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U.S. Surpasses 700,000 Deaths Since Start Of Pandemic; Nationwide Marches Held In Support Of Reproductive Freedoms; Interview With Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA); Reported Sightings Of Brian Laundrie In North Carolina; Trump Asks Federal Judge To Let Him Back On Twitter; NBA Struggling To Get 100 Percent Of Players Vaccinated. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 02, 2021 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:07]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Cautious optimism, the worst of the delta outbreak is behind us.

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER F.D.A. COMMISSIONER: This may be the last major wave of infection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): While the new antiviral pill being hailed as a COVID game changer, but experts say vaccines are still America's way out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): The President is vowing to get it done, but divisions of the Democratic Party leave his agenda in limbo.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it makes sense. I support both of them, and I think we can get the vote on it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): New body cam footage reveals what Gabby Petito told police about the August 12th domestic dispute with her fiancee.

GABBY PETITO, FIANCE OF BRIAN LAUNDRIE: Well he, like, grabbed me with his nail. Definitely, I was cut right here because I can feel it.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hundreds of rallies across the country as protesters take a stand for Reproductive Rights.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need to be able to like have control over my choices in my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm amazed that we're still fighting for this, but we can't give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela brown in Washington. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Saturday, and we begin this hour with the COVID- 19 pandemic and glimmers of optimism amid the darkness of another tragic statistic.

The virus now has killed more than 700,000 people in the United States. Look at this on the National Mall here in Washington, a sea of white flags, delivering a heartbreaking visual, one flag for every life lost.

In fact, the U.S. has the highest death toll of any country in the world. The 700,000 number equivalent to losing more than the entire population of Boston.

This afternoon, President Joe Biden issued this statement on the losses, quote: "On this day and every day, we remember all those we have lost to this pandemic and we pray for their loved ones left behind who are missing the piece of their soul."'

"As we do, the astonishing death toll is yet another reminder of just how important it is to get vaccinated," end quote.

Well, the U.S. is still averaging almost 1,900 COVID deaths every day. The good news, new cases and hospitalizations are dropping, suggesting that new deaths will also begin to decline.

And even more encouraging, drug makers Merck and Ridgeback say their new antiviral pill cuts the risk of hospitalization and death by 50 percent for COVID patients. They are going to request an emergency use authorization from the F.D.A. as soon as possible. A former F.D.A. Commissioner welcomes the news as a huge scientific advance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOTTLIEB: This is the most impactful result that I remember seeing of an orally available drug in the treatment of a respiratory pathogen, perhaps ever. I think getting an oral pill that could inhibit viral replication, that can inhibit this virus is going to be a real game changer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: There is a lot to break down tonight and joining me to help do that is Dr. Jonathan Reiner, CNN medical analyst and Professor of Medicine and Surgery at George Washington University.

Dr. Reiner, great to see you. Let's start with the positive news on this because it's so rare we have positive news in this fight against COVID, but do you agree that this new antiviral pill could be a game changer?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I do. The preliminary data and again, we'll have to see when the full data set is released, but the preliminary data suggests that this oral pill, molnupiravir decreases the incidence of either requiring -- of people requiring hospitalization or death by about 50 percent.

And unlike monoclonal antibodies, which are also quite effective, this drug is orally available. So we'll be able to prescribe this to folks, they'll take a five-day course and hopefully, be able to stay home, not come in for an intravenous infusion and keep folks out of the hospital. So, it's really very promising news.

Merck has promised the United States pretty soon about 1.7 million courses of this drug. They'll produce about 10 million courses over the next several months, and they are already producing the drug getting ready for EUA and potential approval.

BROWN: But it doesn't take the place of a vaccine, right? And are you concerned that this could give people who are still vaccine hesitant, haven't gotten vaccinated with a false sense of security and one more reason, one more excuse to not get vaccinated.

REINER: I am concerned about that, and I think the -- ultimately, it's better not to get infected than to try and treat an infection. But it's another tool in our toolbox. We're never going to be able to vaccinate everyone in this country. We're just not going to be able to penetrate folks who are just so resistant.

