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U.S. Admits Kabul Drone Strike Killed Only Civilians; France Recalls Ambassadors As AUKUS Dispute Escalates; U.S. FDA Panel Recommends Pfizer Booster Shot For 65 And Older; Researchers Find Possible Cause For COVID-19 Long Haul Symptoms; Overhaul For England's International COVID-19 Travel Rules; U.S. Capitol On Alert; Interview With U.K. Parliament Speaker Lindsay Hoyle On Protecting Democracy; FBI Searching For Missing 22 Year-Old; SpaceX Civilian Crew Returns Today. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired September 18, 2021 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Robyn Curnow live in Atlanta.
Coming up, deadly error: the U.S. admits its drone strike in Afghanistan was a mistake after it killed innocent people, including seven children.
France calling for its ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia to leave after a new security partnership.
And what do we need to know about long COVID and potential causes. That's next.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.
CURNOW: The Pentagon says a deadly drone strike carried out during the final stages of the Afghanistan evacuation was a tragic mistake. The U.S. now admitting the strike killed 10 civilians, including seven children, a reversal from weeks of maintaining it hit ISIS-K fighters threatening another attack on the Kabul airport.
A top U.S. General says he takes full responsibility for getting things so wrong. The man the U.S. thought was an ISIS-K member was actually an aid worker, whose car was filled with water containers and not explosives.
A CNN investigation had already cast doubts on the original narrative and Anna Coren has more on the admission and what we're learning about the victims. And a warning, some of the footage you're about to see is graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military has admitted that wrong intelligence led to the killing of 10 innocent Afghan civilians, including seven children following a drone strike in Kabul, almost three weeks ago, on what they thought at the time was an ISIS-K target.
Instead, they killed a 43 year old aid worker and father of seven, Zamarai Ahmadi, who they now admit had no affiliation whatsoever to any terror network.
CNN carried out an investigation, speaking to more than 2 dozen people, including family members, colleagues and bomb experts, reviewing CCTV footage and retracing Zamarai's steps that day, raising serious doubts about the U.S. military's version of the events.
CENTCOM commander General Kenneth McKenzie called it a, quote, "tragic mistake," saying he takes full responsibility, offering his sincere and profound condolences to the family.
He said they had received 60 different intelligence reports of an imminent attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport. A U.S. official earlier told us they had been monitoring intelligence from an ISIS safe house.
The drone strike came just days after an attack on the airport, when an ISIS-K suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghans.
Based on what McKenzie said was a good lead, they followed Zamarai's car as went by his daily routine, believing he was loading explosives into the car when he, in fact, was lifting containers of water into his vehicle.
When he pulled into his family compound, a U.S. official with knowledge of the operation told CNN the drone operators watched the car for 4-5 minutes before taking the shot. Then they realized there were three children in the compound.
We have now learned that, with further analysis, the U.S. admits there were even more children in the vicinity of the drone strike. A total of seven children were killed; three were toddlers.
General McKenzie said there will be a review of policies and procedures that led to the strike, that took the lives of 10 innocent civilians, and that they are looking at compensation for the family -- Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Let's talk more about this with Arwa Damon, following the story for us from Turkey.
Hi, Arwa, Afghans certainly felt abandoned by the U.S. before this.
And what impact does this admission now have? ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I would be quite surprised to find out that it is necessarily had that much of an impact. What Afghanistan is going through right now is tragedy being compounded by tragedy.
And it's hardly the first time that the U.S. ended up killing civilians in a drone strike that America claims was intended for some sort of a terrorist target. This is something that Afghans sadly have had to deal with, have not been able to fight against, for the better part of the last 20 years, no matter what the security situation in the country was.
But to have this sort of a strike, killing innocent civilians, killing children, just as the U.S. was evacuating its own from Kabul airport, I mean that has just got to be a bitter feeling.
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DAMON: But what's been quite striking, is that while we've been here, we have been talking to a number of Afghans. And we've been asking them if they're angry at America. And they said that no, they're not angry.
