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FBI Scales Back Search For Laundrie, Collect Items For DNA As Petito's Father Delivers Passionate Eulogy; DOJ Reaches Deal To Give Man Who Shot Reagan "Unconditional Release"; Fallout Over Approval Of Controversial New Alzheimer Drug; Germany Faces Weeks Of Uncertainty After Merkel Party Defeated. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired September 27, 2021 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: What he cares about is vengeance against those people who voted for impeachment, those people who didn't do what he wanted them to do post-election, like Governor Kemp.
And this is his -- his Johnny One Note now. And it always is about him and it will always be about him. And that is what you just saw.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Gloria Borger, great to talk to you. Thank you.
BORGER: Thanks.
CAMEROTA: Well, the FBI is now scaling back the search for Brian Laundrie. New information on the investigation as Gabby Petito's father delivers a passionate eulogy and message.
And the man who tried to assassinate President Reagan is close to freedom. Find out what is next for John Hinckley Jr after today's court hearing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:35:23]
CAMEROTA: FBI investigators say the search for Gabby Petito's fiancee, Brian Laundrie, will be, quote, "scaled back and targeted based on intelligence."
On Sunday, FBI agents collected personal items belonging to Laundrie reportedly to help with DNA matching.
Also over the weekend, Gabby's friends and family gathered at a memorial service in Long Island, New York.
CNN's Nadia Romero joins us now.
Nadia, what does it mean they need evidence matching? Does that mean they've found something? NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I know that is exactly
what Gabby Petito's family and friends, and supporters who don't even know her, that is what they're hoping for. This could be a big break in the case.
And we've been out here throughout the weekend and all day and that is the most activity we've seen at this house over the weekend. Was two FBI agents showing up to collect items that we were told would be tested to use to match with DNA.
That is a big difference from what we've seen in the previous weeks with the search warrant when they were collecting items. It is the first time we're hearing from the FBI about trying to have a test match with DNA.
I want to take a look behind me so I will step out of way so you could see, that is the home of Brian Laundrie's parents. And we believe that they are inside right now. We haven't seen any movement.
So just a few moments ago, a Grub Hub food delivery driver dropped off food and a man delivered flowers. And we asked, who were the flowers for, because there's a small memorial for Gabby Petito and he said they're not for Gabby.
And that enraged some of the people that came out to protest in front of the home that wants those flowers who may be supporting the Laundrie family.
So that is the activity here in the neighborhood. Otherwise, it has been relatively quiet now, especially compared to what we saw last week.
And, Alisyn, you mentioned it, the FBI telling us they're going to scale down and have a more targeted approach to their search.
Now search efforts ramped down not too far from here in the Carlton Reserve, 25,000 acres of swamp land. So you think of gators and snakes and treacherous conditions. And those search efforts ramped down over the weekend.
We went and drove around and did some drone video to see if we could see any search efforts, and their minimal. We did see a few cars, police activity there and here throughout the neighborhood.
Everyone is still talking about the memorial for Gabby Petito yesterday. And we know that her family believe that Brian Laundrie and potentially his parents may have answers to their many questions -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Nadia Romero, thank you.
New fallout over a controversial Alzheimer's drug. We have new reporting on what happened behind the scenes and why one ex-FDA advisor called this probably the worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history.
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[14:42:56]
CAMEROTA: Just into our NEWSROOM, the Justice Department has reached a deal with the man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
The deal will free John Hinckley Jr from the strict conditions he's been living with for several years and grant him unconditional release without restrictions on his movements or Internet activity.
CNN chief legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is here.
Jeffrey, so why give him that luxury of no restrictions on his activity or movements.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Because, in the judgment of the medical professionals and the Justice Department, he's earned it.
He's been released most of time since 2003, 18 years. For the last five years, he's been completely released, out in the community.
And the judgment is, from these medical professionals -- and he was found not guilty by reason of insanity so he doesn't have a finite term. So they feel that he's not a threat to others or himself at this point so he's under no more supervision.
CAMEROTA: I read that they said his mental illness was in remission. How do they know that?
TOOBIN: You never know for sure. But this is what they do for a living.
Saint Elizabeth's is a mental hospital. They make these sorts of judgments. They're usually right. They're not always right, which we hear about, whether they're wrong. Any sort of release like this is some kind of risk.
But you know, this has been a long time. And he has been out in the public, with free movement for almost 20 years now. So it is not really that big of a change.
CAMEROTA: I want to ask you about your new reporting about this so- called Alzheimer's drug, Aduhelm. So it purports to slow the symptoms of Alzheimer's, yet major studies show no benefit to patients.
So why did this get approved and fast tracked?
