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Setbacks Threaten To Derail Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill; Interview With Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) About Infrastructure Bill; Three Dead, Seven Hospitalized After Amtrak Derailment In Montana; Interview With Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) About Treatment Of Haitian Migrants; Memorial Service For Gabby Petito Underway In New York; Families Of Missing People Of Color Call For More Attention And Help. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 26, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

And it's do or die time for President Joe Biden's sweeping economic agenda. It could come apart at the seams as Democrats face the potential implosion of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, and Biden's much larger $3.5 trillion signature spending package. Tomorrow the House reaches its self-imposed deadline to act on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi conceded this morning that a vote might not happen on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): We will bring the bill to the floor tomorrow for consideration. But, you know, I'm never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn't have the votes.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The big hint there. So what's the problem? Progressive Democrats say they won't vote for the $1 trillion bill without passing the larger package, and if you're hoping for a last-minute shift on that, it's not looking good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): 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, too.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: The votes aren't there? She's not going to get --

JAYAPAL: The votes aren't there. So I just -- I don't think she's going to bring it up.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: For his part, President Biden had counted on making the case for his spending plan in these past few weeks. Instead he's been managing the fallout from crisis after crisis, Afghanistan, COVID spikes, the Border Patrol, natural disasters and a diplomatic meltdown on top of that with France. His approval ratings on the decline.

In the meantime, the administration's theme song of the month might be "Wake Me Up When September Ends," but October could bring more problems. This Thursday government funding expires at midnight which could trigger a partial government shutdown and by mid-October, if you can believe that, without congressional action, the U.S. could default on its debt for the first time ever, which has been described as, quote, "financial Armageddon."

CNN Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona joins me now.

Melanie, with progressive Democrats standing firm, I'm trying to figure out how Nancy Pelosi is going to thread the needle here.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. Well, essentially what Speaker Nancy Pelosi is going to have to do this week is convince the warring factions within her party to do a trust fall because progressives have made clear they will not vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill unless their work is complete on the economic package.

But it is really hard to imagine that bill is going to be ready for a floor vote this week because there is still a host of unresolved issues, from price tag to policy, and part of the problem here is that Democrats don't want to put something in the House floor that ultimately is going to be pared back or changed in the Senate. So they're trying to pre-negotiate everything. But Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin are in no rush to negotiate.

So, look, I think the strategy right now for Speaker Nancy Pelosi is to try to convince progressives that they are making serious headway on that economic bill. The House Budget Committee held a rare meeting yesterday to formally put this bill together even though changes still need to be made, and on top of that, Joe Biden asked moderates to come up with a price tag and a framework for what they're comfortable with.

So the big question now is whether that's enough to convince progressives. So far they're holding firm. But moderates think that ultimately when push comes to shove, that the majority of them are not going to be willing to sink a key priority of Biden's on the House floor. So I think regardless of what happens this week is going to be a huge test of Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden's leadership, and it is going to be a crucial week that will have massive economic and political consequences as well -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. Certainly, for that midterm election cycle, which is fast approaching.

Melanie Zanona, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

Let's bring in New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. He's the chair of the House Democratic Caucus and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Congressman, great to see you. Appreciate it so much. The chair of your progressive caucus said some 50 members will vote against the bipartisan infrastructure bill this week if the budget deal isn't also brought, that larger, much larger spending deal isn't also brought to the floor. What's your sense on that? Are you going to be joining your fellow progressives in balking if you don't get everything you want here?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, we're scheduled to have a caucus meeting tomorrow at 5:30, which will continue the family discussion that we've been having as to the best pathway forward to get both the bipartisan infrastructure agreement over the finish line along with the Build Back Better Act.

We've always maintained from the very beginning that they're going to proceed on parallel tracks because it's necessary both to fix our crumbling bridges, roads, tunnels, our airports, our mass transportation systems, our water and sewage system to ensure that everyone across the country has access to high-speed internet.