Yes, they feel betrayed but their overwhelming emotion isn't anger, it is just this deep, deep, deep sense of sorrow and questioning why it is that this had to end up being their fate.
CURNOW: Let's talk about what is happening in Afghanistan. Day by day, I mean it seems the speed at which this is happening, the situation with Afghan women and girls is changing and not for the better, let's just say.
DAMON: Let's take a look at what happened in the last 24 hours. We have that announcement by the Taliban, saying that boys, only boys from sixth to 12th grade, along with male, only male teachers, should go back to school. No word on what would happen to female students.
And CNN spoke to a 16-year-old student in Kabul, who was absolutely gutted. She was talking about how she just saw her future, her dreams evaporate in front of her, talking on the phone with her other female classmates, all of them in tears.
This generation, they don't know what it's like to be deprived of the basic right of an education, simply because they are female. The Afghan ministry for women's affairs no longer exists. That is not entirely surprising.
But in its place, the signage on top of the ministry right now is the ministry of vice and virtue. This is a ministry that was arguably the most feared 20 years ago, when the Taliban was last in power. This is effectively the moral police.
This is a ministry that was responsible for violations of the Taliban's rules, ranging from things like a woman displaying too much of her wrist or people listening to music, to men's beards not being the correct length. This is the ministry that carried out the public floggings, the public
executions, the stonings that we saw taking place 20 years ago. So if you are a girl or a woman in Afghanistan right now, your very worst fears are on the brink of being realized.
CURNOW: Thanks for the update there, Arwa Damon in Turkey.
The Biden administration is scrambling right now to contain a political firestorm with France over a new security deal between Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. That agreement cost France a $65 billion contract to supply diesel powered submarines to Australia.
Paris has now taken the extraordinary step of recalling ambassadors, undermining U.S. claims that the transatlantic partnership remains healthy. Here's U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken on Thursday.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: France in particular is a vital partner on this and so many other issues, stretching back generations. And we want to find every opportunity to deepen our trans-Atlantic cooperation, in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.
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CURNOW: We have now Jim Bittermann from Paris, with more on the French reaction, which is pretty angry to say the least.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: I would say so. In fact we have to go back a long time to find something equivalent, perhaps the crisis over Suez, in the '50s. You really can't spot a time when this kind of seriousness has taken place, the degradation of the relationship between France and the United States.
In fact, some people are saying that it probably has never happened, if they recall the ambassadors like this among allies. This is usually the kind of thing we do with enemies.
Anyway what Tony Blinken is saying there, is part of what the French are feeling is a betrayal. And Blinken among others has a real connection to France. He grew up here. He speaks French.
The French, I think, thought all along he could be kind of trumpeting their interests or at least protecting their interests in the United States, when he became secretary of state. But of course, that hasn't happened.
This deal between the United States and the strategic alliance they have now struck up with Australia and Britain goes back months. It was negotiated, first negotiated, I think, back in March or April.
And as a consequence, over this time, the U.S. and other partners have done a lot to kind of keep it secret. And I think that's part of what the French are feeling, a sense of betrayal but also the monetary aspect of this. This is a loss of a $65 billion deal for the submarines. [04:10:00]
BITTERMANN: And I think that, you know, in some ways it's that sense, that's being played out here and the kind of reaction of the French.
CURNOW: Thanks so much, live in Paris, thanks very much, Jim Bittermann there, thank you.
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CURNOW: Benjamin Haddad is the senior director of the Europe Center at The Atlantic Council and he joins me now from Washington.
Great to have you on the show, Benjamin.
So is France having a hissy fit?
Is Paris having a temper tantrum?
Why are they reacting like this?
BENJAMIN HADDAD, SENIOR DIRECTOR, EUROPE CENTER, THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Well, it's not a temper tantrum. This is a serious diplomatic crisis between allies.
