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Pelosi To Democrats: We Must Pass Infrastructure By Oct. 31; Biden: "Going to Work Like Hell" To Get Economic Agenda Passed; Merck: Antiviral Pill Cuts Risk Of COVID Hospitalization, Death By Half; Women's March For Reproductive Rights In D.C.; Trump Asks Federal Judge To Let Him Back On Twitter; Internal Video Shows Fully Masked FOX Newsroom; New Video Sheds Light On Petito-Laundrie Domestic Dispute. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired October 02, 2021 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But it's unclear if Belarus, under Lukashenko has much of a choice. Already Russia is stepping up joint military drills and adding to its permanent presence in the country fueling concerns that with Belarus, Russia is gaining a new Western outpost. Matthew Chance, CNN, Minsk.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone, thank you so much for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with a new deadline for Democrats to pass a trillion-dollar Infrastructure bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now says that the Bipartisan bill must pass the House by Halloween, these, coming as Democrats have hit the pause button on that legislation.

And the President's larger spending package after Moderate and Progressive Democrats hit an impasse, well, Democrats ended the week without a vote or a deal on the President's sweeping domestic agenda despite days of frantic negotiations and deadlines.

We're following all of these developments with Daniella Diaz on Capitol Hill and Arlette Saenz at the White House for us.

Daniella, let's begin with you on Capitol Hill, what's happening or what's not happening?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Fred, what's not happening has a really interesting way to put what happened this week, which is not much. You know, Democrats debated and tried to pass a Bipartisan Infrastructure bill, which is what Moderates wanted.

But in the end, that boat did not happen, the bill was not put to the floor, and they bought themselves more time to continue negotiating on another part of Biden's historic agenda, an economic Bill, $3.5 trillion bill that would expand the nation's social safety net. So, what did end up happening is they passed a $30 -- 30-day funding for surface transportation, something that was going to expire Thursday night, and they -- House passed it yesterday, the Senate is meeting today to possibly pass it so that they're no furlough jobs relating to that funding.

And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put out a letter this morning, a dear colleague note, kind of ignoring the drama of what happened this week, but she did emphasize that she wants to see the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill passed by October 31. This is what she wrote in the note.

She said, there is an October 31 Surface Transportation authorization deadline after last night -- last night's passage of a critical 30-day extension. We must pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill well before then, the sooner the better to get the jobs out there.

That is the key thing here. Moderate Democrats really want the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill passed so that it could create thousands of jobs to improve roads, bridges, transportation. This is why they've been advocating for this.

And then, on the other hand, you have Progressive Democrats who want to see the Economic bill pass. This bill is a massive bill that would expand the Nation's social safety net, it would do things such as combat climate change, expanded child tax credit, have paid family and medical leave.

These are things that Progressives want to see passed, which is why they threatened this week to withhold their vote on the other bill, the hard Infrastructure bill unless they can nail down details for this Economic bill. So, they want to pass these two together.

You know, President Joe Biden visited Capitol Hill yesterday, for the first time visited the House Democratic Caucus, and really pushed that they need to negotiate on this, and that's where things left off.

They are going to continue to negotiate on the two-track plan for these two bills, and so far, you know, the work continues clearly here on Capitol Hill on these issues, right.

WHITFIELD: All right, Daniella, thank you so much. So, Arlette at the White House, so what is the President saying about how he plans to get his agenda across the finish line?

We did hear him say six minutes, six hours, six weeks, so he might be OK with this October 31 deadline, but then he still has work to do, right?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. And to "President Biden," he said he's going to work like hell to try to get both of these measures passed, even as Democrats right now remain at a standoff over how exactly to proceed with the President's top priorities.

Now, the President has acknowledged that there is frustration on all sides as these negotiations have played out over the course of the past few weeks.

And Moderates and Progressives are still appeared to be at odds over both that Bipartisan Infrastructure proposal, and then that larger $3.5 trillion proposal which they are expecting will likely be trimmed down a bit in order to win over some Moderates.

And the President is now spending the weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. He is planning to stay engaged on the issue talking to lawmakers while he was -- while he is there.

He also, the White House said, will be hosting lawmakers here at the White House next week as well as traveling the country to try to sell these proposals out to the American people.

But the President really has said, even if he's -- if he himself is not putting a timeline, a deadline to get these measures passed, he has said that he is optimistic that they will get done.

