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Federal Judge Issues Temporary Injunction Preventing New York City From Enforcing Vaccination Mandate On All City School Workers; Thousands Of Haitian Migrants At Makeshift Camp Under Del Rio, Texas, Bridge Removed; Progressive And Moderate Democrats In Congress Split Over $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill And Vote On Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill; Prince Andrew Formally Served In Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Filed In New York; Media Coverage Of Missing Persons Cases Like Gabby Petito Compared With Coverage Of Missing Minorities. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired September 25, 2021 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:00:50]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
This just in to CNN, a major blow to New York City teachers fighting for vaccine mandates. A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction preventing the city from enforcing the mandate on all city school workers. CNN's Alison Kosik joining me now from New York. Alison, what more are you learning?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's mandate requiring all teachers and school staff to provide proof that they've received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, it's on hold for now. It was supposed to go into effect Monday at midnight. A group of New York City educators won a temporary injunction against the city's teacher vaccine mandate that, once again, was set to go into effect on September 27th. But Department of Education officials are confident that the mandate will continue to be upheld.
A three-judge panel is reviewing their case on an expedited basis. In the meantime, the concern here was that thousands of New York City teachers, that they may not be in the classroom come Tuesday morning because they haven't been vaccinated against the coronavirus. There still stands about 10,000 New York City schoolteachers, they have yet to upload their proof that they've had their vaccination. And there was concern that schools wouldn't be properly staffed on Tuesday morning and that they wouldn't be safe.
Now, unions representing classroom teachers, principals, and supervisors said the mandate's introduction has been so poorly handled that many school employees would be suspended, and as I said, resulting in unsafe schools. We will continue to watch this one.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. So that's New York city. Meantime, on the national pictures, there's some, shall we call it encouraging news. Cases are slowing across the country. We're still in the middle of a pandemic, but with some of the cases slowing, and now that boosters are available for some people, how hopeful does everyone need to be?
KOSIK: Now we have boosters available for millions of Americans who are eligible for the third dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The booster shots are now greenlit by the FDA and the CDC for Americans who are 65 and over, for people 18 and up with certain underlying conditions, and adults at an increased risk of COVID because of their workplaces or institutional settings.
But getting more initial shots in arms, that really remains a high priority for the Biden administration. CDC Director Walensky actually split with her agency's vaccine advisers by recommending the third dose for people who are considered high risk.
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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: In a pandemic, we most often take steps with the intention to do the greatest good, even in an uncertain environment. And that is what I'm doing with these recommendations. I want to be clear. We will not boost our way out of this pandemic.
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KOSIK: The good news, according to new data from the CDC on Friday, 75 percent of the eligible population in the U.S. has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, Alison Kosik, thank you so much for that. We'll check back with you.
Meantime, new data from the CDC reinforces that there is some encouragement on the horizon, and that masks in schools, in fact, do work to stop the spread of COVID. One new study shows that schools with no mask rules are three-and-a-half times more likely to have an outbreak than schools that require masks. Despite that clear evidence, some parents still oppose mask mandates.
In Idaho, a school board meeting to discuss a temporary mask mandate was called off last night after an unruly large crowd gathered to protest it. Officials say about 100 people tried to participate, exceeding the meeting room's capacity. The protesters began banging on the doors, and police were even called in.
And then in Georgia, hospitals across the state are still struggling under a surge of COVID patients and the battle to keep them alive. It plays out on a daily basis. We have kind of a microcosm story for you right now in a small 25-bed hospital in south Georgia. In July, Dr. Jason Laney was fighting to keep one -- he's trying to keep all of his patients alive, but one in particular caught his attention, Greer Smith.
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Smith is the principal of the local high school and the father of two kids. He had become so sick with COVID that the only chance Dr. Laney had to save the principal was to get him a bed in a hospital perhaps in Atlanta or even nearby Savannah, Georgia, where they had life- saving equipment.
