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Interview With Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV); Amtrak Train Derails In Remote Part Of Montana, Killing At least Three; Booster Shots Now Available For Elderly And People At High Risk. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 26, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's first G7 Summit in 2018. President Trump sitting there with Angela Merkel across from him seemingly be trying to talk to him.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Who can forget.

PLEITGEN: And one of the things that it just seems to personify was President Trump negating multiple multilateralism while Angela Merkel was trying to advocate for it.

WHITFIELD: Right. That picture said a lot and she was leaning in all the way.

All right, Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much, in Berlin. We'll check back with you throughout the day and evening.

[15:00:29]

All right. Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We're entering a make or break week for President Biden's domestic agenda, but already today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi conceded she doesn't yet have the votes to pass a bipartisan trillion dollar infrastructure bill tomorrow as promised. But Pelosi says she is confident Democrats will pass that bill sometime this week along with the President's massive $3.5 trillion reconciliation budget bill.

We have a team of correspondents covering this for us. Arlette Saenz at the White House. Let's begin with Melanie Zanona on Capitol Hill.

So Melanie, this could be a consequential week for the Democrats. What are they doing today?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: That's right. That's right. I mean, it's not just a consequential week for Democrats politically, it is also a consequential week for the economy.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter over the weekend that the House must pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the massive economic package, as well as a bill to fund the government because government funding of course runs out on Thursday at midnight. But it is not clear that Democrats have the votes to pass either of their priorities.

Just take a listen to what some of the key players had to say this morning about that bipartisan infrastructure bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Let me just say we're going to pass the bill this week. I promised that we would bring the bill to the floor that was according to the language that those who wanted this brought to the floor tomorrow wrote into the rule, we will bring the bill to the floor tomorrow for consideration.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): I don't believe there will be a vote. I mean, the Speaker --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: You don't think there is going to be a vote tomorrow?

JAYAPAL: I mean, the Speaker is an incredibly good vote counter and she knows exactly where her caucus stands and we've been really clear on that.

TAPPER: The votes aren't there. She's not going to votes get them.

JAYAPAL: The votes aren't there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZANONA: Clearly, Democrats are trying to protect a sense of calm and confidence and momentum, but it is hard to mask the reality on Capitol Hill, which is Democrats are in a real dilemma. That's because Pelosi promised a vote this week on bipartisan infrastructure bill. There's also a set of highway programs expiring on Thursday, which is also creating a sense of urgency.

But progressives have made clear, they are not willing to vote for that unless their work is done on the economic package. And there are a whole host of unresolved issues still from price tag to policy, and another part of the complicating factor is they don't want to put something on the floor that centrists in the Senate are going to pare back.

And so ultimately, this is going to come down to Speaker Nancy Pelosi essentially convincing these two warring wings of the Democratic Party to do a trust fall.

WHITFIELD: So Arlette, at the White House there, I mean, what kind of role is the President going to be playing this week in helping to get these bills across the finish line?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, President Biden will be returning here to the White House in just a few hours after spending the weekend at Camp David, and he is expected to remain engaged in these negotiations as he has done over the course of the past few weeks. Just before leaving the White House on Friday, the President spoke

with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer about the path forward for those two major packages, and they were expected to stay in contact over the course of the weekend.

Now, the President last week had hosted lawmakers, Democratic lawmakers here at the White House, moderates and progressives to hear their concerns and what they wanted to see coming out of these packages. We will see if the President decides to add more of those types of meetings as he returns back here to the White House.

Right now, we don't know very many public events at the start of his week, which could offer some opportunity for the President to really get in there and try to conduct those negotiations, as he's trying to -- and as leaders up on Capitol Hill are trying to find those room and areas of agreement between moderates and progressives.

But so much of the President's domestic agenda will hang and depend on what happens in the course of these next few days. There are major items that the President had promised during the presidential campaign like a universal pre-K, free community college, those are all things included in that larger spending package, and what the White House and Democrats are also really hoping for is that these two packages would allow them to show some tangible outcomes to Americans heading into those midterm elections in 2022.

