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U.S. to Resume Use of J&J Vaccine with Warning; E.U. Regulator Says AstraZeneca Vaccine Benefits Outweigh Risks; India Struggles with Devastating Second COVID-19 Wave; Indonesia Narrows Search for Missing Submarine; ASEAN Meets in Jakarta; Third Day of Protests in North Carolina after Fatal Shooting; Biden to Declare 1915 Armenian Deaths a Genocide; Worldwide Climate Summit. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 24, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, everyone, and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I am Michael Holmes. Let's take a look at the top stories.
The United States lifting its pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. We'll tell you what's behind that decision and what's going to change.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny ends his hunger strike following a plea from doctors. We're live in Moscow.
Searchers cling to dwindling hopes as they try to locate that missing submarine with more than 50 on board.
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HOLMES: Welcome, everyone.
A Biden administration official says 9 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine are ready to go into patients' arms after the U.S. lifted on Friday a temporary suspension of the vaccine's use.
Now that pause was put into place amid reports of a rare type of blood clot in more than a dozen people who received the shot. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explained the decision to resume use of the vaccine to CNN's Anderson Cooper.
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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, Anderson. I'm going to put up this graphic here.
Just, you know, when you think about risk versus benefit, that's what 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 1 million doses given, we saw roughly 13 cases of this
condition of clotting. But at the same time, it prevented 12 deaths for every 1 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, Anderson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Alexandra Field is in New York with more on the FDA's decision.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The motion to be voted upon is the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A CDC advisory committee voting to resume use of Johnson & Johnson's single-shot vaccine for people aged 18 and up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, the vote is 10 in favor, four opposed and one abstention. The motion carries.
FIELD (voice-over): The committee did not recommend new restrictions based on age or gender. But the vaccine will be updated with a new label indicating that women under the age of 50 should be aware of the risk of blood clots.
The recommendations coming 10 days after a decision to pause use of J&J. Regulators considered evidence of 15 cases of rare and severe blood clots reported among women, including three deaths.
That's out of more than 8 million people who got the shot in the U.S. Health experts stress the decision to resume use comes with added safety benefits.
DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I think it is important to point out that this is a treatable condition if you recognize it right away. It's been good to have this pause, is to get everybody apprised of that, so that all physicians know that this is something to watch out for.
FIELD (voice-over): Just as the country's third vaccine will soon return to the market, an even bigger push to once again get more shots in arms, the average daily number now slipping below three million following the mid-April high, 3.4 million daily shots.
JEFF ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: We have gotten vaccinations to the most at risk and those most eager to get vaccinated as quickly as possible. We know reaching other populations will take time and focus.
FIELD (voice-over): That effort could get a boost soon, vaccine eligibility now considered likely to expand to children under the age of 16 in a matter of weeks.
DR. ROBERT FRENCK, CINCINNATI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: I'm quite hopeful that, even by May, that we would have a vaccine available for 12 and above.
FIELD (voice-over): Following a review of data collected from a large study of thousands of pregnant women, the CDC issuing guidance that now goes a step further than it did before.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: CDC recommends that pregnant people receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
FIELD: Johnson & Johnson officials defended their vaccine in front of that committee, calling it a critical tool in terms of combating COVID not just in the U.S. but around the world.
They cited the vaccine's efficacy in protecting against a number of strains of the virus. They also talked about the ease of distribution that comes from the fact that it is just a single-dose vaccine -- in New York, Alexandra Field, CNN.
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HOLMES: Now in Europe, regulators are again insisting that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine far outweigh any risks.
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HOLMES: Scott McLean is in London with more.
So tell us more about this new statement by the European vaccine regulator on AstraZeneca and blood clots.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Michael. Yes. So you might remember last month, many countries in Europe had paused their rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about these extremely rare blood clots being found in an extremely small number of people.
So the European vaccines regulator did an emergency review over several days and found that they could not definitively rule out a link between the clots and the vaccine and suggested that a safety warning be put onto these vaccines, as you would with any other side effect.