And at the same time make sure that we're lowering the cost of health care and child care, creating and preserving affordable housing, creating millions of good-paying jobs, ensuring that we are doing what is necessary to truly build back better, which is what President Joe Biden promised we would do.

ACOSTA: And Congressman, even if these two bills pass the House this week, the Senate is a whole other story as you know.

[16:05:05]

Do you think that the president needs to start throwing some weight around to get Senators Manchin and Sinema onboard with this?

JEFFRIES: Well, President Biden had several conversations with members of the House and the Senate last week. I would expect that those conversations will continue. And at the end of the day, I think we have shared priorities in terms of what is necessary to crush this virus while investing in everyday Americans, in working class folks, in middle class folks, and those who aspire to be part of the middle class, in our young people, in our seniors in terms of elder care, as well as certainly with the poor, the sick, and the afflicted.

That is what the Build Back Better Act is all about. And it's my understanding that both Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema share many of those priorities. We just have to figure out at the end of the day what shape they will ultimately take.

ACOSTA: And not all Americans are following the specifics here on procedure, and even those of us who understand some of the procedures and specifics are having trouble keeping up. But they know that Democrats outside the beltway know Democrats control the House. They know Democrats control the Senate and the White House. Isn't it time for Democrats to just govern now? JEFFRIES: We have been governing. You know, we passed the American

Rescue Plan, which is an extraordinary intervention that was necessary to begin to turn things around with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it saved our economy, which is now moving in the right direction. Millions of jobs have already been created during the first several months of the Biden presidency. In fact, more than any other administration in history.

And so Joe Biden is leading America forward, but he inherited a complete and total mess, both because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a climate crisis, a racial justice crisis, a broken immigration system, a democracy crisis in the aftermath of the violent insurrection and a president -- or at least a former president who continues to lie about the actual results of that election. And so there are a whole host of challenges that we have to work through.

But I believe President Joe Biden is doing an extraordinary job leading us forward. This will be a big week, but Democrats are once again going to rise to the occasion.

ACOSTA: And let's talk about January 6th. You were alluding to that just a few moments ago. As you know, four Trump allies were subpoenaed by the select committee. You saw firsthand that Trump allies, associates, officials and so on, they don't like to cooperate with Congress. They tend to thumb their nose at requests for information and so on.

What can Congress do to make them testify? Are you just going to let them off the hook if they say they're not going to show up?

JEFFRIES: We're absolutely not going to let them off the hook. Speaker Pelosi has made clear from the very beginning that the Select Committee on the January 6th violent insurrection is going to uncover the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. Follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the constitution, and let the chips fall where they may.

And with respect to these high-level former Trump administration officials, part of the reason their obstruction tactics worked in the past is because we were dealing with the Trump Justice Department.

And, Jim, as you know, ultimately enforcing these congressional subpoenas falls into the hands of the Department of Justice, both on the civil side and in terms of if there would be criminal consequences by inappropriately or unlawfully defying a subpoena. We now have a very different Justice Department committed to the rule of law.

And so I think that the Trump administration officials need to think twice before they engage in blanket defiance because they do not have a Justice Department that is in the pocket of the obstructionist-in- chief who formerly occupied the White House.

ACOSTA: And Congressman, I want to ask you about police reform. After months of bipartisan negotiations, police reform talks have collapsed. The Republican Senator Tim Scott, he's been blaming Democrats. Cory Booker on the Democratic side, he's been trying to take the high road, saying he doesn't want to cast any blame. What is your sense as to how this fell apart?

JEFFRIES: Well, I'm very disappointed that Senator Scott seems to have abandoned the notion of negotiating a comprehensive agreement to deal with the reality that while the overwhelming majority of police officers in America are hardworking individuals who are in the community to protect and serve, at the same time, we clearly have a police violence problem, a police brutality problem, and a police use of excessive force problem in America that needs to be addressed.

[16:10:06]

And it appears that Senator Scott may have yielded a lot of his engagement to some of the obstructionist police unions, who don't want to see anything happen because they prefer the status quo where members can often cross the line and not face any accountability. That's an unacceptable situation, so we're going to have to figure out another way to restart the clock.