So, a lot is at stake for the White House and the President who one has said that he can work in a bipartisan manner, but also right now is trying to keep that focus on keeping his Democrats united to get his agenda items across the finish line.

[15:05:02]

WHITFIELD: All right, it's going to be a tenuous week. Thank you so much, Arlette Saenz and Melanie Zanona, appreciate it.

All right, so with me now is Democratic Congressman Steven Horsford of Nevada. Congressman, so good to see you.

So you are a member of the Budget Committee and voted yesterday to pass the President's $3.5 trillion social spending bill. And today Speaker Pelosi said it's, quote, "self-evident" that the price tag of that bill will be smaller.

As a member of the Progressive Caucus, do you believe your colleagues will support a smaller bill? How much are you willing to cut?

REP. STEVEN HORSFORD (D-NV): Well, Fredricka, thank you for having me on, and it's really important that the American people know what is contained in this Build Back Better Act.

We are about to deliver historic cuts for middle class families, create millions of good paying jobs, as well as pass legislation to lower healthcare costs, and to finally mandate that Medicare negotiate for lower prescription drug, something that seniors have been calling for, for a long time, and I'm proud to be working on this bill. My colleagues and I worked seven hours yesterday to pass the package

out of the Budget Committee, prior to that in the Ways and Means Committee, and we are going to deliver both the bipartisan infrastructure bill, as well as the larger Build Back Better Act.

WHITFIELD: Why are you so confident that you'll have the votes this week when thus far, we've heard from the House Speaker and others who say you don't have the votes tomorrow?

What's going to change this week in order to secure a victory for you?

HORSFORD: Well, we are on one team and we're going to come together because this is not about personalities in Washington. This is about what's important to the American people, the American family, American worker, American small businesses, and this is what Democrats do. We deliver for the American people, and I am confident in our leadership and in our members in doing the right thing to deliver for our constituents.

WHITFIELD: Okay, I hear your confidence, but what if you are not able to reach the consensus that you're looking for? How big of a failure might this be for both Democrats and for this White House?

HORSFORD: Well, failure is not an option, and actually, I think it's a false choice to consider one or the other. We're going to deliver both.

Now, the disagreement and the obstruction is not on our side, it is actually with Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans. He is literally whipping his members to vote against the bipartisan infrastructure Bill. Nineteen Senate Republicans voted on that package just a few weeks ago.

I joined President Biden and my colleagues in the Senate and in the House in a meeting earlier this week or last week at the White House, and we talked about how we, as Democrats will get this package over. It's not about --

WHITFIELD: Except it also sounds like between moderates and progressives, there is some infighting and disagreement.

HORSFORD: No, in fact, we are on one team, and we know that delivering for the American people is what is most important. As I said, those child tax cuts, that literally is a tax cut for the majority of American families, 92 percent of the families with children in my district in Nevada's fourth benefit from that tax break. Universal pre-K education, paid leave, reducing prescription drug cost, enacting climate action. These are the bills that members are going to have the opportunity to vote for this week, and we are going to get this done.

We are not chasing an arbitrary deadline or an arbitrary number, we are going to work and deliver for the American people.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hey, let me ask you also about what many are considering a real defeat. You know, this bipartisan Police Reform Bill has apparently fallen apart, at least for now. There was momentum for change following the death of George Floyd and today, there was a lot of finger pointing coming from the measures leading Democrat and Republican about who and what is to blame for this failure. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): We have about a billion dollars in grant money that goes to police. When you start saying in order to receive those dollars, you must do A, B, and C, and if you don't do A, B, and C, you literally lose eligibility for the two major pots of money, the burn grants and the cop grants.

When you tell local law enforcement agencies that you are in eligible for money, that's defunding police, there's no way to spin that.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Again, it is unfortunate. You remember on this saga, we got the head of the FOP, the Director of FOP, IACP these are some of the biggest unions in law enforcement agencies to go with us on a lot of commonsense reforms and those folks don't want to defund the police.

