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Officials Hold Briefing On Fatal Police Shooting Of Andrew Brown Jr.; CDC And FDA Lift Pause On J&J Coronavirus Vaccine; New Video In Fatal Police Shooting Of Ma'Khia Bryant; Rescue Hopes End For Missing Indonesian Submarine. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired April 24, 2021 - 11:00   ET

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

[10:59:54]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: They're going to be doing impressive breakthrough research, there's out-of-this-world views. But as we learned this morning, no booze on board. They can't celebrate with champagne, Christi.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: That's ok. I'm sure that they'll do it when they get back for us.

Hey, go make some great memories out there today. Thank you for watching.

SANCHEZ: Thanks for joining us.

The next hour of NEWSROOM continues with Fredricka Whitfield right now.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We want to take you straight to Elizabeth City, North Carolina after the police-involved shooting death of 42-year-old Andrew Brown. Right now speaking is the city manager, Montre Freeman. He has just stated -- and now someone else is coming up -- they have just stated that a request has been made for police body cam video. Let's listen in.

MAYOR BETTIE PARKER, ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA: -- which means I can now go off that diet that I was planning on going on.

So without further ado, let me say good morning to you.

CROWD: Good morning.

PARKER: I am Bettie Parker, the mayor of the city of Elizabeth City. I am accompanied by my city manager, Mr. Montre Freeman, by my chief of police Chief Eddie Buffalo. And we are here to make a few statements in reference to the shooting that took place in our city this past Wednesday, April 21st, 2021.

Let me again express sincere condolences to the family of Andrew Brown -- sincere condolences on behalf of the city of Elizabeth City. As a mayor of Elizabeth City in which your loved one was shot and killed, for the past few days I have been concerned about giving your family and friends adequate space and time to grieve.

We can only imagine the pain that you must be experiencing, but we are sensitive to your concerns. There are two separate law enforcement agencies in our community, some of you may not know this. The Elizabeth City Police Department which is municipal and the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Department which is county.

None of the officers of the Elizabeth City Police Department were involved in the process of issuing the warrant to Mr. Brown nor part of the subsequent events that transpired.

The city council held an emergency meeting on the day of the shooting to gather information from my city manager and our chief of police. And also, to indicate our position on the events of that day.

A second emergency meeting was held at 3:30 yesterday to discuss a formal request for the sheriff's department to release the body cam worn by the county officers at the scene of the shooting. And if denied, the request is to be forwarded to the district attorney's office as well as to superior court. Any entity, in fact, that represents the Custodial Law Enforcement Agency.

We decided to hold a press conference this morning rather than earlier in the week because we felt it would be prudent to first allow space for the county officials to control the narrative since our officers were not involved.

To those who have been participating in the ongoing protests, the city would like to thank you for your peace -- peaceful and orderly conduct. Because when all is said and done, we will still have to live here in peace and harmony because this is our home.

I will now yield back to our city manager and the chief of police for additional comments. Thank you.

MONTRE FREEMAN, CITY MANAGER, ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA: Thank you so much, Madam Mayor. Again she has stood and delivered.

As an attorney, I believe in the Constitution and the amendments and all the laws, and I would be lying if I told you that my belief is being tested. This time is where the rubber truly meets the road.

[11:04:54]

FREEMAN: And so because we have had very little, extremely little, we probably know even less than what you all know about this occurrence. I had an immediate conversation with our police chief, Chief Eddie Buffalo, who by the way, is the president of the North Carolina Chiefs Association. That means he's the chief of all chiefs.

In our organization, I refer to our directors as subject matter experts. He is the subject matter expert of all subject matter experts. And I am honored to serve the city and serve him and our police department.

Our officers have been absolutely amazing. They started community policing a long time ago. So when this unfortunate chain of events occurred they continued to do what they've always done, and that is, community police.

As your manager, I will continue to drive the initiative to create a safe space for all protesters to exercise their First Amendment rights, and our officers on the ground will continue to protect them from all harm or danger.

