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Pfizer Submits Vaccine Trial Data for Kids Ages 5-11 to FDA; Petito Family Calls on Laundrie to Turn Himself In; New Audio Sheds Light on August 12th Altercation; Soon, Obama Breaks Ground on Presidential Library; Obama Speaks at Groundbreaking for Presidential Library. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired September 28, 2021 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:58]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: COVID cases in children account for roughly a quarter of all infections in the U.S. But vaccinations for kids under 12 are one step closer.

This morning, Pfizer submitted data for their vaccine on children to the FDA after research showed the vaccine was safe and generated a robust antibody response in kids.

CNN's Nick Watt joins me now.

Nick, what comes next? And how close are we to a vaccine actually being available for kids?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, how close still up in the air. Nobody wants to put too definitive a timeline on it because they don't want to erode trust in the process.

And while we're talking about trust, new Axios/Ipsos poll, trust in President Biden to deliver accurate information about the coronavirus has gone down. Was 58 percent when he took office, now just 45 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (voice-over): Pfizer just submitted key data to the FDA from trials of its vaccine in kids 5 to 11. So, when might we expect a green light?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, I would hope that by the end of October, we'll be there. I can't guarantee it, but I'm hopeful that'll be the case.

WATT: Around 70 million already eligible Americans still haven't had a vaccine shot.

DR. MARCELLA NUNEZ SMITH, CHAIR, COVID-19 EQUITY TASK FORCE: Somewhere around one in four adults across communities remain unvaccinated, unprotected against this virus. We, of course, continue to see new hospitalizations and deaths from COVID that we can prevent.

WATT: Average daily first doses in arms never been lower since the CDC started tracking that number way back in mid-January.

So what is working in the effort to get more people vaccinated? Largely, fear.

Among those who got vaccinated these past few months, many say it was fear of the Delta variant and seeing hospitals fill up. Far fewer said it was employer mandates and pressure from friends or family.

[14:35:01]

Tamara DeMello just lost her unvaccinated 20-year-old son to the virus.

TAMARA DEMELLO, LOST UNVACCINATED SON TO COVID-19: I just cajoled and threatened and did everything I could possibly think. I think he did some research where he was thinking that it was going to hurt his heart long-term or something.

I'm not even sure where he was getting his information, which is super frustrating.

WATT: Unvaccinated medical workers in New York State could face termination today. Midnight was their deadline to get a shot.

Teachers in New York City now have until Friday 5:00 p.m. to get a shot. Some legal ping-pong has been moving that deadline around.

ASIA LEVYSTONE, TEACHER: I'm going to be terminated. It's going to be my last day.

WATT: Nationwide, average daily COVID-19 case counts are now falling. Numbers in the hospital are falling.

But most Americans believe, according to a new poll, that this virus will never be eliminated, that it's something the U.S. will learn to live with and manage. And they're probably right.

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: We're going to have to deal with this as a more persistent menace and learn how to reduce our risk of respiratory pathogens more generally, particularly in the wintertime because this will eventually become a more seasonal pathogen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Now, out here in Los Angeles, we have just heard from LeBron James on vaccinations. He says, initially, he was skeptical, but he did his research and decided that vaccination was the best thing for him, his family, and his friends.

But he made it clear he doesn't want to get involved in anyone else's business. He's not telling anyone else what to do. He's just saying that he decided this for himself -- Alisyn? CAMEROTA: Good for him. I mean, I think that will go a long way. So

many people do listen to what he has to say, as we know.

As we know, Black Americans are at, I think, according to the CDC, 32 percent, only 32 percent of them have been vaccinated. So, we'll see if LeBron James has an impact.

Thank you very much, Nick Watt.

Meanwhile, Gabby Petito's family is speaking out and pleading with Brian Laundrie to turn himself in. The latest on the investigation and the just-released police recordings.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:43]

CAMEROTA: The family of Gabby Petito is pleading with her fiance, Brian Laundrie, to turn himself in. Petito's family held a press conference today.

It has now been two weeks since Laundrie was last seen. Petito's remains were found in a camping area at Wyoming's Teton National Forest last week. A coroner ruled her death a homicide.

Our reporters have the latest. Leyla Santiago is in Florida for us. Athena Jones is in New York where the Petito family just wrapped up that press conference.

Athena, what did her family say?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn.

Well, a large part of the press conference was devoted to the family thanking people from all over the world, the outpouring of support they've gotten.

