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At This Hour

CNN Crew Witnesses Haitian Gang Violence From Inside Armored Car; U.S. Moves To Stretch Out Limited Monkeypox Vaccine Doses; Serena Williams Drops Retirement Hint In Vogue Essay. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired August 09, 2022 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[11:30:00]

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So reliance -- overly reliance on semiconductor chips from around the world, something that the president said jeopardizes both U.S. economic, as well as, national security. And so this bill aims to inject $280 billion into the U.S. semiconductor and scientific research industry broadly with $52 billion of subsidies and tax credits for the chip manufacturing and research in particular, as well as $170 billion broadly for scientific research, innovation, and space exploration.

And the president said that he hopes that future generations will look back on this moment, a bipartisan bill signed into law by President Biden and that they will say that this administration and that bipartisan Congress met this moment and was able to take the U.S. into the next generation of production of semiconductor chips.

And the president really emphasized the duality of the economic and national security implications throughout his remarks, and it's particularly notable when you think about China and the competition with China that's taking place right now. That's where this bill is critical. I will finally note, Kate, that the president did have a loose cough. That was pretty persistent throughout his remarks. Of course, he just came out of COVID isolation just days ago. He didn't have much of a cough yesterday, but we did hear that come back today, Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Absolutely. It's good to see you, Jeremy, thank you so much for that. Coming up for us, extraordinary reporting from inside Haiti, CNN capturing police and gangs in fierce gun battles. Nick Paton Walsh is on the ground with this new reporting from Port-Au-Prince. We'll go there next.

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[11:36:21]

BOLDUAN: One year after the assassination of Haiti's President, gangs are gaining the upper hand in a war with police. Dozens of neighborhoods are now controlled by well-armed, organized, and ruthless criminals. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is on the ground. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voiceover): The descent into the abyss in Haiti is fastest here. But one certainty is when the police SWAT team we are with, crosses into gang territory. They will take fire. It is now a blunt war for control of the capital. The police need to prove they can be here, the gangs that the police cannot, and its ordinary citizens who were caught in between. Here, a passenger on a civilian bus that was hit in the street.

In the days before, police said they rescued six hostages in this same area and killed a leader of the 400 Mawozo gang. With the police struggle to hold ground so the gangs whose currency is kidnapping and drugs are gaining far too much especially right here. Rounds hit the armored vehicle. They think they see where the gunmen are. They ran but not like it's their first time under fire, perhaps even this day. They slide back. Perhaps the gang have fled down the alley.

It's this kind of intense violence that so many sites when they talk about the home of Haiti's spiral towards collapse.

The firepower they bring doesn't in itself change who's in control. Gangs are able to block main roads at will with trucks and it requires a major operation to clear them. Gangs now often match or outgun the police. They have a bulldozer too, demolishing rivals' houses in one area, Cite Soleil. Locals fled at night during 10 days of clashes in July that left over 470 dead, injured, or missing said the UN as the G9 gang expanded control burning and demolishing. Those who survived, fled two nights here where a mix of flies and rain stopped them from even sleeping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking in a foreign language.

[11:40:06]

WALSH: To see where acute desperation can lead, we traveled to see where acute desperation can lead, we traveled to where what's left of the government rarely treads. Don't be fooled by the beauty. There is no paradise here only hunger, heat, trash, and the business of leaving. Traffickers' boats out to the Bahamas, Cuba, and Florida, if you're lucky. And while these places are sending Haitians back in record numbers, the U.S. Coast Guard is also stopping four times as many this year as last. These exits are what Johnny arranges.

JOHNNY, MIGRANT SMUGGLER: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we die, we die. If we make it, we make it. I'm the one who buys the boat. It can cost up to $15,000. We are hoping to get 250 people for the next trip because the boat is big.

WALSH: Not everyone made it on their last trip three months ago.