You know, this contract was much more than just a commercial deal. I think for France, it would be the underpinning of France's presence in the Indo-Pacific. It's part of a larger shift in the last 10 years.
France was one of the two European countries conducting freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea. It's a key player in the region. It has developed deep relationships with countries like Australia, like Japan and India.
And so you know, seeing the United States and Australia conduct this negotiation in an extremely secretive way, shape this new alliance with the United Kingdom in such a way, I think has been really a shock for French policy makers, especially when it comes from an administration, the Biden administration, that has signaled its intention to work with allies to confront a more assertive China.
CURNOW: What the Biden administration has done, a hard brutal truth, they have weighed up allies and strategically, it likes like Australia as the more valuable ally when it comes to these alliances.
HADDAD: I don't think it was an either/or. The Biden administration says it wants to work with the European Union, with European allies in the Indo-Pacific. This was on the day that the U.S. was supposed to release the Indo Pacific strategy.
And we saw exercises just last month by the United States with Europeans as well as with Japan and New Zealand and Australia in the region. So it is really surprising that the administration, at the very least, did not bring in Paris as well as the United Kingdom and Australia in this new arrangement. This is, in the strategic competition, I think it is an asset to have
as many allies as possible, so the slight of Paris here, I think, is really difficult to understand.
CURNOW: This is both a strategic decision and it also involves nuclear submarines. And Australia and the U.S. are both saying they felt it was better for Australia, given where it is positioned, geographically, to have the U.S.-U.K. submarine technology, not the French technology, because the French technology was not as sophisticated, wasn't as quiet, perhaps didn't allow for more stealth raids surprising China.
They felt like this was also a commercial decision based on what the French were offering and the Australians and Americans decided it wasn't good enough.
HADDAD: Well, it's not what the French were offering; it is actually the contract that was signed a few years ago, when you had a bid for these submarines. You had an open bid; it was a very tough competition at the time, between different bidders. And Australians chose the French option.
The French carry nuclear propelled submarines. It is under the Australian request that they were converted, in this case, into diesel submarines, especially because of strong public opinion that opposed the nuclear option, I think, at the time.
So it is a strange argument that is being made by Canberra to explain that they should take the nuclear propelled submarines on the American side.
Now what is true, it is clear, there is, I think, an understandable strategic imperative from Australia that feels more threatening to China and that has been a more assertive threat in the last few years.
And so the desire to build deeper ties with the United States, which is obviously seen as a primary strategic actor in the region, is understandable.
I think, coming from the United States, what is more surprising is why there wasn't an approach, a more transparent approach with Paris in the last few months to bring in the French and maybe build something more multilateral.
CURNOW: Do you feel this was all being signaled over more than a decade, that the shift from Europe and old partners toward Asia was inevitable and that this surprise is misguided?
HADDAD: Yes, I think that's true. I think there is naivete (ph) coming from the European side but the focus on Asia, on China, the downgrading of Europe that we've seen over the last few administrations, this is something that is continuing.
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HADDAD: I think Europeans are realizing slowly that maybe Donald Trump was not so much an aberration, he was an aberration in style but he was also an accelerator of preexisting trends that continued beyond him.
And it is not only the question of this deal; we've seen European allies, especially Germany and the United Kingdom, were very frustrated at the lack of consultation over the Afghanistan withdrawal this summer.
We see the travel ban on Europeans that is still in place, even though the Europeans have a higher vaccination rate today than the United States. So I think Europeans will have to draw consequences, the United States is still a key ally, I think there is no doubt about this.
But at least maybe step up, prop up their own defense capabilities and have the ability to defend their interests on their own if necessary.
CURNOW: Benjamin Haddad, great to speak to you. Great to get your perspective. Thanks for joining me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Coming up, on CNN, a key panel for the Food and Drug Administration is recommending the Pfizer vaccine for some Americans. Who they say should get the third shot.
Also, what's causing the so-called long COVID. We have an interview with a doctor, who believes his research team has discovered why the long-lasting symptoms happen. Stay with us for that.