He does think that Support for both of these measures, it's just a matter of getting the votes in order for them to pass.

[13:05:00]

SAENZ: He has been urging, as Daniella noted, his -- Democrats up on Capitol Hill to try to compromise and remember their shared unity of their priorities.

Now, in addition to these measures, the President also today discussed and addressed another pressing issue for Congress, and that is raising the debt limit, with an October 18 deadline quickly approaching.

And just before the President left to the White House this morning, I asked him whether he thinks Democrats will have to do it alone raising that debt ceiling, as Republicans have said that they will be opposed to it.

Now, the President did not comment on the Democratic efforts, but he did say the Republicans need to come on board, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I hope that Republicans don't be so irresponsible, as to refuse to raise the debt limit and to filibuster the debt limit. That would be totally unconscionable. Never been done before. And so I hope that won't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So, the debt limit, that Bipartisan Infrastructure proposal, the larger social safety net bill, that is all things that this Congress is currently has on their plate. They have a heavy lift ahead in the coming weeks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Arlette Saenz, Daniella Diaz, thanks to both of you ladies. Appreciate it. So, what happens now? Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego of Arizona, he's a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Bold Pac.

All right. Good to see you, Congressman. So, with Progressives wanting one thing, Moderates wanting another, is this a divided party?

REP. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): No, look, I think the party is united in one thing, we want infrastructure, we want both physical, as well as human infrastructure.

We want people to have the opportunity infrastructure highway that people have missed for the last decade, and want, you know, to just build roads and build bridges.

The one thing that we need to do, though, is have some trust and understanding. And as a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Progressive Caucus, we've been very clear what we want to do.

What we haven't seen and we haven't heard from the Senate is exactly what they want. So, money aside, we better fear about what all --

WHITFIELD: And you're talking specifically -- you're talking specifically Manchin and Sinema, right? I mean, I heard Congressman Ro Khanna say something very similar.

He's saying, what is it that you want, it's unclear, we know that neither one of them have been on board with the price tag, but specifically, what about how the money is allocated? So, how do you get to the bottom of that?

GALLEGO: -- Well, the way you get to the bottom of that, is the way we're going to the bottom on this. We're going to build our priorities and our policies first, and then we're going to go back and look at how much it would cost.

And then, once we get to a certain amount, then we'll, you know, put it all together, and then hopefully, go talk to our Senate colleagues. I know that our Senate colleagues will try to tell us what their priorities are, and once we look at both areas, then we come to a compromise.

You know, what does that number look like? I don't know, what matters the most is like, how do we have the policies that actually make a difference in people's lives? Because that's what it really is all that matters at the end.

WHITFIELD: Could anyone have seen this coming, those of you within the party, or could the President have seen this coming? That while he put out these are -- this is what I want, this is what my agenda is, but --

GALLEGO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- might he have anticipated or might you have been able to anticipate that Progressives and -- it would -- it would be Progressives and Moderates who would be holding things up within the Democratic Party not necessarily being able to place all the blame on Republicans?

GALLEGO: Well, look, at the beginning, there was an agreement between all sides, there's going to be two tracks system, and that's why, you know, a lot of this started moving.

And suddenly there was a shift from both the Senate and some other members of the Democratic Caucus among conservative members, that all of a sudden they went from a two-track system that no, you must not vote for this, the Fifth bill -- the Infrastructure bill first, before we consider the human infrastructure side of the build back better.

The problem with that is that that was a change of the agreement, and then the numbers changed, then the amount that they were willing to spend kept on changing.

So, you know, when there is -- when you start breaking trust over and over again, and then you start forcing these arbitrary deadlines, you're going to create a situation like this.

And eventually what happened, there was not just one or two members of the Democratic Caucus, it was close to 60 members of the Democratic caucus that said the trust is off, we need to see, you know, we need to have an agreement or we need to have some level of trust before we keep moving forward.

So, was it hard to see? Yes. I don't think anybody anticipated that there would, you know, some of our colleagues go back on their word. But we are where we are right now, it's time to work together, and let's get this done for the American people.

WHITFIELD: Senator Joe Manchin said he was more comfortable with the $1.5 trillion price tag for Biden's Build Back Better plan. It's a far cry from the $3.5 trillion proposed. Although President Biden had come down quite a bit, you know from his initial number down to 3.5 trillion, so do -- how will you get the votes in the Senate in order to get this passed?