They also pledged to further look into the clots and try to find a more clear causation or a more clear link. So, this latest analysis from the regulator found that these rare clots affect about one in every 100,000 people who get the shot.
Overall, the analysis, as you mentioned, found that the benefits still far, far outweigh any potential risks of the vaccine because you are much more likely to die if you get coronavirus than you are from these extremely rare blood clots.
That is especially true in older people where in 100,000 people, you would expect -- well, you would expect hundreds of COVID-19 deaths without the vaccine compared to less than a single blood clot.
The one exception to the rule, though, Michael, is in people under the age of 30, where clots are slightly more common, still extremely rare. But getting coronavirus -- or dying from coronavirus -- is also extremely, extremely rare. And so, countries will have some decisions to make on that front.
In the U.K., for instance, they have already decided to offer people under 30 an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
HOLMES: OK. Now what's interesting is this, you know, sort of striking difference between U.K., where you are, messaging on COVID and the vaccine response versus Germany. Tell us about that.
MCLEAN: Yes. So here in the U.K., we can absolutely see the light at the end of the tunnel and the prime minister says the U.K. is still very much on track to follow what he calls the road map out of lockdown and back to normality.
So he says that, beginning next month, as per the plan, foreign travel and other restrictions will be allowed after several months and things should be fully back to normal, almost fully back to normal, all of the restrictions lifted by the end of June.
On the other hand, it's a very different story in Germany. The parliament there, just this week, passed new controversial legislation which gives the federal government powers to override the autonomy of local authorities, if coronavirus infection rates reach a certain threshold, to impose restrictions, impose curfews.
And if they reach a higher threshold, they can even impose school closures. Unfortunately, for most of Germany, well, they've already reached those thresholds. So, beginning today, those restrictions will begin to take effect, Michael.
HOLMES: All right. Scott McLean in London, appreciate the reporting. Thanks, Scott.
Now let's turn our attention to India, which has set yet another global record for new coronavirus cases reported in a single day. And they've done it for the third day in a row. On Saturday, health officials reported more than 346,000 new infections.
India's daily death toll passed 2,600 on Saturday and, yes, that's a record as well. And as Anna Coren reports for us now, all of this has India's morgues, crematoriums and cemeteries overwhelmed.
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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rituals of death light up the sky across India. A second wave of the coronavirus, which began mid-March is spreading through the country, leaving grief-stricken families desperate for ways to perform the last rites for the loved ones.
On Friday, India recorded more than 330,000 new cases, the highest daily case count in the world. The country's crematoriums are pushed beyond capacity, some facilities using their parking lots and piles of wooden planks to meet the demand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There are so many bodies coming, we are running out of wood. If it continues like this, then in 4 to 5 days, we will have to cremate bodies on the road.
COREN (voice-over): One man was forced to keep the body of his mother at home for nearly two days before coming here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Nobody helped in time. We were running here and there for a ventilator. She died after the oxygen ran out.
COREN (voice-over): Volunteer groups are working morning to night to receive the bodies of those who died from the virus, whose families are unable or unwilling to take them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When the bodies come to us, we inquire about the person's religion.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): And if the person is Hindu, we perform the funeral as per Hindu customs. But if they're Muslim we do the funeral accordingly.
COREN (voice-over): Gravediggers in this cemetery of New Delhi say they too are struggling to bury the dead, with 15 to 20 bodies arriving daily over the past few weeks. They say it's overwhelming and cannot be sustained for long.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Now the condition of our graveyard is that if the death toll keeps rising, then in the next 2 to 3 days, we will have to close it down. There will be no space left here.
COREN (voice-over): For many of the victims, the virus taking not only their lives but also the dignity they deserved in death -- Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
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HOLMES: Alexei Navalny is ending his weeks-long hunger strike while sticking to his demands to get better health care.
The jailed Russian opposition leader making that announcement Friday in a message posted to his Instagram page. It comes amid concerns from his doctors that he could have been near death. Sam Kiley joins me now from Moscow.
