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Former President Trump Holds Georgia Rally; Trump Claims Winning Arizona Election Audit; President Biden Optimistic On Infrastructure Negotiations; Pfizer To Apply For FDA Approval For Vaccine For Kids; Wall Street's Wall Of Worry; Baltimore Ravens Puts One In The Books. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 26, 2021 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. The big lie getting another hit of oxygen or maybe helium for that matter as former president Donald Trump headlined a rally in Georgia last night, displaying all the hallmarks of an exiled twitter junkie who is jonesing for a platform. He set the tone by lying about telling the truth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And they want to go after me because I have, they think, a big mouth. I don't have a big mouth. You know what I have? I have a mouth that tells the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: For his next lie, he focused on fearmongering, claiming that after the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a bunch of unvetted Afghan nationals are just waltzing into the U.S. Also not true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Now Biden is bringing into the United States tens of thousands of unvetted, unscreened Afghan nationals who never worked with the Americans before, including those with child brides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Trump's random lie generator also landed on another favorite topic, Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: That's what's going on with Russia. They made up a hoax, and we had to live with it for three years. What kind of a sick, perverted mind does that? And it was the lawyer and Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. They've made it up. It was a hoax. And now they're doing it again with the January 6th.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: And of course, no Trump rally would be complete without the main event, the big lie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So we got 63 million. He said, sir, if you go up 1 million votes, you can't lose. Well, we went up 12 million votes, and they say we lost. But there never has been -- you know there never has been a concession. You do know that, right? You do know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Painful. He then turned to Arizona, a state he definitely did not win. Even Maricopa County's sham audit couldn't even come up with enough evidence to validate Trump's claims of election fraud, his bogus lies about election fraud. But luckily for Trump, yesterday was apparently opposite day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We won on the Arizona forensic audit yesterday at a level that you wouldn't believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: All of that false. But joining me now is Katie Hobbs, the Arizona secretary of state. Katie, we've known all along this was a crazy conspiracy theory-driven audit that wasted a lot of taxpayer dollars, wasted everybody's time. But set the record straight about what the final report actually said contrary to what Trump just said.

KATIE HOBBS, ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE: Right. I mean to be honest with you, I didn't really take time to read the final report because this whole thing was a colossal waste of everybody's time. But what we know is that their results showed that Biden actually got more votes in Arizona than the -- or in Maricopa County than the official canvass.

But the rest of the report was filled with a lot of inaccuracies that basically shows that the folks running this sham, which we already knew, don't understand election administration. They refer to all these things as anomalies, which they're all easily explained by election officials.

But they're using this to continue to call for investigations and to spread the audit to the rest of the counties in the state. And this whole thing, I mean I appreciate that you're not taking it seriously. Nobody should take the leaders who are continuing to insist on these kinds of audits seriously either.

ACOSTA: Yes, and this gets to the more sinister part of this. I mean, you could write this off as a big joke, but do you think that in a way, Trump has succeeded, that his minions have succeeded in a way because by casting doubt on the Arizona election process and, you know, sparking these copycat audits around the country, these mini me, Frankenstein audits around the country, that essentially Trump has won in a sense and that he has encouraged his supporters, a lot of supporters to believe that really no election is legitimate unless they say it is.

HOBBS: Well, I certainly think that he's succeeded in continuing to cast doubt, but I think that, you know, while this is a majority of the Republican Party who are believing that he actually won, it's not the majority of voters. We know that in Arizona, and we know that in other states where they're attempting to do these style of audits, and quite frankly in Arizona, the majority of voters are tired of this.

[17:05:01]

They're ready to move on and tackle real issues. The leaders of our state who are continuing to drag this out are focused on these conspiracy theories, focused on placating the former president at the expense of dealing with real issues that Arizonans are concerned about every day.

And that's why I'm running for governor. We have a lot of serious things to tackle, and our leaders right now are not doing that. Folks can join me at katiehobbs.org.

ACOSTA: I was going to ask you about that. You are running for governor of Arizona. With the secretary of state seat vacant, Trump has endorsed a candidate who has bought into the big lie, is peddling all of this stop the steal nonsense. Apparently was in Washington for the rally on January 6th.

Are you concerned about the integrity of elections in your state going forward? You're running for governor. Are you worried that they might try to pull a fast one on you?