This is a bill that would have had millions of dollars for police departments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:10:08]

WHITFIELD: So, are we to understand that this reform proposal failed because of proposed consequences of bad policing or what some are saying would be accountability versus the definition of defunding police.

HORSFORD: You know, I'm really disappointed in Senator Scott. I actually participated as a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus in several meetings with him on the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, and at no point in any conversation that I was in that the conversation about defunding the police ever come up. Why, Fredricka? Because I nor many of my colleagues support defunding the police.

What we are calling for is accountability in our law enforcement systems and departments across this country. Now, I want to make this absolutely clear, and I spoke to our Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Joyce Beatty, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Senator Cory Booker, we are not done. The George Floyd Justice and Policing Bill is very much alive. We will continue to work because lives depend on it.

WHITFIELD: How do you see regaining footing on that? And does it mean the participants will change?

HORSFORD: Well, what we are going to do first and foremost is look at the executive orders that were passed in the previous administration. Senator Scott wants to talk about requirements that law enforcement has to meet in order to receive Federal funding. That was a policy under the Trump administration.

So Senator Scott saying that he didn't support Trump's policies on police accountability that he adopted? If so, then let's have that debate and let's have that conversation. But George Floyd Justice and Policing is very much alive. The Congressional Black Caucus, which is 57 members strong will call for the passage of that legislation. Lives depend on it and we are not done.

WHITFIELD: Congressman Steven Horsford, thank you so much, and as we here are talking about this police reform effort that really was galvanized as a result of George Floyd and his killing at the hands of police officers, as we're talking, now the unveiling of a mural in his honor there in Houston, Texas. Texas was home for him even though he had relocated to Minneapolis and that's where he died.

Thank you so much, Congressman. Appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:03]

WHITFIELD: All right, three people are dead and seven remain hospitalized after a train derailment in a small town in Montana. More than 140 passengers and about a dozen crew members were on the Amtrak train at the time of the accident.

CNN's Natasha Chen, joining me now with more on this -- Natasha.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred that seven in the hospital, we just confirmed in the last hour or so that two of them are in a hospital in Kalispell, Montana. That's in addition to the five we originally heard about in Great Falls, Montana. So seven in the hospital.

A Liberty County Emergency Management official did say during a press conference this morning that most people were treated and released, and that's good news. She also spent some time talking about the incredible work done by the citizens in the area. Keep in mind, this is a county of fewer than 3,000 people. She said one person from another county even stopped when he simply made a wrong turn and saw this accident, stopped the car and got out to help.

Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH ROBBIN, DISASTER AND EMERGENCY SERVICES COORDINATOR, LIBERTY COUNTY, MONTANA: So it's -- I mean, amazing, the turnout, just the community in general helping everyone. There were even citizens that helped get people out of, you know, and get them to where they needed to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: We also heard from a passenger who was in one of the front sleeper cars. Her car did not derail, but she described that shock when people got outside and saw how serious this was. She said there was also a lot of concern from some people in the sleeper cars who had loved ones sitting in other parts of the train.

We've now also been in touch with N.T.S.B., they tell us that their investigators are all on their way to this area near Joplin, Montana, and should be there by tonight, Fred. So, there are still a lot of questions here about what exactly happened and be keeping track, of course, on how those hospitalized people are doing.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Natasha Chan.

All right, coming up, what New York hospitals and officials are doing to keep their systems up and running as they prepare for healthcare workers shortages over a vaccine mandate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:23:37]

WHITFIELD: All right, some young children may be one step closer to getting vaccinated. Pfizer's CEO says the company is set to apply for F.D.A. authorization for use of its COVID shot in five to 11-year-olds within days.

CNN's Amara Walker explains the push to get vaccines in arms.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Right now, three quarters of eligible Americans have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and millions are now able to get booster shots if they took the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at least six months ago and fall into one of these three high risk groups.

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: Number one, you are 65 or older. Number two, you have a medical condition that puts you at higher risk of severe illness with COVID. And these conditions include obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, and others.

And number three, you work or live in a setting where you're at increased risk of exposure to COVID.