I'm curious, Sam.
Are you hearing whether Navalny's supporters, what they're saying about whether Navalny thinks this was worth it, that it achieved what he wanted? Yes. I think, Michael, as far as they're concerned and as far as he's concerned, it most certainly was worth it. If we look at the statement he made when he announced his end of the hunger strike and, indeed, the Instagram post that he'd made before -- and these are posts that he does via his legal team.
Of course, he has no access to a telephone or anything like that in prison. But he is able to meet with his lawyers. And his lawyers represent his views more widely on Instagram.
He certainly acknowledged the importance of his hunger strike in terms of galvanizing many tens of thousands of people across Russia to take part in demonstrations last Wednesday.
And he also, I think, has definitely understood and signaled that he understands that it was a consequence of the pressure that he put on the Russian authorities, the international pressure that came from his hunger strike, that resulted in his treatment by independent physicians and the moving of Mr. Navalny to a civilian hospital.
Now we don't know whether or not he's still in that civilian hospital and his medical team is still demanding that he sees independent specialists. He's still continuing to recover from the nerve agent, Novichok, which was blamed by the international community and by his people and other leaders in Russia on Vladimir Putin's regime, Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. I'm curious what your take is on how Vladimir Putin emerges from this. I mean the authorities did compromise on Navalny's treatment.
So, is Putin hurt at all by how this unfolded and Navalny's standing?
KILEY: It's a very interesting question indeed, because, of course, this is a country in which there's decreasing levels of independent media. There are many, many journalists and others, opposition leaders and independent thinkers who are in exile or have been silenced.
So, it's very difficult to exactly gauge the levels of support for people like Vladimir Putin. But if we look at the opinion polls from late February, which are the last polls that were authentically really assessing the relative popularity of Mr. Putin against Mr. Navalny, Mr. Navalny stood at 19 percent, Putin at 64 percent.
So clearly that was in the early days of the hunger strike. So clearly, it's not making a massive dent on Mr. Putin and, therefore, he's feeling pretty robust, I suspect.
HOLMES: Yes, indeed. Sam Kiley in Moscow for us.
We will take a quick break. When we come back, the desperate search for Indonesia's missing submarine narrows as a critical deadline passes. The latest on the efforts to locate the vessel.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
Dozens of military ships and planes from multiple countries are combing the waters off Bali, searching for any sign of that Indonesian submarine, missing with 53 people on board. The frantic efforts have proved unsuccessful so far and the vessel's oxygen supply is believed to have run out hours ago.
Blake Essig following developments from Tokyo.
There's still searching but at this point what realistically are the chances of finding the sub with anyone alive on board?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, being honest, it doesn't look good. Hope is not lost but it's fading quickly. As you mentioned, the search and rescue operation is still underway to find that missing submarine with 53 people on board.
But according to navy officials, if the sub is still intact, the crew would have run out of oxygen several hours ago. The 44-year-old sub lost contact during a torpedo drill in the Bali Strait on Wednesday morning.
Shortly after, an oil spill was spotted from the air. This particular sub has a dive capacity of 500 meters and the big concern is that the sub descended to a depth of about 700 meters, which is well beyond its survivable limits.
It also doesn't have an escape hatch and experts have said that any rescue efforts would require the sub to be found in less than 180 meters of water.
Now we talked with a retired rear admiral with the Indonesian Navy, who was a crew member on this missing submarine when it arrived in Indonesia back in 1981.
Now his concern is that a possible blackout scenario was experienced while the submarine was diving into position. He said the sub has a steering only which is powered by electricity and hydraulics.
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ESSIG: So if there's no power, then there's no chance to change direction, meaning that the submarine would have continued its dive and couldn't have been stopped -- Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, it's tragic, isn't it?
Blake, I appreciate your reporting on this. Blake Essig in Tokyo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Frank Owen is a submarine rescue expert with the Submarine Institute of Australia, joining me via Skype in Sydney.