Karen Bass has done a tremendous job leading things forward in the House. So has Senator Booker. We're not going to rest until we get real change in terms of the police community relationship in America.

ACOSTA: All right. Well, we know there's a lot of Americans out there who are counting on you to do just that, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. Thanks as always for joining us. We appreciate it.

JEFFRIES: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Thank you.

Coming up, three people are dead after an Amtrak train derailed in rural Montana. What we're learning about what led to the accident next.

You're live in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:12]

ACOSTA: Three people are dead and seven others are in the hospital today after an Amtrak train derailed in a remote part of Montana. It happened Saturday near the Canadian border. Eight cars of Amtrak's Empire Builder train came off the rails as it headed westbound toward the Washington state line.

Here's CNN's Natasha Chen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Officials say at least three people have been killed with more injured as rescue crews work to help passengers of these overturned train cars. The Amtrak Empire Builder 727 had taken off from Chicago headed towards Seattle, a trip Amtrak says on its Web site that allows passengers to experience the rugged splendor of the American West including major portions of the Lewis-Clark trail. Instead, at around 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Saturday near Joplin, Montana, the idyllic scene turned to tragedy.

MEGAN VANDERVEST, PASSENGER ON DERAILED TRAIN: It was probably 10 or 15 seconds of rocking back and forth and tons of noise. And then we came to a stop.

CHEN: Megan Vandervest was taking a nap in one of the front sleeper cars that did not derail. Amtrak said there were approximately 141 passengers and 16 crew members. The train had two locomotives and 10 cars in total, eight of which derailed.

VANDERVEST: I would describe the experience as kind of like extreme turbulence on an airplane but like louder. And there was kind of a lot of smoke smell.

CHEN: She said there was silence in her car and then passengers evacuated within 10 minutes. It wasn't until she got outside that she realized the extent of the problem. She says while the front cars weren't affected, she could see one a couple of cars behind that had derailed and sat between two tracks. Then --

VANDERVEST: The one behind that one had like completely tipped over and fallen over, and that was kind of the most shocking part. It was like immediate shock when we got off because we didn't know anything that significant had happened.

CHEN: Photos from her and other passengers show several cars on their side. She said there were also passengers in front sleeper cars who were worried about their loved ones riding in other parts of the train.

VANDERVEST: The mood was very, like, disconnected. I think a lot of people were just trying to process what happened, not really understanding, especially the people who were in cars that had tipped over. You know, they were kind of coming out of it not even knowing what to think or how to process what just happened to them really.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN: Right now we know of seven people in different hospitals in the area. That's according to a Liberty County, Montana, emergency official today as well as a hospital spokesperson. And the good news is that most people seem to have been treated and released.

That official in Liberty County also talked about just the incredible work of the neighbors in the area, who jumped in to help, including one person, she said, who was from another county, had made the wrong turn at the time, saw the accident, stopped his car, got out to help.

So a lot of Good Samaritans in this case, Jim. And we know that NTSB also has a go team. Investigators are expected to all arrive there by tonight.

ACOSTA: And in such a remote part of the country, gosh, what a terrifying situation for those travelers. All right. Natasha Chen, thanks so much. We'll stay on top of that. We appreciate it. Turning now to a tragic story in San Diego where a mother and her 2-

year-old son fell to their deaths yesterday at Petco Park ahead of the San Diego Padres Game there just as thousands of fans were heading inside the stadium. Police say the mother and her son fell from the concourse level to the sidewalk and were pronounced dead at the scene. Right now investigators are calling the deaths suspicious and looking for any evidence or possible witnesses.

