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CDC Meets on Booster Shots; Gabby Petito Investigation; Democrats Try to Work Out Differences. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 23, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:04]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Welcome to NEWSROOM. I'm Alisyn Camerota.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I'm Victor Blackwell.

So, today, Democrats are trying to present this unified front, but there are major divisions in the party. And they could cost the president his top legislative priorities, including a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package to better fund social needs, like child care and college tuition.

CAMEROTA: So, President Biden met with both sides separately on Wednesday, the moderates, who say $3.5 trillion is too expensive, and the progressives, who say they have already conceded enough and will not support these smaller bill unless the bigger bill comes with it.

No specifics yet on if the gap is closing between the two sides, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did say this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We intend to stay the course and pass both of these bills. We take it one day at a time. But I'm confident that we will pass both bills. At the end of the day, we will be unified for the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, Speaker Pelosi also urged Republicans to support raising the debt ceiling, which they oppose, despite the nation ticking closer to a shutdown and a historic default.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is at the White House.

But we begin with CNN's Lauren Fox, who is on Capitol Hill. So, Lauren, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate, the

House and the White House have agreed to a framework to pay for the $3.5 trillion spending bill. So, is that an important step?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, look, I think the fact that leadership wants to project that they are moving forward, that they are making progress is an important step to show the caucus that they are trying to stay united.

But let's dig in a little deeper here on what any kind of framework or an agreement really looks like. A couple of minutes after Schumer made that announcement this morning, I heard from an aide to Senator Sinema, who told me, I don't know what they're talking about, essentially saying that there isn't an agreement that Sinema has actually signed off on.

And we just heard a few minutes ago from Senator Manchin, who said the same thing. He wasn't exactly sure what this agreement or framework actually was.

The fact that there is a menu of options of tax increases that could be used to pay for this larger $3.5 trillion bill, that's a fact. That has existed for months. Whether or not there's actual agreement from members, that's another issue entirely.

You also have Democrats dealing with a more pressing issue, which is the fact that they have to fund the government by next week. We also know that they are trying to put together that legislation that would both fund the government and raise the debt ceiling.

Republicans aren't going for it. And here's what Democrats are saying about their opposition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): How crass can you be? How heartless can you be? You voted to spend these monies because of COVID. It was a valid reason. And now you don't want to pay for it.

You come up with some lame political sophistry.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-IL): This tactic by the Republicans is just pointless and ruthless, and it's going to hurt a lot of innocent people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And Republicans are arguing that if Democrats want to raise the debt ceiling, which will need to be raised by some time in mid- October, they can do it themselves. They have the power and mechanism to do that.

In the meantime, Republicans say just tear apart the debt ceiling and that government funding bill and we will give you the votes needed to make sure the government doesn't shut down at the end of next week, Victor and Alisyn. BLACKWELL: Important note there that Senator Sinema and Manchin have not agreed to this framework. We're going to talk about that in a moment.

But let's go to the White House now.

Jeff, what's the president doing today to try to push this forward to get these two sides to come closer together?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, he certainly met yesterday with lawmakers from all sides, the leadership, progressives and moderates.

But, today, there are no meetings with lawmakers on his schedule. And that came as a bit of a surprise, because that was the sense that we were getting last evening, when those final meetings wrapped up.

But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is saying that, right now, that meetings are being held at a staff level. That means that White House staffers on Capitol Hill talking with staff members of lawmakers, and perhaps some lawmakers themselves, as well trying to really dig into this fine print.

But, as Lauren was just saying there, the White House does not have any fine print on this budget agreement either. Jen Psaki called it a menu of options. And, as Lauren said, this menu of options has existed for how to pay for this plan for quite some time.

So the reality is the president is said to have found those meetings yesterday as constructive and encouraging. But there's no sign that they're any closer to reaching a deal. And as we have seen many, many times in Washington after these meetings, it takes several days for a deal to reach.

They only do it at the 11th hour. So we're not quite at the 11th hour. But it's certainly coming up to that point. But there is just a sense of the moderates just believe the price tag is simply too high. Progressives don't want to shrink their side of the deal either.

[14:05:11]

So, as of now, it's actually fairly quiet here at the White House, despite all of these crises and challenges mounting for this administration -- Victor and Alisyn.