HOBBS: Well, I'm concerned across the country that we're seeing these partisan attempts to overtake election administration at every level, including folks who are running for secretaries of state in Arizona and other states that are trying to unseat the Republican secretary of state in Georgia as well with someone who buys into the conspiracy theories about the election.

The bottom line is that, you know, I was elected on a partisan ballot, but I took an oath to uphold the constitution of the United States and of Arizona, and I upheld that oath. And I have worked really hard to ensure that our elections are free and fair and secure by focusing on the processes and focusing on ensuring that every single eligible voter can participate.

And when you have anyone who's working to oversee elections who is more focused on the outcome and says things like if I was the secretary of state, Donald Trump would still be president that should alarm all of us about our Democratic processes around the country.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean it's just talking about going out and stealing elections. I mean, you know, they are complaining about election fraud while talking about committing election fraud. That is the most disturbing part in all of this. Al Right Katie Hobbs, secretary of state for Arizona, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. HOBBS: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Remember -- thank you. And remember when Fox News became the first network to call Arizona for then-candidate Joe Biden? It was a critical factor in that historic race and it did not sit well with Trump and his allies. I remember all too well. I was on the phone with some of his allies and associates that night.

Well, Chris Stirewalt, the editor who played a key role in that decision to make that call, was fired from the network. Chris Stirewalt joins me now. He's the senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and contributing editor and columnist for "The Dispatch."

Chris, we know this Arizona audit was bogus, but it somehow came to the right conclusion if that makes any sense. Is this vindication for you? What do you think?

CHRIS STIREWALT, SENIOR FELLO, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: No, it is no vindication and the problem isn't the finding, right? If this would have found -- so Trump lost Arizona by a little less than 11,000 votes. If this would have found 11,000 votes for him and said that he was the winner or if it complied with the stated results, none of it matters because the very doing of it is the bad thing.

The very action of taking this spurious, this specious undertaking to try to undermine confidence, there's no purpose in these endeavors, whether it's the one in Arizona or the ones that are under way in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas. They're trying for in Georgia and other places.

The point of these is to undermine confidence. It's not what the finding is. So I take no satisfaction or pleasure from seeing this outcome that roughly correspondents with the real results. They're doing their damage anyway.

ACOSTA: Yes. All this craziness sort of blew up and came out of what happened with Arizona on election night. And could you sue for wrongful termination if you wanted to? I mean is there a part of you that wants to get on the phone with somebody over at Fox and say, told you so?

STIREWALT: I don't think anybody -- well, everybody knows that we were right in our call. That's never been in doubt. And if I did that, I couldn't be hear with you today hanging out --

ACOSTA: Well, that's true.

STIREWALT: -- so we would be deprived of this time together. So why would I do that?

ACOSTA: Good point. But back in January you wrote for the "L.A. Times" about your experience saying -- and we can put this up on-screen -- "When I defended the call for Biden in the Arizona election, I became a target of murderous rage from consumers who were furious at not having their views confirmed." Have you gotten any apologies from folks out there, and what does all of that vitriol and -- say about, you know, what is going on in this country right now? And how does it tie into this crazy Arizona process that we just saw play out?

STIREWALT: We have people living in a different universe. I have -- my heat breaks for, I have sincere sympathy for people who were duped, right? There are people who really believe this stuff, right?

[17:10:00]

I don't know what Donald Trump actually believes. I think he knows he lost, but whatever. I have real sympathy for -- there are thousands of people out in the United States who sincerely believe this stuff and that's a crisis that we have to address in a lot of different ways.

But I have only disdain for the people who continue to promulgate this and continue to, you know, what Greg Abbott's doing in or what Texans are doing, what other people are doing, they think it's placating Trump. But as the results in Arizona made clear, it doesn't matter what you find. He will claim fraud anyway.

ACOSTA: Right.

STIREWALT: He will still say that there was fraud even if the finding says there wasn't. So just like --

ACOSTA: Even in a state like Texas that he won. It doesn't make any sense.

STIREWALT: The point is to undermine voter confidence in the process. Unfortunately, members of both parties make a habit of doing that these days. But we have a direct assault on the legitimacy of our elections. It is a problem and you cannot placate your way out of this, Republican Party.