WALKER (voice over): But as some are heading in for their third shots, there are still more than 70 million Americans who haven't even gotten there first, and medical experts say COVID isn't going to go away with that many people unprotected.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: I want to be clear, we will not boost our way out of this pandemic.

WALKER (voice over): Right now, New York State is bracing for a potential nightmare scenario on Tuesday morning with massive staffing shortages possible at hospitals and long-term care facilities after a Monday deadline passes for medical workers to get at least one vaccine dose. Governor Kathy Hochul says she is prepared to declare a state of

emergency, which would allow New York to bring in medical workers from other states and countries to fill the gap.

[15:25:18]

WALKER (voice over): And New York City School System is waiting to see how a vaccine mandate will play out there. A Federal Court issued an injunction Friday night against the measure, which would have required all teachers to provide proof of at least one shot by Monday.

The city's Department of Education says the court's ruling puts students at risk, but a teachers union is celebrating the delays, saying it gives the city's mayor and education officials' time to come up with a plan to handle the expected staff vacancies the mandate would create.

And New York City's Police Commissioner is pushing everyone in the NYPD to get the shot pointing out that eight members of the force are hospitalized with COVID-19, some in critical condition, and all of them, unvaccinated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Amara Walker, thank you so much for that.

All right, and as a mom, it's not hard to ask yourself: Are my kids listening to me? I do know the answer that would for me. Well one, Las Vegas mother has photographic proof. This is first grader, amazing people, who made sure that he kept his mask on for picture day. He even picked out one that would match his favorite shirt and then practice his smile at home under that mask.

Well, masks are required at his elementary school and when the photographer told Mason it would be okay to take it off for the picture. Mason said, "No, thank you. My mom says I should only take it off to eat."

Well, his mom set up a GoFundMe page with a modest $7.00 goal in order to get him a treat. But guess what? It already surpassed $20,000.00. So, his mom says it will now go to his college fund.

Mom also said that even with the mask on, she can still see that determined face and that twinkle in his eyes. What a cutie.

All right, well, still ahead, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a key factor in the fate of President Biden's agenda. Well next, I'll talk with someone who knows firsthand how Manchin operates and what motivates his vote.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:00]

WHITFIELD: He is the Democratic lawmaker who seems to always be in the headlines. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, recent newspaper headlines criticize his motives and lay out his impact after he called for a pause on President Biden's $3.5 trillion agenda. Well, it's all coming to a head now as Congress faces a daunting agenda this week with Democrats weighing options on moving forward with the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the massive spending bill and a deadline to raise the debt ceiling as a government shutdown looms.

Joe Manchin remains a linchpin in these negotiations.

Joining me right now is Chris Regan, former Vice Chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party. Thanks so much for being with us. Good to see you.

We've been longing to talk to you for a long time ever since you wrote a piece in "The Atlantic" called "What the media are missing about Joe Manchin" where you explain that Manchin's political style, you know, goes back to his time as governor. But as a senator, he is receiving a lot of criticism from Members in Congress who say, you know, he just seems to produce one obstacle after another. What do people need to know about his style?

CHRISTOPHER REGAN, FORMER VICE CHAIRMAN, WEST VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, thank you for having me on, Fredricka. I really appreciate it. It's nice to be here, and I think you point exactly the right direction to judge what Joe Manchin is going to do next, you want to look at his past. And throughout his gubernatorial career, he always strove to position himself as a problem solver and as a consensus builder and as somebody who is as a leader, and has a big train of people following him going in for wins, big legislative wins.

So the role that has been cast for him lately, of perhaps being the lone vote against the President's whole agenda is a very uncomfortable position for him, and it is why in that piece back in the springtime, I felt very comfortable projecting that he would vote for the American Rescue Plan, you know, President Biden's signature piece of legislation coming in the door.

And it's why I think there's a very, very strong probability that he is going to be brought around to vote for the large budget package that represents the rest of the Biden agenda.

WHITFIELD: Well, you say it's uncomfortable for him, but he singularly has poised himself for that position, right?