JOHNNY: Speaking in a foreign language. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boat had an engine problem. Why they got inside a boat? We call for help but it took too long. 29 people died on that trip.

WALSH: These aren't people who usually share their trade secrets, but maybe now they're relaxed while the authorities are busy. The boat is aging, scraps of net plugging holes, engines not fixed yet. But this is where Johnny hopes 250 people will huddle maybe as early as next week.

I mean not really something you want to be in on dry land, let alone out for days.

One man tells us why he saved for a year to get into here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaking in a foreign language.

WALSH: I graduated and work as a teacher, he says, but it did not work out. Now, I am driving a motorcycle every day in the sun and the dust. How will I be able to take care of my family when I have one? I'm not afraid. I will be eaten by a shark or make it to America.

I hope so remotely it could only exist here where they say the choice is between fire and water even if all day every day already feels like drowning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: And Nick is joining us now. I mean, Nick, it is so intense what you've seen while you've been on the ground. How do you describe how Haiti feels right now? I mean, does it feel like the country is close to collapsing?

WALSH: Yes, and that is the question that many of the locals we speak to here are asking themselves daily. When is the moment of collapse? Will we even notice it necessarily when it's upon us? Let me explain the basic geography that informs everyday life here. The port, the main way that food, aid, trade spare parts of police armored vehicles gets into the country is controlled by gangs. They have the road outside. The road to the south of the country that was devastated by an earthquake a year ago that is controlled by gangs as well.

You see, they didn't have to pay them a toll frankly, over here to get down that road to the North City Cite Soleil where gangs have been fighting for control of territory. To the east, yet more gangs. It feels surrounded. And one security force source we spoke to said three-quarters of the city is gang-controlled or influenced, the police chief denies that.

That is why people every day along with inflation gasp cues, the general sense that the fabric of life is close to collapse. That's why people wake up every morning wondering if this next day ahead will be different from the last and also when the basic fabric of daily life here will no longer function, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Nick Paton Walsh, phenomenal reporting, thanks. Coming up for us, the Biden administration is set to announce a big change when it comes to the monkeypox vaccine. The new development, coming up next.

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[11:48:10]

BOLDUAN: Now to the worsening monkeypox outbreak in the United States. The Biden administration is preparing now to move forward with a plan to stretch out the very limited supply of monkeypox vaccine doses by allowing providers to administer one-fifth of the dosage to get more people vaccinated. There are now nearly 9000 confirmed monkeypox cases in the United States and top health officials will be holding a briefing at the White House this afternoon at 3:30 with an update on that.

But before that, joining me right now is Dr. Megan Ranney. She's a professor of Emergency Medicine and academic dean of Public Health at Brown University. It's good to see you, Dr. Ranney. So on this one- fifth of a dose, this would give people one-fifth of what now what people previously were given, one get -- one getting at least one shot of this vaccine. People are going to, of course, ask the question. If you're getting -- if you're getting one-fifth of the dose, are you getting one-fifth of the protection?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN: It's a great and really important question to ask. I will be clear that we don't have data on JYNNEOS and monkeypox, but we have ample data from doing studies with smallpox and other types of vaccines that you can give a smaller dose of the vaccine if you administer it in a different way. And it creates an equivalent immune response and so, therefore, quite likely, equivalent protection, or taking a little bit of a leap here in recognition of the severity of the epidemic right now.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And talked to me about the different way because we were learning -- I was just reading up on this with not really understanding it too well, that experts are saying that to administer the dose -- this one-fifth dose who actually administer it in a different way, what does that mean?

RANNEY: That's right. So normally, when you get a shot, including the current version of the monkeypox shots, it goes deep into your arm, right? It goes into the fat and maybe even into the muscle. The way that we would be administering the one-fifth dose is more like how you get a TB test if you've ever been tested for tuberculosis.