ACOSTA: But just very quickly, as somebody who has been a part of a team that has called elections and a respected team that has called elections for many years, what can be done legislatively, from a reform standpoint, to prevent these wacky audits from taking the whole system and just driving it off a cliff?

STIREWALT: Well, I think some states are going to go off the cliff, and it will take a long time for them to figure it out -- pick through the wreckage and put it back together. But I was pleased to see in California and I want to see in other states, you got to have quick counts.

You got to get the absentee ballots counted quickly. We need decisive results because the longer that fat hangs over the fire the more opportunity a demagogue like Trump has to pervert and subvert the result. So elections officials got to get it done quickly to shorten that window of mischief.

ACOSTA: Do it quickly and get it right.

STIREWALT: Yes, get it right, please.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. All right, Chris -- as you do -- Stirewalt, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

Coming up, another bizarre moment from Trump's rally last night. There were so many. We don't have enough time to cover it today. But when he said Stacey Abrams might be better than the current Republican Georgia governor. Yes, that actually happened. That's next. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

ACOSTA: Former President Trump may have been riding high last night after bringing his big lie road show to Georgia where again he took pot shots at any Republican who calls out his lies. There are so many of them. But this morning he woke up to a brutal tweet from one of his toughest Republican critics, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, alongside a photo of President George W. Bush.

Cheney wrote, "I like Republican presidents who win re-election." Bush recently announced he'll headline a fund-raiser for Cheney. Trump, meanwhile is backing Cheney's primary challenger. Let's bring in CNN senior political analyst John Avlon, CNN political commentator and host of PBS "Firing Line," Margaret Hoover.

Margaret, you worked for former President Bush. You know, I guess this was sort of retort to that tweet the other day or that statement the other day that had Cheney, Liz Cheney and Bush's pictures merged. We're (inaudible) to get it up, but Liz Cheney responded there.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL OMMENTATOR: Well, it's hysterical. Completely tongue in cheek. Completely trolling him. Says she is punchy (ph). But I think the real story, Jim, and I think the thing that really we ought to focus on and underline is the fact that George W. Bush, a former president of the United States who by all accounts and by every measure has been enormously reluctant to weigh in to politics in his post-presidency, and that is out of respect for the institution and that is just a historical respect that his father had and that every president of the United States before him for the better part of the 20th century has had.

To come in and fund-raise for Liz Cheney's re-election is a direct blow to Donald Trump, something that George W. Bush has been enormously reluctant to do. He has not -- not only weighed into politics. He didn't endorse in the election in November.

So, I mean I really am deeply heartened and delighted that he is putting his finger on the scale and sending a clear message to --

ACOSTA: Yes.

HOOVER: -- Republicans who feel dissociated from their party that there are still Republicans and another way even if this party in its current formulation doesn't feel like the home they used to know. ACOSTA: John, it's almost as if Trump is breathing life into

Bush/Cheney world in a way --

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: But looking good back --

ACOSTA: -- with all that helium we mentioned earlier.

AVLON: Well look, I think one of the things that Donald Trump's complete assault on our democracy and Democratic norms and patriotic traditions that transcend party has done is it's made people appreciate the fact that whatever political -- geopolitical profound differences they may have had with George W. Bush, they cannot deny that he was a decent man who cared about our country and cared about Democratic institutions.

HOOVER: Who respected the constitution?

AVLON: And that's what, you know, signing on to the Trump lie does, is it basically says that democracy is less important than a cult of personality. So of course, past presidents are going to look pretty good by comparison. They should.

ACOSTA: And, Margaret, I want to ask both you and John about this because I do think, all kidding aside, this is just so disturbing. Trump claimed last night that the Arizona audit, which obviously confirmed that President Biden won in that state, as flawed as that and ridiculous as that audit w, Trump was saying that it actually concluded that he had won, which is obviously complete nonsense. But the point is the crowd loved it. They ate it up. How dangerous is this, Margaret?

HOOVER: Look, the man continues to propagate falsehoods, factual -- like things that are factually not true, just blatantly not true. Thank god there is no Pravda in this country, right? Can you imagine the stay -- thank god, you know, we have an opportunity to at least say to people on your show, Jim, that is not true, and the president -- the former president of the United States continues to lie to people who support him.

[17:19:59]

It is -- I don't know how much different or how much more dangerous it is than anything else he's done previously, but let us not -- let's not forget, this man continues to be a menace to our constitutional democracy.