BLACKWELL: Maybe not the 11th hour, but it's at least 10:15, 10:25.

CAMEROTA: It's getting there. It's getting there.

BLACKWELL: We're getting close.

ZELENY: It seems like it.

BLACKWELL: All right, Lauren Fox, Jeff Zeleny, thank you both.

ZELENY: Sure. BLACKWELL: For more, let's bring it now CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger.

Gloria, so they announced today this framework to pay for whichever legislation comes. Maybe that would be more impressive if they knew what they were paying for and exactly how much they were going to spend. And now we hear that Sinema and Manchin don't know what they're talking about.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

I mean, they announce a framework, but don't tell you what the framework is. I think the framework is somewhere between $1 trillion and $3 trillion. And maybe that's it. I have no idea.

Look, they all know that they sink or swim together. They all know that this could conceivably be the beginning of the end of Biden's presidency if none of this gets done. And, also, they all know that, in 2022, if they don't prove that they can govern as Democrats, what kind of turnout will they have at the polls?

Seems to me very little turnout, because a lot of the things that are included in these bills, infrastructure being one of them, and the infrastructure bill, when you look at child care, health care, prescription drugs, climate change, the list goes on and on, the social safety net being reinvigorated, were promises they made.

The question is, how much can they or should they deliver in one fell swoop if they can't all agree? What they can agree on is that they'd like to survive into the next election cycle.

CAMEROTA: And, Gloria, you have a fantastic CNN op-ed that everybody should read called "Govern or Bust."

BORGER: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: It's so interesting.

I will just read a little portion of it for everybody. You talk about the absurdity of this moment, basically. "Here, Democrats are in control of Congress and the White House, and they can't figure out how to get to yes, and pass a measure the public actually likes."

BORGER: Right.

CAMEROTA: So, they are in control, and the public likes it. And we still are seeing this infighting.

But what I want to ask you about is the more pressing issue, and that is the raising of the debt ceiling or the suspending of the debt ceiling to pay the previous bills.

BORGER: Right.

CAMEROTA: And Senator Susan Collins doesn't like this idea. She says she's not for this. Correct me if I'm wrong. She voted to suspend the debt ceiling three times during President Trump's presidency. What's changed?

BORGER: Hello?

The president, I think, has changed. Suddenly, Republicans have found religion when it comes to the debt. If I'm correct that the debt rose by $7.8 trillion under Donald Trump, I mean, the debt is pretty outrageous right now. It's about $28 trillion.

We all understand that's too large. But finding religion now about raising the debt ceiling, these are bills that need to be paid. These are bills that were incurred, say, because of COVID and over the years. And now for Republicans to suddenly say, well, it's the Democrats' responsibility to do this because they're the ones doing the spending, we're talking about the spending that was done previously, and not necessarily the spending that is coming up.

So they want the Democrats to do this on their own. I believe the Democrats will do it on their own, if they have to. And the Republicans will say no, because it's kind of easy for them to do that.

The question is, and I think this is what's facing the Democrats, is, if they can deliver on these other programs in a way that keeps the moderates happy and that lets progressives know that this is perhaps the beginning of something and not the end of something, and they deliver lower prescription drug benefits, et cetera, without any Republican support, that will be very, very important not only to the president, but to themselves.

And so they understand that. It can't be each person for himself at this point. It has to be for the greater good of what they're trying to accomplish. Question is whether they can get there. And we don't know the answer to that right now.

CAMEROTA: Gloria Borger, thank you for the analysis.

BORGER: Thanks. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right, we also have new details emerging about Gabby Petito's final days and the last time her missing fiance, Brian Laundrie, was seen.

BLACKWELL: And in the wake of those disturbing images of border agents aggressively confronting Haitian migrants, the Department of Homeland Security is temporarily banning patrol on horseback.

[14:10:02]

We're going to go live to the border.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The city of Moab is now investigating a police response to a potential domestic dispute between Gabby Petito and fiance Brian. Now, this happened about two weeks before Petito went missing. And along with another incident at a Wyoming restaurant in late August, this is raising questions over their relationship.