[13:10:00]

GALLEGO: Well, I think Senator Manchin has to tell me what his 1.5 trillion mean? Are we going to -- does that mean we're going to get child tax credit extended for every person making less than $150,000, $300 per kid? Does that mean we're going to have subsidized childcare pre-K? Does that mean we get to expand Medicare, so it covers dental, and hearing?

You know, 1.5 trillion over a 10-year-span is $150 billion in a $22.3 trillion economy that we have, by the way. So, you know, the number he's throwing out is small compared to our yearly -- our yearly --

WHITFIELD: Why do you feel he's not being more specific?

GALLEGO: -- now, what does it mean? What does that -- what does that number come up to?

WHITFIELD: Right. And why do you feel like he's not being more specific about how do you get to those numbers, as opposed to simply saying, that number is too high, I wanted at 1.5 trillion? How do you get that?

GALLEGO: I don't know, but that's not the right way, in my opinion, to do policymaking. If he really has an issue on the number, then he should actually go back and say you need to cut out these policies. Instead, well, you know, all we're hearing is this arbitrary number, much like arbitrary deadlines.

So, you know, I hope that we can work with Senator Manchin, the future where he puts down the pen to paper, the policy he cares about, and how it comes out to 1.5 trillion, or what are the other aspects of how we can get to an amount I think that makes both sides happy?

WHITFIELD: And another key player in the Senate in these negotiations is from your State, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who feels differently about much of what is in the bills, from what we can understand, are you getting specificity from her too?

GALLEGO: No, and again, this is not just a Manchin, Sinema thing. I think, you know, collectively with the two Senators and some of my colleagues on the House side, we don't get specifics, all we hear about is that I just don't like that number, but numbers and budgets are a reflection of human investment.

So, what are you trying to say? What are you trying to cut out? What do you -- what do you not want? Do you not want a childcare subsidy? Are you trying to take away, you know, universal pre-K? You know, is it Medicare that you're trying to cut out?

When you're cutting out something by saying I don't want cutted (PH) by 1 trillion, you're saying you're kind of cut out a portion of America, so what is that? And let's have a debate about that.

WHITFIELD: So, Congressman, your name has been floated as a possible primary challenger to Senator Sinema, is that something you're thinking about pursuing?

GALLEGO: No, not at this point. I -- you know, this is -- this is the year of 2021. We have to pass Infrastructure, we have to pass the Service Transportation bill, there's a lot of things I want to work in, and I still have to run to re-election in 2022 as a member of Congress.

So, any speculation on 2024 is not -- is wrong. And also, it's not fair to my constituents. They deserve my full time, you know, focus on this, as well as my family does.

WHITFIELD: All right, Congressman Ruben Gallego, glad you could be with us. Thank you so much.

GALLEGO: Thank you. WHITFIELD: All right, coming up. A possible breakthrough in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic, a new pill for COVID patients, the doctor say, cuts in half the risk of death or hospitalization.

Plus, new details in the investigation of Gabby Petito, brand new body camera footage revealing more of the domestic dispute between she and her fiance, Brian Laundrie.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:00]

WHITFIELD: The U.S. has now surpassed more than 700,000 COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic, that's more reported deaths and -- in any other country in the world.

The nation is still averaging just under 1900 COVID deaths every day, but new cases and hospitalizations are dropping, and a decrease in deaths will likely follow.

One reason for that optimism is that Merck says its new antiviral drug cuts the risk of hospitalizations and deaths by 50 percent for COVID patients. The company plans to submit a request for Emergency Use Authorization to the FDA as soon as possible.

And experts are hailing the news as it being a potential game-changer, but it's little relief for those families that have already lost loved ones.

A family in Virginia is mourning the loss of their 10-year-old Teresa Sperry, who died less than a week after showing symptoms of COVID-19. Her parents told CNN's Christi Paul that they don't want her death to be in vain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE SPERRY, 10-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER DIED FROM COVID-19: Teresa passed away at 4:46 p.m., and I'm sitting next to her bed as everybody's talking to me.

And there was a school board meeting for my district, and one of my friends told me that while she was there, she was so enraged because there were people there that said COVID is over, that it doesn't affect healthy people, it doesn't kill healthy people, that we can basically get on with our lives.