AVLON: Yes. But I think it highlights something, right? I mean, this was a fraudit. This was hyperpartisans with no experience coming in to try to prove a lie, the direct counting of hand ballots proved too much even for their conspiracy theorists' will to power.

But what that should do is make people who bought into the big lie be forced to confront the reality. Joe Biden won Arizona by even more votes according to the Cyber Ninjas than the original tally. What Trump is doing is once again saying that don't believe the truth, don't believe your eyes. Believe what I say. All he has are lies and ego at this point. And ayone who is still

following him is therefore either a fool or a coward, especially if they're in political office because they know he's lying, but they're afraid to call it out.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, at this point, I almost don't want to call it the big lie anymore. I want to call it the big cry because he just goes -- he goes to these rallies and he cries. He cries about the election. He cries about the border. He cries about Bush and Cheney and, I mean, why would you go to a rally and stand out there for hours and hours just to listen to this man who can't get over losing cry and cry? It's astonishing.

AVLON: Well, look, it combines two of the worst qualities in humanity, bullying and victimhood. That's what he's got. But what he's offering is a sense of community for true believers who cannot face the facts because it would destroy their belief system, because that's what they've bought into. That's what happens with cults. So, they come there to be surrounded by the warm, cozy feeling of not being wrong despite all evidence to the contrary.

ACOSTA: Yes. I also want to play something else that was said at the rally last night. Let's play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When Stacey Abrams says I'm not going to concede, that's okay. No problem. Oh, she's not going to concede. She's not going to concede. Of course having her, I think might be better than having your existing governor if you want to know the truth. Might -- might very well be better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I mean Margaret, is Donald Trump just trying to wipe out the Republican Party in Georgia?

HOOVER: Yes. Yes, clearly he is because he'd rather -- he'd rather it be remade in his own image than have moderate Republicans like Brad Raffensperger and frankly the whole host, the whole suite, all three of them, the secretary of state, the lieutenant governor, and the governor, all great Republicans in the tradition of Republicanism like George W. Bush and those of us who are missing it --

AVLON: Following them all.

HOOVER: -- you know, respecting the constitution. But, you know, it's interesting. I mean, he raises the Stacey Abrams point. There's a sliver of something there in a sense that Stacey -- when she was on my program, "Firing Line" on PBS, I did push her on this. You know, why didn't you concede when the votes were there?

And, you know, how she handled her defeat is not even possible to compare apples for apples to what happened with Donald Trump, okay? She didn't go have a rally and say storm the capitol, like she, you know? Like she actually ended up conceding. AVLON: And there were also like over a million votes purged by the

previous secretary of state, the current governor --

HOOVER: Not a million.

AVLON: -- Brian Kemp.

HOOVER: Not a million.

AVLON: But I think the key point is this. Donald Trump doesn't care about the Republican Party. Donald Trump doesn't care about the country. Donald Trump only cares about himself and that just highlights it.

ACOSTA: Yes. And John and Margaret, there's a looming deadline in Congress. As you know, Republicans voted for tax cuts under Trump. They're I guess, refusing to pay for those tax cuts by opposing raising the debt ceiling. We could have a default for the first time ever, major economic consequences. Is it fair for Democrats to shoulder the blame in all of that?

HOOVER: I mean, look, the debt ceiling fights, you know, I'm still -- you know, I'm old enough to remember that Republicans and Democrats have both taken the blame for these kind of this -- the brinksmanship on both sides --

ACOSTA: Right.

HOOVER: -- but Republicans remember what happens when they have been to blame and I don't think a savvy Mitch McConnell, who is really hoping to win back the Senate -- and by the way, this fight's in the Senate. Let's be honest -- really wants to have his senators walk the plank and risk losing that position of power.

So, I truly don't think it's going to come down to something as dire as even getting close to defaulting on the debt. But the brinksmanship that leads up to it, the theater, the kabuki theater really around this is, you know, unnecessary, unfortunate, but -- and hypocritical.

AVLON: It's more serious than that. I mean, we're tricycling toward a cliff again with playing chicken with the full faith and credit of the United States, and people are looking for partisan gain. There's every evidence that parties get blowback when they do that. But this is a congress that is so deeply divided that they're willing to take this to the brink.