Up next, a video showing a Border Patrol official swinging long reins near migrants prompted outrage this week. You've all seen the video. It's disturbing to watch. Congresswoman Maxine Waters called it worse than what we witnessed during slavery. She joins me to discuss that next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:23:37]

ACOSTA: Former President Donald Trump took the stage in Perry, Georgia, last night where he predictably spent much of his time demonizing immigrants. And as the Biden administration condemns these images from the border that show Border Patrol agents on horseback swinging reins near migrants from Haiti, Trump is praising those border agents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And they're going after the riders of the horses, not the people that came in illegally. Isn't that incredible? And they've just put them under watch. They're in big trouble, the riders of those horses. Most people would say they were doing one hell of a job, right?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: An investigation into what happened is under way, but even some Democrats are blasting the Biden administration for this, including Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who said she is, quote, "pissed."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): I'm unhappy, and I'm not just unhappy with the cowboys who were running down Haitians and using their reins to whip them. I'm unhappy with the administration. What the hell are we doing here? What we witnessed was worse than what we witnessed in slavery.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And Congresswoman Maxine Waters joins me now.

Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. You made this very strong charge that these images looked worse than what we witnessed during slavery. What did you mean by that?

[16:25:00]

WATERS: Well, first of all, the world was watching. In slavery, we didn't have the technology that showed the kind of mistreatment that were perpetrated on our slaves. But what we saw really shocked us because what we witnessed was our own Border Patrol that we pay on horses the way we've never seen before, chasing Haitians who were fleeing their country and fleeing violence, to be met with this kind of treatment. It is unconscionable, and I meant it was bad, and it shocked me.

ACOSTA: And why are you so unhappy with the Biden administration about this? Is it because you expected better?

WATERS: It's not so much of being so unhappy with the Biden administration in that I expected our administration to know better than to have horses chasing down black people and that, you know, they would be working on the kind of immigration reform that would recognize the emergency that we have now.

First of all, those people under those bridges should have been offered shots. They should have been given the COVID shots in order to assure that they would not be spreading, you know, the virus around wherever they would be sent or wherever they were going to live. Secondly, they should be treated like the Afghans. The Afghans who come in here that we have brought in here because they have been supportive of us during the war is the right thing to do.

But they found ways to house them and to treat them a lot better. Nobody should be treated the way the Haitians have been treated.

ACOSTA: And I wanted to ask you, Congresswoman, do you think that the current administration is doing enough to reform the Trump Homeland Security Department that as we saw during the Trump administration had so many episodes of just downright cruelty demonstrated towards immigrants?

WATERS: Well, one of the things I know is we cannot continue with the kind of leadership that we saw with Trump. First of all, our Constitution says you have a right to petition to try to get into the country, particularly if you are victims of violence. Well, it doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to know that the people of Haiti are victims of violence. We see it every day. We see that the president was assassinated.

We see that the gangs have taken over Haiti. We see that people are afraid that they're going to be killed. They don't have places to live because of the earthquakes that they have experienced. And so we should be treating them the way Constitution allows us to treat immigrants who want to get into our country. That's the first thing that should be done.

And of course, secondly, we should be prepared to house them in this emergency and prepared to vaccinate them and ensure that we're doing what we're supposed to do with all of the countries in cooperation so that this pandemic is not supposedly achieved, you know, and overcome by any one country. All of the countries have got to be involved in order to get rid of the pandemic. So if we're going to help Haiti, why not help them whether they're in-country or whether they're on the border?

ACOSTA: I want to ask you about the Biden agenda. The chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus says at least 50 of her members won't vote for the bipartisan infrastructure deal unless that bigger spending package is on the table. How is the House speaker going to be able to navigate her way out of this? I mean this just seems like a mess because even if you get these bills out of the House, you have the issue in the Senate of Senators Manchin and Sinema, who are balking at this price tag as it stands now.

WATERS: Well, let me just say this. The progressive caucus is using its power to try and make sure that many of the very progressive programs that are in the reconciliation bill be honored. I get that. And so they are making a case for it. Nancy Pelosi has said she understands that, but she's not going to put anything on the floor that we don't have the votes for. And so in the final analysis, Democrats are going to be together.

