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Evidence for Vaccine Boosters; Criminal Probe into Murdaugh Housekeeper's Death; Family Pleads with Fiance to Break his Silence; Gymnasts Testify on The Hill. Aired 9:30-10a ET.

Aired September 16, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: What we've been hearing. But if you look at how vaccines were initially rolled out of -- back in December, Pfizer came first, and then Moderna, right? So we can anticipate that will be similar when it comes to boosters if we do get boosters. Pfizer, then Moderna.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And it's a good reminder, too, that all of this has really been a work in progress from the beginning. We're sort of learning as we're going here.

HOWARD: Yes.

HILL: Including with the timelines.

Jacqueline Howard, appreciate it, as always. Thank you.

HOWARD: Absolutely.

HILL: Joining us now to talk through all of this and even more, CNN analyst Leana Wen. She's a former Baltimore health commissioner. She's also the author of the new book, "Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health."

Dr. Wen, it's always good to see you.

I know that you are a big proponent of boosters. We've discussed that with you a number of times. One of the things I found interesting is you make the case, too, that not just for the added protection, but for the new information, the new data that widely available booster shots could offer. What specifically do you think we could learn from that if more people were able to get the shot and do so fairly quickly?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN ANALYST: Well, I'm looking forward to seeing the data that are going to be presented at the FDA meeting tomorrow because based on what I'm seeing, I think there's actually a pretty straightforward case to be made for why we should be allowing booster shots at this time, especially for older individuals and people who are more medically vulnerable.

There was one of the studies that was published yesterday, for example, that found that getting a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine reduces the chance of symptomatic infection by 11 times and reduces the chance of severe infection by more than 19 times.

Now, some people are going to look at those data and say, hey, I am pretty well detected as I am with the two doses of the vaccine, and so I don't want a booster. But somebody else is going to say, but if a booster can give me that much additional protection, why wouldn't I want to get it, especially if I'm older and something that's a mild infection for some people could actually put them over the edge.

We also know that based on another large study done, that having boosters reduces your chance of having -- or having -- rather having a -- being vaccinated reduces your chance of having long-term side effects later on and long-term COVID. And so I think, you know, I would really rather that the FDA give people the opportunity to make a decision with their physician about getting a booster dose.

SCIUTTO: So, Dr. Wen, you have a school of thought here who says, OK, yes, the boosters may have benefit, particularly for some people, but we've really got to focus on the unvaccinated first, right, because you still have a large portion of this country that's straight up refusing the shots and that's causing a whole host of problems. I mean can you do both, right, at the same time, continue to try to work on the holdouts while offering boosters to those who want or need them?

WEN: Absolutely. This is not a zero-sum game. We don't have some finite limit of vaccines in the U.S. I mean other countries, yes, there is a big problem. But here in the U.S., we're not talking about giving vaccines that otherwise would go to somebody who is unvaccinated and giving a third dose to others. In fact, we know that there are millions of doses that are expiring right now.

We also know that there are many Americans who are already taking that third unauthorized booster. And I'm arguing that instead of making them go through different hoops and lying potentially to say that maybe this is their first dose when actually it's not, I would rather that we give them a legal way of getting the vaccine and then collecting data because that's one of the issues with the U.S., that other countries like Israel, the U.K. and Germany have been so far ahead of us in data collection, we know that more than a million people have gotten the unauthorized third dose here in the U.S. Let's find out more information about this group.

HILL: Speaking of data and information, you just mentioned the long- term COVID. There are a lot of questions about that. The U.S. is launching a study now into long-term COVID. What do you -- what do you anticipate they'll find? I mean what are some of -- what are some of your questions there?

WEN: Yes, I'm really glad that the NIH, the National Institutes of Health, is launching this study. There is a lot about long haul COVID that we don't really know. We don't even exactly agree on the definition, as in, is it any types of lingering symptoms after a certain period of time, or is there something about coronavirus that's really different and is affecting, for example, the neurological system and causing this brain fog or difficulty concentrating that's different from other illnesses?

So I think there are a lot of questions, in particular, about treatment. There are people who have -- only had mild illness, but still have persistent shortness of breath or difficulty concentrating even months after their initial diagnosis. And so how do we help these individuals?

I'm also, by the way, looking forward to the NIH's results when it comes to mix and match studies because they're also doing studies on what happens if you get Pfizer initially and then Moderna or Pfizer and then Johnson & Johnson.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

WEN: I think those will also be really helpful coming, again, from our national government in a way that other national governments have been doing research, too.

SCIUTTO: Yes, it's such a good question, Erica, because, I mean, that's something I personally worry about, right? I mean, you know, if you're to be infected, how long would you suffer through those?