Thank you for doing so, sir. They said that there was enough oxygen to last until 3 am Saturday local time and that time has passed.
Realistically, do you hold out any hope for the crew?
What do you think might have happened?
FRANK OWEN, SUBMARINE RESCUE EXPERT: Personally, I don't hold much hope and my thoughts are with the crew and their families because the period until all hope is given up, if you like, is particularly harrowing.
I think the advice of the Indonesia chief of navy, that the oxygen supplies were limited until 1 am Indonesian time this morning, was an indication that they are not going to keep searching forever and ever.
They have to put a peg in the sand, if you like, that says, beyond here, we are now searching for the submarine trying to understand what happened, rather than to save the people.
HOLMES: Do you have any theories?
What can go wrong if it was diving as reported?
OWEN: Well, submarining is a dangerous activity. There is always something that can go wrong. In the excerpt you played, just before you started talking to me, there was some theories and speculation about power failures.
That is one of the possibilities. But it also could have a flooding incident. Generally, if a submarine sinks, it's because it takes on more water than its ballast tanks, its buoyancy system can handle or overcome.
So, if you take on more than about 10 percent of the weight of the submarine, you almost have no chance of getting back to the surface unless you can pump the water out. If you go by power, you can't pump it, out and it takes a long time.
The deeper you go, the slower the pumps works, because they are pushing against higher and higher pressure. So, it is difficult. And I really don't know what has happened. I would be only speculating.
I have heard and I read an article by "Janes International" that reports that the submarine, actually, sailed with an unsoakable (ph) underwater telephone. This is a sonar that submarines use to communicate other ships and submarines by voice. Generally, it is a mandatory system before you can go to sea.
HOLMES: Wow, Janes a very reputable organization, it would be shocking if that turns out to be true.
You are a former submariner and you also helped an Australian submarine rescue system. This sub is an older one and doesn't have the right hatch to attach to a rescue vessel.
Given that fact, what could rescuers do, if they even somehow found this sub?
OWEN: If it's greater than 180 meters of water, there is, in fact, nothing you can do to rescue the people from the submarine. If they managed to find a shallower part of the Bali Strait -- and there really isn't one -- then they may have been able to escape if there were less than 180 meters and water.
Really, the best way to get out of the submarines is for them to be on the surface or to settle somewhere on the seabed on the Continental Shelf.
HOLMES: Yes.
What lessons can be learned, perhaps changes made, as a result of an incident like this?
Or are these just the risks of being a submariner?
OWEN: Well, there are risks of being a submariner and this is the reason everyone in the world is trained to a very high level so that you're not just relying on the experts; everyone has a level of skill.
This submarine had an extra 19 people on board, on top of a crew, a normal crew of 34. So what that means is not only is the oxygen being consumed and the carbon dioxide being generated, perhaps, in excess of the capacity of the systems to bring that down, because it makes people drowsy and behave not as well as they might.
But if you are in an older submarine, then those risks are increased exponentially.
HOLMES: I appreciate your time, Frank, thank you, it isn't looking good, but we will keep our fingers crossed. Frank Owen, thank you very much.
OWEN: Thank you, Michael. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, is holding a special leaders' meeting in Indonesia. They're hoping to find a pathway out of the crisis in Myanmar. Our Paula Hancocks is tracking all of this for us, joins us now from Bangkok.
Tell us what's expected and also how much pressure is on ASEAN leaders to reject the junta or, you know, push strongly for them to change direction.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, the very fact that this summit is happening is fairly unprecedented for ASEAN. They don't usually get involved in a member state's political situation.
But clearly what is happening in Myanmar is such a degeneration that they have been pushed by the U.N. and by others to get involved.
Now the most controversial part of this is the fact that that junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, who instigated this February 1st coup and is really the face of this bloody crackdown against people in Myanmar, has attended or will be attending the summit.
He has landed in Jakarta, in Indonesia, and was greeted on the tarmac there. It has caused controversy. Activists are saying he should not be legitimized in this way.