It is now the weekend though, and we know that from protests on weekends people come in, they are called nomads, and they come in to wreak havoc and leave. And so I'm asking all protesters, if you identify someone or see someone and they have come here to create trouble and create distractions, that you identify them and we absolutely have enough officers and we'll have them removed.

My plea to all of you is that I need every single person watching and listening to keep your eye on this situation. I don't need any distractions whatsoever to take away from this very fluid and very necessary investigation.

So without further ado, I introduce to you our subject matter expert in policing, Chief Eddie Buffalo.

CHIEF EDDIE BUFFALO, ELIZABETH CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: Good morning, everyone.

Before I start, I echo the same sentiments of our mayor, and I extend heartfelt sympathy to the Brown family, to their friends, and even to this community at large.

Since the events unfolded on Wednesday morning, approximately 8:00 a.m., the Elizabeth City Police Department did not have any involvement with the service of the arrest warrant or execution of the search warrant.

Elizabeth City's initial call for service was "shots fired". Our officers responded, found out that it was an officer-involved shooting involving the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office. Immediately we went into scene security and perimeter security.

Since that time, we have transitioned over to an operational period to provide life safety, property safety, as well as to allow protesters to peacefully protest. We have done that without any arrests at this point, and we have done that without any property damage within the city at this point.

Those efforts have continued since Wednesday and possibly through the weekend. Our officers are vigilant and will remain vigilant throughout the weekend and we are also doing our daily responsibilities and answering our daily calls for services as well, along with providing protection for our motoring public, as well as our protesters here within the city. We will stay vigilant and we ask the community to remain peaceful, as you have, and if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us on our Facebook page or you may contact our office directly.

At this time I ='ll turn it back over to our city manager and that's the involvement from the police department. And thank you for coming.

FREEMAN: I purposely kept my mask on for the first part. And since this will be the last time I will speak before I bring the mayor up to close this out, there are a couple of things. When protests take place it is a lot more than the people you see in the streets. It is the citizens who travel --

[11:09:52]

WHITFIELD: All right. You're listening to the city manager. You also heard the city mayor of Elizabeth City, North Carolina there try to give an update on where they are just a few days after a 42-year-old man, Andrew Brown, was killed by county police in the midst of search and arrest warrants being executed.

The city there making the distinction that they had no involvement in the police-involved shooting, the sheriff county police-involved shooting, nor any involvement in the execution of the warrant.

Let's talk further about what is and what remains unknown as it pertains to this police-involved shooting.

Tim Alexander, a civil rights attorney and a former police detective with us. He's also running for a congressional seat as a Democrat in New Jersey. Joey Jackson is a criminal defense attorney and CNN legal analyst. And Wesley Bell is a prosecutor in St. Louis County, Missouri and a former member of the Ferguson, Missouri city council. Thanks to all of you for joining me.

I wonder if I could first go to you, Wesley, because the city is making a clear distinction there that its city police had no involvement in the execution of the warrants, nor any involvement in the shooting that was carried out by the county sheriff's office.

Why is that an important distinction to make? And in so doing, the city is also requesting the body cam video be released by the county.

WESLEY BELL, PROSECUTOR, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI: Well, we're dealing with process here and the idea is that when you're trying to reverse engineer to figure out what exactly happened, it's important to know who was responsible. And if there is some accountability to be had or some concerns with respect to any potential, be it litigation, criminal or civil, you have to know who is responsible.

And so there's a distinction between the sheriffs office as well as the law enforcement, which would generally be under the city or potentially the county. And that can be the difference in moving forward with any investigation, and potentially down the road, potential litigation. WHITFIELD: And Tim, you're also a former law enforcement, what usually

is the process in terms of the cooperation between county authorities and city authorities especially when it entails county authorities coming into a city to execute any kind of warrant?

TIM ALEXANDER, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: My experience as a county detective, going into towns, we never went into a town without notifying the police department that we're coming in, this is what we're going to do, we want you to participate with us. And it may be as simple as providing security on the perimeter we're executing a search warrant, or having a uniform presence because we're plain clothes, even though we have identifying garments on.

We want to make sure that there's no doubt that this is a law enforcement function. So to hear that the police department, Elizabeth City Police Department was not part of this until after the shots were fired is a little bit unnerving, truthfully.