[09:35:04]

You know, that's even -- you know, even with the protection of vaccination.

Dr. Leana Wen, thanks so much to you as always.

SCIUTTO: Well, remember the South Carolina attorney accused of trying to stage his own killing? Now CNN is learning that a criminal investigation has been opened into the death of his housekeeper. Curiouser and curiouser. We'll be here next with all the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:03]

HILL: Today a prominent South Carolina attorney is set to turn himself into the police after police say he admitted to ordering a hit on himself. Alex Murdaugh's attorneys say that shooting, which he survived, was a scheme to leave behind a $10 million life insurance policy for his surviving son. His wife Maggie and other son Paul were murdered back in June. No one has been arrested in that case.

SCIUTTO: I mean this story gets even more alarming. Now CNN is learning that South Carolina police are also investigating the 2018 death of a housekeeper who worked for the Murdaugh family pictured there and who died after an alleged trip and fall accident at their home. No autopsy was done at the time.

CNN correspondent Martin Savidge, he's been covering this story. He's live in Varnville, South Carolina. Tell us what we know about this investigation and the death of the

housekeeper. I mean this is yet another layer here.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is another layer. And, unfortunately, another tragic layer.

We're talking about Gloria Satterfield, who, by all accounts was a beloved housekeeper for the Murdaugh family for about 20 years. But as you say, in 2018, on the Murdaugh family property, she suffered a trip and fall. That's the way it was described. But, tragically, she died as a result of that incident.

The Murdaugh's allegedly told her family members, her sons, that, you know, yes, the family probably is responsible and they should file a lawsuit. So they did. Alex Murdaugh allegedly steered them to an attorney. Apparently they were unaware that that attorney was Alex Murdaugh's best friend and also the godfather of one of his children.

So, one of the reasons this is being investigated by state authorities is that's highly unethical and any sort of financial settlement that was reached, which there was, $500,000, could have been looked upon as perhaps skewed in favor of the Murdaugh family.

And that said, the surviving sons of Satterfield say that they haven't received a dime despite the fact that this was settled sometime ago. So this raises another question that has been heard a lot in this case with Alex Murdaugh, where did the money go?

So that's why you've got these kind of two things in the same death that are being investigated. And that, as you pointed out, the Hampton County coroner is also saying, well, hold on a minute, there was no autopsy. Why was that? There should have been. This is a trip and fall. And why is it that on her death certificate it lists natural causes when, in fact, trip and fall is not a natural cause.

This begins to raise another dominant theme in all of the investigations here, and that is that the Murdaugh family, which has been connected to law enforcement for over 80 years, they have a lot of power and they have a lot of money. In the public perception here, in the local small town, it's that they always seem to be able to make things go their way. Now, there's no evidence of that in this investigation, but it continues that theme that many in this small town believe, a powerful family that seems to have a way to influence investigations.

Jim and Erica.

SCIUTTO: Well, Martin, it's good to have you digging on the story. Thanks very much.

Another story, the parents of a missing Florida woman who disappeared during a cross-country trip with her fiance are now pleading with him to speak with police to help bring her home.

HILL: Gabby Petito's family last heard from her late last month. And now we're learning that the couple had a run-in with police in Utah before she went missing. Police say the couple got into what they described as some sort of altercation before going their separate ways for the night.

CNN's Polo Sandoval joining us.

So, Polo, I mean what more are we learning about this case and the history of these two?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Jim and Erica, Gabby Petito's family attorney, what they're doing right now, they are begging her boyfriend to break his silence and to help investigators try to find her. Police say that Brian Laundrie was traveling with Petito for the last several months aboard her 2012 Ford Transit van. They documented their journey in multiple videos and posts.

Her family then reported her missing on Saturday. And they said that they were last in contact with her during the last week of August. Laundrie, who police definitely want to speak to, made it back home to North Port, Florida, which is where detectives actually processed that van. They said that they recovered some materials, but they didn't say exactly what that was. Authorities do claim that Laundrie's family has only referred them to their attorney, which is really what's fueling those frustrations for the family that's just trying to find answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH PETITO, FATHER OF GABBY PETITO: The last time I checked, their child was home. My child is nowhere to be found. And nor are we getting -- are we even able to ask questions on how that came to be.

So, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's not as difficult.

You hope she comes home, but you don't want to help. We can't talk. Well, then you don't really want to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:45:00]

SANDOVAL: An attorney representing the Laundrie family said in a statement earlier this week that they are, quote, remaining in the background at this juncture and will have no further comment, and that on advice of their counsel.