The national unity government, made up of the ousted parliamentarians and some of the civil disobedience movement leaders, say that they sent a letter to Interpol, saying he should be arrested once he gets to Jakarta.
And it should be the national unity government that is invited to the summit, not Min Aung Hlaing himself. But we did speak to one former high ranking official within the ministry of foreign affairs in Bangkok. And he says if Min Aung Hlaing is not at the table, then there's not much point talking about Myanmar.
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SIHASAK PHUANGKETKEOW, FORMER PERMANENT SECRETARY, THAILAND MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: His attendance is very crucial because I think right now we need to get the message directly across to the general, you know, on some very important points.
First, you know, the gravity of our concern about the situation in Myanmar, how it's impacted ASEAN and also the region and also the need to bring an end to the violence as soon as possible because, you know, the scale of the violence that we see right now is really unacceptable.
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HANCOCKS: He also said that, in an ideal world, you would also have the national unity government at the table. But in that respect, it would be likely that Min Aung Hlaing himself would not attend.
But there is anger from within the CDM movement and activists within Myanmar, saying he should not be given this legitimacy. It is the first time he has actually left Myanmar physically since the February 1st coup, suggesting he does have the confidence that he can leave and then go back without any problems into the country, showing that potentially he believes that this coup will be successful -- Michael.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Paula, covering that for us there. Appreciate it. Paula Hancocks.
Now a vaccine against malaria has shown up to 77 percent efficacy in a phase II trial. Now that raises a lot of hopes for perhaps controlling one of the world's most deadly diseases. This is a big deal if it works. Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted through mosquito bites. It
kills some 435,000 people each year, 94 percent of them in Africa, with the majority being children younger than 5. This vaccine developed at Oxford University and tested in Burkina Faso has surpassed a benchmark set by the World Health Organization.
That is some good news if it comes to fruition.
For our international viewers, "AFRICAN VOICES CHANGEMAKERS" is next. If you're here with us in the United States or Canada, I'll be right back with more news.
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HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Protesters were back on the streets for a third straight day Friday over the police killing of a Black man in North Carolina. Andrew Brown Jr. was shot while deputies served an arrest warrant. One witness told our Chris Cuomo she saw police shoot at the car he was in, but no shots were coming from the car.
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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: What was this like for you, witnessing this?
DEMETRIA WILLIAMS, WITNESS: It was inhumane, and it was sickening to me because Andrew Brown that everybody knew, that we called Drew, was not violent. He never toted a gun. So, to me, I think it was just like overkill. They murdered him that was trying to flee away.
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HOLMES: For the most part, officials are being tight-lipped about the incident and say they can't release the body cam video yet because of North Carolina law. CNN's Dianne Gallagher with the story.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After three days of peaceful protest in Elizabeth City, North Carolina ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you see, all these people here, they want answers.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): -- Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten revealing seven deputies involved in the incident that led to the shooting death of Andrew Brown Jr. are on administrative leave and three have left the force on their own.
TOMMY WOOTEN, PASQUOTANK COUNTY SHERIFF: There is absolutely nothing to hide. I am trying to let the investigation unfold.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Wooten meeting with Brown's family for the first-time late Friday afternoon. Though he offered condolences, the family called the sitdown "almost a waste of time."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The same way we went in is the same way we came out. We don't understand or know anything. When they call the family law, I really thought Wooten is going to see the video.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): The sheriff claims he wants the same.
WOOTEN: The family is not going to have to wait much longer. Their wishes will be granted. I want what the citizens of this county want.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): But that state law prevents the video from body cameras worn by deputies who shot and killed Brown while serving warrants from being publicly released without a court order.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We asked our local officials to release that video.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Something the city council called an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to request. CNN has also joined a media coalition to petition the court to release the videos.