We're going to work together to make sure that we have a reconciliation bill and we have an infrastructure bill. Then there's the Senate that we have got to deal with, and we are going to deal with them. And I can tell you this, Republicans and Democrats alike, even if there are some parts of the reconciliation bill they don't understand and they don't like, I know that they're all anxious to get the resources and the dollars that are coming into their districts with the infrastructure bill, where we will have the repair of our bridges and our roads, and all of those things that we understand as traditional infrastructure.

[16:30:05]

And I've included in that housing is infrastructure, and I have a $30 billion plus bill that is addressing the housing needs of this country.

ACOSTA: And I want to ask you about the political fallout of this, if this infrastructure bill fails, if all of these agenda items fail in the coming weeks. Are you concerned that that could pave the way for a Republican takeover in next year's midterms, and are you having those kinds of discussions behind closed doors with your fellow Democrats, that if you don't work together on this, there could be some major consequences come next year?

WATERS: Well, we certainly don't anticipate failure, and we're not talking about if we don't get the cooperation. We're going to get these two bills out of the Congress of the United States, and whether we see people on the opposite side of the aisle or inside the Democratic Party that's having problems, it's going to work.

In this COVID-19 atmosphere that we're in with Delta threatening to take the lives of so many people, it is inevitable that we answer the call for this emergency. And in the final analysis, we're going to get both bills. I believe that.

ACOSTA: All right. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, we'll see how it plays out. We'll bring you back and see how it turns out here in the coming days. Thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

WATERS: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Thanks as always.

WATERS: Well, thank you so very much for having me.

ACOSTA: All right. We appreciate it.

Coming up, family and friends are remembering 22-year-old Gabby Petito as the search for her fiance, Brian Laundrie, continues.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:22]

ACOSTA: Friends and family are gathering today to say good-bye to Gabby Petito. Her family holding a public memorial service right now in Long Island, New York, near the Hamlet of Blue Point where Petito grew up. It's been exactly one week since her remains were found near a campground in Wyoming. Her fiance, Brian Laundrie, is nowhere to be found as the manhunt for him continues.

CNN's Alison Kosik joins us now from Holbrook, New York, where Petito's memorial service is under way.

Alison, what an emotional day for the family. Just awful.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a real somber day here, Jim. You know, the outpouring that we've seen here all day was pretty amazing. It really speaks to how much 22-year-old Gabby Petito's story has resonated not just in this community of Holbrook and Long Island but across the country and around the world.

The memorial is ending in about a half hour, but doors opened around noon today Eastern Time, and there literally has been a steady stream of people all day. A line that you see there, that line has pretty much been there, short and long. At one point it wrapped around the entire building. People waiting more than an hour to get in because only 30 people were allowed to get in at one time.

But a lot of these people, Jim, they didn't even know Gabby personally but they felt compelled to come here and pay their respects. Earlier today when the family and extended family were president, Gabby's stepfather and father Joseph each gave their own eulogies. Listen to part of what Joseph said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH PETITO, GABBY PETITO'S FATHER: Gabby is the most amazing person I've ever met. So if you're going to leave here today, I'm asking that you guys be inspired by the way she treated people, all people. Love knows no gender. Love knows no bounds. She didn't care. She genuinely loved people. It didn't matter.

So when you leave here today, be inspired by what she brought to the table because the entire planet knows this woman's name now, and she's inspired a lot of women and a lot of men to do what's best for them first. Put yourself first and do it now while you have the time. I couldn't be more proud as a father.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Inside the memorial, pictures of Gabby lining the walls with flowers, including sunflowers, which we know -- we've heard are her favorite kind of -- were her favorite kind of flower. Her music playlist was playing as mourners filed through.

The funeral home also went ahead and broadcast this memorial service on a livestream, and on that livestream, messages from all around the world were put in there, from Australia to Germany to the U.K. The funeral director telling us that even people came from California and Texas, flew in for the memorial service, didn't even know Gabby. The California man telling the funeral director that he felt so close to the story about Gabby because he lost his own mother to domestic abuse -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Such a sad, sad situation. All right, Alison Kosik, thank you very much for that report.

CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson is joining us now.

Joey, it's just heartbreaking to watch Gabby's father speaking there at that service. But getting to the search for Brian Laundrie and as it continues, I just want to remind our viewers that he has not been charged with a crime or named a suspect in Petito's death. Nobody has. Authorities do, though, have an arrest warrant for Laundrie for using a debit card that wasn't his. Investigators, they can't find him. Nobody's been named a suspect yet.

[16:40:03]

What is your sense of where this stands right now?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. Jim, good to be with you. Heartbreaking indeed. I think that prosecutors and investigators have done a smart thing. They convened a grand jury. What does that mean? It means they convened 23 people from the community, and what they do as grand jurors is a majority vote out an indictment. Right? And all you have to get, Jim, in that instance is reason to believe that a crime was committed and the suspect of that investigation committed it.

Now, they, as you noted, only indicted -- the grand jury that is -- so far on one count for that debit device, unauthorized use. But that tells you a lot. I don't think investigators, Jim, would have convened a grand jury for that sole purpose. I believe that they're putting information before that grand jury regularly and that information contains a lot of different things. Even that device issue tells you a lot.

Number one, it told us that they convened this body to consider evidence. Number two, it indicated that they believe that on August 30th and September 1st, she was not otherwise available and could have been dead. Why? Because in order for you to get an indictment for that, you have to show that the person did not give permission and authority, that is, the owner. Well, if you're not alive or otherwise available, you could not give that permission.

So where it stands is they will -- prosecutors -- work with investigators to continue to put compelling information before the grand jury concerning exactly what happened. And we don't know exactly what happened. I'm sure they don't at this point know, but we do know in identifying the body, there will be a lot of information around that, especially with the autopsy, forensics around the crime scene, information concerning his consciousness of guilt by running away.

And so I think in the future, you could very well see those charges upgraded and a person indeed really being alleged to be responsible, and that being him.

ACOSTA: And Joey, how puzzling is it that he has -- Brian Laundrie just seems to have vanished? He's disappeared.

JACKSON: Yes.

ACOSTA: We were talking about the search for Brian Laundrie a week ago on this program. And I mean, what's going through the minds of investigators just trying to find this person?

JACKSON: Yes. It's so true, right? Just vanished. And, you know, you say that I know because of all the resources that have been applied to really finding him, and they have come up empty. But I think that arrest warrant was significant for a number of reasons. The first reason, of course, is in the event that he goes to try to travel anywhere, right, other authorities at that point it will pop up.

We have a very sophisticated system, and they will be able to detain and otherwise arrest him. The second thing we should remember is that in the event that he's in someone's care, not suggesting he is, you or I, no one knows where he is at this point, right?

If someone is trying to harbor him or give material aid or support, they then endanger themselves. And so I think what happens is that arrest warrant, even for the single count of the debit use, we all want to know why didn't they -- why didn't they do what?

Meaning charge him for the murder because they're piecing together the information. But having issued that arrest warrant gets them a step closer. They'll continue to give that grand jury information, and I would suspect moving forward, there will be some sense of either him being brought to justice or some other indication that something else may have happened to him. ACOSTA: And, again, we don't want to imply that anybody else has been

doing anything untoward in assisting Brian Laundrie. But as the search for Laundrie continues, some of this has been based on what Laundrie's parents told authorities, to go look in this nature preserve. Are his parents facing any kind of consequences depending on how this ultimately plays out?

JACKSON: Yes. So, you know, Jim, every case turns on its facts. And the police can, in fact, come and speak with parents or anyone else. And those parents certainly have no obligation to be cooperative, have no obligation to be forthcoming, have no obligation to give any information. The puzzle lies in when you do give information and that information is false or misleading, then it becomes problematic.