And having a very active antiviral drug as this drug appears to be will go a long way to reduce the mortality rate further.

One thing I'm frustrated about is, you know, we did -- as you mentioned in the lead in, we've lost 700,000 Americans now, and fully 200,000 of those folks have died since vaccines have been available almost to everyone in this country, and every one of those deaths is unnecessary.

[18:05:24]

REINER: So even though the news is great for this antiviral agent, really the message that people need to receive is get vaccinated. No one needs to die from this virus.

BROWN: You know, you see the numbers in terms of hospitalizations cases, they're trending down. But they are still climbing in some countries. Is enough being done to make this a global fight? Because ultimately, we're not all safe until like, every country has this under control, right? Because the variants could be created and it could spread and so forth.

REINER: Yes. And there has been a lot of discussion about that, as you know, we've debated whether to boost and who to boost in the United States? How do we give third doses to Americans, when so many people in the world in really single digit percentages in Africa have gotten a single dose?

But I think the United States can do both. I think we can fully protect people in this country, while also being sort of the arsenal of vaccines for the world. And I think to date, the U.S. has delivered about a billion vaccine doses to the world. We need to do more.

The rest of the sort of Western industrialized world needs to do more, but we can do both.

BROWN: I want to ask you just my own personal experience, just in the last week. I came down with cold-like symptoms, of course I was like, oh, no, you know, let me get checked because, you know, it was very similar to what they say about COVID. It turns out that it's just a cold, but then my son's school has shut down because someone has a positive COVID test.

So these were two instances where I desperately needed to be tested, and needed to be tested fast, yet, it wasn't very easy. And I couldn't believe that this far into the pandemic, it is still so hard to get tested for COVID, especially with schools reopening. How is that?

REINER: So, we have the technology. We have these rapid antigen tests, which if you're infected and infectious, these tests are very accurate. Every household should have them and they should be free. The government should really be sending them around. You should be able to pick them up at Post Offices and schools.

And this is the way, when your kid or you feel lousy in the morning, you can get -- you can test yourself at home and you know something, if you're positive, you don't go to work. Or if your child is positive, they don't go to school.

BROWN: Right.

REINER: Better to test people right at the beginning of the illness before they have the ability to infect more. It should be ubiquitous. We should have them in the country.

Now we have tests that you can buy at CVS.

BROWN: Yes, but then, I just was at CVS yesterday.

REINER: And it is sold out.

BROWN: They were out. They were out.

REINER: Right, they are sold out.

BROWN: So I mean --

REINER: Right. It's not available. It doesn't help.

BROWN: And appointments were out at places. You know, so I said, okay, I'll try somewhere else. I mean, it's --

REINER: And it's going to be more important as we get into the cold and flu season, since we are less masked than we were a year ago, we are going to see more of a flu season than we did last year where we had very little flu because we have so much social distancing and mask wearing.

So, it would be very important for us to be able to test and weed out what is just an innocent cold like you have versus breakthrough COVID.

BROWN: Exactly. And so that brings me to my next question. You have the approaching colder weather coming in the holidays where more people are going to be gathering indoors. Of course, that raises the threat of localized outbreaks this winter. What do you think this upcoming season is going to look like? REINER: It depends where you live. I think in parts of the United States where vaccination rates are super high, like you know, the Mid- Atlantic and the Northeast, parts of the West, I think this will be very manageable. We'll see sort of, you know, small pockets.

But in parts of the United States, still large swaths of the South and Southwest where vaccination rates remain low, we will see real COVID re-exert itself as people move indoors.

So we'll see parts of the United States that have relative community immunity and parts of the United States where hospitals are still packed, the pandemic is not over and it is going to be confusing as other respiratory illnesses become more common during this winter.

BROWN: I just had a taste of getting a cold, you know, and it's just -- I know more of that is to come, more of that is to come, you know, I mean, we could all get sick during the winter, right? And having to decipher is going to be extra hard, especially if you have kids and the school closes down. It doesn't look like it's going to be a fun season ahead.