More than 30 patients have died of COVID at Dr. Laney's hospital, and he didn't want to see any more die. But Greer Smith wasn't going to be one of them. That was the hope of the doctor. And, in fact, Principal Greer Smith and his doctor, Dr. Jason Laney, are both with me now. So glad that you all can be together and to share this story.
But it really is an example of how tough this battle is for everybody who tests positive for COVID-19. So, Dr. Laney, take us through the series of events that unfolded. I gave kind of a little thumbnail sketch of what happened. But why did you feel like the only way this principal was going to get the best chance at trying to survive was to go to a hospital either in Atlanta or Savannah? And it ended up being in Atlanta, right?
DR. JASON LANEY, PHYSICIAN, JEFF DAVIS HOSPITAL: Correct.
WHITFIELD: How did you make that determination? How did you get the wheels in motion?
LANEY: So Mr. Smith was on 100 percent oxygen. He was having coughing spells, oxygen levels would drop to the 70s, and we were very uncomfortable how long it was taking to get back to normal. So I knew that he was going to need intubation, and I felt that this ECMO, which essentially will give a chance for his lungs to rest, was the best chance that he would have to stay alive. We don't offer that at our facility. We actually don't have any specialists in our hospitals, cardiologists or intensivists. So I felt we needed to get him moving.
So what had to happen was several nurses and myself called several facilities to look for a bed. I spoke -- we did get a bed that night, so I thought that's where we were going to go. But unfortunately, due to weather, we weren't able to fly him out that night. So the next morning, we were told to call back at 6:00 in the morning. But then, again, weather prevented us from doing that. So --
WHITFIELD: You worked really hard to make it happen. Yes, you sure did. You made a lot of phone calls, and finally you found some space at a hospital in Atlanta. And I wonder, Principal Smith, I know you were feeling absolutely horrible, but tell me why it was the case that you actually had to be convinced to go on a ventilator and that you would have to be relocated. What was going through your mind? What were you experiencing?
GREER SMITH, RECOVERED FROM COVID-19: I think the main thing going through my mind was the horror stories that basically once you go on the vent in the past, that that was kind of a death sentence, low chances of survival. And my main thing was I wasn't ready to leave my kids, I wasn't ready to leave my wife or my students at school. I just had an overwhelming desire to live overall.
WHITFIELD: Well, thank goodness, because the will to live is very meaningful in so many cases, right, Dr. Laney? And this is personal for you, too. You're a doctor in your town, but your son actually also attends Greer Smith's high school. So talk to me about kind of that personal tug that you had to try and make sure he would get the best help possible.
LANEY: Yes, this was very personal to me. The hardest part of this pandemic, especially in a small town, is typically we know just about everyone that walks through the doors. Everyone in the town knows Mr. Smith. He's very well respected in our community. We're friends with the same people. We are both little league football coaches, so we see each other out there.
My son talks very highly of Mr. Greer and loves him as a principal. So when the ER physician called me and said, hey, you need to get to the er, the principal of the high school is here and he's in bad shape, that was very hard on me. I do try to treat each patient like they're my own family member, and that day Greer was my brother, and nothing was going to stop me from getting what he needed.
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And just the whole process was an emotional roller coaster. We had a bed, and then couldn't get transport. Then we found another hospital, but then there was transport issues again. Then I was told that he wouldn't fit on the helicopter. And just ups and downs of trying to get him to what he needed was definitely an experience I'll never forget.
And when the helicopter finally took off, I hugged one of the nurses that was helping me get him off the ground. We hugged and Stephanie, Greer's wife, hugged. There were about 30 of us out there crying watching him leave.
WHITFIELD: Principal Greer, I know you were very grateful, there's such big love in such a small town, and you were able to get this kind of medical attention. So given your journey, what is your message, if you have one, to anyone or all about the seriousness of COVID-19, about getting vaccinated? What is your message?
SMITH: My message is it can get anybody. It's no respecter of persons. This virus can touch anybody, even if you think you're invincible. And it hadn't touched anyone in my family until it got me. But once it hit, you quickly realize that it is nothing to be trifled with, it's nothing to take lightly. And I urge anyone to get vaccinated.