And when she told me that, I was like, if it was over, my daughter would still be here. I wouldn't -- we wouldn't be doing these interviews. We wouldn't be preparing for her funeral.

And it upset me so much that people just are so nonchalant about it while my only girl is gone.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Nicole, I'm so sorry. We're so sorry to both of you. Jeff, I know that like you said, you were in the hospital last night, and you thought it important enough to be here with us. What do you want to say?

JEFF SPERRY, 10-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER DIED FROM COVID-19: I want to say my baby was happy, she was healthy and strong, and it took her in less than five days. If they can take her, they can take anybody.

And I don't -- the only way this makes sense is for her to save people. I don't want other people to have to do what we're doing right now because it hurts.

PAUL: Is there a fear?

JEFF SPERRY: It hurts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh my God, that is so tragic. All right, joining us right now to discuss is Dr. Richina Bicette, an Emergency Medicine Physician. She's also the Medical Director of the Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Bicette, it's so good to see you. No, it is not over and that family's experience helps exemplify that. I mean, when you hear this number, 700,000 lives lost, and that this country is now leading in deaths, you know, around the world.

I talked to a doctor earlier who said, you know, it's a horrible number, but making it worse is about 100,000 of the deaths came after the vaccine had been made available. So, those were possibly preventable deaths. What are your thoughts?

DR. RICHINA BICETTE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: My thoughts are and honestly, Fred, I'm a little shaken up honestly, listening to Teresa's parents speak, that was tragic, but my thoughts on reaching this grim milestone is that this is just yet another sorted stain on American history.

The United States is considered by many to be one of the strongest, most technologically and medically advanced countries in the world. But if you look at the numbers, we are leading by almost 100,000 deaths, the highest death toll in the world. We're leading by almost 10 million cases, the number of cases in the world.

It doesn't make sense. And I hope that looking back on this, people realize that a lot of this was preventable, a lot of these mistakes were things that we created for ourselves, and we really need to take the blame and be ashamed of how we handled this pandemic.

WHITFIELD: And then in looking forward, how hopeful should we think that this Merck pill might be bringing some real relief? I mean, now I understand that it's administered, if they were to receive the Emergency Use Authorization, FDA approval, then it's administered after you've already tested positive for COVID, right? And you take that pill, and it would either, shorten, reduce, or eliminate your hospitalization altogether?

BICETTE: Well, I will say that the Merck pill is a game-changer because number one, it's in pill form, meaning it's easy to take and easy to distribute.

However, there still are some limitations, and that treatment is not going to be what gets us out of this pandemic. We want to prevent people from getting ill, not just figuring out how to treat them once they are already ill.

If you look at the Merck data, they're saying that their pill reduces hospitalizations and deaths by about 50 percent, but when you compare that to the monoclonal antibody treatment, that's actually more effective and reduces hospitalizations and deaths by 85 percent.

Furthermore, Merck only studied their drug in less than 1500 people, and it was only studied in those who were older and had underlying medical conditions.

So, when approval comes out, we don't know if it's going to be approved to be used in all patients, or only in those in who the drug was studied in.

WHITFIELD: All right. And again, you know, with Merck, this antiviral drug, it's not a replacement for vaccines, only 65 percent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated. And the average number of people becoming fully vaccinated every day has been dipping to its lowest level. So, how concerned are you that there seems to be a lagging interest in getting vaccinated?

BICETTE: I'm extremely concerned. But more than being concerned, I'm perplexed. At this point in the pandemic, I'm not exactly sure what other arguments there are against the vaccine.

The Pfizer vaccine has full FDA approval, we've had almost 185 million people be vaccinated with very few side effects, no deaths from the vaccine, and very few breakthrough infections versus the 45 million cases that we've had and creates in the 700,000 deaths. It doesn't make sense to me.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Is it -- is it possible that people are just thinking less logically and more emotionally of just, I'm tired of this COVID, I want to go away, and so let me just -- right now just move on with my life, forget the vaccine, forget everything else because I'm fatigued?

BICETTE: Well, I think that the proper emotional response if you really were tired of COVID and wanted it to go away would be to go and get vaccinated.

Instead, I think that people are doing what they think is logical thinking and blindly following leaders who are giving them advice that are not based on scientific or medical data without having any medical training in order to back up the advice that they're giving, not realizing that they're leading themselves into a very grim predicament.