Thanks, Dr. Reiner, I really appreciate it.

BROWN: Well, across the United States, supporters of women's rights, particularly abortion rights have been marching through major cities and demanding justice. They were infuriated by the Supreme Court decision to allow an oppressive Texas law to go into effect that bans abortions after six weeks.

The largest rally has been unfolding right here in Washington where the Supreme Court is about to take up another critical case that could weaken reproductive freedoms even more.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux explains.

[18:10:05]

MALVEAUX: Hello, Pam. I covered the historic Women's March on Washington five years ago right after President Trump's Inauguration. There were hundreds of thousands of women who gathered, many in those familiar hand-knit pink caps. There were celebrities, Alicia Keys, Madonna, who were part of the lineup there.

At the time, it was a lot of anxiety, rage, and concern from women about the turnover of the administration.

Today was very different. The number is much smaller in the thousands or so in the crowd, and very specific targeting reproductive rights, abortion rights, very focused on that and the Supreme Court's role in that matter rejecting getting involved in the Texas law, that law that bans abortion after six weeks. No exceptions for rape or incest, and essentially deputizes citizens to sue doctors who do perform those abortions during that time.

And so a lot of emotion, a lot of passion from this crowd at it is becoming an extremely hot political issue. Just take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm dressed up as the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and I'm here today for everything that women have fought for since 1973, when this law was first passed, giving us the right to choose, and I'm just curious what has changed in that time frame that makes our Supreme Court justices think that we have changed our minds about that.

So we're hoping that they see us and hear us today, and that's why we are wearing these dramatic costumes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I'm just at as Lady Justice. And I believe that it stands for the fact that justice should be blind, it should be without bias. And there is religious bias in the Supreme Court, extreme religious bias and so -- and why I'm here today, the things that are going on in Texas really drove me here today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The Supreme Court will be back in session on Monday. They will be handling an abortion case out of Mississippi, a law that denies abortion access after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That is something that they will likely rule on, midyear next year, and that is going to be around the time of those midterm election campaigning that is going to be taking place in earnest.

And so, all eyes are on the Supreme Court as well as the Congress to see how this is going to unfold, but definitely a demand from this crowd that this is going to be front and center on voters' minds. That is why this crowd leaving the rally at Freedom Plaza going to the Supreme Court to make their views known -- Pam.

BROWN: All right, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much for bringing us the latest.

And coming up this hour, NBA player, Enes Kanter tells unvaccinated players it's time to take one for the team. He is going to be joining me live later on in the show.

In the meantime, President Biden is still vowing to get it done as divisions in the Democratic Party leave his legacy in limbo.

Then, the so-called ISIS voice behind the violence is flown to the U.S. to face terrorism charges.

And taking it to the court, former President Trump fights to overturn his Twitter ban.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:17:21]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Have you been surprised by how difficult it has been to bring the moderates and progressives together on agreement for this?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We could bring the moderates and progressives very easily if we had two more votes.

Two. Two people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: President Biden this Saturday with an answer to CNN's question trying to stay optimistic with his economic agenda on the line and neither end of his own party budging. After the President's visit with lawmakers on Capitol Hill Friday, the White House now says he and his team will continue close engagement with Congress through the weekend.

And he plans to hit the road this coming week to rally support as he tries to save his infrastructure and social safety net bills. But today, Kyrsten Sinema, one of the moderate Democratic senators refusing to vote yes on both bills, as progressives are demanding, slammed House Democrats for putting off the infrastructure vote. She calls it quote, "inexcusable and deeply disappointing."

She adds, "Over the course of this year, Democratic leaders have made conflicting promises that could not all be kept and have at times, pretended that differences in our party did not exist."

Democratic Congresswoman Judy Chu of California is a member of the Progressive Caucus. Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining me.

REP. JUDY CHU (D-CA): Thank you for having me.