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CURNOW: Welcome back.
Vaccine advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have voted against recommending a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine for most Americans. Instead, the committee is recommending a booster shot for only people over 65 years of age and older and those with higher risk of severe COVID.
Now the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must still give its professional. The CDC advisory committee is scheduled to meet next week.
While many Americans could soon receive a booster shot, this recommendation falls short of the Biden administration's ambitious rollout plan, as Jeff Zeleny now reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The FDA on Friday dealing a blow to President Biden's plan to provide booster shots to Americans of all ages.
The FDA voting on Friday to allow only 65 years and older patients to get those booster shots. This is at odds with what the president himself said only weeks ago, calling for the availability of booster shots for people of all ages.
It was a very contentious FDA meeting. They said there simply is not the evidence that supports the idea of younger people getting booster shots.
Clearly, the Biden administration wanted to change the topic here of coronavirus. They're trying to fight this pandemic. And getting booster shots was one of the ways they hoped to do it, really following in the line of Israel and other countries that have adopted booster shots.
But a question also is the availability of vaccines for the rest of the world. Now unclear if that was part of the FDA's decision or not. But they said there simply is not the medical evidence that says that younger Americans should be vaccinated.
So the president, clearly reeling, going into this weekend, he's spending the weekend at his beach home in Rehoboth, Delaware, clearly stung by this FDA decision.
Really upends their argument for trying to send more vaccinated people into the country this fall. But clearly the White House also focusing on the unvaccinated.
More than 70 million Americans still have not received their first shot. So that of course is what the White House is trying to turn their attention to. But there is no doubt the FDA decision was a blow to their plans and certainly not what they expected -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.
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CURNOW: And for those who do contract the virus, we're learning more about what is called long COVID. A new CDC study found one-third of its participants experienced symptoms of long term COVID.
That means they reported at least one COVID symptom two months after first testing positive for the virus. The study also found higher rates among women, African Americans, those over 40 and people with pre-existing conditions. Common symptoms included fatigue and loss of taste and smell.
Meanwhile, a team of Arkansas researchers have identified a possible cause of this long COVID. They say an antibody that appears weeks after initial infection attacks and disrupts a key regulator of the immune system.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CURNOW: Dr. John Arthur is the chief of the nephrology division at the School of Medicine at the University of Arkansas and joins me now from Little Rock.
Doctor, great to have you on the show. Thanks for joining me. I'm fascinating to learn what you have potentially discovered here.
DR. JOHN ARTHUR, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIENCES: Yes, we're very excited about it. What we found is that there is an antibody against one of our own proteins in patients that have been infected, with the coronavirus. That protein is called ACE2 and it is important in regulating the balance of the control of the immune system.
So it makes a lot of sense that it could, potentially, be one of the causes of long COVID.
CURNOW: When does this happen?
It doesn't necessarily happen when you get infected with COVID, does it?
ARTHUR: No, in fact, we think it would take a little while, probably, at least 2 or 3 weeks. First, you have to form an antibody against the coronavirus. And, only after you have that antibody against the coronavirus, then, would you be able to forward this antibody, which recognizes your ACE2 protein.
CURNOW: So what happens?
Basically, your body is reacting to itself?
ARTHUR: It is. This is an auto antibody, that reacts against yourself.
CURNOW: And why does that cause long COVID then?
ARTHUR: Well, so this part is really speculation. That what we think is happening is that that antibody interferes with this enzyme called ACE2. ACE2 is really interesting, because it is actually, ACE2 is the way that the virus gets into the cell in the first place.
For the person, for you and me, ACE2 is an enzyme. It converts one hormone into another hormone.
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ARTHUR: But for the virus, it sees it as a receptor that it can bind to and then get into the cell.
The reason that protein is important is because that converts a hormone, called angiotensin II into another hormone called angiotensin (1-7).