Also thanking law enforcement, everyone who has been working on this case, both now and after having found Gabby Petito's body and in the search for Petito.

They also talked about just the support they've gotten from all around the world, thanking those folks and the media.

We heard especially from Gabby Petito's father, Joseph Petito, saying, you know, thanking the media and saying that he wants everyone to have -- everyone who goes missing to have the kind of attention that his daughter was able to get.

What was interesting here is what they would not speak about. Now, they held this press conference with their lawyer.

They would not, as a family, or through the lawyer, confirm or speak about any contact they had had with the Laundrie family, not since early September or late August, or period.

They wouldn't describe the relationship between the Petitos and the Schmidts and the Laundries.

And they would not say whether they believe that Brian Laundrie is alive or if they believe his family's statement put out yesterday that they don't know where he is and didn't help him escape.

But here's some of what they did say. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD STAFFORD, ATTORNEY FOR GABBY PETITO'S FAMILY: The Laundries did not help us find Gabby. They're sure not going to help us find Brian.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just hoping that through our tragedy, with losing Gabby, that in the future, that some good can come out of it, that we can help other people that may be in a similar situation.

Reach out to these other organizations that do similar things and find out what's missing. You know, what can we do to fill that void?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And so right there, you're hearing them talk kind of vaguely about this foundation that the family has already announced they would be establishing named for -- it will be called the Gabby Petito Foundation.

And over the weekend, at the memorial service, they asked for donations to this foundation in lieu of flowers.

We heard a little bit more about what the goal and the mission of that foundation will be.

And it sounds as though it's going to be something having to do with helping out with missing persons, whether it's children or adults. Those details are all being worked out.

Gabby herself was 22 years old. But that is what they're referring to when they talk about trying to, you know, keep her light alive and be able to help others and inspire others who may have been in similar situations.

And there was also a poignant moment towards the end. You've heard and you have seen a lot of Joseph Petito and also Jim Schmidt. That is Gabby Petito's stepfather.

So they talked a lot about how Gabby has four parents or had four parents. This is a co-parenting scenario.

All four of those parents went together last night to get matching tattoos on their arms. Some got several tattoos. But all of them got one that says, "Let it be." And that matches a tattoo that Gabby Petito had herself as well.

[14:45:03]

So a poignant moment, them talking about how they all went together and have been going through this together -- Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Let's bring in Leyla Santiago who is in Florida.

What does Brian Laundrie's family say about all this, Leyla?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, we heard the Petito family also talk about how they were happy with the FBI and the role that they have taken in this investigation.

We have not seen the FBI here at the Laundrie home since Sunday when they came by and picked something up.

The Laundrie attorney telling several news outlets that he picked -- the agents picked up some personal belongings of Brian Laundrie for DNA matching.

That was the last that we have seen of the FBI in this area. And that is quite a difference from what we saw last week.

I was here all last week and it was a massive search in a 25,000-acre reserve, not just the FBI agents out there, but multiple agents, even a dive team out there.

We have not seen that this week. Very different.

The investigators saying this is now a very targeted search based off of intelligence. So that leaves investigators sort of piecing things together to try to figure out what happened.

A new audio that was released from dispatch, it gives us a little bit more of an idea of what happened before police encountered the couple August 12th in Moab, Utah.

We had heard the 911 call where the reporting party said a man hit a woman. That's why they were calling in.

Now we're learning what dispatch told officers before they made contact with the couple. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Do you have a phone number for the R.P., maybe a landline or a location for where our victim is at?

DISPATCH: Phone number is (BLEEP). But the female who got hit, they both -- the male and the female both got into the van and headed north.

R.P. states that a male hit a female, domestic. He got into a white Ford transit van, has a black ladder on the back.

(END AUDIO FEED)

SANTIAGO: Now, the Moab Police Department is saying that they are looking into this, not necessarily because of any policies broken but more so because they want to look into this to see if there was anything that they can learn from that encounter that police had with the couple.

We should also mention that the Laundrie attorney released a statement to several news outlets also saying that the Laundrie family had nothing to do with their son's getaway, and that they are worried about him.

CAMEROTA: OK, Athena Jones, Leyla Santiago, thank you both.

All right, former President Obama is expected to speak at any moment. There's the former first lady, Michelle Obama, speaking live right now. This is all about breaking ground on the Obama presidential library. So we will take you live to Chicago.