[11:50:07]

It goes just under the layer of the skin and deposits just a very small amount right there, which actually hypes up the immune response a little bit faster. So there's a really good set of data from a wide set of vaccines, not just for smallpox, but also flu and rabies, that this way of administering vaccines can actually be more effective.

But as you said, it is a different kind of administration. The folks who are giving it are going to have to use different needles and draw up different amounts. So there's going to be an element of training that's going to have to go along with it, so it's not like we just make the announcement and suddenly it happens across the United States.

BOLDUAN: Too good point. So the goal of all of this is obviously to stretch the limited supply further. CNN has reported that the U.S. owns bulk stocks of the vaccine, but that HHS waited weeks after the first confirmed case in the United States to order them to be individually packaged and shipped over here. Did that move to that set this response back?

RANNEY: It absolutely did. You know, I've said to others that I am a little bit flummoxed by the slowness of the response. Our first case was identified in the United States on May 18. That was after outbreaks had already been identified in other countries. We could and should have mobilized our response then. I think this announcement that we're all expecting from the Biden administration this afternoon is a great example of why the meaning of the two new monkeypox coordinators was so important.

We're already starting to see them light a fire under the response and hopefully start to make up for these avoidable delays in getting adequate doses of vaccines, adequate amounts of testing, adequate amounts of treatment, all these very basic things have been much slower than we would have hoped for.

BOLDUAN: Doctor, is all of this, do you see it as a sign that the government doesn't yet have a handle on how big the outbreak is, or is it something else?

RANNEY: So I don't -- I can say that we don't have a handle on how big the outbreak is.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

RANNEY: We are absolutely missing cases right now. There is no doubt about that. But I think that this is more of a comment around the way that we in the United States approach over and over again, public health and emergency preparedness. As an emergency physician, as someone who works in the ER regularly, right, I know how important it is for us to have systems set up for these horrific events that we know will happen someday but we can't predict when.

Mass shootings, biological pandemics, you know, a bus turns over, we have to be prepared. That requires funding, that requires forethought, and once again in the United States, we failed to do that. We got caught once again without funding doses, without having staff, without being planned. So to me, this is more of a comment on our approach to public health and prevention rather than particularly on this administration or even on this outbreak.

BOLDUAN: A more important statement for sure. It's good to see you, Dr. Ranney, thank you very much.

RANNEY: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up still for us at this hour, remembering Olivia Newton-John. Tributes pouring in for the icon from around the world, that's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:58:08]

BOLDUAN: Tennis great Serena Williams says there is a "light at the end of the tunnel for her record-breaking tennis career." The 23-time Grand Slam champion writing in Vogue magazine this. I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn't feel like a modern word to me. Maybe the best word to describe what I'm up to is evolution. I'm here to tell you that I'm evolving away from tennis toward other things that are important to me.

Williams did not say exactly when she might officially leave but hinted she will play in the U.S. Open later this month. Just yesterday, Williams won her opening match at the Canadian Open. Her first win in a singles match this year, much more to come there.

But before we go, tributes are pouring in for Grammy-winning singer, actress, and advocate, Olivia Newton-John, fans placing flowers on her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Newton-John died yesterday at the age of 73 after a decades-long battle with breast cancer. She stole --

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BOLDUAN: Right there, she stole hearts playing Sandy in the musical blockbuster, Grease, John Travolta, of course, playing her love interest, Danny. He posted an emotional tribute on Instagram saying in part, we will see you down the road. We will all be together again. Yours from the moment I saw you and forever. Your Danny, Your John.

Olivia Newton-John was one of the biggest pop stars of the 70s and 80s, winning four Grammy Awards, selling more than 100 million albums. After learning she had breast cancer three decades ago, she became a major advocate for cancer research. She raised millions of dollars, opened a cancer research and wellness facility in her native Australia. Newton-John leaves us with unforgettable music, a catalog like no other including this hit song.

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BOLDUAN: And so much more. Thanks for being here, everybody. "INSIDE POLITICS" with John King starts right now.