Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

FBI Returns To Laundrie Home To Collect "DNA Matching" Items; NY Hospitals Brace For Staffing Shortages Due To Vaccine Mandate; Major Retailers Reviving Limits On Toilet Paper, Preparing For Shortages; Thousands Of Migrants Expelled Under Trump-Era Rule; Police Investigating After Mother, Son Fall Over Rail At Baseball Stadium. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 27, 2021 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: And yet, we don't know where Laundrie is. In fact, it's been almost two weeks since he went missing. That's a long time, Casey, to be without a phone and without a wallet.

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST & BEHAVIORAL ANALYST: Oh, if we believe that he really doesn't have his phone and a wallet.

Conspiracy theories aside, I haven't heard anything that says we have linked Brian to the reserve.

However, let's -- let's consider that searchers may have found discarded items, clothing, litter, chewing gum, half-eaten apple, anything like that that could have DNA evidence on it.

They need his profile so they can take anything found in the reserve to see if there's any evidence at all that he's been there. We haven't heard anything evidence that can be linked to the reserve.

At a cost of $100,000 per day, they need to think about going in a whole new direction and perhaps abandoning that search if there's no sign of Brian there.

We also have it consider that Brian's parents fear he went there to harm himself. Even though it's an unpleasant thought, if Brian did harm himself or took his own life, they need the DNA profile to identify him under the circumstance.

It's not about linking him to a crime but identifying him, if he's on land, is a fugitive of justice, if they have someone who matches his description in a hospital, in a foreign country.

That DNA profile will be very key for identifying Brian but also eliminating or to considering suspects who may have killed Gabby Petito.

CABRERA: All we know is Petito was killed. Homicide was the cause of death, but officials have not made public how she died specifically.

Do you think they are keeping that information close to the vest for investigative reasons?

JORDAN: That's exactly what they are doing. And even though you and I, Ana, would love to know the answer, all the public and all the cyber sleuths, all true-crime aficionados out there would like to know the cause of death.

But I really encourage theme step back and say we don't really need to know this, not at this juncture. And the more information that get there, the more possibility of compromising the investigation or the case. We don't need to do that.

Whatever case they're building, we need to make sure the prosecutors hold those cards close to their vests to make sure, when they get the culprit, Brian Laundrie or anyone else, that they have protected the evidence and have holdbacks.

They know information about that crime that we don't know so they can avoid any false confessions or picking up a suspect that may not be the right culprit.

So it's all important to keep that investigation, as we say in criminal law, clean, so that when it comes time to prosecute, we've got a strong case.

CABRERA: There's a $30,000 reward, right now for information leading to his whereabouts. How does that make a difference typically in a case, reward money?

JORDAN: I would argue that in this particular case it's not going to make a huge difference.

People want justice for Gabby Petito because they want justice. They want the person who killed her, as I said, Brian Laundrie or anyone else, whoever might be responsible for her death. They want to person brought to justice.

I think $30,000, while a good chunk of money, while we could all use it, is really not enough to tip the scales and get somebody to turn him in.

If somebody runs into Brian Laundrie, they will turn him in, reward or not.

People are very invested in this case because of all of the blogging and video footage that we have. Gabby, we feel like we know her. She's the girl next door.

I love the idea that there's a reward out there. I hope someone actually finds Brian Laundrie and turns him in.

But I don't think people are ever going to do it for the money. They are going to do it for justice for Gabby.

CABRERA: It's the right thing to do.

Casey Jordan, good to see you. Thanks for your insights and perspective. Thanks for being here.

JORDAN: Always good to be here, Ana.

[13:33:47]

CABRERA: It's happening again. Costco imposing limits on purchases of toilet paper and cleaning supplies. And they're not the only ones preparing for new shortages.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:38:54]

CABRERA: Now back to the push to get more shots in arms. Major concern in New York today as a vaccine mandate for health care workers kicks in.

Hospitals are bracing for staffing shortages and now the governor is considering calling up National Guard personnel with medical training to help out because, at last check, tens of thousands of health care workers in the state remain unvaccinated.