[13:25:00]

WHITFIELD: And then, let's look even further ahead. Well, the FDA and CDC are continuing to value -- evaluate whether children, you know, should be vaccinated, between five and age 11.

How hopeful are you that we're getting closer to the Pfizer vaccine being administered to kids?

BICETTE: Well, Pfizer has actually been working on that data for quite some time, so I'm hoping that we get the results of their data very quickly, and thus, can get the vaccine approved, so we don't have to hear more stories like the story of Teresa.

Last week, Louisiana reported that they had a death from COVID in a child that was less than four. In Texas, we've had pediatric deaths and patients who had absolutely no underlying conditions.

So yes, it's true that children may not get as ill as adults, and typically they don't get hospitalized and died, but when you have that one case, that one case is one too many.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Richina Bicette, always good to see you, and great to see you today. I love your braids, of the truffle.

BICETTE: Thank you for the record.

WHITFIELD: But I had to make a comment about it because that's new. You're with us all the time. So as the new look and it looks good. Good to see you.

BICETTE: Bye, bye.

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now, a thousands of women are marching all across the country, and they're rallying against the restrictive anti- abortion law in Texas. We are live in the Nation's Capital. And look at the crowds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:31:09]

WHITFIELD: Happening now, thousands of women are marching in Washington, D.C., and around the country.

They're voicing their strong opposition against the restrictive antiabortion law in Texas. It bans abortions after six weeks, before many women even know that they're pregnant.

Today's marches come as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to begin its term on Monday.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is in Washington, the nation's capital for us.

Suzanne, what's happening?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE) -- the initial part of the rally here. It lasts about two hours or so. Then they'll march to the Supreme Court.

I covered this women's historic march five years ago right after President Trump was inaugurated. There were hundreds of thousands of women participating. Many wearing those familiar pink, hand-knitted caps, celebrities, Alicia Keys, Madonna.

This is not that kind of event today. It is much smaller, more focused on reproductive rights, on abortion rights, specifically, Fred, the case in Texas, the law in Texas banning abortion after six weeks, no exceptions for rape or incest.

Many of the people here, very, very passionate about putting a light on the Supreme Court. Take a listen.

(VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Sorry, Fred, that sound wasn't there.

But essentially, what she was saying is that they're going to be very much focused and paying attention to what the Supreme Court justices do as they had rejected the Texas case, saying they're not going to deal with that now.

But Monday is when they come back to session and will deal with a Mississippi law 15 weeks out that abortions would not be allowed. That is something that they will weigh in very likely next, before the midterm elections.

So as you can imagine, this is a very political topic as well for many of the people who have gathered here today -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: Suzanne Malveaux, I'm hanging on your every word. I can hear you. Even though the audio system there's very strong.

Thank you so much, there in the nation's capital.

This quick programming note. Next Sunday, on an all-new season of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING," it's premiere, she explores historic events that changed America but are rarely found in history books.

Catch the season premiere of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING," Sunday, October 10th, at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.

[13:34:04]

Oh, and there's more. Still ahead, former President Trump wants to get back onto Twitter and his lawyers are fighting for it in court. Details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Former President Donald Trump is asking a federal judge to restore his Twitter account. His favorite social media platform permanently banned him in early January, two days after the capitol riot, for inciting political violence.

In a new court filing, his lawyers say he's being subjected to censorship and political persecution.

I want to go to our chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, with more on this.

Brian, the president's team has been wrestling with Twitter ever since the ban came down in January.

A lot of presidents, post-presidency, try to think of some global initiatives they might have involved in, climate crisis, purifying water.

But this president is hung up on being able to be on Twitter?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Yes. He is.

And I think, when the creators of Twitter launched this social media service 15 or so years ago, they wouldn't have imagined they would be caught in this kind of debate, this kind of argument over whether an ex-U.S. president, who was kicked off after inciting a riot, should be allowed back on.

But there are legal principles at stake and Trump's lawyers are battling this.

[13:39:57]

This new filing -- let's put in on screen -- it says, "The defendant -- that's Trump -- "Twitter exercises a degree of power and control over political discourse in this country that is immeasurable, historically unprecedented, and profoundly dangerous to open democratic debate."

That's what Trump's lawyers are saying, arguing that Twitter needs to be held accountable.