And I will add to my fellow panelist's comments that Elizabeth City is showing great leadership. They're trying to get in front of this. This is not their event, but nevertheless, they're taking some form of ownership for their citizens to say we're with you, we're trying to get more information for you, and if they don't turn it over -- which they should have already, had their own press conference in the sheriff's department -- then we will push to get that information because you are our citizens and we are going to represent you. And I think that's commendable.

WHITFIELD: And, Joey, the sheriff in the Pasquotank County says that he cannot release the body camera video without a court order because of state law. So help us understand why it is that some jurisdictions are willingly and able to release body cam video right away, whereas in this case state law says that it has to come by way of a court order?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. so Fredricka, there was a law passed in North Carolina, and I should couch this by saying, appropriate to your question, is look, we are a country that has governors and various jurisdictions. Every state does things differently, right.

Some states have strong gun control laws, we're not talking about gun control. Other states have lax laws. Some say it's (INAUDIBLE) county of itself. What am I saying?

I'm saying that every jurisdiction has a right to make laws specific to what their citizens want, demand, and what the politicians do. In this jurisdiction in 2013, North Carolina, there was a law passed as it relates to body cams. Body cams are not perceived or otherwise with regard to public releases considered public information, right.

And so as a result of that, you need a court order to release it and that's what we're going through here. What was important to me though, Fredricka, just circling back for a minute to the press conference is how little these officials know.

[11:14:47]

JACKSON: I commend them for sure, for exercising leadership with regard to the mayor, the city manager and the police chief. I certainly would want to hear that there's more coordination going on with the appropriate authorities who actually were responsible for this and that the body cam will be released.

Listen, the bottom line is we have to be in a period and era of transparency. That body camera is going to be released, whether it's today, tomorrow, next week. And I think people are protesting, and I can appreciate their comments as it related to protests and protesting peacefully, of course.

But I think the nature of the protest is what's going on, what happened here, specifically who shot, how many shots were fired, what do we know and what do we not know? And I don't really know a lot more, having heard these, you know, elected officials, and again, I applaud them for getting out in front of it. But I'm still confused.

When is it going to be released? What are we going to do? What coordination did you have? What are the local officials who are responsible saying? Those are the things I think the community wants and needs to know so that their concern about this information can really be satisfied. And so we'll see moving forward when that camera is released.

But I can assure you, notwithstanding, and here the point of your question, which is state law. There's going to come a time that public interest is going to prevail. And the sooner the public knows specifically what happened, I think the better they'll feel with respect to whether this was a bad shooting or otherwise. And at this point, you know, we just need to have more information and we don't have it.

WHITFIELD: Right. Still so many unanswered questions and already you've got ten of the deputies who were at the scene are on administrative leave, three of those deputies have since resigned.

Again, this shooting taking place on Wednesday. Still lots of unanswered questions. Thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, Johnson & Johnson vaccines now cleared to be administered as soon as today. We'll have more on the latest CDC guidance when we come right back.

Plus, CNN has new details on the moments before the shooting death of Ma'Khia Bryant. We'll take a closer look at new video taken as officers arrived at that scene.

[11:16:53]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The CDC director says Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccinations can resume in the U.S. as soon as today. Federal officials lifting a recommended pause on the vaccine Friday after determining that the benefits outweigh the small risk of developing rare blood clots.

CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro explains what went into the decision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: With these actions, the administration of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine can resume immediately.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The CDC and FDA have made it official. They've lifted their recommended pause on the use of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose shot, saying the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of potential rare blood clots. And said, the label will be updated to warn of blood clot risks.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a rare, very rare, but possible occurrence here and it needs to be treated a certain way. You know, when you think about risk versus benefit, that's where really the emergency use authorization is all about and that's what they really looked at here.

If you look on the left, that's women between the ages of 18 and 49. For every one million doses given, we saw roughly 13 cases of this condition of clotting. But at the same time prevented 12 deaths for every one million doses, prevented 127 ICU admissions. That's the risk/benefit sort of ratio. For women over the age of 50 it's even greater -- the benefits versus the risks.