And angiotensin II activates the immune system and angiotensin (1-7) decreases the activity of the immune system. So when you inhibit this enzyme, it leads to a buildup in the angiotensin II and increased activation of the immune system. CURNOW: Why does that create things like brain fog or exhaustion or
headaches or these really tough neurological situations that many people live with, not only just getting the taste buds back, that people with long COVID are struggling with?
ARTHUR: We think it is because, when the immune system is activated, it is able to interfere with these things. And there is actually a lot of examples of that, of the immune system being activated and causing things like fatigue, loss of concentration.
So what we found is that there's this antibody that could be responsible for that link. And that's really what we are looking for, is what's the link between the infection and what happens after the infection and then these long-term symptoms.
And we don't know for sure yet. We still have some research to do, to figure it out. But it looks like at least this fits. Everything could be responsible but because of the increase in this antibody.
CURNOW: Does this mean then that you could help treat people with long COVID?
Because there's so many millions and millions of people around the world watching right now and thinking, does this potentially help me?
ARTHUR: That's our goal. Unfortunately, we're not there yet. We've got several steps to go, to figure out, first of all, if this antibody really is the cause of long COVID-19. But if it is, then -- and if it does work by activating the immune system, there's several potential places where treatments could work.
CURNOW: Such as?
ARTHUR: Well, so at the level of the receptor -- so when you have an increase in this angiotensin II hormone, there's a receptor that that works at. So for instance, blockers of that receptor could potentially be useful.
Now I want to stress that people shouldn't go out and take these things because we really just don't know. And they lower your blood pressure. And all drugs can potentially have risks. But if we're right, that could potentially be a mechanism that we could treat people with.
CURNOW: So all of these little steps, working to help so many people, who are struggling with long haul COVID symptoms. Really appreciate all of the work you're doing, Doctor, thanks for joining us at CNN.
ARTHUR: My pleasure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Turning to Europe now and you can see from this map that COVID is taking a toll on the eastern part of the continent and yet several countries have been able to open up to international visitors. The tourism industry is praising the U.K. government's plan to relax
its national travel rules in England; it doesn't cover Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland as Nina dos Santos explains.
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NINA DOS SANTOS, CNNMONEY EUROPE EDITOR: Just after the coronavirus containment plan for later on in the year, they also promised to update travelers on the restrictions to enter the U.K.
Things are going to be simplified as of October the 4th and good news for countries coming off the red list in the U.K. This is a list of nations, deemed risky, in terms of prevalence of COVID-19. As, such people who entered the, shores from these nations, have to go to an immediate, mandatory quarantine period, in a hotel.
But no longer, will that be a case of a return to the U.K. from Turkey, Pakistan, the, Maldives, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Oman, Bangladesh and Kenya.
And, there is good news for travelers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If they have had both of their shots, they will no longer have to take a test before departing upon their journey. They will still have to test upon their return but the government is trying to make that simpler and also, more cost-effective too.
There are plans to remove the current requirement for a polymerase chain reaction or PCR test on day 2, a more sophisticated and expensive but also more accurate COVID-19 test. They will be replacing that with a much cheaper lateral flow test, instead.
But this has been greeted by the airline and the hospitality sector with glee. They have been pummeled over the course of the pandemic by these restrictions being imposed upon travelers, to the U.K.
They said it was the shot in the arm the industry needed and, it could make a real impact, straightaway.
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DOS SANTOS: These rules are changing just before a crucial travel period, which is the half term holiday for school children, across England.
And, also, it reflects the fact that there is a larger amount of immunity against COVID-19 and the country with 8 in 10 adults, having been vaccinated, in some form, against the virus. And, with plans to roll out the vaccination program, to the next target group, which is 12- to 15-year olds who, as of this week, they were eligible to get one shot of a Pfizer vaccination -- Nina dos Santos, CNN, in London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Still ahead on CNN, barricades once again surround the U.S. Capitol eight months after rioters tried to overturn the elections. Details on the security measures taken ahead of the rally, next. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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CURNOW: You are looking here at live pictures of Capitol Hill, where police are on high alert just hours before a far right wing rally in support of the January 6th insurrectionists. Only about 700 people are expected to attend. But authorities say they are not taking any chances.