REGAN: Well, I mean, he certainly has because he has taken notice of how West Virginia has now become a 70 percent, you know, Trump state, voting almost 70 percent for Trump in the last election.

And so, you know, to be seen as somebody who's an easy get for the Democratic agenda, I think is an obvious danger signal to him. So, it's pushed him into this position of constantly saying, well, maybe this is too much money. Maybe this isn't targeted just the right way. But both of those were things he said about the American Rescue Plan, and of course, he eventually voted for it.

So I think, he is more out there to have his vote gotten with the perception being the way he wants it rather than to, you know torpedo the whole Biden agenda.

[15:35:04]

WHITFIELD: So listen to what Senator Manchin told our Manu Raju on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): We don't know what they're talking about.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What's the next step here?

MANCHIN: I think -- let me tell you, I think they are very positive meetings. So I think the President is committed to getting things done, we're all working with what he is trying to, find a pathway forward.

WHITFIELD: All right, so he doesn't give anything away. He says they're going to work together. But then he turns around and says, the things he won't give in on, so how does anyone interpret that?

REGAN: Well, I think he's going to continue to negotiate behind the scenes for some types of concessions that he can get to point to, to say, I trimmed the sails a little bit here, or I cut a little bit there.

But at the end of the day, he wants to be associated with a success and with things that are very popular, and most of the things that are in the plan are popular in West Virginia, even if President Biden is not himself popular.

So he's going to want to look for some things that he can highlight that are going to be good for West Virginia that he can come home and sell and say, this is why I felt we had to do this.

But in the meantime --

WHITFIELD: I mean, some examples. I mean, his state stands to benefit from the energy spending, about $20 billion in a new power plant investment, a solar-wind energy storage and other clean energy projects, plus more than 3,500 new jobs in the industry, and an additional 4,000 plus manufacturing jobs.

REGAN: Well, exactly.

WHITFIELD: On the wind category.

REGAN: And don't forget the piece a week ago in "The New York Times" talking about how Manchin was heavily editing the climate sections of the $3.5 trillion package. If he is working on those provisions and being lobbied on them, it isn't because he thinks it isn't going to pass, it's because he thinks it is going to pass and he may want to scratch the back of some of his folks that had brought him along the way through his career. And if he is working on doing that, it's not because he knows he is

going to take the package out and have it not pass all together. It's because he knows eventually that is going to pass and he may want to put some things in there, but not all the Democrats are going to like, but it's not going to amount to we're not having this, the President will not get his budget.

That's very antithetical to who he was as a former chief executive. He's got a strong feeling that the chief executive as he was a Governor, the chief executive of West Virginia has to be able to get his budget through.

And so they're going to continue to do this same sort of dance they did with the rescue plan, but I do think he is coming through for it in the end.

WHITFIELD: All right, Christopher Regan, thanks so much for joining us. Please come back. I'm sure we can come up with a lot more to talk about as well.

REGAN: Well, it is great to be with you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much.

All right, let's talk overseas now as the Taliban entered Kabul last month, a cell phone app was providing Afghans with critical lifesaving information. CNN's Rachel Crane has that part of the story in today's "Mission Ahead."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL CRANE, CNN BUSINESS INNOVATIONS AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Since the Taliban took control of Kabul, residents of the city have been anxious to get information that can help keep them safe. Many have turned to Ehtesab, an Afghan created app that provides near real time safety information.

SARA WAHEDI, FOUNDER, EHTESAB: This app was not meant to respond to the fall of a country.

CRANE (voice over): Sara Wahedi is the founder of Ehtesab, which roughly translates to accountability. Wahedi started the project while living in Kabul in 2018 after she survived a suicide bombing.

WAHEDI: And I was really confused by the fact that there was no real time verified information on what was going on in the city, especially a city which is just consistently reeling with instability. And it just kind of sparked light bulbs in my head about what if we were able to create a platform which kept citizens informed, engaged, and at the same time, officials made accountable.