Officials haven't given many details about the shooting itself. They say deputies were serving both search and arrest warrants issued by an alcohol drug task force.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an arrest warrant surrounding felony drug charges. Mr. Brown was a convicted felon with a history of resisting arrest.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Witnesses claim Brown was in his car trying to get away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because it's grass, so of course it's spinning mud and they started. They stood behind him. I couldn't tell you who shot him. I couldn't do that. But one of the offices or maybe a couple shot him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a 40-year-old male with gunshot wounds to the back.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): A law enforcement radio dispatch from the deadly encounter obtained by CNN does reveal that Brown was shot in the back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised, EMS has got one male, 42 years of age, gunshot to the back.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Brown's family says its quest for answers is made even tougher when they think about what his death will mean for his children. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never in my life see a man take up the time and love his children the way that he did. And the way he would just look at them and they loved him.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Wishing they could see him one last time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would just want him to know, as he did, that I loved him. And I loved him.
GALLAGHER: The sheriff has said he is trying to get all of the elements together perfectly before they release this information to make sure that everything is right.
But the family says the more time that goes by, the more suspicious they become, and protesters have echoed that same sentiment saying that they plan to protest every night until the video is released.
And then, depending what is on that video, well, they will continue to do so to demand accountability and justice. North Carolina's governor Roy Cooper tweeted, calling the shooting tragic and concerning and said the body camera footage should be released quickly --
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GALLAGHER: -- Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: More graphic video has been released of the fatal officer- involved shooting of that 16-year-old girl in Columbus, Ohio. The mayor's office says social media and the timing of Ma'Khia Bryant's shooting with the verdict in the George Floyd murder case drove officials to release those videos quickly.
CNN's Athena Jones reports. And, again, the scenes are disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new view of what led to the shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant.
This angle from a neighbor's security camera across the street showing Columbus, Ohio, police officer Nicholas Reardon arriving on the scene, emerging from the vehicle and shooting Bryant, in black, as she appeared to lunge at another young woman, wearing pink with a knife in her hand.
Reardon who has been taken off street duty while an independent investigation is underway, firing four shots at Bryant within seconds. The police department and the police union president arguing the use of force was necessary to protect the young woman in pink.
KEITH FERRELL, PRESIDENT, CAPITAL CITY LODGE 9, FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE: I would ask you, if that's your family member up against the car that had a puppy in their hand, what would you want that officer do in that split second moment that they had a chance to stop harm to others.
We have a duty to protect the public and ourselves. Certainly, the public.
JONES (voice-over): A view echoed by other law enforcement experts.
DARRIN PORCHER, FORMER NYPD LIEUTENANT: Immediately upon exiting the vehicle, Officer Reardon observes an assault that's taking place. He sees one person that's in possession of a knife and then he sees a victim that's -- or a potential victim that's standing next to the auto.
Officer Reardon believed that deadly physical force was necessary in this encounter, because the potential victim could have possibly lost their life.
JONES (on camera): Explain, once again, why the officer took these actions and why he did so, so quickly.
PORCHER: This was an incident that went from zero to 100 immediately. the officer's actions were justified under the purview of the use of force doctrine.
JONES (voice-over): Mayor Andrew Ginther saying the city is grieving a tragic loss and stressing the importance of transparency.
MAYOR ANDREW GINTHER (D-OH), COLUMBUS: Our African American community in particular here is grieving not just at this particular tragic event, but so many deadly encounters with law enforcement they're seeing around the country and even here in this community.
And so, it's a common (inaudible) all of us to make sure that we are supporting folks in the community right now that are grieving, but also calling for and demanding for change, reform and justice. And transparency is such an important part of that.
JONES (voice-over): Police released dash camera footage Thursday from shortly after the shooting. Part of that effort at transparency. Meanwhile, Bryant's mother grappling with the pain of losing her daughter.
PAULA BRYANT, MA'KHIA BRYANT'S MOTHER: My heart is really broken right now because I miss my baby.
JONES: Paula Bryant says she is grieving and has been unable to watch the full video of her daughter's final moments. Meanwhile, funeral arrangements are being finalized. Details could be released as soon as Saturday, according to a family spokesperson -- Athena Jones, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.