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[14:52:27]

CAMEROTA: Right now, former President Obama and former first lady, Michelle, are taking part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center.

The project has been slowed by lawsuits and some local complaints but it is now moving forward as the former president and first lady oversee the official launch of the Obama presidential library in the Jackson Park neighborhood of Chicago's south side.

So let's bring this CNN's Joe Johns.

Joe, tell us about this new presidential library and what's happening.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it sounds like quite a project, doesn't it? Michelle Obama speaking right now. President Obama will be up in just a little bit.

And 19.3 acres, mostly green space. There's going to be a presidential museum. There's going to be a library inside. There's going to be a garden.

And sort of what's been described as a presidential library that's not a library. A lot about this has been very unusual.

Of course, this groundbreaking has already started at a time even while the construction has already been going on.

President Obama spoke earlier today about the library on TV. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the themes we hope of the presidential center is that all of us have a role to play in our neighborhoods, in our local communities.

And if the center and the foundation that we put together is helping to plant that seed and empower a whole next generation of young leaders, that's a better and more important legacy to me than anything I got done by myself. (END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Alisyn talked at the top about the legal controversy surrounding this location. It's in historic Jackson Park in south Chicago.

This was the site of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. It's on the National Register of Historic Places. And there was one court challenge that failed. Another court challenge continues.

However, President Obama apparently decided it was time to move forward with this project. And every indication, at least so far, that it is going to completion, they hope, by something like four years from now.

Back to you.

CAMEROTA: A library that's not a library. I look forward to hearing more about that.

CAMEROTA: Joe Johns, thank you very much.

And we'll take it live when President Obama begins to speak.

[14:54:59]

Meanwhile, a make-or-break week for President Biden's agenda. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi making some last-minute changes in hopes of getting this bipartisan infrastructure plan passed. We have the very latest, next.

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CAMEROTA: As promised, we told you we'd take you back when President Obama takes the stage and begins speaking about the groundbreaking of his presidential library on the south side of Chicago.

You see him greeting everyone there. He's going over to greet the first lady, former first lady, and speak about this project.

OBAMA: Hello, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.

OBAMA: This day has been a long time coming. We had originally hoped to hold a bigger festive event but the pandemic had other plans. So we're keeping this small for now.

But to everyone who is watching, including so many who were part of my administration, so many who've worked tirelessly to make this day possible, please know how incredibly grateful I am and how much I am looking forward to celebrating with all of you in person as soon as we can.

I want to start by thanking Trenton for that outstanding introduction.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And Zel for doing such a great job introducing Michelle. I would like Zel also to give me some tips on my golf game.

(LAUGHTER)

We are so proud of both of you.

And I also want to acknowledge a few other people here today who have been so instrumental. Our own governor of Illinois, Governor Pritzker.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: The mayor of our great city, Mayor Lightfoot.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Aldermen, Leslie Hairston (ph) and Greg Mitchell.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Thank you all for everything you've done to move this project forward.

So we are here today on the south side of Chicago in Jackson Park to officially break ground on the Obama Presidential Center.

As Michelle has noted, we chose this location for a few pretty good reasons. It's close to where Michelle grew up, where I started my political career. It is surrounded by vibrant neighborhoods and a community where we believe we can help make a difference.

Jackson Park also happens to hold a special place in my heart because it was literally my entryway into Chicago.

In the summer of 1985, I packed up my car, which was a pretty janky car, from New York and I headed west. A 23-year-old kid about to start a new job and a new life.

And after I came off the skyway, I found myself driving through Jackson Park. And at the time, I remember thinking, this is a lot more beautiful than I expected.

Admittedly, it was not winter, and I had not yet tasted the hawk coming off the lake.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: But at the time, I was still trying to figure out who I was, still searching for a purpose to my life.

And it was in neighborhoods not far from here where I began working with church groups in the shadow of closed steel mills. It was in communities across the city, from Roselin to Pullman, to

Pilsen, to Little Village, the north side, where I learned that everybody's got a story to tell.

That beneath our surface differences, we have common hopes and common dreams and common values that stitch us together.

Chicago is where I found the purpose I'd been seeking. It's where I finally put my ideas about democracy and activism and social change to the test.

Most importantly, it's where I met the brilliant, beautiful daughter of the south side named Michelle LaVaughn Robinson. We were married here, had our reception at the cultural center.

[15:00:04]

Our daughters were born here right down the street at the hospital. We bought our first home here a few blocks away.