CNN's Miguel Marquez joins us.

Miguel, are we learning of any disruptions to care yet?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not yet. And it's not clear that there will be because of that governor's order, which, by the way, she said she will sign that emergency order that could bring in medically trained National Guard members.

It could bring in students, retirees, other individuals who are traveling nurses or even here from overseas to fill space.

Also we're keeping this IN mind that some hospitals are already saying that if they have unvaccinated employees they may be able to take leave, paid leave until they get vaccinated so that may help as well.

Beyond all of this, you have to get in mind the vast majority of health care workers not only in New York but around the country are vaccinated, a small number, a slim number that's been holding everything else up.

[13:40:11]

It does amount to tens of thousands of workers probably across New York and in various hospitals and care homes and nursing homes and the like, so it is a big number.

But it is a -- it is a small slice of the overall health care workers out there -- Ana?

CABRERA: What about teachers because there's the vaccine mandate for teachers in New York City that was supposed to go into effect today, but a judge temporarily blocked that. What happens next?

MARQUEZ: Yes. Teachers were meant to be in the exact same place that nurses are right now with a vaccine mandate.

And New York is interesting because it is a test for both teachers and hospital workers. New York doesn't have like many other states have an exemption that if you don't get the vaccine you can get -- you can test out every week and go along on that basis.

Also we're keeping in mind that the vast majority of teachers are vaccinated, but, again, it is the small number of teachers who are sort of holding up the system, particularly among young kids who many of them cannot get vaccinated yet.

A judge on Wednesday is meant to look at everything or a circuit court is meant to look at everything on Wednesday, and they may have a more final ruling then.

The mayor of New York has basically said they will revert to the old rule which is either get vaccinated or test out for now. And we'll see what the judge says on Wednesday -- Ana?

CABRERA: Miguel Marquez, thanks for that report.

A big red flag ahead of the holiday season, toilet paper, booze, shoes, even Christmas presents could all be in limited supply.

CNN's Matt Egan is joining us with this news.

Where can we expect to see all these shortages, and why is this happening right now?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Ana, if you were planning to head over to Costco today to fill up a shopping cart with paper towels, they won't let you out of the store.

That's because Costco is announcing a purchase limit on whole series of items, including paper towels, toilet paper, bottled water and cleaning supplies.

Costco is declining to say precisely what these limits are or how long they are going to be in effect for.

But what's so interesting is the reason why. This is not primarily driven by panic buying, which, of course, was the story of 2020.

This is really about all of the supply chain headaches that we keep hearing about due to COVID outbreaks and delays at ports and shortages of everything from trucks and drivers to raw materials and components, and also containers themselves.

Now, here's how Costco's chief financial officer explained is in a call to Wall Street Analysts the other day. He said, quote, "A year ago, it was a shortage of merchandise. Now they have got plenty of merchandise but there's two to three-week delays on getting it delivered."

This is obviously a much bigger problem than just Costco and toilet paper. There's a whole series of things that Americans are actually going have a hard time getting right now. And that includes cars, computer chips, sneakers, furniture and even toys.

And one of the biggest problems is that computer chip shortage, which is a worldwide issue, and that's because computer chips are just essential to the modern economy and are used in anything that has an on/off switch.

The commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, told me the other day the computer ship problem is probably not going to get resolved at least until the end of next year, perhaps not even until 2023.

So that suggests that Americans will have to exercise a healthy dose of patience this holiday season.

CABRERA: Yes. Don't go panic buy and leave, you know, your neighbor high and dry -- no pun intended -- when it comes to some of these items.

Just keep in mind, as you're planning, going forward, to get some while you can, not all.

Matt Egan, thank you so much.

EGAN: Thank you.

[13:39:06]

CABRERA: The Biden administration now on defense after using a Trump- era rule to expel thousands of migrants who were camped under this Texas bridge. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: No more migrants camped under a bridge in Texas and we've learned about 4,000 were deported back to Haiti without having a chance to apply for asylum.

The Biden administration is using a Trump-era rule to remove them from the country. It is called Title 42, which was an enacted during the pandemic.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us from Washington.