[17:25:00]

And this is a huge week for the Biden presidency going forward. This is a big week for the country and we should be focused on that frankly. You know, the big lie we're going to have with us. Donald Trump is rallying the base to denial. But to the extent that he's causing the Republican Party to further abandon its principles of fiscal responsibility, this is just a symptom of that.

ACOSTA: All right. John Avlon, Margaret Hoover, I suspect you're both right on all of those counts. Thanks so much for all of your insight. We appreciate it.

HOOVER: Good to see you, Jim.

ACOSTA: As always, good to see you both. Thank you.

And speaking of that big Biden agenda, President Biden just weighed in again as negotiations continue on key parts of his agenda. We'll bring you that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

ACOSTA: President Biden speaking moments ago on the eve of what will be a major week for the trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure bill, the larger $3.5 trillion spending package, and as the clock ticks toward a potential government shutdown.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us now for the latest. The president just spoke a few moments ago. That always gets things going over at the White House. What did he say?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, President Biden just returned from a weekend at Camp David and he was asked, one, about when he will be receiving his booster shot, saying it would come at some point. But he also weighed in on those negotiations regarding both that bipartisan infrastructure proposal and his more sweeping economic agenda. Take a listen to what the president had to tell reporters a bit ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: At some point, I'm not sure when, but I'll let you know when we do it in public.

(Inaudible)

BIDEN: I'm optimistic about this week. It's going to take the better part of a week, I think.

(Inaudible)

BIDEN: Say again.

UNKNOWN: What's really happening in the German election results?

BIDEN: I didn't hear them.

(Inaudible).

BIDEN: I'll be darned.

(Inaudible)

BIDEN: Yes.

(Inaudible)

BIDEN: Well, they're solid.

(Inaudible).

UNKNOWN: (Inaudible) to buy Russian missile defense.

BIDEN: We (inaudible) them and threw that.

(Inaudible)

BIDEN: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So the president a bit earlier in those comments was acknowledging that there is still ongoing negotiations and that this may take the better part of the week as he is hoping that his economic agenda will be able to cross the finish line up on Capitol Hill.

Now, earlier today, Democrats acknowledged that there may not be a vote tomorrow on that bipartisan infrastructure bill as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had previously promised. She said she would not be bringing a bill up for a vote if she does not have the votes.

And you have heard progressives say that they are not ready to sign onto that proposal if there is an agreement on the $3.5 trillion bill, and moderates are still balking at that price tag. So the president certainly and Democratic leaders up on Capitol Hill, they have a heavy lift ahead over the course of this next week as they are trying to take this domestic agenda of the president's across the finish line.

But still, it appears that there are major divides among the Democratic Party, between those moderates and progressives, that the president needs all of them to hold together in order to get these bills passed.

ACOSTA: Yes. They are threading a major needle this week. All right, Arlette Saenz, and also interesting to hear the president being asked about the situation in Germany as voters there are selecting a new chancellor to replace Angela Merkel, who has been a key ally of the United States for many years. We'll be watching that process play out as well. All right. Arlette Saenz, thanks so much.

Coming up, could COVID vaccines for young kids be coming soon? The latest developments on that front next. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:00]

ACOSTA: Vaccines for young kids. It's the one big item missing from our pandemic toolbox, but this morning the CEO of Pfizer said his company will apply for FDA authorization for a vaccine for kids' ages 5 to 11 in just days. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERT BOURLA, CHAIRMAN & CEO, PFIZER: I think we are going to submit this data pretty soon. It's a question of days, not weeks. And then it is up to FDA to be able to review the data and come to their conclusions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Days, not weeks. With me now, CNN medical analyst and professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Always great to have you on, Dr. Reiner. We appreciate. If that application goes through this week, how soon could we see authorization? Could it potentially be days, not weeks or weeks, not days?

JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: And if the EUA application goes in this week, I would say it will go to committee probably sometime by the end of October. But it has to go through two committees. It has to go through the FDA's VRBPAC committee and then it has -- it will have to go over to ACIP over in CDC. And there's a lot to talk about.

I mean, this is a vaccine for children, so getting the dose right in terms of both efficacy and side effects is crucial. And this is not the same dose of the Pfizer vaccine that I got. This is a reduced dose vaccine, so there's a lot of data for the FDA and CDC to look at.