BROWN: So Congresswoman, your Senate colleague didn't call up progressives or Speaker Pelosi by name, but clearly, that is who she is blaming. What do you say to her?

CHU: I would say that we will pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. We will pass the bill, but it will be with the Build Back Better bill. It'll be two bills voted on together. And the deadline to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill was an artificial one.

There was actually no reason to have voted on it by this last Monday or this last Thursday. It was only something that certain Members of Congress wanted. But in reality, we can vote on both together, and I know that the bipartisan infrastructure bill is very, very important to Senator Sinema.

So I think that we will be able to come together on both of these bills. We just need a very, very active dialogue to make that happen. But actually, I am optimistic. President Biden came to our Democratic Caucus. He pitched the importance of both bills and how they could be transformative for Americans, for working families.

And I do have to say, this is one thing that everybody in our Democratic Caucus could agree on. We want to make the lives of American families better, and we can do that by providing jobs, by providing tax cuts, and by lowering costs for American families, as we can do with Build Back Better. [20:20:26]

BROWN: I want to get more to your optimism that you're expressing in just a second, but when asked, because you mentioned the vote, you said there was an arbitrary deadline that was set, but it was something that the Speaker, Speaker Pelosi had told moderate Democrats, this is what I'm going to do to allay their concerns.

And so you have Senator Sinema saying, canceling the vote betrays trust, not only on the Hill, but among voters. Does she have a fair point?

CHU: Well, Speaker Pelosi did her best to put the bill forward, but it was actually President Biden's final words on the Hill that said to us that it was important for both bills to be brought up together.

And also, of course, there were many that would not vote for just a bipartisan infrastructure bill alone without the other because these bills are partners to one another, these bills complement one another.

One deals with the roads and highways, the other deals with the working families who would provide the labor force to build those roads and highways that would make their lives better. So these are integral to one another, and I'm confident that in the coming time period, and in the coming weeks, we can find a compromise for the Build Back Better bill and also pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

BROWN: Just to be clear, would progressives -- would you be willing to vote on the infrastructure bill if there is a framework and agreed upon compromise, a framework for the spending bill?

CHU: Well, I would have to see what that framework is. I actually felt optimistic or more optimistic, I should say, because when President Biden came yesterday to our caucus, he finally came back with a number that he felt that the senators could deal with, and that was $2 trillion.

Now that is lower than the $3.5 trillion that we had wanted, and in fact, is below the $6 trillion that we started off with. But nonetheless, I felt optimistic because it was a number. It was something that we could deal with, something that we could look towards and start shaping our priorities on, and that's what President Biden challenged us to do.

BROWN: Behind the numbers though, of course, are tough decisions you are going to have to make on where the cuts are going to be. The head of the Progressive Caucus, Congresswoman Jayapal told members this week to quote, "hold the line." They did.

But last night, she suggested to Anderson Cooper that she could be open to a lower number than $3.5 trillion for the social safety net. Let's take a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): You know, 3.5 was our number. We're going to go back and see what we can do on that, because we understand we've got to get everybody on board. And actually, we've been saying that for some time. We just need to have this negotiation.

We need to have an offer from the two senators that you know, don't want to do 3.5.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, she is obviously referring to Sinema and Senator Joe Manchin. Congresswoman Chu, Manchin told Dana Bash weeks ago, he was open to $1.5 trillion. President Biden now seems open to a $2.3 trillion compromise, and then around that, but I want to flag a question "The Washington Post" raises and that is, like I said before, where do you cut?

Do you sacrifice areas like fighting homelessness or the climate crisis, or helping seniors versus the poor? Or childcare versus school lunches? Where would you start?

CHU: I would like to see what we could do to perhaps shorten the time period for each of the programs, or perhaps be able to lessen the amount of provisions that are in a particular bill that is out there.

So I think that there are things that we can do to shave off elements in each of these programs. We also, however --

BROWN: Than say, rather than 10 years may be limited to five years for funding, correct?