D.C. police will be fully activated, with the D.C. National Guard on standby, in case of emergency. Also, temporary fencing has been put up around the Capitol complex. Earlier CNN spoke with the secretary of Homeland Security about the upcoming rally and here is some of what was said. Take a listen.
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MICHAEL CHERTOFF, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: I think people are rightly concerned that this encourages people to come, again, in a ridiculous effort to kind of overturn the election.
Let's remember, police officers died and were seriously injured. For politicians who claim to be supporters of the police, overlooking police being killed or otherwise being seriously injured is a real deep contradiction.
So I think this is not a good message. I do think, though, that there's now word getting out that perhaps some of the right wing groups will stay away, because they're afraid they may wind up actually getting trapped.
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CURNOW: And we're also learning new details about concerns some Capitol Police officers had about their own colleagues on January 6th, including one officer, who was reported to the FBI for disclosing a secret location, where lawmakers were sheltering during the riot. Here is Jessica Schneider with more on that.
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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: CNN getting a glimpse at more than a dozen documents that show how complaints poured into an internal tipline after January 6th, where officers reported other officers for concerning behavior.
In fact, one longtime friend of an officer even reported his concerns to the FBI.
The friend later telling Capitol Police, "I don't want to report a friend of 40 years but he says enough concerning statements that I feel like I need to do this. He has just fallen into this cult and these beliefs. It sent alarm bells off that he would just casually give that info."
This friend accused the officer of repeatedly talking about conspiracy theories but also of revealing to him in conversation a secret location, where lawmakers were whisked away to on January 6th.
To be clear, the officer is not accused of revealing that secret location to any rioters. But the officer, since he revealed it in conversation, now has a disciplinary investigation from Capitol Police investigators.
These documents still have not been released publicly by Capitol Police. But they tend to show a department divided after January 6th. At least one officer was disciplined for taking selfies with pro-Trump rioters.
And other complaints that came in accused fellow officers of not taking enough action to stop the rioters or maybe even seeming sympathetic to them. One officer reported a high-ranking supervisor for telling officers not to wear riot gear and then seeming to hang back and watch when the rioters stormed the Capitol.
That officer writing, in this email, "I have serious concerns that one of the officers assigned to the Capitol division may have assisted the insurrection attempts through passive inaction. The officer has been rather vocal in the past about his support for Trump but little was thought of it until the below examples I observed."
Now it's unclear what investigators may have concluded in that case or if that supervising officer was eventually disciplined. But all these documents and details shed like on what was happening inside the Capitol Police force on January 6th.
And it gives a glimpse of how the department became somewhat splintered in the aftermath -- Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thanks, Jessica.
We are keeping our eye on Capitol Hill. We are looking ahead to the G7 speaker summit later on today in the U.K. The Speaker of the House of Commons has been talking to CNN about threats to democracy, especially in light of that riot and the terror attack four years ago near Britain's Houses of Parliament. Bianca Nobilo has the story.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST (voice-over): In London, breaking news coming into CNN, the British Parliament is in lockdown.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Members of Congress are being evacuated wearing gas masks. BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a time
when the pillars of democracy are under attack, the fight for political freedoms around the world more relevant than ever.
LINDSAY HOYLE, SPEAKER, BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS: The fact is, if we haven't got democracy, what have we got?
Dictatorship?
That is never the answer. So the ballot box has to got be the answer to the future.
NOBILO (voice-over): Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker and highest authority of the British House of Commons, is hosting Nancy Pelosi and other counterparts for the first in-person G7 speaker summit since the pandemic began.
Top of the agenda: how to keep democracies open to the public they serve while protecting politicians from abuse, threats and terrorism.