CAMEROTA: Police are also still scouring the 25,000-acre Florida reserve near Brian Laundrie's home. He has not been seen in more than a week after returning home from the couple's road trip alone.

[14:15:00]

A neighbor tells CNN she last saw Brian Laundrie the weekend of September 10.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARYN ABERTS, NEIGHBOR: Saw him and the family in the neighborhood out in the front yard. I thought it was just, again, a normal -- they were going for a walk kind of thing, so never thought anything about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Jean Casarez joins us now.

So, Jean, we have these new witness accounts of a so-called commotion. This involved Gabby and Brian at a Wyoming restaurant. And here's what one witness described seeing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NINA ANGELO, WITNESS: He walked back in the restaurant, and he's fighting with the hostess. And we -- I didn't know what happened. I don't even know if they got kicked out. But they left abruptly. And she was standing on the sidewalk crying.

And he walked back in and was screaming at the hostess and then walked back out. And then he walked back in four more times to talk to the manager and to tell the hostess off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, Jean, I mean, basically, it seems every day that there's some other witness story about the turbulent relationship that they had.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A similar pattern, right?

Here's one thing that's significant about that, August 27. And according to the affidavit for a search warrant, they said that August 27 was the last time that she was ever seen alive. Was it this at the restaurant? We don't know. But it's becoming a more and more significant date.

Now, the lady that you just saw, the young girl talking about that, we went to the manager of that restaurant. It's Merry Piglets. It's in Jackson, Wyoming. And it is a Tex-Mex restaurant. And the manager confirmed that she witnessed an incident and that, after the body was found last weekend, she actually went to the FBI because it triggered her memory of what had happened in August.

And so now the FBI does have information.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about this Moab investigation to the police response to that 911 call, because there's a discrepancy between what was described on the call and what the police report eventually determined happened.

CASAREZ: Absolutely. There's now a formal investigation with the Moab City Police Department, because they say they have very specific things that the officers are trained in to look for and how to react to a situation this.

They will interview, they will assess, and they will give all their findings and make them public. But I want to tell you that the bodycam, it is on YouTube, and I'm watching it. It is a little long.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CASAREZ: An hour and 17 minutes, they are with them. And it's fascinating because the devil is in the details just to listen to them talk.

She takes responsibility for everything. She is hysterical. She's hyperventilating. She says, "This is all my fault." It's just tragic to watch it. He's sort of calm and joking. At one point, he does say to the officer, "She's crazy."

And it's sad to watch, but it's telling to watch.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: There's another part of the timeline that I want to ask you about.

Brian Laundrie returned home without Gabby on September 1, we believe. Her family did not report her missing until September 11. Do we know why? Why so long?

CASAREZ: According to the search warrant affidavit, they do say in that her family made attempts prior to that to contact the Laundries and they wouldn't talk to them. And Brian wouldn't talk to them.

So, how many times did they reach out? They obviously had to have been confused. And they finally reported her missing. But here's something else with the timeline. September 11, they report her missing. That's a Saturday. Tuesday is when he went to go hiking at the nature preserve, just a few days later.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about another case, Mary Johnson.

The FBI is now asking for help to find her, offering a reward. What do we know about this? CASAREZ: Well, Mary Johnson, Mary Davis, is a member of the Tulalip

Reservation Indian Nation in Washington. She's a member of the tribe. She went missing in November.

And it's a very interesting case. And we wanted to really bring it to everyone because the FBI is now saying there's a $10,000 reward. She and her husband were having marital issues. Her husband took her -- and they lived in Marysville, Washington -- to a friend's house with her suitcase because she wanted to go visit friends in Oro (sic), Washington.

Well, she never made it there. People wouldn't give her a ride. She started to walk. She didn't make it. She was never seen again come November 25 of 2020. The police chief of the tribal nation did tell CNN that they have done an investigation. There were billboards in the area, that they surveilled her phone, the pinging of the phone, and it reached Oro (sic) Washington -- Oso, Washington, where she was bound for.

But it also then went back to Marysville. And they said there's a very large issue, because they don't know she went missing on the tribal lands or on state lands.

[14:20:02]

And if it's tribal lands it's only the tribal police, but the feds have to get involved. And many times, they don't get involved. And they have gone as far as they can because they don't have probable cause a crime took place. So they're not able to go to a judge and ask for search warrants.

