccines were first being rolled out in the northern countries, there were concerns but they didn't turn out to be related to the vaccine. i'm not so concerned about the safety issues with this vaccine. >> are you concerned about the other part of this, which is this pause leading to more vaccine hesitancy? >> i am very definitely concerned about that. there's a lot of misinformation about these vaccines. from what we have learned with many millions of americans and people around the world now being vaccinated, these are not only extraordinarily effective, it's preventing infection at least for some time. but they are extremely safe. they're about the safest vaccines that i think we have ever had. so i don't think that's going to be a continued problem. the fear is a problem and i think this could exasperate it. i hope it doesn't, but it's always disorienting for people who are hoping to get vaccines and then having the government pull it back. it's an unfortunate situation especially in europe right now when you see from the north to the south to the east very rapidly rising epidemics. >> we're talking about a rise in cases and a possible new wave, but you were hopeful. you see us -- you look in the next year and see us in a very good or promising place, professor, in terms of the pandemic. why? >> yeah. actually in the long term, i couldn't be more optimistic than i am right now about this pandemic. american scientists are coming to the rescue. we have second generation of vaccines that work differently. they're stronger, they're broader. and they probably will last longer than the current generation. that's good. there are new drugs coming along that cannot only treat you if you're diagnosed early but can if you have an infection in your family or in your business or your school can actually probably prevent you from become infected. so you have a backup if you get sick. so there are new drugs and new vaccines and i have to say that american science is really powerful and is fully engaged. all i can hope is that our government continues the massive effort that we have had with the warped speed to make sure that the new and very promising treatments get to us as soon as possible. >> more than 2 million vaccines a day being administered and that number is rising which is terrific news. professor haseltine, thank you. so the russians interfered in the 2020 election in a bid to damage the campaign of joe biden. how they did it and who helped them here, next. developing this morning the u.s. intelligence community releasing a landmark report detailing russian efforts to undermine the 2020 election including russian president vladimir putin authorizing efforts to damage president biden's 2020 candidacy by engaging in a massive disinformation campaign embraced by president trump's allies. alex marquardt has more. >> reporter: good morning, erica. this is the most comprehensive look that we have had so far at the 2020 election by the u.s. intelligence community. and it says perhaps most importantly that president vladimir putin of russia was in charge of orchestrating yet again a massive influence campaign. this time to denigrate joe biden in support of president trump and he did it in part using proxies so people who had direct access to the trump orbit. the u.s. intelligence community found that russian president putin authorized and conducted influence operations aimed at denigrating president biden's candidacy and the party supporting former president trump and undermining the electoral process and exasperating sociopolitical divisions in the u.s. according to the report, putin was trying to create a false narrative which we have heard from trump and the allies that for a long time, joe biden and his family had corrupt dealings with ukraine. and the russians pushed this by having that contact and exchanging information with people linked to the trump administration. this report says that in black and white. i want to read a little bit more. a key element of moscow's strategy this election cycle was its use of proxies linked to russian intelligence to push influence narratives including misleading or unsubstantiated allegations against president biden to u.s. officials and prominent u.s. individuals. including some close to president trump and his administration. now, they don't name the people who are close to president trump, but they do name andrii derkach, a ukrainian lawmaker, and this report goes further saying that derkach was under the direct purview of vladimir putin and derkach as you can see right there, we know had direct contact with the president's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani. this report goes on to talk about what china did and you'll remember that trump and his top officials said that china was the biggest threat to this election. and that they were doing as much or more than russia to influence this election. in the end, according to u.s. intelligence, china actually didn't do anything in terms of influence operations they decided to sit this one out. deciding that it simply wasn't in their interest to get caught meddling. so that also goes against the trump narrative. and then finally, the report finds that when it comes to foreign interference the focus was almost entirely on trying to influence the voters, that no country actually attempted to attack the voting infrastructure and the votes themselves. they didn't even try. instead, to focus was on influencing and to sowing divisions among the american voters. >> wow. a lot there. alex, thank you. much of europe has suspended the use of the astrazeneca vaccine and that's making a rocky vaccine rollout across the pond worse. so what's causing all the trouble? 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so far, some 36% of the uk's population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. at least 21% in the united states. but only around 8% in spain, germany, france and italy. what the pandemic provided brussels with it believed was an opportunity to unite europe around the leadership. what the last few months have in fact shown that the decisions ended up being made by the member states when it came to their own borders to vaccine procurement and approval showing that in fact the political consensus simply wasn't there and the weight of brussels bureaucracy too much. >> i don't think they're doing the right thing. once large and influential countries pauses the vaccination, other countries are overcautious and then they lack the courage to do the evidence-based thing rather than the emotion-based thing. >> reporter: whatever the european medicines agency decides on thursday, some say they the damage is already done. not only to europe's ambition of vaccinating 70% of the population by september, but to its ambition of doing that as one. and on the problem, even if this crisis was born in and of the european union, it goes in terms of its consequences way beyond the borders. 2 billion doses of astrazeneca are due to be delivered this year to 70 countries and whatever the europeans medicine agency decides tomorrow, that verdict, that problem of vaccine hesitancy of confidence that people worldwide could have in the vaccines is unlikely to go away. john and erica? >> thank you, melissa. "new day" continues right now.