That's ultimately what this decision was about.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: More than nine million doses of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine are ready to be administered in the U.S. now the federal agencies have signed off on its resumption, CNN has learned.

Also out Friday, hopeful new numbers from the University of Washington showing the effect vaccinations are already having on death rates in the U.S.

DR. CHRIS MURRAY, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: The key drivers there are, you know, vaccinations going up. But also we're past the peak of seasonality for the coronavirus. That peaked in about February and, with every passing week as we get into the summer, we would expect transmission potential to be going down.

So those two forces working together, we believe despite the new variants, will bring down deaths at least until August 1st in the United States.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: The CDC needs to step up outreach around vaccine education after the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine pause, says the CDC director. And more people need to get vaccinated. DR. WALENSKY: In addition to over 65 percent of Americans over the age

of 65 being vaccinated, this is also the week we hit 200 million vaccines in less than 100 days and a week when all Americans age 16 and older are eligible. I encourage all younger people to follow the example of older Americans and to get vaccinated.

And regardless of your age, please be an ambassador for your neighbors and loved ones by encouraging and assisting them to get vaccinated themselves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: And Fred, a little breaking news here in New York. Not that long ago the governor announcing that this state will resume Johnson & Johnson vaccine immunizations immediately following the lift of that pause by the FDA.

It's all part of a new toolbox trying to move into a new phase of this vaccination process, which is that now in New York there are plenty of vaccine doses for people who want them. The trick now is to get people to actually want them and get them. There's a real concern about hesitancy now.

That's why I'm here at the American Museum of Natural History, which was turned into a vaccine site under the iconic whale -- the Blue Whale. You can now get a vaccine.

a walk-in, you don't have to have an appointment. You can just walk in and get it and if you do do it you get four passes to come back to the museum later for free.

So the idea is to try to get people to -- they make it as easy as possible and to incentivize them to do it because officials are worried that we may be running out of demand and not supply. That's a big, big danger because we need people to get those vaccines in order to put this pandemic to bed, Fred.

[11:24:56]

WHITFIELD: Yes. There are serious concerns there. But that's a nice kind of docile incentive as well, get some sight-seeing in. I love the band-aid that was on the whale there, again letting them know that -- you know, it's harmless, right?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Me too.

WHITFIELD: It doesn't hurt to get that shot.

All right. Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. Joining me right now to discuss is Dr. Anand Swaminathan, an emergency medicine physician in New Jersey. Dr. Swaminathan, so good to see you.

So do you think the pause and then the decision to make the vaccine -- J&J vaccine available again helps or hurts the efforts to get people vaccinated?

DR. ANAND SWAMINATHAN, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: I think this is a tricky thing and the CDC and FDA really considered all of those things when they made that decision.

And I think ultimately the pause was the right thing to do because one of the biggest factors that goes into hesitancy is trust and the lack of trust. This process was so transparent, it was so clear to everybody what was going on, and it really should help to restore that trust in the system, in our public health agencies.

This was the necessary steps needed to take to keep the public safe, to figure out what kind of a risk we were dealing with and then get the best information to people. And I think people should be really reassured by this process.

WHITFIELD: And you know, I joke -- you know, I say getting a shot is harmless, you know, when talking to Evan. But we know that there were problems associated with a J&J vaccine, and that's why there was a pause.

But now this recent CDC analysis shows that resuming the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine actually would save hundreds of lives and results in, at most, a few dozen cases of rare blood clots.

So what would you tell a patient today about how to choose which vaccine, if indeed, they have a choice?

DR. SWAMINATHAN: I would tell people the same thing that what we've been saying the whole time, which is to get whatever vaccine you can get. We're really bad as human beings with understanding risks and benefits. And here the benefits so far outweighs the risk.

This is very similar to things about getting hit by lightning or contracting mad cow disease. That's how rare these clots are. So we really need to get what we can get. And the Johnson & Johnson vaccine really does fill a niche for people who can't come back, who have problems making those appointments.