BLACKWELL: All right, we will, of course, watch that one too.

CASAREZ: But $10,000. FBI, they want to know everything you know about Mary Johnson.

BLACKWELL: All right, Jean Casarez, thank you.

CASAREZ: You're welcome.

BLACKWELL: Another missing person case that has not received as much national attention as Gabby Petito's is that of Daniel Robinson, 24- year-old genealogist, has been missing for almost three months, and was last seen on June 23 leaving Buckeye, Arizona.

Nearly a month later, his jeep was found in a ravine four miles from where he was last spotted. Investigators found some clothing, his phone, car keys inside the vehicle. And while a police report there found no foul play as apparent, his family says they don't believe that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ROBINSON, FATHER OF DANIEL ROBINSON: Once his vehicle was found and the way it was found, it just didn't look right. It didn't sit right with me. That's why I ended up getting my own private investigator. And from

that point, everything that was found from that point indicates that we did look a little farther than saying he's just missing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, his brother calls out the lack of media attention brought to Daniel's case. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER CAWLEY-ROBINSON, BROTHER OF DANIEL ROBINSON: We shouldn't have to depend on other stories or other cases to push our own story.

And I'm just -- I just want -- we just want to answer just like anyone else. I think our -- my brother or everyone else's brother or father, siblings, whoever they may be, they deserve the same attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: He's right here.

If you or someone you know has any information about Daniel's disappearance, please call or text 803-200-7994 or visit pleasehelpfindDaniel.com.

CAMEROTA: Let's hope national attention can get them some answers.

The not knowing, I have always heard families say, is the worst.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: All right, meanwhile, the CDC is meeting right now on the safety and efficacy of those COVID booster shots. And their vote is imminent. We will tell you what to expect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:00]

BLACKWELL: The FDA has just authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine for the following groups.

Listen in, people 65 and older, people at high risk for severe disease and front-line workers. But that's not the final word on this.

CAMEROTA: No, not so fast, Victor.

In the next hour, the CDC's vaccine advisers will vote on whether to recommend the use of those boosters. And if the CDC director signs off, those eligible groups that Victor just outlined could start getting the booster shots right away.

The U.S. is finally seeing the rate of new cases come down. But deaths are at a six-month high, more than 2,000 people a day.

CNN's Nick Watt has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine could be rolled out widely within hours, because studies show the protection from two doses against infection does wane over time.

CDC advisers right now discussing exactly who they think should get them. The FDA just authorized that third shot at least six months after the second for anyone at high risk of severe disease, people with jobs that put them at risk of infection, and for everyone age 65 and up.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think it's reasonable to start the roll out with them, and then to -- as more evidence comes in, also to recommend boosters for the entire population.

WATT: Meantime, the rate of first doses going into arms lowest it's been in a couple of months. While that key metric falls, another one rises, COVID cases in kids. Still, here's an anti-masks-in-schools argument from a guy in Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1930s Germany has many similarities here. They censored everybody. They censured everybody. And all the people went with the government.

WATT: The board extended their mask requirement anyway. And in Florida, the governor has a new Mini-Me surgeon general.

DR. JOSEPH LADAPO, FLORIDA SURGEON GENERAL: Florida will completely reject fear as a way of making policies in public health.

WATT: They just tweaked their guidelines. Now, after a close contact with a COVID case, asymptomatic kids can stay in school. Half of people infected with COVID are asymptomatic and just as infectious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have modified our policy to meet the new surgeon general's decision tree. So if parents don't want their children to go home that are otherwise healthy, we keep them in school.

WATT: Nationwide, the average daily COVID-19 case count is falling, now that Delta has done its worst in the South. But...

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: You're going to see the Delta variant course its way through different parts of the country. Now, that said, this is probably the last major wave of infection to sweep the nation, barring something really unexpected happening where you get a variant that pierces the immunity that we have from vaccination and from prior infection.

WATT: Maybe this is the last major wave, but we're still in it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Now, those CDC advisers are scheduled to vote in almost exactly half-an-hour from now on those booster doses.

We have been listening to them for the past few hours