Now, what's also deepening the mystery here is the police in Moab City, Utah, said that they had an encounter last month with Gabby and with her boyfriend during a report of an altercation. Officers wrote in that report that I've read that a fight between the two turned physical but they did not wish for anybody to be criminally charged. The two reportedly separated after Petito was described by officers as being confused and emotional, as well as manic. Again, they were separated at least for -- to cool off.

Family members told CNN last night that it wasn't uncommon for Petito to go off the grid and explore, but she always came back to check in, Jim and Erica So that's what's really fueling their concerns as the Petito family now experiencing what so many other families -- family members have experienced when their loved one goes missing, now just trying to make sure that she's at least OK.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Yes, they just need answers, understandably.

Polo, appreciate it. Thank you.

HILL: Top Justice Department officials now called to testify on Capitol Hill following powerful testimony from some of America's most well-known, elite gymnasts about the years of abuse they endured.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALY RAISMAN, OLYMPIC GYMNAST: It was like serving innocent children up to a pedophile on a silver platter. Why did none of these organizations warn anyone?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:55]

SCIUTTO: Well, next month, top Justice Department officials, including the Attorney General Merrick Garland, are set to testify before Congress about the FBI's alarmingly botched handling of the sexual abuse allegations, and there are many of them, against former USA Gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar.

Erica, I've got to tell you, watching that testimony yesterday made my stomach turn.

HILL: It was -- it was gut-wrenching.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: And the fact that these women have so bravely told their story multiple times and need to keep telling it and reliving this horror because of what was not done. This is going to be the first opportunity to publicly question those officials about the bungled investigation. And it comes after that testimony that we heard yesterday from elite U.S. gymnasts who say the FBI and the Justice Department quite simply failed to protect them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMONE BILES, GYMNAST SEXUALLY ABUSED BY LARRY NASSAR: I blame Larry Nassar and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse, USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

MCKAYLA MARONEY, GYMNAST SEXUALLY ABUSED BY LARRY NASSAR: By not taking immediate action from my report, they allowed a child molester to go free for more than a year. And this inaction directly allowed Nassar's abuse to continue. What is the point of reporting abuse if our own FBI agents are going to take it upon themselves to bury that report in a drawer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's senior justice correspondent, Evan Perez, joining us now.

So what more do we know about what is ultimately going to happen here?

EVEN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things that the victims that testified yesterday want is for some measure of justice to be brought to the FBI, the agents who took the initial report back in 2015 and sat on it, did nothing for more than a year.

During which time, by the way, according to the inspector general report that we saw testimony about yesterday, during which time 70 -- about 70 additional girls were abused by Larry Nassar. That is part of the failure here that happened at the FBI for which Christopher Wray, the current FBI director, he was not in that office when this occurred. But he apologized personally to the victims yesterday in his Senate testimony.

The big question that loomed over all of this is why are those agents who handled this and lied about it and how they lied about what they did and didn't do, why aren't they facing consequences like prosecution. This is something the Justice Department will do for a lot of other cases. And so the big question that was looming over this hearing yesterday was why that hasn't happened.

What I'm told, Erica and Jim, is that the Justice Department, under Bill Barr, the attorney general in the previous administration, and the current attorney general reviewed the referral for prosecution against those agents and in the end they concluded that they could not bring a case and win it beyond -- prove it within a reasonable doubt, beyond a reasonable doubt. And so that's the reason why they have not brought those charges.

Look, it's very -- as you said, the powerful testimony yesterday, we're going to hear from Merrick Garland, the current attorney general, Lisa Monaco, the deputy attorney general, in the coming month. They're going to be before the very same committee that you heard yesterday and they're going to have to answer some more questions about why that is.

HILL: Yes, well, there's still a lot of frustration too that some of the (INAUDIBLE) we know weren't there yesterday. And the fact that really it took Rachel Dell Hollander (ph) at Michigan State to bring this again to the forefront with her actions involving Larry Nassar.

PEREZ: Right.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: I mean there's so much here and it's certainly a story that we are not going to forget about and that we will stay on.

Evan, really appreciate it. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

PEREZ: Sure.

HILL: All across the country, Donald Trump's lies have convinced so many people there was major voter fraud when there was not.

[09:55:03]

Well that, now, election officials across the country, as you know, have been threatened, they've been harassed for just doing their jobs. Here is one example. Take a listen to this voice mail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You rigged my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) election you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED). We're going to try you and we're going hang you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: That's not the only one. It is frightening. It is real. Just ahead, the impact of Trump's ongoing lies on America's election system and the people who work to keep it safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:06]

HILL: Good Thursday morning. I'm Erica Hill.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto.