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FBI Seeks Help in Finding Laundrie; DHS Releasing Hattian Migrants into U.S.; Dr. Colleen Kraft is Interviewed about the COVID Vaccine; Fed Decision Possible Today. Aired 9:30-10a

Aired September 22, 2021 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:32:53]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: The FBI is now treating the death of Gabby Petito as a homicide. This after an autopsy positively identified her body yesterday. Today, investigators continuing with that massive search of Florida reserve -- nature reserve, in hopes of finding Petito's fiance, Brian Laundrie, who hasn't been seen now in over a week.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: You may remember, Laundrie returned home from a road trip September 1st without Petito, refused to answer questions about her disappearance before he went missing. At this time, Laundrie has not been charged or named a suspect. We should be clear on that.

CNN correspondent Amara Walker, he's live in Venice, Florida, this morning.

Amara, what's the latest here? And I'm curious, where are they focusing their search now for Laundrie?

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know the details right now of the search, Jim and Erica. But you are right when you say the focus right now is the Carlton Reserve here behind me. That search got underway about an hour and a half ago for Brain Laundrie, this 25,000 acre reserve.

And just about an hour ago we did see a lot of trucks arriving with all-terrain vehicles and other equipment. We also saw some bloodhounds inside of vehicles with the search team. So they're going to need all the help they can get, to be honest, because we're talking about really unforgiving terrain here behind me. Authorities saying that, you know, much of this reserve is covered in water, waist deep water. It's alligator and snake infested.

But also the focus also on a new tip regarding the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie from just a few weeks ago. Let's go through some of the timeline to kind of help us piece together these twists and turns that we've been seeing.

August 12th is when there was a reported altercation between Gabby Petito and fiance Brian Laundrie. This was in Moab, Utah. And that's when police responded. Then August 27th, Petito's mother gets a quote/unquote odd text from her daughter, according to an affidavit, and that is believed to have been the last communication from Petito.

Then two days later, on August 29, a woman by the name of Miranda Baker says, and actually posts a series of videos on TikTok, saying that she picked up a hitchhiker.

[09:35:12]

That hitchhiker being Brian Laundrie. And here's what she said in some of these video messages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRANDA BAKER, SAYS SHE PICKED UP BRIAN LAUNDRIE AS HITCHHIKER IN WYOMING: He approached us, asking us for a ride because he needed to go to Jackson, which we were going to Jackson that night. So I said, you know, hop in. He hopped in the back of my Jeep. Before he came in the car, he offered to pay us like $200 to give him a ride, like, ten miles. So that was kind of weird.

He then told us he's been camping for multiple days without his fiance. He did say he had a fiance. And that she was working on their social media page back at their van.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Now, North Port Police have confirmed to CNN that Miranda Baker spoke with the police department before posting these videos. And a spokesperson saying that her account is plausible. Although CNN has not been able to independently verify her claims.

And then a few days after this alleged encounter on August 29th, September 1st, things get really interesting because Brian Laundrie then just shows up at his North Port, Florida, home without Petito.

And then on September 14th, that is when his parents say that he disappeared with a backpack to go hiking into the Carlton Reserve. But they didn't tell police until four days later. So a lot of questions about why they waited to talk to police. But right now the focus is on where is Brian Laundrie.

Jim and Erica.

SCIUTTO: Amara Walker, good to have you on the story. Thanks so much.

There are new details this morning on another story we've been following. What is happening with the many thousands of migrants amassed at the border crossing in Del Rio, Texas.

HILL: The Department of Homeland Security is now releasing some Haitian migrants into the U.S., hundreds more being expelled from the country on mass deportation flights.

CNN correspondent Josh Campbell is live in Del Rio, Texas.

So what more do we know about the efforts this morning, Josh?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you.

Well, to start, I'll show you these live aerial images. This is over this migrant camp. We're told an estimated number of about 8,000 people are still there under that bridge awaiting processing.

And as you mentioned, our colleagues from CNN now reporting that it appears as though officials here in the U.S. government have been releasing some migrants into the United States. Now, this stands in stark contrast to the hardline verbiage that we've heard from the Biden administration that they would be quickly expelled from this country. And the reason for that is, it's important to point out to our viewers, is that the word "processing," that entails actually determining whether someone has a lawful purpose to stay in the United States. For example, if they claim asylum, officials will try to investigate that claim to determine whether it's righteous. If they determine that this person does face a threat if they go back to their country of origin, then they will be issued a summons to appear before an immigration judge here in the U.S. And so that's some of the release that we've seen.

Now, as we pan over, I also want to show you what we're hearing, and that is, state officials here this Texas are working on aligning these vehicles along the border, this steel barrier that they're calling it, with these police cars because they are worried about the flow of additional migrants coming into the United States.

Now, the governor of this state was here at the border yesterday. I asked Greg Abbott specifically about CNN's new reporting that there are some 30,000 migrants that we're hearing that are in Central America that may be preparing to make their way north. I asked him about that.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): There have been reports for a while now about other groups like this that could be coming from other countries. And that's exactly why we are here.

If you are targeting Texas to come to, we're going to show up in force and shut down the border. We're not going to allow the disaster that we saw here in Del Rio to be replicated by additional caravans coming from wherever they may come from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, I also tried to ask the governor a question that has been on all of our minds, which is very important, and that is, what conversations have officials here in the U.S. and Texas had with Mexican authorities? There's been this concern that migrants from Central and South America have been able to make their way through Mexico to the southern border. I asked the governor that multiple times. His staff shut down the question, said he didn't have time to take any more questions, which is unfortunate because that is a key question as we hear about these reports of additional migrants coming here to this border, which is currently in crisis. We still don't know the extent to which conversations officials here are having with their Mexican counterparts to try to interdict or stop additional migrants from coming here.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Absolutely important. I'm glad you're still asking the question.

SCIUTTO: No question.

And, by the way, as the law stands now, with a legitimate asylum claim, there is a process which may include catch and release, as they say in the U.S. That's a different issue to be addressed, but it's not a policy decision.

HILL: Yes.

Josh, appreciate the reporting. Thank you.

CAMPBELL: Thanks.

HILL: CDC vaccine advisers meeting today.

[09:40:02]

So that means there could soon be a decision, a recommendation, on coronavirus vaccine booster shots. That's next.

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SCIUTTO: The CDC's vaccine advisers are going to meet in the next hour. One critical item on their agenda is the question of COVID vaccine booster shots. The ongoing question, who exactly should get them and when?

HILL: And this meeting, of course, is going to follow the FDA advisers voting last week to recommend Pfizer booster shots for Americans 65 and older, as well as those at high risk of severe COVID, but not for the general population right now.

[09:45:10]

Joining us now, Dr. Colleen Kraft. She's the associate chief medical officer at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Dr. Kraft, good to see you, as always.

So CDC advisers meeting over the next couple of days. So we won't know how they feel today. But while we're waiting for more information, more recommendation for the CDC when it comes to boosters, there's so much focus on kids now, now that we know that Pfizer's likely going to submit data for its Emergency Use Authorization for five to 11-year- olds, you know, in the coming days. What's interesting to me is this dose we're talking about that they used in those trials for kids is a third of what those 12 and up are getting right now.

Is that -- is that something that parents should be concerned about in terms of the immunity that it is going to give their kids if they're getting a third of the dose of, say, even a 12-year-old?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

DR. COLLEEN KRAFT, ASSOCIATE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Yes, I mean, I think if they have shown efficacy with those doses, then it definitely is an appropriate dose. We tend to dose things in children by weight, because their bodies are so different at different ages. And so if there is efficacy, you know, children tend to have very good immune systems. So, in theory, if it's a -- it's a -- if it's an adequate dose, the immune response should be excellent.

HILL: So really quickly on that point, this is something Jim and I have discussed with a lot of people, I have a 125 pound 11-year-old, he has an 80 pound 12-year-old friend. So if we're also taking weight into account, is that really coming into play for kids at the older age of that five to 11-year-old range?