And there's a really powerful use for that in the emergency department where I work, getting people who are coming in for something else. We're discharging them home. We can give them that J&J.

And Fred, I had a bunch of requests on my overnight last night asking about that vaccine and me having to tell people we're not ready to get back to it yet. But hopefully soon we'll be able to provide that once again.

WHITFIELD: Right. In some circles it was an answer particularly to those who found logistically it was difficult to get a two-dose vaccine.

So the CDC is now recommending that pregnant women get the coronavirus vaccine. That follows the release of early findings from a study in the "New England Journal of Medicine" that shows no obvious safety concerns among pregnant women who received the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA coronavirus vaccine. So how significant in your view is that?

DR. SWAMINATHAN: I think it's another important step because I think there was a little bit of reluctance there because we didn't have great data. Obviously, the randomized control trials we had last year didn't include pregnant patients.

So we've needed to get a little bit of data here. But this is safe. And what we do know is that COVID is extremely dangerous to pregnant women and to their fetuses. So we need to get this information out there that the vaccines are safe from the best data that we have. We're collecting more data as we go.

But there's been a lot of misinformation. And what this data tells us is that there's no increase in things like miscarriages and things that obviously pregnant women are very concerned about, that all of that talk that was out there really was misinformation.

And getting vaccinated is the best thing you can do to protect your health and by protecting your health, your fetus' health as well.

WHITFIELD: And a pediatric expert now, leading the research center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital is now optimistic that children 15 and younger could be eligible to be vaccinated in May. Pfizer submitted a request to amend its emergency use authorization to include 12 to 15- year-olds just two weeks ago. How encouraging is that in your view for people?

DR. SWAMINATHAN: This is another big step because that's a group where we really want to get as many in that group vaccinated because they probably spread very similarly to adults.

And in order to get them back into school safely, this is one of the steps that can really help us. And I have a 12-year-old, almost 13, so I'm very excited for this approval because it will help us to getting our kids back to doing the things that we want them to do.

And I'm hoping --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Would you wait at all for your 12-year-old or are you going to be first in line with your 12-year-old?

DR. SWAMINATHAN: I'll tell you, honestly, we were trying to get him enrolled in a study if we could have. Enroll him, because that's the right way to do things.

And unfortunately, there's no studies going on in our area. I won't pause. When that's available for 12 to 15, he'll be hopefully first in line to get one.

[11:29:49]

WHITFIELD: All right. And the director -- director-general rather, of the World Health Organization has just written a piece in "The New York Times" criticizing vaccine nationalism for undercutting the mission of the global vaccine sharing initiative, saying "The world's richest countries face a test of character in vaccine distribution."

Where are you on this and the sharing of these vaccines?

DR. SWAMINATHAN: We have to understand that we won't be safe until everybody is vaccinated. So we do have to share. I'm afraid or I fear that when we look at this historically in retrospect, we're going to see that this vaccine nationalism is one thing that really helped to prolong the pandemic instead of really helping.

And I understand the push, we want to give the vaccinations at home to U.S. people first. But we really have to understand the global nature of this pandemic and get those vaccines to others.

So the fact that we're sitting on vaccines that we're not using, we need to make sure we're getting those out to other places. The fact that we have given over 200 million doses, and some countries aren't even close to a million doses of vaccine -- that's really a problem when we look at a global problem. We need a global solution.

So yes, the U.S. has to do even more to back vaccination around the world if we're going to stop this pandemic.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Don't you find this to be a rather stunning juncture when we're talking about a global pandemic? Why would it be disputed and argued that there would be a need for some kind of equity in distribution globally?

DR. SWAMINATHAN: We're not an island. We can't isolate ourselves and hope that just by vaccinating ourselves everything will be fine. We see that over and over again. And again, it's not just for this pandemic. We have to learn these lessons for the next time so that we are ready to really reach out and help our neighbors and help the rest of the world with doing this.