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HOLMES: A grim chapter of World War I is again gaining international attention. When we come back, how the U.S. is preparing to join other nations in labeling the massacre of Armenians a genocide. We'll take you to Istanbul to explain why. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
For the first time, the U.S. government will openly call the mass killings of Armenians during World War I a genocide. U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with the Turkish president on Friday to let him know it was going to happen.
An official statement from the White House is expected later today. CNN's Arwa Damon covering this for us from Istanbul.
Arwa, it couldn't be a more touchy issue. Tell us about the significance and the timing.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is touchy, Michael, to say the least. What's interesting is that, in the readouts both from the White House and from the Turkish presidency's office, this was not mentioned.
CNN found out about this from a person who was familiar with these conversations, who also described them as being tense. But for quite some time now, of the many plethora of sticky issues that exist between Washington and Ankara, this has been one of the fairly significant ones. Here's a look back on why we have reached this point.
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DAMON (voice-over): For decades Armenians have lobbied and pleaded to have the mass killings of their ancestors recognized as genocide.
The exact number of Armenians who lost their lives more than a century ago is in dispute. But experts put the numbers between 600,000 and 1.5 million. The campaign against Armenians in Ottoman lands included forced migrations, massacres and starvation.
For many Armenians, recognizing the brutality endured by their ancestors is a crucial step in righting a historic wrong. But modern- day Turkey that rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire has long maintained the killings were not systematic, were smaller in number and do not meet the legal definition of genocide.
In fact, the word "genocide" in the legal framework around it only entered the mainstream after World War II. The word was coined by a Polish lawyer to describe the Nazi's systematic attempt to eradicate Jews in Europe, what we now call the Holocaust.
Turkey has softened its position over the years with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2014, issuing a first ever statement, calling the events of 1915 a shared pain and offering condolences to the descendants of the killed.
Turkey, still arguing that events need to be put in historical context, that hundreds of thousands of people from other groups also lost their lives in rampant killings, some of which were carried out by Armenians. The historical debate long overshadowed by politics in recognition of the Armenian genocide.
For years, Turkey's allies in the West had sidestepped the label of genocide in order to keep Ankara in the fold. As Turkey's ties with the West became rockier than ever, a slew of genocide recognition bills have been passed in European capitals.
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DAMON (voice-over): Turkey's rivals, like Russia and Syria, also jumped in to recognize the genocide label. One of the remaining holdouts has been the United States. With U.S.-Turkish relations straining to new lows over the last two years, momentum has been building in Washington to recognize the events as a genocide.
During his term, President Obama shied away from using the term genocide, choosing to call it Mets Yeghern, an Armenian term meaning the great calamity.
In 2019, both the Senate and House passed a resolution to recognize Armenian genocide. But President Trump refused to call the events a genocide. Now it is up to President Biden, to decide which side of history the U.S. stands on.
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DAMON: And, Michael, there are commemorations underway as we are speaking in Armenia, marking this very painful day for so many. And for Armenians, having the U.S. president recognize what happened more than a century ago as being a genocide from their perspective, would be righting a historic wrong.
And once again, we have this situation where people's pain is just being caught up in geopolitics.
HOLMES: All right. Arwa Damon there in Istanbul for us. Thanks, Arwa.
The White House has wrapped up two days of high-level talks on tackling climate change. Bold promises made.
But will they lead to meaningful action?
We'll speak with an environmental scientist coming up after the break.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) HOLMES: Welcome back.
President Biden closing out his two-day climate summit with a message of economic prosperity if the global community shifts away from fossil fuels to renewable energies in the years ahead.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today's final session is not about the threat that climate change poses, it is about the opportunity that addressing climate change provides. It is an opportunity to create millions of good paying jobs around the world.
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HOLMES: Now the president also said tackling the climate crisis can lead to greater international cooperation. He noted Russia's willingness to work with the U.S. on CO2 removal, despite differences on other issues.
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HOLMES: Dr. Deborah Brosnan is a scientist, environmental entrepreneur and a marine resilience specialist. She's also president of Deborah Brosnan & Associates. She joins me now from Washington.