I just know how bad this is, and thankfully we're in a faith-centered community and we have lots of love and prayers toward my family. And I'm so thankful that God used Dr. Laney and Dr. Dupont (ph) up in Northside to allow me to be healed. It's just nothing short of a miracle that I'm here. And so many people don't make it, and I'm just very blessed that I did. And I ask anybody who is on the fence about it to go ahead and take that step and get that vaccine so that your family can have you continue your life.
WHITFIELD: Well, so glad you got through it, Principal Greer Smith, and so glad that all of you embraced each other, Dr. Jason Laney, and were able to help each other out through trying and frightening times. Thanks to both of you, really appreciate it, and thank you for sharing your story with us.
SMITH: Thank you.
LANEY: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: And despite vaccinations, breakthrough cases remain a concern. On "The View," the television show "The View" yesterday, moments before Vice President Kamala Harris was about to be interviewed, two positive COVID tests involving Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro, throwing the whole show into a tailspin. Here now is CNN's Brian Todd.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On the popular ABC show "The View" on Friday, an awkward unscripted moment for co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro after an exclusive interview with Vice President Kamala Harris had been promoted.
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": We're back, and there seems to be something happening here that I'm not 100 percent aware of. Can someone please apprise me of the situation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need the two of you to step off for a second.
BEHAR OK, Ana and Sunny?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're going to bring them back later.
BEHAR: We'll tell you why.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More information later. It's a tease.
TODD: As Hostin and Navarro made their way off the set, more awkwardness.
BEHAR: Shall I introduce the vice president?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BEHAR: OK, so vice president --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
BEHAR: No, OK. Shall we dance? Let's do a tap dance.
TODD: Another commercial break, then host Joy Behar returned with the news.
BEHAR: So since this is going to be a major news story any minute now, what happened is that Sunny and Ana both apparently tested positive for COVID. No matter how hard we try, these things happen. They probably have a breakthrough case and they'll be OK, I'm sure, because they're both vaccinated.
TODD: The vice president didn't appear until a half-hour later in the very last segment of the show. She appeared remotely, and she was on for less than eight minutes.
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sunny and Ana are strong women, and I know they're fine.
TODD: CNN's Brian Stelter reports "The View's" hosts are usually tested for COVID twice a week, but they were tested an extra time this week because of the vice president's arrival. A White House official says Vice President Harris, who has received two doses of the Moderna vaccine, did not interact with Sunny Hostin or Ana Navarro before the show. But one medical expert says this could have been a close call for the vice president and speaks to the risks she and the president often face.
DR. SAJU MATTHEW, PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN: Any time you are surrounded by so many people from so many parts of the country on a daily basis, you are potentially exposed to that virus every single time.
TODD: And Dr. Saju Matthew is critical of how the show handled this.
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MATTHEW: I think the ball was dropped somewhere. Why did these anchors not know about their test before the show began? Especially on a day when year interviewing Vice President Harris.
TODD: Those were among questions we posed to publicists for "The View" in emails and phone messages. When were the tests done? Why did the hosts not learn about the results until the show was on the air live? Was there a breakdown in communication? The publicists haven't gotten back with us, nor has Sunny Hostin.
I did reach Ana Navarro, who is also a CNN political commentator. She's told me that she's shocked by this, that she feels great, that she's really glad the vice president is safe. Two sources have since told CNN's Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy that both Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin have subsequently tested negative for COVID twice since Friday morning.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WHITFIELD: Still ahead, some of the migrants who were living under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, have been sent back to Haiti and back to the very issues that caused them to make the long journey to the U.S. to begin with.
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WHITFIELD: This just in to CNN, the Del Rio, Texas, port of entry will reopen this afternoon. Border agents have now cleared out the last remaining migrants from a makeshift campsite under a bridge at that crossing. CNN's Rosa Flores is in Del Rio for us. So Rosa, give us the latest.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, I've been here for more than a week. I saw those first tents go up and the number of migrants swell to at times 15,000. As the number of migrants started decreasing, that's when we started seeing heavy equipment roll in. By Friday, that entire migrant camp had been levelled.