CRANE (voice over): Today, Wahedi's team consists of roughly 20 people who verify reports and locations of things like explosions, power outages, checkpoints, and dishonest gas prices, among other need to know information. That information then gets mapped out in the app.

WAHEDI: We try to mitigate as much anxiety in day-to-day Kabul life as best as we can in the current situation.

CRANE (voice over): Since the Taliban took control of Kabul, Wahedi says her team has seen a surge in downloads, and while the instability the Taliban have caused makes verifying reports harder for her team, they continue to keep Ehtesab updated.

WAHEDI: We've taken the situation at hand the best that we can with it, and the team doesn't want to stop. I've told them many times, this is your app, you take responsibility of it, and they said until we can, until they shut down the internet, we will keep doing this and that's what we've been doing.

CRANE (voice over): Rachel crane, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, America's top General is taking the stand publicly for the first time since the fall of Afghanistan. What lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hope to learn.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:03]

WHITFIELD: America's top General is set to face a grilling on Capitol Hill this week. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley will make his first public testimony Tuesday since the chaotic end to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan last month. He is also likely to face tough questions over his actions in the final days of the Trump administration, which are chronicled in the book "Peril."

It says Milley took secret action to ensure Trump couldn't go rogue with nuclear weapons. CNN's Arwa Damon is following developments from Turkey. Arwa, what are some of the key things that we expect to hear from Milley or that he will be asked?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Quite a number of them, Fredricka, that will be watched with what I can only assume is going to be a great level of interest not just in the United States, but around the world.

Among those key topics are calls that are said to have taken place between General Milley and the Chinese leadership, including the Chinese President, which included assurances that General Milley had given them over the fact that, you know, the Trump administration would not be launching some sort of an aggressive attack on China. And reportedly, if that were to take place that China would somehow be warned.

There will be a lot of questions as to what kind of context those conversations took place in and also what kind of pledges and assurances were actually made. When it comes to the issue of that nuclear button and Trump's potential and the great concerns that were circulating at the time of his administration that he could potentially go rogue in its use, General Milley reportedly asked subordinates to loop him in on any sort of conversation. And so, you know, within that context, within the context of

everything that happened in Afghanistan as well, there are surely going to be more questions despite others having been questioned as well as to what went wrong in Afghanistan, what should have been done differently to avoid the current situation that that country finds itself in.

WHITFIELD: And then, Arwa, we are also now seeing a new video out of Afghanistan, showing brutal actions by members of the Taliban, and we do want to warn people that you will find this video very disturbing.

DAMON: It is very disturbing, Fredricka, and so any viewers should turn away right now if they choose to do so.

So this video shows a man hanged in one of the main squares in the City of Herat, and according to the Taliban Deputy Governor of Herat, he is one of four individuals who are killed in a shooting, a shootout with the Taliban as the Taliban was launching a rescue operation to try to save a businessman and his son that these four men had kidnapped.

The video only shows one of these bodies, but the other three who were killed in that shootout, these kidnappers also had their bodies hung in other squares throughout the city. And this comes about a month after something similar took place in another part of the country in Mazar were four kidnappers also killed in a shootout, reportedly kidnappers who were targeting children, they had their bodies dumped in a major square.

And so all of this, really is a stark reminder of the way that the Taliban ruled 20 years ago, the way that they send out these kinds of brutal and gruesome messages trying to deter any similar crimes from taking place, but at the same time, sending a chilling -- very chilling notice to the entire population.

WHITFIELD: Yes, horrible acts, horrible methods of intimidation.

Arwa Damon in Istanbul, thank you so much.

And this quick programming note tonight, be sure to watch the new CNN film "The Lost Boys." Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): As a child, Paul Fronczak thought he knew who he was, but he did not. At the age of 10, he discovered a box full of old newspaper clippings in his house.

PAUL FRONCZAK: So I started reading it and said, Paul Joseph Fronczak kidnapped and I saw a picture of my mom and dad, and they looked really, really sad and heartbroken and distraught.

I said, "Mom, what is this? This is about me, right? What is this?" She said, "You were kidnapped. We found you. We love you. We'll never talk about that again."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): And they didn't, but Paul couldn't let it go. And years later, he embarked on a mission.