Thank you so much for doing so. Let's talk about what has come out of this.
How important, for a start, is the fact that, after four years of Donald Trump pulling out of the U.S. climate accord, how important is it that the U.S. is back in a leadership position as the world faces this critical issues?
DR. DEBORAH BROSNAN, DEBORAH BROSNAN & ASSOCIATES: I think it's tremendously important. This is probably one of the most exciting times for the U.S. in a long time. It was a huge success for President Biden and a huge success for the U.S.
He signaled to the rest of the world that America's back in business. America is back doing what it does best, which is leadership, innovation, entrepreneurship and bringing the rest of the world together. This was amazing.
HOLMES: There is such urgency on this issue of emissions. Time quite literally running out to mitigate what's already happening.
Are you confident we are perhaps moving past noble words and into meaningful and impactful action?
BROSNAN: I'm optimistic that we're moving out of these pledges and promises which we've heard for many years now. And (INAUDIBLE) particularly in day one. Certainly, there was an element of, I think, countries showing up for a (INAUDIBLE) cup of tea and a chat and talking about what they're doing without necessarily saying how.
But I think as the conference progressed and certainly into day two, we began to see a little more about how we're going to get there.
HOLMES: Yes. Something that the president did on day two was he made that economic case for fighting climate change and that's a significant aspect of winning over doubters, isn't it?
The fact that moving to renewables is actually good for the economy and jobs, right?
BROSNAN: Oh, absolutely. I think if we look at the data and the facts, right now, there are three times as many jobs in renewable energy as there are in fossil fuel energy. And the IMF came out and said there are at least 80 million jobs to be had in green technology.
So these numbers are already very high. I think our challenge is to help educate the rest of the world, that have been perhaps schooled in more of the fossil fuel industries, that climate change and protecting the planet against climate change is not synonymous with losing jobs or prosperity; in fact, quite the opposite.
HOLMES: You still have Russia champing at the big to drill in the Arctic. China added more coal plants last year than the rest of the world took offline. It significantly showed up.
Can you see for example China moving quickly enough?
BROSNAN: Yes, I can see it start to move faster. Similarly, with Russia. I think there's something very important. One is that China and Russia are experiencing climate change just like the rest of us. Northern China has experienced water droughts. Russia has permafrost melting, more wildfires. They're suffering like the rest of the world.
They're having to deal with the same problems. So I think it's not surprising they showed up. I think they showed up because they've got concerns and they have something to offer. I think they showed up because America is leading, too.
HOLMES: We're almost out of time. I wanted to run this by you, too. Speak to the view expressed by many that climate change is a crisis multiplier. It has national security implications with flow-on effects on weather.
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HOLMES: Also, food, crop issues, forced migration, competition for resources and so on.
BROSNAN: Absolutely, I think climate change is one of the most wicked problems because it's so interconnected. When we have droughts, when we have livestock, people are displaced, they move into cities. We get an increase in crime and migration. We get refugees.
Pretty much all the ills of the world can be traced back, in some way or another now to climate change problems. Absolutely, it's a wicked problem. We have got to be tackling it on all fronts. But I believe that we can.
HOLMES: Deborah Brosnan, thank you so much, fascinating to speak with you. Let's talk again.
BROSNAN: Thank you so much for having me, Michael. It was a pleasure.
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HOLMES: Now the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule is now an orbit. Getting ready to dock soon with the International Space Station. The Endeavor's launched on Friday, picture perfect. But later its four astronauts had something of an unexpected close encounter.
A piece of space debris seemed to be getting too close as the ship as the crew was getting ready to go to sleep.
SpaceX says the astronauts put on their spacesuits out of, quote "an abundance of caution." As it turns out, that object, whatever it was, was further away than first thought. And we will be having live coverage of the docking in a little more than an hour.
Thanks for watching CNN, spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @HolmesCNN. The news continues in just a moment with my colleague, Kim Brunhuber.