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FLORES: The migrant camp in Del Rio, Texas where at one point more than 15,000 migrants waited in squalor to get processed by U.S. immigration authorities closed Friday.
MAYOR BRUNO LOZANO, DEL RIO, TEXAS: As of right now, there were zero persons under the bridge.
FLORES: CNN drones capturing some of the last migrants being loaded onto buses. They appeared to be single adults, their hands zip-tied, their bodies patted down. Today, the president vowing there will be consequences following the controversial images of Border Patrol agents on horseback using aggressive tactics.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was horrible what to see, as you saw, to see people treated like they did, horses running them over, people being strapped, it's outrageous. I promise you those people will pay.
FLORES: According to DHS, more than 1,900 Haitian nationals have been returned to Haiti, around 3,900 are in Customs and Border Protection custody, about 1,600 have been released in Del Rio, according to a local nonprofit.
That's where we met Reginald (ph) Fefe (ph). He spent a week under the bridge with his family.
How is it to be there with an infant?
He says his daughter got sick due to cold morning wind and the dust. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas saying that a small percentage of migrants are being allowed to stay.
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: If, in fact, they make a valid claim to remain in the United States, then of course we honor that.
FLORES: Jean Wilvens says he waited under the bridge a week. His number in line, 10,825. It was finally called Thursday.
Why did you leave Haiti?
He says he left Haiti because it is very tough there. And he says imagine they assassinated our president. What safety could he have?
Vice President Harris, who was tasked with examining the root causes of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border, was asked if all deportations of Haitians should be halted.
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I feel very strongly, the president feels strongly, we have got to do more. FLORES: And now a new problem. Immigration processing facilities are
overcapacity.
MAYORKAS: Just over 5,000 are being processed by DHS to determine whether they will be expelled or placed in immigration removal proceedings.
FLORES: Our cameras capturing in the past week a free flow of migrants from Mexico into the U.S. and the swelling of a migrant camp in Texas that resembled the third world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you take responsibility for chaos that's unfolding?
BIDEN: Of course I take responsibility. I am president.
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FLORES: The Del Rio International Bridge is scheduled to reopen today at 4:00 p.m. local time for vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Cargo traffic is expected to resume on Monday. And Fred, this bridge was closed on September 17th as the number of migrants that were crossing into the U.S. and that were going to the migrant camp kept rising. Fred?
WHITFIELD: Rosa Flores in Del Rio, Texas, thank you so much.
Still ahead, President Biden's domestic agenda hanging in limbo, and it's the deep divisions in his own party threatening to derail his top goals.
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WHITFIELD: Now to Capitol Hill where a divide among Democrats is threatening to derail President Biden's domestic agenda. Sources telling CNN the House Democratic Conference will hold a critical caucus meeting on Monday. This comes as Speaker Nancy Pelosi weighs options on a path forward on Biden's massive spending legislation and the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joining us now from Capitol Hill where Democrats are meeting right now. So Sunlen, what more do we know about these talks?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Fred, there's no progress yet, no agreement yet, and that is why lawmakers behind closed doors right now are meeting to try to break this logjam. And that issue is this stalemate within the Democratic Party on the House of Representatives side that has existed for quite some time.
You have House progressives who say they will potentially tank the vote Monday on the infrastructure bill, they will not vote for it unless they first see an agreement on the broader economic plan, that social spending bill, that $3.5 trillion bill. And there is no agreement to that bill, not even a top line dollar figure with the Senate. So that is still a huge outstanding thing.
Now, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, she says it's her intention to bring both bills up for a vote next week, but that has already set off House progressives here. They say if there's a vote on infrastructure on Monday, they say that will only make things worse within the party. Just check out this language within the House Democrats.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaker Pelosi, will the vote still happen for sure on Monday on the infrastructure bill?
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NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: The bill will come up on Monday.