So to your question, we don't specifically know what the parents knew or when they knew it. Did he confide in them? Did they assist him in any way? Did they give him a head start? All speculation to your point. We don't know and would never want to misrepresent things that we don't know. But in the event that they did or someone else now does, then they would be in a world of hurt themselves.

And so remember that the sole focus is on getting him, bringing him back to justice as Gabby was laid to rest earlier today, and perhaps moving forward, investigators will potentially find him and he can be brought to a court of law to answer for what now is a single count of an indictment for a debit card, but could very well change as investigators and prosecutors put more information concerning this case in front of a grand jury.

ACOSTA: And I can't imagine he could hop on a plane, any mode of mass transit, I would think. He's going to show up, right? I mean that's how this should work.

JACKSON: That's exactly how it should.

[16:45:01]

We have a very sophisticated system in law enforcement. Once that arrest warrant is lodged, wherever you travel, it comes up, right? You look for I.D., you scan I.D., boom, that pops, and that would give really assistance to the authorities, who are not only searching in that specified location, but really throughout the country and really throughout the world. And so the search is on for him.

You know, who knows whether he's well. We don't know, but we do know that it has intensified and that they're really looking to get the person that they, to this point, allegedly was involved in at least the credit card or the debit card we know, and who knows what else he was involved in. I think authorities know a lot, and they're presenting the case as we speak.

ACOSTA: Right. What we know may not be the entirety of what they know at this point behind the scenes with those investigators.

JACKSON: Exactly.

ACOSTA: All right. Joey Jackson, thanks so much as always. We appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you. Always.

ACOSTA: And coming up, as Gabby Petito's case has gripped the nation, other families are calling for more attention to be given to their missing loved ones. Those stories are also important, and those stories are next.

But first, a quick programming note. Make sure you tune in tonight as CNN explores the court-ordered conservatorship that has controlled Britney Spears' life for years. The report also shows how she and her fans are fighting back. Watch the CNN Special Report "TOXIC: BRITNEY SPEARS' BATTLE FOR FREEDOM." It airs tonight at 8:00.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:50]

ACOSTA: Gabby Petito, her story, and her case have gripped the nation, but the reality is there are so many families, especially families of color that are desperately searching for answers about their missing loved ones. And they are calling for more attention and help.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: JonBenet Ramsey.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The disappearance of madeleine McCann.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Natalee Holloway vanished in Aruba.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Murdered or missing white women and children who captured national media attention. The most recent --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: 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'd have more results by 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. For her to just come up missing I --

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.

GWEN IFILL, JOURNALIST: If there's a missing white woman, we are going to cover that every day.

BROADDUS: A systemic issue that late long-time anchor Gwen Ifill coined "missing white woman syndrome" in 2004.

SOMMERS: Missing white women 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.

NONA BLOUIN, SISTER MISSING SINCE NOVEMBER: 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.

GERRY DAVIS, SISTER MISSING SINCE NOVEMBER: She's a Native American woman -- sorry.

BLOUIN: I'm not racist or anything, but she deserves the same treatment.

BROADDUS: Online, black and brown families are using #gabbypetito 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.

BROADDUS (on-camera): How do we balance the coverage?

SOMMERS: No one is saying that 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 (voice-over): Today Phillips should be celebrating her daughter's 29th birthday. Instead, she made fliers with the message "Find Kierra Coles."

PHILLIPS: What can we really do about it other than just try to keep her name out there, you know, 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now to this week's CNN Hero. So many communities are living without access to electricity, clean water, and sanitation services. That's why our next CNN Hero started an organization that goes to the most isolated regions of the country where no one else travels to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENIFER COLPAS, CNN HERO: The families that we are working with are living in extreme poverty. These areas are so remote that there is no even roads to get there. The communities use candles, gasoline lamps. They were spending a lot of money and the smoke of the lamps were negatively affecting their health.

[16:55:10]

Our mission is to provide access to basic services. My biggest dream for the people that I'm working with, that they wake up not just to survive, but they can take small steps to fulfill their dreams.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And go to CNNheroes.com right now for more.

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