FRONCZAK: What really happened to me? That's what I needed to find out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): It all starts in Chicago, 1964. That's when Paul's mother gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.

[15:50:01]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As I was leaving, this woman walked in, she was dressed in white. I just thought, she is a nurse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): But she wasn't, and before anyone knew it, that baby was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A doctor came in. And he said, "Mrs. Fronczak, your baby has been taken."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Setting off a frantic search for the baby and that mysterious woman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She must have been desperate for a baby that she would come and take someone else's baby away from them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): But nothing. Then 15 months later, a toddler is found abandoned in a stroller on a sidewalk in Newark, New Jersey. When no one steps forward to claim the child, investigators start thinking maybe this could be the missing child from Chicago.

So they set up a meeting with the Fronczaks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They opened the door, and the mom said, "Oh my God, that's my baby."

And that should be the happy ending to the story, a family reunited -- or so they thought.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love my family, and I loved my family upbringing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): But Paul could never shake the feeling that he didn't belong, and when he became a father himself, questions about his family's medical history spurred him into action, asking his parents to take a DNA test.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's like, I can't believe that. He's like, "I am not the real Paul Fronczak." He is like, "I don't know my birthday." He is like, "I don't even know where I was born or who my parents are."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): And if you can believe it, that's really just the beginning.

CNN Film "The Lost Sons," is narrated by Paul Fronczak himself, opening incredible doors into his past and raising deep questions for all of us about what identity truly means.

FRONCZAK: But there's more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: But there is more. Be sure to tune in tonight, 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

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WHITFIELD: All right this week, Wednesday, a Los Angeles judge will review Britney Spears petition to end her 13-year conservatorship after her father's surprise petition to remove himself as conservator of her estate.

Well tonight, in a Special Report, CNN takes a look at Britney's battle for freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONAN FARROW, JOURNALIST: There were frantic texts being exchanged by prominent people within her management in her team debating what was going to happen and what to do about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Britney actually went to the police station near her house hours before the hearing and spoke to 9-1-1 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 you know, she felt people involved in maintaining this conservatorship should go to jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All so fascinating, joining me right now is CNN entertainment reporter, Chloe Melas. So Chloe, what was the most shocking thing to learn through people that you spoke to who know her?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Thank you so much for having me. Well, you know, I think that the first thing is, is that no one has really known the real story because Britney herself had not spoken for 13 years, and she finally broke her silence this summer in two incredibly emotional testimonies, Fredricka.

And I think that what you're going to hear tonight are people from her past who have never spoken before, who are you know, sort of risking it all to come out and tell us all what was the conservatorship like in the beginning and why they feel as though it's completely restrictive and oppressive, and why the judge should rule like you said on Wednesday to just get rid of it once and for all. WHITFIELD: Yes, I wonder if people felt like there was less of a risk

now that the dad himself has kind of said, all right, you know, I'll abandon ship. It's okay.

MELAS: I think maybe, yes, but we did a lot of these interviews before he filed that petition. So I would say it was actually really Britney's words on June 23rd, then subsequently on July 14th, and if you don't really exactly remember what she said, don't worry, we are going to walk you through all of that tonight, all of her bombshell claims that emboldened people, that made people say, you know what I want to support Britney, I want to show my love for her and showing my love for her is speaking my truth.

And I'm going to take you inside the Free Britney Movement as well, a fascinating group of individuals across the world who have banded together for one common thing and that's to support a woman that they love, that they feel as though they know and that they want to free.

WHITFIELD: Wow. It's an extraordinary story. It really is. And we're looking forward to the journey that you present tonight. Chloe Melas, thank you so much.

MELAS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And be sure to tune in for this special CNN report "Toxic." That's tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Thanks so much for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta right now.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington and it is do or die time for President Joe Biden's sweeping economic agenda. It could come apart at the seams as we go as Democrats face the potential implosion of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and Biden's much larger $3.5 trillion signature spending package.

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