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL, (D-WA): I don't think the vote is going to happen, because I don't think the speaker is going to bring a bill to the floor that's going to fail. And we still have -- and actually the number is growing, but we have at least 50 people who are not going to vote for that bill. So I think what we need is to take the temperature down a little bit, to have the negotiations continue. The vote is going to drive up tensions, not drive down tensions.
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SERFATY: Now, at this moment up here on Capitol Hill, the Budget Committee is holding a very rare Saturday session. It is virtual, but it is under way at this moment. And they are marking up that broad economic bill. This is in essence a way for them to show the progressives, appease the progressives, showing that they're making some forward movement on that broader economic bill, the bill that still does not have many parts of that agreed to, so that certainly is notable.
This certainly a very critical time up here on the Hill, Fred, going into a huge week next week when you also have the debt ceiling needing to be attended to. So there's a lot going into Monday when the House Democrats at 5:30 p.m. eastern will gather and huddle, get a temperature from their caucus and what the direction is on so many of these issues when right now it's still very unclear.
WHITFIELD: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, keep us posted from Capitol Hill when you can.
Straight ahead, a new chapter in the civil sex assault lawsuit against Prince Andrew.
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WHITFIELD: Attorneys for Prince Andrew are now acknowledging that he has been formally served in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed in New York. CNN royal correspondent Max Foster joining me from Hampshire, England. So, Max, what can you tell us about any details in this? MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: I have to say it's a real
breakthrough for the accuser here, Virginia Giuffre. Her lawyers have been trying to serve papers on Prince Andrew for some time, trying to get him engaged in this entire case, really, for some time. And finally, he acknowledges he has been served. So that's a big breakthrough.
He has got a U.S. lawyer. That lawyer was served his papers, and both sides have now signed the piece of paper, effectively saying they acknowledge that has happened. It has to be signed by the judge, but this does look as though it allows this trial to continue.
So a big moment for Virginia Giuffre. Technically that means that Prince Andrew's side have got to respond by the 29th of October. If they don't respond he could face a default judgment of some kind. We don't know how he's going to respond. He could say that this case doesn't have any legitimacy under U.K. law. There's lots of things he can challenge here, but it does allow this trial to proceed, which is what Virginia Giuffre wants.
Let's have a look at what he's actually accused of here. So he's accused by her of sexual assault. She alleges that Prince Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 in three different locations, including London and New York, and she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew hasn't responded formally in this case. What he has done in the past is deny all the similar allegations he's heard from Giuffre.
WHITFIELD: Max Foster, thank you so much. Keep us updated.
In these new tales about the control and monitoring of singer Britney Spears coming to light in a new documentary by "The New York Times." It's called "Controlling Britney Spears" and it was released on Friday. And in it, one of the former members of her security firm reveals that Spears' phone calls, texts, and even private conversations taking place in her own bedroom were being bugged by her father, and all of it being recorded. Spears' life and her struggle to break out of her conservatorship are part of the CNN Special Report "Toxic, Britney Spears' Battle for Freedom".
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RONAN FARROW, CONTRIBUTING REPORTER, "THE NEW YORKER": There were frantic texts being exchanged by prominent people within her management and her team debating what was going to happen and what to do about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Britney actually went to the police station by her house hours before the hearing and spoke to 911 dispatchers from a lobby phone, reporting herself a victim of conservatorship abuse. Shortly after, officers met with Britney at her home.
FARROW: There was a concerted effort to create a record of her complaints. And she wanted to begin to establish that she believed that something illegal was happening here. And indeed that is what she said the next day, that she felt people involved in maintaining this conservatorship should go to jail.
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WHITFIELD: Don't miss "Toxic" tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.
And we'll be right back.
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WHITFIELD: This just in to CNN. There is now a $30,000 reward to anyone with information leading to Brian Laundrie. A manhunt is under way for Laundrie, the fiance of Gabby Petito, who was found dead in the Grand Teton National Park earlier this week. A source tells CNN Laundrie left his parents' home last Thursday without his cell phone and without his wallet, and his parents were concerned that he might hurt himself.