Now, I think we are starting to see that happening, but we really do need to make more of an effort there, especially now. I mean there's no excuse now because we know that our supply is outstripping demand and we have to really start getting that out to other places.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Anand Swaminathan, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

DR. SWAMINATHAN: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, we'll take a closer look at new video CNN has obtained showing the moments leading up to the shooting death of Ma'Khia Bryant. The footage just the latest of several videos detailing what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: CNN is learning new details on the police-involved shooting death of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. In the case of Bryant, police body cam video of the incident was quickly released and now CNN has also obtained new video of the moments leading up to the shooting. Video from a neighbor's security camera showing the officer arriving on the scene and then getting out of his patrol car. Following a brief scuffle the teen is seen lunging at another young woman with a knife shortly before the officer opens fire killing Bryant.

Athena Jones is in Columbus for us right now. Athena, what's the status of the investigation into the shooting? How will this video be used in this case?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

Well, the status is that the investigation is in the hands of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. That's an independent body, it's part of the Ohio state attorney general's office, but it's independent in the sense that this investigation into this police-involved shooting is not going to involve the Columbus Police Department.

That is because of a memorandum of understanding that was signed in July of last year amidst the protests over the social justice movement after the death of George Floyd. We saw an attempt at reform here in the city of Columbus.

That is why all police-involved shootings like this incident that occurred on Tuesday afternoon are placed in the hands of an independent body. They have first dibs on talking to witnesses, on gathering evidence, even on looking at the body camera footage.

You mentioned that new footage that was put out yesterday, that we obtained yesterday from a security camera from across the street. You can see sort of the timing of how things happened and how quickly Officer Reardon shot at Ma'Khia Bryant after emerging from the car.

But the fact is it's that initial police body camera footage from Officer Reardon's body-worn camera that the police department released in the hours after the killing on Tuesday afternoon. That is the one where you can best see what took place.

You can best see Ma'Khia Bryant lunging at one girl. She falls to the ground and then lunging at another girl, arm raised -- her right arm raised with a knife in her hand. That is when Officer Reardon fired those four shots and I believe that there's going to be a lot of reliance on that video to determine what happened in this case and whether it was justified.

I can tell you from several law enforcement sources that we've spoken with, my colleagues at CNN and also I spoke with one yesterday, say that this appears to be a reasonable use of force. Under use of force rules, you can use force to protect -- a police officer can use force to protect the life of another. That is what appears to be the case in this case.

But, of course, that independent investigation is being carried out. They'll draw their conclusions. In the meantime, city leaders are urging calm. The mayor of Columbus, Andrew Ginther, tweeting, asking everyone in the community to show some grace and to understand the cumulative impact of death upon death upon the African-American community.

We also heard something similar from the director of Public Safety Ned Pettus. Listen to some of what he had to say.

[11:39:38]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NED PETTUS, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY, COLUMBUS, OHIO: Our black community is emotionally exhausted. They live with a fear and a pain that many others don't. It's a burden they carry every day.

And so we must understand that. We must listen to and respond to our friends and neighbors with compassion, empathy and understanding. They are grieving. I grieve with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And so you have a lot of people grieving in this community today. Everyone agrees that this is a tragedy, the loss of this 16- year-old's life.

But also that if you talk to law enforcement, that you have to look at these things on a case-by-case basis. So we'll be watching to see what comes out of this independent investigation, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. No matter what, it is hard watching any angle of the video showing the death of this 16-year-old, Ma'Khia Bryant.

All right. Athena Jones, thank you so much.

Still ahead, a heartbreaking end to the search for a missing submarine. The clues found in the ocean that are shining a light on what went wrong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:44:50]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

The Indonesian Navy says it has found debris from its missing submarine, putting an end to any hope of rescuing the 53 crew members on board. The debris was so deep in the ocean it confirms what Navy officials had feared, that rescue efforts would not be possible.

Blake Essig joins us now from Tokyo. Blake, explain what this debris might tell them.

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, what that debris tells us is that the sub likely cracked under intense pressure far below the ocean's surface.

Now, after more than three days of searching, hopes of finding the missing Indonesian submarine and its 53-person crew appear to be over. The Navy chief of staff said several pieces of debris have been found and the status of the missing sub has been changed from missing to sank.