Basically, what's happening here is Twitter -- is claiming a violation of the First Amendment and also calling on a Florida law claiming unfair trade practices.

This is part of an ongoing local campaign he's waging. And this now is a preliminary injunction motion that's being filed.

So Trump's lawyers taking this very seriously. Even though, in some ways, this is almost a parody. It's a guy standing outside the store after being kicked out, banging on the glass trying to get back in.

Any private company, private enterprise, store, can set its own rules and that's what Twitter says it is doing.

But this does create a lot of interest among conservatives, claims of censorship, and Trump is planning to push this in court and that's what this new filing is about.

And, Fred, I think the context is clear. Donald Trump Jr is on another platform this weekend, Instagram, posting "Trump 2024" signs and saying it's time to take America back.

Clearly, Donald Trump is running for president again and he believes he needs Twitter in order to do so.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and censorship is usually associated with government sanctioned practice.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Not necessarily a private enterprise.

OK, let's talk about something else. Viewers got to see the newly renovated FOX newsroom and studio in D.C. And despite what some of their personalities have to say on the air about wearing masks and vaccines and all that, you saw quite the opposite.

What's going on?

STELTER: Yes, and that's why this is telling. That's why this video is worth highlighting.

You see in the FOX News D.C. offices some of the biggest stars of the network, some of the top executives, even Lachlan Murdoch on hand to celebrate this renovation.

Normally, that would not be significant. But what is significant is all of the mask wearing.

I think it's worth highlighting because FOX's on-air rhetoric has not matched its off-air practices, whether that's with regards to people getting vaccinated or with regards to mask wearing.

So it's worth seeing that, there at FOX News, at the headquarters, you have to have your mask on just like you do when you walk to other establishments.

But FOX's narrative has been quite different, right? So it's significant to see this as yet another contrast or, in some cases, a contradiction to the on-air rhetoric.

By the way, "SNL" is back tonight. I think "SNL" could have a lot of fun commenting on the on-air rhetoric of FOX --

WHITFIELD: Right.

STELTER: -- versus the off-air behavior.

WHITFIELD: Seeing is believing. Interesting.

All right, Brian Stelter, appreciate it.

STELTER: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead, a much different tone. Police are still searching for Brian Laundrie after the death of his fiancee, Gabby Petito. Brand-new body camera video reveals more of their domestic dispute days before she went missing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:47:33]

WHITFIELD: Even more questions being raised in the Gabby Petito case. More bodycam footage of an August domestic dispute between Petito and fiance, Brian Laundrie, revealing what she told police about the incident.

CNN's Nadia Romero is with us now near the Laundrie home in Florida.

So, Nadia, what more can you tell us?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we are still putting together all of the many pieces to this puzzle. We don't have them all yet.

But that video from Moab, Utah, from the police department there starts to paint a story of what happened during a domestic dispute call on August 12th.

There was 911 caller that said that Brian Laundrie -- a man was slapping a woman. But when police arrived, they determined Gabby was the aggressor. She even said she started the argument and started hitting Brian.

Listen to Gabby as she pleads with police officers not to arrest either one of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABBY PETITO, HOMICIDE VICTIM & FORMER FIANCEE OF BRIAN LAUNDRIE: Can I have a ticket for hitting the curb? Or something, please? Because we're OK.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: I understand. But we don't have, like -- listen, if I had any discretion in this, I would separate you guys for the day and just give you warnings to stop hitting each other. But I lawfully don't have discretion here.

(CROSSTALK)

PETITO: Is it only because somebody said -- like a witness said something?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: There's two witnesses.

And then what you said and what he said. And guess what, it all matches nicely that you were the primary aggressor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: And that discretion the officer was talking about is what's now under review and a formal, independent investigation to see if the officers who responded behaved correctly, if they should have arrested someone in that case, and if they saw the entire issue in the correct way.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20. And a police spokesperson has said that, but they're also sticking by their officers in how they handled everything.

Here in Florida, if you take a look behind me, you may be able to hear, there's a group of people, about a dozen or so, that have gathered today.

They've been out for a couple of hours now in front of the Laundrie parent's home and they've been screaming questions at the family, demanding answers.

And it really just speaks to how many people are so emotionally invested in what's happening with Gabby Petito, what happened to her in Utah, Wyoming, here in Florida, where she used to live in this house with Laundrie and his parents.

And that domestic dispute we saw, that was August 12th. A month later, September 11th, is when her family reported her missing.

[13:50:07]

And on that same day, I want you to take a look at a police report. A 911 call was made to the North Port Police Department. Now we know Gabby Petito's family was calling because they couldn't get in contact with her.

But you can see in this police report everything has been redacted. And that lets us know that there's so much about this investigation, about this case that we just don't know, because the investigation, Fredricka, is ongoing.

But the people behind me and so many people around the country are still wanting answers.

Brian Laundrie still missing. It will be three weeks on Tuesday -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: Yes. So many questions still unanswered for a very long time.

Nadia Romero, thank you so much.

All right, snail mail is about to get more snaily by design. From here on out, the post office is delaying long-distance mail, close to a third of what they carry.

CNN's Kristen Holmes explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After more than a year of complaints nationwide about the snail-like pace of mail delivery --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They should figure out a way to get it there on time.

HOLMES: -- it's about to get worse.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like we already wait so much.

HOLMES: The cause? Trump-era Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's 10-year plan started Friday and it promises to increase the delivery time for first-class mail from three days to five.

Experts say this will mostly affect mail traveling long distances. The postal service relying more on ground transportation than planes.

According to a "Washington Post" analysis, western states will experience the brunt of these changes.

So 70 percent of first-class mail sent in Nevada will be delayed, 58 percent delayed to Washington State and 57 percent to Montana. Florida will also see massive delays, with 60 percent of deliveries.

DeJoy says the plan will save money.

LOUIS DEJOY, U.S. POSTMASTER GENERAL: It is a path to financial sustainability and service excellence.

HOLMES: Lawmakers pushing back.

UNIDENTIFIED U.S. LAWMAKER: Medical shipments have gone missing. Many small businesses cannot get their products to customers.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): I've gotten complaints from families who didn't get birthday cards from grandma to their grandchild or notices about things that they needed to get on time.

HOLMES: As well as members of the Postal Service Board of governors.

RONALD STROMAN, MEMBER, USPS BOARD OF GOVERNORS (voice-over): Intentionally slowing first-class mail and package delivery by changing service standards is strategically ill-conceived, creates dangerous risks that are not justified by the relatively low financial return, and doesn't meet our responsibility as an essential part of America's critical infrastructure.

HOLMES: DeJoy remains mired in controversy, a staple of his tenure.

The Trump holdover and Republican mega donor came under fire during the 2020 election as Democrats accused him of intentionally sabotaging the postal service and slowing down delivery amid unprecedented mail- in voting.

Earlier this year, the Department of Justice opened an investigation into DeJoy's political fundraising and contributions when he was in the private sector. DeJoy denies all accusations. Democrats have called for President Biden to get rid of DeJoy. While

Biden doesn't have the power to fire him, he can replace the board that does. But the president has shown no interest in doing that.

Earlier this year, he nominated three people to vacancies on the Postal Service Board of Governors, but the majority installed on the board under former President Trump standing behind DeJoy.

The postmaster general telling lawmakers he's not going anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED U.S. LAWMAKER: Well, how much longer are you planning to stay?

DEJOY: A long time. Get used to me.

HOLMES: Kristen Holmes, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[13:53:50]

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, supply chain issues are disrupting shipments of everyday goods from toys to toilet paper. The impact it has on your wallet, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:58:41]

WHITFIELD: Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who called the Sandy Hook massacre a, quote, "giant hoax," is now being held legally responsible in two lawsuits for damages triggered by his lies.

Jones and his right-wing Web site, "Info Wars," effectively lost the cases by default after not complying with court orders to provide information for the lawsuits brought against him by the parents of two children killed in the school shooting.

A jury will decide how much he owes the families.

And for the first time since the vigil began 84 years ago, an all- women guard change took place this week at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

The history-making moment comes just weeks before the monument marks 100 years at Arlington National Cemetery on November 11th.

And another first happening as Hurricane Sam turns in the Atlantic. NOAA sent an unmanned drone right into the center of the category 4 storm and, for the first time, they were able to see inside a hurricane out at sea.

Just take a look. Wow. Those are incredible images. And you're also looking at 50-foot waves and winds swirling at over 120 miles an hour.

[14:00:02] The NOAA -- NOAA says they were able to collect critical scientific data. And thankfully, Hurricane Sam is not expected to make landfall in the U.S.