A search for Laundrie is under way at a national reserve near Sarasota, Florida, where his parents believe he may have gone, at least that's what they told investigators. And as this case continues to gain national coverage, many minority families are voicing frustration with the lack of response to reports that their loved ones are missing. Some taking matters into their own hands to get their cases into the public eye.
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Here now is CNN's Adrienne Broaddus.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: JonBenet Ramsey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Natalee Holloway vanished in Aruba.
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Murdered or missing white women and children who captured national media attention. The most recent --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still on the hunt for Gabby Petito's fiance.
BROADDUS: Gabby Petito found dead in Wyoming eight days after she was reported missing. In Chicago, Karen Phillips is fighting to make sure the world knows her daughter, Kierra Coles, a mail carrier missing for almost three years.
KAREN PHILLIPS, DAUGHTER MISSING SINCE 2018: I believe that if Kierra was a different color, we would have more results about now.
BROADDUS: This photo of Coles holding an ultrasound after learning she was pregnant is one of the last pictures taken of her in 2018.
PHILLIPS: We couldn't wait. We could not wait.
BROADDUS: Phillips is among dozens of black and minority families struggling to get attention on their missing person cases.
PHILLIPS: I just miss her. She was doing so good in everything she wanted to do. And then for her to just come up missing.
ZACH SOMMERS, CRIMINOLOGIST: There are thousands of cases out there of folks who have gone missing that we don't know about.
BROADDUS: Zach Sommers, a criminologist specializing in missing persons cases, says only a fraction of minority cases receive nonstop news coverage compared to white people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If there's a missing white woman, we're going to cover that every did.
BROADDUS: A systemic issue the late long time anchor Gwen Ifill coined missing white woman syndrome in 2004.
SOMMERS: Missing white woman syndrome is the idea that young white girls and white women, they get much more news coverage than other folks of different demographics when they go missing.
BROADDUS: According to 2020 FBI data, blacks only make up 13 percent of the U.S. population. They account for nearly a third of the missing persons cases in the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you see her, tell her we love her.
BROADDUS: In Washington state, Mary Johnson's family is still waiting for answers. Johnson went missing late last year from the Tulalip Reservation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's a native American woman. Sorry, I'm not racist or anything, but she deserves the same treatment.
BROADDUS: Online, black and brown families are using hashtag Gabby Petito to post about their missing loved ones, hoping to gain momentum, a move that helped the family of Daniel Robinson raise awareness. Robinson went missing in June.
ROGER HAWLEY-ROBINSON, BROTHER MISSING SINCE JUNE: We shouldn't have to depend on other stories or other cases to push our own story. And I just want -- we just want answers just like anyone else.
BROADDUS: Those families also saying they didn't get the same allocation of resources or treatment from law enforcement.
SOMMERS: There's data that suggests that when people of color go missing, especially young adults, teenagers, adolescents, that they're more likely to be classified as runaways by police, they're more likely to be considered missing of their own accord, by voluntary means.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do we balance the coverage? SOMMERS: No one is saying gabby isn't worthy of coverage. It doesn't
have to be Gabby Petito or someone else gets coverage. The same spotlight should be getting shone on both of them.
BROADDUS: Today Phillips should be celebrating her daughter's 29th birthday. Instead, she made flyers with the message "Find Kierra Coles."
PHILLIPS: What can we really do about it other than to try to keep her name out there, keep doing interviews, and hopefully one day somebody will just call in and just leave a tip. We grieve every day because we don't know where she is or what's going on.
BROADDUS: Adrienne Broaddus, CNN, Chicago.
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WHITFIELD: Up next, a sham election audit in Arizona delivers a major blow to former President Trump. We'll have more on the growing fallout next.