Now, a total of six items were presented, including a bottle of grease, which the crew would use to grease the submarine's periscope, part of the torpedo launcher, a mattress spring, part of a metal tube and fuel. Now, officials say these items were found floating a couple of miles from where the submarine first started its dissent.

Now, the depth of the spot that this debris was found is about 850 meters or about 2,800 feet. Authorities said earlier the submarine could not survive depths beyond 500 meters.

Based on the findings, Navy officials concluded that an explosion didn't occur. Instead, it's believe the submarine cracked under pressure, allowing the debris to escape.

Now, the 44-year-old sub went missing Wednesday morning during a torpedo drill in the Bali Strait. The Navy chief of staff said they will now carry out an evacuation process to recover the submarine and its crew once they find its exact location.

Now, he said that they'll try to save any crew members who were able to survive, but Fredricka, at this point survival seems highly unlikely.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So sad. And 2,800 feet deep it sounds like retrieving is going to be -- I mean a colossal, near-impossible task.

All right. Blake Essig, thank you so much, out of Tokyo.

And we'll be right back.

[11:47:08]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Four astronauts were greeted with hugs galore as they joined the seven astronauts already on the International Space Station for a six-month stay, a welcome party I'm sure you too wish you were invited to. For more on this historic mission, CNN's Rachel Crane is in Cape Canaveral in Florida where the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft launched yesterday morning.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A big day in space, Crew 2 (ph) successfully and safely docking to the International Space Station.

Now, you can see that it was a very joyous occasion. The four astronauts on board Crew 2 being welcomed by the seven other astronauts on board the International Space Station. That brings the total on ISS to 11 astronauts so it's actually pretty crowded up there right now.

But as you can see there everyone was smiling and hugging their fellow astronauts -- very, very happy to see them boarding the International Space Station during that welcome ceremony.

Now, the launch here from the Kennedy Space Center and from Florida yesterday was quite historic. That's because both the spacecraft Endeavour as well as the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket were both reused hardware meaning they had already flown to space. So right now as Endeavour is docked to the International Space Station, it's revisiting, it's already been there.

Currently, there are two Crew Dragons docked to the International Space State, that is also a first. But this reusability bit, that is what's really historic here because SpaceX's and Elon Musk's ultimate goal is make life multi planetary. And in order to do that, you're going to have to really bring down the cost of space exploration.

And a big part of that cost is the hardware. So by reusing it, of course, you bring down that cost. And they have never done this on a crewed mission.

SpaceX has been reusing their rocket boosters for some time now. In fact one has already flown nine times but they have never done it with a crewed mission.

So SpaceX and NASA putting the system, the rocket booster as well as the spacecraft through, you know, thousands of tests -- they call them paranoia tests -- in order to ensure that the spacecraft was safe to fly this crew.

But as we saw today, in fact, it was. They safely docked to the International Space Station. As I pointed out, it's quite crowded up there right now. But that's only going to be for a couple of days. That's because Crew 1 who boarded the International Space Station about six months ago is set to splash down here on earth in a very exciting splashdown on Wednesday.

Of course, Crew 2 docking now -- they're just really beginning their journey. They will be up there for six months conducting all kinds of exciting research and experiments, over 250 of them, to better life here on earth.

And also, you know, a big part of this is hopefully one day getting us back to the moon and to Mars. So a lot of the work that they're doing up there is all in that effort, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rachel Crane, very fun, hopeful and inspiring -- thank you very much.

All right. Coming up -- Tiger Woods, speaking of inspiring, on the road to recovery after surviving a car crash in California. We'll have an update next.

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WHITFIELD: And finally, this hour, Tiger Woods says he's making progress on his rehab -- his physical rehab. It's been two months since that severe car crash in California, but isn't it so nice to see him smiling in this photo posted on Instagram.

He's on the green, leaning on crutches instead of clubs and with faithful four-legged rehab partner, Bugs.

He's at -- Tiger Woods, rather is at his Jupiter Island practice facility in Florida. Tiger posting along with this photo, "My course is coming along faster than I am but it's nice to have a faithful rehab partner, man's best friend."

We wish him luck.