KRAFT: Yes. So I think this could be a consultation with your pediatrician for sure. So I think like you're just saying, if we're going to make it age based versus weight based, I think some of these considerations should be taken into account. And I think that some of that might be amended in the coming months, weeks, as we, you know, sort of see the data generated be rolled out.

SCIUTTO: Yes, kids come in a lot of different sizes, even at the same age.

HILL: Yes, they do.

KRAFT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: OK, the country, and you can see it on the right side of our screen, you know, throughout the hour, back to a disturbing average, right, of about 2,000 reported deaths per day. But as a practical matter, and I -- and I wonder if you have the same experience, whether in red or blue states, I mean, we're in New York here, if you go downtown, people are out, many with masks off. There are requirements like showing your vaccination card for restaurants. But folks are living like they're living with the pandemic, right, rather than waiting for it to end. And I wonder if -- if that's where you see the reality of the country today, that we are in endemic stage or treating it endemic as opposed to a pandemic.

KRAFT: I mean, I really hope, Jim, we are not in endemic because our hospitals is crushed.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

KRAFT: And our hospitals, at least in this state, are crushed and are -- and we are exhausted. And so I -- I struggle with this because I spend so much time in the hospital, and I see so much suffering, and we are masked, that it seems very normal to me to be masked. But then I can go and take my 15-year-old out to dinner and it be as though there is no pandemic and it gives me a lot of anxiety. That may not be what you wanted to hear today, but I do think we are trying to live with the pandemic, but we're not living very smartly with the pandemic. People are still getting sick, people who are vaccinated are still getting sick. So we really need to continue to try to think about how to not spread our virus to other people.

SCIUTTO: Well, we'll see if more folks listen, right?

Dr. Colleen Kraft, always good to have you on.

KRAFT: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve today. The Fed chair is expected to make a decision on whether to raise interest rates and the debt ceiling. We're going to have a live report coming up.

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[09:53:17]

HILL: It is a decision Wall Street is bracing for. One that will have a major impact across the country. Right now, all eyes on the Federal Reserve today looking for clues on when the central bank will wind down its pandemic era stimulus measures and raise interest rates.

SCIUTTO: CNN's chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here.

And, Christine, I wonder if things have gotten cool enough, right, that they don't make this decision because with all the talk about the Biden boom, and, you know, the delta surge, everything ending, but that's not where we are.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, not very long ago we were all talking about when they were going to taper off this extraordinary support for the American economy and now we're looking at the delta variant, we're looking at some of these consumer spending and sentiment numbers. And the wonder -- the real worry here is that the Fed does -- you don't want them to pull -- you know, pull back too quickly here if we're going to have a recovery that falters a little bit.

Still, we will learn from the Fed today what they're thinking for growth for this year. Still looking like gangbusters growth, just not super gangbusters that we had been thinking.

A lot has changed over the past five or six weeks, in particular because of the delta variant. There's some global headwinds as well we're watching. But it will be really clear -- important to see what the Fed thinks about the inflation situation and whether this economy is stand on its own.

The Fed is buying $120 billion worth of securities every month as special stimulus for an economy that is racked by COVID.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

ROMANS: We can see the economy has improved a lot and we want to know what the Fed has -- think about the rest of the year.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: We're watching.

Christine, thank you.

ROMANS: Yes.

HILL: A showdown, meantime, within the Democratic Party. Moderates and progressives split when it comes to President Biden's economic package. Ahead, a big key vote. So just what will it take for Democrats to come together, to unite on this.

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[09:59:25]

HILL: Good morning on this Wednesday. I'm Erica Hill.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. Very nice to be next to Erica here in New York.

There are major economic issues pending on Capitol Hill. Right now, Democrats pitted against Republicans on the debt ceiling, and infighting within the Democratic Party has progressives facing off with moderates over not just infrastructure but the larger $3.5 trillion budget proposal there in danger, folks. Overnight, the House voted to avoid a government shutdown and increase the debt ceiling, but that's just the House. It faces major hurdles in the Senate with ramifications stretching far and wide, not just on Capitol Hill, but for the U.S. economy.

[10:00:02]

HILL: Absolutely. All of this as the Democratic Party's divide is on full display. So, right now, liberal and moderate Democrats in a