HOYLE: The tragic murder of Jo Cox, just carrying out her duty, on the street of her constituency, murdered by a right-wing fundamentalist. That was the real stutter (ph) shock.
We saw the attack on Parliament. I never, ever want to live through that again. I sat in the chair that day, to be tapped on the shoulder, say, there's a policeman dying on the cobbles of Parliament, is something I never want to go through again. We have seen the attack in Canada, we've seen the attack on Capitol Hill. Mob rule.
NOBILO: This is homegrown terror and a version, a rejection of the values that you described.
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NOBILO: How do you combat that?
HOYLE: Exchanging knowledge and understanding of how you deal with it, how do you mitigate that threat and make sure that democracy survives. And that's what it's going to be, it's about the future.
NOBILO (voice-over): Online trolling and harassment is another key issue for the summit with Hoyle worried that it will deter the next generation of politicians.
HOYLE: Women MPs get the worst of it. The worst brunt of that goes to female ethnic MPs as well. The fact that they feel real threats, real threats of violence against them, that's not acceptable.
When an MP says to me, Lindsay, I don't think I'm going to stand again, I don't feel safe, my family must come first, I know we have got to do more.
NOBILO (voice-over): The two day conference comes after the G7 summit, which saw U.S. President Joe Biden re-establish American links with long-time allies. The speaker summit is taking place Hoyle's hometown, a symbolic scenesetter for U.K.-U.S. ties.
NOBILO: There are a lot of remarks about the special relationship and whether or not it still exists, did it ever exist, is it a fantasy?
What can do you in your relationship with Speaker Pelosi to try and make sure that relationship is as healthy as possible?
HOYLE: It is. And I always believe, we have a special relationship. And as I say, I wish that relationship started with the pilgrim (ph) fathers. Not many can go by that fact. We shoulder to shoulder, that was the First World War, the Second World War, in Korea and Afghanistan as well.
You know, the fact is, there's no bigger bond than that, that they stood shoulder to shoulder and died together. If that doesn't make a bond, nothing does.
NOBILO (voice-over): Bianca Nobilo, CNN, London.
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CURNOW: Coming up on CNN, late-breaking developments in the search for Gabby Petito, the young Florida woman, who went missing after a road trip with her fiance. The very latest when we come back.
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JIM SCHMIDT, GABBY PETITO'S STEPFATHER: We have each other right now and we're keeping each other up, remaining strong. You know, we have our moments. We're human. But we're still focused on what we need to do and that's to find her. And we're determined to do that.
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CURNOW: That was Gabby Petito's stepfather, Jim Schmidt, earlier with our Chris Cuomo. The 22-year old went on a cross-country trip with her fiance, Brian Laundrie, and hasn't been seen since.
Laundrie is now a person of interest. Authorities are searching for him. And a few hours ago, his family called police to his home in Florida and told them they haven't seen him in days. Athena Jones has the latest.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the search for Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito, missing for weeks, continues in Wyoming -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I need from everybody here is help.
JONES (voice-over): And Petito's family pleads with her fiance, Brian Laundrie, to tell them where he last saw Gabby, Laundrie's sister telling ABC:
CASSIE LAUNDRIE, BRIAN'S SISTER: Me and my family (sic) wants Gabby to be found safe. She's like a sister and my children love her. And all I want is for her to come home safe and sound and this to be just a big misunderstanding.
JONES (voice-over): Petito and Laundrie had been traveling cross country for months in her white 2012 Ford Transit van.
GABBY PETITO, MISSING WOMAN: Gabby Petito never go to that side.
JONES (voice-over): Documenting their journey on social media, including YouTube.
PETITO: Hello, hello and good morning.
JONES (voice-over): Petito's family last heard from her in late August. Her last Instagram post was August 25th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing else --
JONES (voice-over): Petito's parents believe she was lost in the Grand Teton/ Yellowstone area of Wyoming. They reported her missing on September 11th.