Explain Title 42 and why this administration is defending the use in this case.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Title 42, Ana, is a public health authority. It was implemented at the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020 by the Trump administration.

And it allows border authorities to swiftly remove migrants encountered at the Mexico border. Unaccompanied children are exempt from this.

But this is the reason that the administration was able to so quickly expel migrants, particularly Haitians, who were amassed under the Del Rio international bridge. [14:50:05]

Now advocates have expressed concern over the authority and said it puts asylum-seekers in harm's way because it bars them from seeking refuge in the United States.

But still, senior officials are defending this authority. Here is what Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, told our Jake Tapper yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, DHS SECRETARY: Remember, that is a public health authority. It is not an immigration policy. It is exercised as the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, has ordered in light of the arc of the pandemic.

This is a public health imperative to protect migrants themselves, local communities, our personnel and the American public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALAVAREZ: So you heard him say they are defending this as a public health imperative but advocates say they need to ditch this policy.

CABRERA: It is important to know that thousands of the Haitian migrants were also allowed to await some immigration court proceedings here in the U.S., so not everybody or the majority were expelled. But nonetheless, we know why some were.

Didn't a judge recently say that the Biden administration couldn't use Title 42?

ALVAREZ: The judge did say that migrant families -- that is the key -- migrant families, could not be subjected to this public health authority. So far, they have been.

But the judge said that he would give the administration 14 days before they had to Start allowing those families in or putting them through separate proceedings instead of through this authority.

Now that deadline is coming up this week. And the administration, in the interim, has appealed the ruling. We haven't heard from the appeals court as to what they'll decide moving forward.

CABRERA: And on the broader issue of immigration reform, today, the Biden administration announced new steps to protect DACA recipients, so-called DREAMers. What could you tell us about this?

ALVAREZ: The Department of Homeland Security today announcing a proposed rule for DACA to preserve DACA. It is survived as a Homeland Security memo. So this takes that extra step.

It has been, as you know, Ana, under increased scrutiny. A federal judge this summer said that the administration didn't take the steps they should have to put this program in place. So the administration here doing just that, by putting it through a

proposed rule-making process. It does not change the criteria and there's still a public comment period.

CABRERA: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.

Horror at the ballpark. A mother and her 2-year-old son are dead after falling over a railing at a San Diego Padre's game. And why police say they are now investigating this incident.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:57:56]

CABRERA: Turning now to a horrific story out of San Diego where a 40- year-old mother and her 2-year-old son fell to their deaths this weekend at Petco Park minutes before a Major League Baseball game was about to start.

CNN's Stephanie Elam joins us.

Stephanie, at this point, police are not saying whether this was intentional or an accident or foul play. What do we know?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana. And it is horrific to hear. This is right around 4:00 p.m. Local time on Saturday.

We do know this was from a concourse level that this mother and son fell to the sidewalk level. Now according to the "San Diego Union Tribune," it is about being six stories up. They were in the concession eating area at the time.

We also know that homicide investigators did respond and they responded out of what they call an abundance of caution because it did seem like it could be suspicious conditions under which the mother and son did fall over this edge and on to the ground here.

"The Tribune" also reporting that the father of the 2-year-old son was at the park at the time.

It is really an interesting turn of events when you look at how far up this is. About six stories up, on the third level concourse level, that this mother and her child could fall over at the same time.

They did try to resuscitate them there, save them there, but they were pronounced dead at the scene -- Ana?

CABRERA: It is a sad story.

Stephanie, thank you. Obviously, a lot of questions left unanswered at this point. Appreciate your update.

And that is going to do it for us today. Thank you so much for being here. I'll see you back here at 1:00 Eastern tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, join me on Twitter, @ Ana Cabrera. Alisyn Camerota picks up our coverage right now.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Alisyn Camerota. Thanks for joining me. Victor is off today.

[13:59:58]

It is a very consequential week for President Biden and it is starting off with a boost. Moments ago, the president rolled up his sleeve for his COVID booster shot. And he talked about what this means for the country.