And this quick programming note. Join your favorite anchors for a special night as we spotlight everyday people changing the world for the better. "Champions for Change" airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Join your favorite CNN anchors for a special week.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Immigrants enrich our country, and they're proving it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sharing stories of change makers.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the most devastating and yet preventable issues of our day.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: He helps the defenseless learn to defend themselves.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Theater teaches courage, confidence, trust.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She saw a need, and every day she sets out to fulfill that need.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is using scuba diving for a better environment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is a trailblazing black woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Preserving the ocean for our children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Empowering women for financial independence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one should drown because they don't know how to swim.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Small steps can lead to a big impact.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are hope can help kids in school and beyond.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is a champion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is a champion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Champions for Change, tonight at 8:00 on CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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WHITFIELD: All right, when Paul Fronczak was a young boy, he discovered he had been kidnapped as a newborn and then reunited with his family nearly two years later, or so he thought. As an adult he discovered that everything he thought he knew about himself was a lie. And now the new CNN film "The Lost Sons" takes a look at this remarkable story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
[14:55:18]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just remember when he said it. I was like, oh, my gosh. I said are you OK? How do you feel? Do you want me to come there right now? He said I don't know what to think. I don't know what to feel. But he was upset, but yet masking it, I could tell. He's like, I can't believe it. He's like, I'm not the real Paul Fronczak. I don't know my birthday. He's like, I don't even know where I was born or who my parents are. He's like, I have no idea. I don't even know how old I am. I was, like, wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Wow, what a mystery. Joining us now, CeCe Moore. She is a DNA investigator and the chief genetic genealogist for Parabon NanoLabs, and she played a key role in helping Paul Fronczak untangle the mystery of his past. So good to see you, CeCe.
CECE MOORE, GENETIC GENEALOGIST: Thank you for having me.
WHITFIELD: So before we dive into his story, tell us what a DNA detective is and what you do. MOORE: I have the most amazing job. Genetic genealogy is a very
powerful tool. So there's quite a few applications. We can use it to solve family mysteries, identify long dead ancestors. We can also use it to help adoptees and people of unknown parentage identify their biological families. And in the last few years I have been using it to help law enforcement identify unknown violent criminals like rapists, serial killers, and also to identify the many unidentified deceased people in the United States.
WHITFIELD: Wow. You are tasked with a lot. OK, so now, how did you get involved in Paul's case, and how did you help put it together?
MOORE: Well, way back in 2012, I learned about his case. And I reached out to him. But I think he was inundated with messages at that point. So in 2014, I was working with a television series that was interested in working with him. And they asked if I might be able to help him find his biological heritage. And so that's how I first got involved. It took about a year and a half of reverse engineering his identity from the family trees of the people who share DNA with him.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And so in the film you say that people don't necessarily have a right to a relationship with their biological family, but they do have a birthright to the knowledge of their heritage. So it sounds like that's -- from that direction is how you went at Paul's case.
MOORE: Yes, as a genealogist, I strongly believe everyone has an equal right to learn about their genetic heritage. Of course, that doesn't mean you can force anyone or depend on anyone to have a relationship with their new family members.
But I do feel it is a birthright to be able to investigate that. Many people have a yearning to learn about that. In my DNA detectives Facebook group, we've had hundreds of thousands who have joined and learned to use their own DNA to resolve their own family mysteries and their identity questions.
WHITFIELD: Yearning, yes, that's a good word on that. So how do you suppose this story is going to inspire other people about getting to know more about their family histories or making some new covers altogether themselves?
MOORE: Well, I don't want to give away too much, but I do believe that many people will find hope through Paul's story. And I hope that the families of missing children are encouraged to put their DNA in the commercial DNA testing data bases because I do believe that there are many children out there that were kidnapped in order to be raised or sold and not killed. And there are probably many, many, many of those people out there not realizing their true identities.
WHITFIELD: Wow, really fascinating. I cannot wait to what. CeCe Moore, thank you so much for being with us, appreciate it.
MOORE: Thank you for having me.
WHITFIELD: And of course, everyone, you can catch the all new CNN film "The Lost Sons" tomorrow only on CNN.
And thank you so much for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Phil Mattingly right now.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Phil Mattingly in Washington. Jim Acosta is off today.
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