But local police found Petito's van and her fiance, Brian, at the home they shared with his family in North Port, Florida. He returned there alone September 1st without reporting her missing. Laundrie, officials say, is not cooperating with police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have never spoken a word with Brian.
JONES (voice-over): Weeks earlier on August 12th, police in Moab City, Utah, were called to a possible disorderly conduct situation, captured in this body camera video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's going on?
How come you're crying?
PETITO: I'm not crying, we're just fighting this morning, some personal issues. Anyone help me in the car before --
JONES (voice-over): Petito described in the police report as confused and emotional and manic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't talk to each other tonight.
JONES (voice-over): At the officer's suggestion, the two separated for the night. One of the officers concluding the situation was the result of a mental health crisis. No charges were filed. CHIEF TODD GARRISON, NORTH PORT POLICE DEPARTMENT: Yes, they had a disturbance. Yes, it was captured on body camera their interaction with law enforcement. But beyond that, you know, I don't know what it has to do with the disappearance.
JONES (voice-over): The FBI office in Denver said Thursday it is joining multiple law enforcement agencies investigating Petito's disappearance. A lawyer for the Laundrie family saying earlier this week they would not be commenting.
Petito stepfather who was in Wyoming to help look for her begging Brian Laundrie to help.
JAMES SCHMIDT, GABBY'S STEPFATHER: This is the love of your life. If that is true, then do the right thing. We need to do it now. Stop waiting.
JONES: At this point, multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating Gabby Petito's disappearance, including several FBI field offices. Meanwhile, police in North Port, Florida, are asking anyone who interacted with or saw Brian or Gabby or their van to get in touch -- Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
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CURNOW: Robert Durst's legal battle has come to an end in Los Angeles. On Friday, a jury convicted the now frail California millionaire of first-degree murder of his best friend, Susan Berman, more than 20 years ago.
Public fascination about his alleged involvement was fed by a sensational documentary," The Jinx," on HBO. Prosecutors say she was killed hours before talking about the unsolved disappearance of first wife Kathleen. And investigators say he confided in Berman that he killed Kathleen, something he denied. Sentencing is set for October 18th.
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CURNOW: The first all civilian crew is gearing up to return to Earth. What the SpaceX team has been doing during their orbit when we come back.
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CURNOW: Some news from near Earth orbit, the all civilian SpaceX crew is zipping around Earth as we speak, getting ready to splash down in Florida later today. Kristin Fisher tells us what the crew has been up to.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE & DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: SpaceX's Inspiration4 crew is enjoying the final few hours in orbit. They lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday evening, in a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule.
And they have been orbiting the Earth ever since then, at an altitude, even higher than the International Space Station. And on Friday afternoon, we really got our first taste of what exactly they had been doing up in orbit.
They held a livestream with anybody who wanted to watch. Thousands tuned in. And we found out that they've been conducting scientific experiments, medical experiments; they've also been painting and drawing.
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FISHER (voice-over): Playing the ukulele and enjoying being weightless and taking in the expansive views of planet Earth. And SpaceX even designed their own 360-degree cupola to take in these views of planet Earth, as they orbit the Earth.
And they're expected to do that about 50 times over the course of this three-day trip, to orbit, the first all civilian trip to orbit.
The next thing we're watching for, splash down. That is expected to take place shortly after 7:00 pm Eastern time on Saturday. And the capsule is quite literally going to splash down, with the assistance of big parachutes, somewhere off the coast of Florida.
And then the crew will be taken back to the Kennedy Space Center. And what this all means is it's really the first time that NASA has had to relinquish control during a crew launch from the Kennedy Space Center. This is the very first time that no professional astronauts are on board.
And it raises the question of just how long it's going to be before the opportunity to go into orbit is opened up to even more people than just the crew of Inspiration4 -- Kristin Fisher, CNN, Cape Canaveral.
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CURNOW: Thanks for that.
I'm Robyn Curnow, thanks for joining us the past two hours, you can join us on Twitter and Instagram @RobynCurnowCNN. The news continues.