ACOSTA: And what do we do to help parents overcome reluctance to get their kids this vaccine because now we're talking about younger children.

REINER: Yes.

ACOSTA: And so parents of course will be concerned about that. Obviously we're going to get into a conversation about whether mandates are appropriate and so on. I can't imagine that we would get to that point, but what are your thoughts?

REINER: Well, look, parents are accustomed to vaccinating their kids. No parent in any state in the U.S. can send their child to school without giving them almost a dozen vaccines. So parents are very accustomed to that. I was surprised at how relatively few parents were willing to vaccinate their adolescents. Only about -- somewhere about 55 percent of adolescents have been vaccinated.

[17:40:02]

But we've seen this before with reluctance. You know, there is a HPV vaccine which is basically a cancer vaccine which only about 60 percent of adolescents have gotten. So I think we need to do a better job of educating parents that this will protect their children. This will protect their families.

It will also protect the economic livelihood of the family. I mean, it costs a lot of money when parents have to stay home when their kids are sick. And if you want kids in school, you know, the best way to keep them in school is to keep them from getting COVID.

ACOSTA: And I think education is going to be key because as we've seen with everything else, this misinformation monster that's out there has in some ways been more effective in twisting the truth about the effectiveness of vaccines and so on, the safety of vaccines. And we've got to get ahead of that with these young kids and that process when that plays out.

We just watched the approval process play out for booster shots. The CDC director ultimately authorized boosters for more groups than the FDA recommended. The fact that she didn't follow the panel's advice, your thoughts on that?

REINER: I think it was a balanced decision. I think -- I think overwhelmingly the data suggests that the efficacy of the vaccine wanes over time. And while it's true that the efficacy for preventing severe illness or death remains very robust, there is a notion that more people are getting sick.

And looking at occupational hazards, principally health care workers and potentially teachers, bus drivers, people who are really very public-facing, I think it makes sense to allow the individual person in conjunction with their physicians to have some shared decision- making, make their own decision because what the CDC said was people in high occupational risk may get a booster, not should get a booster, unlike older folks with coexisting conditions. So I think it was a very balanced, nuanced decision. I'm glad she did that.

ACOSTA: And we just -- this decision not to offer a booster shot at six months to all vaccinated people, what are folks at home to make of that because there are so many people, as you know, who are just going rogue and, you know, figuring out a way to get one anyway. Are you urging patients at this point?

REINER: I am. I'm urging conversations with your doctor. Talk to your doctor about your risk and what you should do. I think it was a mistake to call these boosters. This is probably a three-dose vaccine, and there's precedent for three-dose vaccines. And as Tony Fauci has said in the past, I think it's reasonable to expect that just about every American will get a third dose at some point.

So I'd say have patience. If you're not in one of these defined groups now, talk to your doctor. And certainly, if you've been vaccinated within the last few months or within the last six months, you're very well protected, and there's no reason to jump out now and get a third shot.

ACOSTA: And this whole question of flu shots and boosters, its flu shot season, and people might be wondering, what should I do? If I'm in line to get a booster shot, should I get the booster shot and the flu shot at the same time? Obviously, people have to get their flu shots. What do you think?

REINER: Last year we had very little flu because everyone was masked and the country was largely shut down. Now, there are fewer folks in public wearing masks and we're sort of open for business. So I expect we'll see a real flu season this year. Everyone needs a flu shot.

I think it makes sense to stagger the shots. Side effects from both vaccines are common and rather than getting sort of a double wallop, I would say wait a couple of weeks. Although Moderna at some point will apply for a combination vaccine that includes both flu and COVID in the same shot and also, I think, RSV, respiratory syncytial virus. So, that will be interesting, but for now I think it makes sense to maybe stagger them a couple weeks.

ACOSTA: All right. And hopefully everybody who hasn't gotten a shot will go out and get a shot after listening to Dr. Reiner. All right, Dr. Reiner, great to see you again as always. Thanks so much.

REINER: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: Now to an incredible story from the new CNN Film "The Lost Sons." A baby boy is kidnapped from a Chicago hospital in 1964. Fifteen months later, a toddler is found abandoned in New Jersey. The FBI links the two cases and unites the parents and the child.