TOOBIN: It is really, you know, Alzheimer's is such a nightmare in this country now. I know from my own family and I think many, many people know what an epidemic this is.
[14:45:00]
And there hasn't been a new drug approved since 2003. So there's very little medical progress. This drug was brought forward by the Biogen company and they said it
slowed certain symptoms in the early stages of the disease.
The FDA has the system where they have advisory committees and they bring in outsiders with expertise and no connection to the drug and not one of the members of this committee thought that drug should be approved.
CAMEROTA: Unanimously they didn't think it should be approved.
TOOBIN: But the FDA approved it. And interestingly, though, the Alzheimer's Association, the advocacy group, wanted it approved.
There's all of this desperation and this mood about now, the so-called freedom to try. That a lot -- there's sort of a free-market approach to drug approvals, which is maybe it will work, let's let the consumers decide.
CAMEROTA: But there are side effects.
TOOBIN: There are side effects and enormous cost. This thing costs at least $56,000 a year. It is unclear whether Medicare would cover it.
Two major hospitals, Mt. Sinai and Cleveland Clinic want nothing to do with this.
And what I feel terrible about is, what are the patients supposed to do? Are they supposed to read the sophisticated studies and decide and rely on the FDA or rely on all of the experts who say this is of no benefit?
It is a tremendous, you know -- if you know anybody whose family member has been afflicted with Alzheimer's, they'll do anything.
They're so desperate to try to hold onto family members who slip away that they -- and the people who are opposed to this drug say that is all of the more reason not to approve it because you're giving people false hope.
CAMEROTA: Was there some suggestion -- and I know you talked to one of the doctors who was on the advisory committee -- that there was some sort of too cozy relationship between the FDA and Biogen?
TOOBIN: This is something I didn't know about until I started working on the story for CNN.com. That is where the story is.
That the FDA is now largely funded directly from the pharmaceutical companies. Not through tax revenues. That they are sort -- they pay user fees.
And some critics allege this is not corruption in the sense that people are taking payoffs.
But it has led to too cozy of a relationship between the regulators and the regulated.
And this is cited by certain critics of the industry and the FDA as an example of what happens when there's too cozy of a relationship.
I really wish I had an answer for people with Alzheimer's and, unfortunately, this story raises more questions than it answers.
CAMEROTA: Well, everybody should read it at CNN.com.
Jeffrey Toobin, thank you.
TOOBIN: Good to see you.
CAMEROTA: You, too.
A political shake-up in Germany. Concerns about the future of Europe's biggest economy after yesterday's election. CNN is live in Berlin, next.
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[14:52:28]
CAMEROTA: Germany is bracing for weeks or months of political uncertainty after the Social Democrats narrowly won the country's general election defeating outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's party.
With no party winning a decisive majority, negotiations will now get underway as several parties attempt to form a coalition and put a new German government in place.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is in Berlin to make sense of all of this for us.
Fred, where do things stand?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, Angela Merkel's party, their results were disastrous. Her heir apparent, he scored about 10 percentage points less than what Angela Merkel had in the last election.
And that election was so bad that Angela Merkel said she's not going to run another turn. So things not looking good for Angela Merkel's party.
Social Democrats, they got the largest percentage of the vote. Their main candidate did say this morning he wants to try and form a governing coalition with obviously himself as the chancellor.
Now, his name is Olaf Scholz. And I asked him earlier today, if he does become chancellor, what would that mean for relations with the European Union, but especially with the United States.
Would Germany continue to be a strong partner with the United States like it was under Angela Merkel, especially with the Biden administration now continuously challenging China?
Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN SOCIAL DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE FOR CHANCELLOR: You can rely on the continuity in this question. It is important that we understand democracies and that we see in the world becomes more dangerous, it is important that we work together even if we do have conflicts and one or the other question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, there, who could very well be the next German chancellor, vowing to remain a strong ally with the United States.
However, nothing said and done. Again, they haven't started negotiating about a coalition.
The person from Angela Merkel's party, he also said that despite the fact that he got fewer votes, he wants to form a governing coalition with the Green Party and the Democrats.
Right now, as things stand in the motel, in the driver's seat, you have that Social Democrat.
One last thing, Alisyn. I saw Angela Merkel, and with that, big losses for her party, that's not the way she wanted to leave the political scene in Germany -- Alisyn?
CAMEROTA: Understood.
Frederik Pleitgen, thank you very much.
[14:54:55]
Now to this. More than 21,000 murders in 12 months. The FBI paints a grim picture about crime in the United States. So we'll take a closer look at this new report.
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[15:00:05]
CAMEROTA: Top of a new hour. I'm Alisyn Camerota. Thank you so much for joining me. Victor is off today.