But decades later, DNA evidence suggests that child, now an adult, Paul Fronczak, was not the kidnapped baby. Fronczak narrates his own story and the twists and turns as he unravels the mystery of his identity and what happened to the families caught up in all of this this.

[17:44:55]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I just remember when he said it. I was like, oh, my gosh. I said, are you okay? How do you feel? Do you want me to come there right now? He's like, I don't know what to think. I don't know what to feel. But he -- 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. He's like, I don't know my birthday. He's like, I don't even know where I was born or who my parents are. He was like, I have no idea. He's like I don't know how old I am. I was like, wow. Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Make sure to tune in tonight. The new CNN Film "The Lost Sons" premieres tonight at 9:00 only on CNN.

And now here's CNN's Christine Romans with this week's "Before the Bell."

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS ORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jim. There are four trading days left to go in September in what has been a pretty volatile month. Wall Street is climbing a wall of worry as they say. There's a pandemic, inflation, a showdown over the debt limit. And in China, the potential implosion of huge real estate developer Evergrande.

Last Monday, stocks suffered their worst sell-off in months but bounced back later in the week. Also adding to the mood here, the Federal Reserve will soon begin pulling back its emergency COVID stimulus. The Fed has been buying $120 billion worth of bonds every month to prop up the economy, but last week the Fed signaled it will soon start to slow that pace. With this much uncertainty hanging over Wall Street, more roller coaster weeks are likely ahead. In New York, I'm Christine Romans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:00]

ACOSTA: ACOSTA: Thank you as always for tuning in on your fall Sunday, and never worry if any records are broken in the NFL. We will bring them to you. We're going to call this segment our Sunday Kicker. We'll take to you the Baltimore Ravens game against the Detroit Lions.

The Ravens down to what seems like their last play and Detroit taking on the winless Lions. Fourth and 19, no timeouts, down one. They stay alive on this pass from all pro-quarterback Lamar Jackson to receiver Sammy Watkins.

That sets up an incredible attempt by Ravens kicker Justin Tucker from 66 yards. It's up. It's good. And that is a new NFL record, the longest field goal in NFL history as time expires. That is why they're screaming there, yes. Ravens 19, Lions 17. Congratulations, Baltimore. There's a replay here of that kick. Just incredible -- 66 yards. And my apologies to the city of Detroit, my goodness. Just no luck there for Motor City.

Sticking with sports, a much rougher game than football, Congress, where later this week the Congressional Baseball Game returns to Washington and you should see some of the players taking the field and the matchup between Democrats and Republicans. House members Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mo Brooks and Andrew Clyde are all listed on the GOP roster.

With Greene, I'm wondering if some of her fans will sing a different renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks. I don't care if I ever get vaxxed. Brooks will give a pep talk urging the team to take some names and kick some asses. There he is.

While Clyde signs autographs for the tourists in the stands. But is it me or does the game really feel like the teams playing are pro- democracy and pro-insurrection. As we saw in Arizona and now in the copycat audits in other states, some Republicans continue to think there is only a winner in a contest when they say there's one. That's not how democracy works. That's not how baseball works.

Some of Trump's forces appear to be busy stacking the deck for the next election, putting in place election officials who act like umpires, only calling strikes on the opposing team. Before we have another insurrection, we need an intervention in this country. As the line goes from the movie "Bull Durham" about baseball, some days you win, some days you lose, some days it rains.

Same goes for our elections. If one side can't accept the results, if one side is trying to rig the contest, is it really a fair fight? There is only one team to root for these days, the one that supports free and fair elections.

Thank goodness there are Americans of all stripes playing for that team, but please keep an eye on the other dugout these days and what they may be plotting for the days ahead. As the old song goes, it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ball game.

That's sports, that's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you back here next Saturday at 3:00 p.m. eastern. Pamela Brown takes over the "CNN Newsroom" live after a quick break. Good night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:55:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST (voice-over): As COVID cases fall, are we at the beginning of the end, or just bracing for another winter surge? Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb weighs in.

Gabby Petito's loved ones gather in New York for a moving memorial as the search for her fiance stretches on.

UNKNOWN: Well, I don't want you guys upset.

UNKNOWN: I want you to be inspired by the (inaudible).

BROWN (voice-over): Investigators tonight trying to work out why a passenger train derailed in Montana killing at least three people.