CHU: This is exactly what I'm talking about. Yes.

BROWN: Okay. All right, I know some of your colleagues have said that, as well.

All right, thank you so much, Congresswoman Judy Chu. We really appreciate it.

CHU: Thank you so much.

BR OWN: And when we come back, we are live in Florida for the latest in the search for Brian Laundrie that now includes another state. We will explain right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, the Justice Department is charging a Canadian citizen with conspiracy to help ISIS accusing him of translating and narrating over a dozen propaganda videos in English. Thirty-eight-year-old Mohammed Khalifa is in F.B.I. custody tonight after he was captured in Syria back in 2019.

In their announcement, D.O.J. officials called Khalifa the voice behind the violence. And the latest now in the investigation to the death of Gabby Petito. Social media is abuzz with reported sightings of her fiance, Brian Laundrie in North Carolina.

[18:30:15]

But authorities seem no closer to finding him. Nadia Romero is with me now from his hometown of North port Florida. So Nadia, what can you tell us about these reported sightings?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Pamela, there are people who are saying on social media that they've seen Brian Laundrie near the Appalachian Trail in a town called Boone in North Carolina. And those reports went to the Sheriff's Office and the sheriff said, listen, I don't really know if there's any validity to these reports, but we gave everything that we have to the FBI.

Of course, the FBI is the now the agency that has taken over this search for Brian Laundrie as they continue to investigate the death of Gabby Petito as well. And so there's this idea that Brian Laundrie, we've heard reports from family members and friends, that he fancies himself an outdoorsman. This is part of the reason why they wanted to do that van trip cross country and going to Wyoming and Utah to be outdoors and to hopefully be Insta famous, that was the goal.

And so Appalachian Trail, it's about 2,200 miles of just wooded area. Really, you can only access it on foot and so now we're getting these reports, but they are not confirmed at this moment. If you take a look at the images of Brian Laundrie, something that the sheriff mentioned that he looks like a lot of people. He doesn't have anything on him that makes him stand out.

No spiky hair, no face tattoos, so there could be a mistaken identity. There are actually people on social media who have posted on their profiles that they are not Brian Laundrie, because they have similar features to him.

So this is something that the FBI deals with from time to time when they have a high profile case where people believe they may have seen him and they'll get those reports and they've assured us that, of course, they'll go out and follow up on all of those reports. So the question of where is Brian Laundrie is still out there. It will be three weeks on Tuesday since his parents say they last saw him.

Well, it was September 11th when Gabby Petito's family reported her missing and there was a police report that came from this home, at a North Port police and I want you to take a look at this police report. You're not really looking at anything right. It's all blacked out fully redacted and that lets us know that there's so much about this investigation that we do not know that the FBI and other authorities are not releasing because it is still very much under investigation and an open case. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Nadia Romero, thank you so much for bringing this latest there from North Port, Florida. At Dover in Central Florida, a police team searching for a missing teenager discovered a body earlier today and they do believe that it is her. Nineteen-year-old Miya Marcano went missing eight days ago and police have been searching the wooded area right near the apartment complex where she lived and worked.

Police say a purse with her identification was found near the body. A person of interest in the case apparently committed suicide a few days after her appearance.

And the search is also underway for a young New Jersey woman who vanished in Southern California several months ago. Lauren Cho's friends and family are hoping to shine more light on this case and find out what exactly happened to her. CNN's Natasha Chen has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lauren Cho, whom friends call El had been staying at an Airbnb desert resort about a two-hour drive from Los Angeles when she vanished in late June. A 30-year-old New Jersey native. Cho was staying there with friends including her ex-boyfriend.

The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department said these friends reported Cho was 'upset and presumably walked away from the resort, leaving behind her personal belongings'.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF FROST, FRIEND: Everywhere we can from 29 to Barstow (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ (voice over): As the Sheriff's Department and volunteers scoured the area, so did Cho's friends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have gone thousands of miles and tirelessly went to gas stations and pasted up flyers in the low desert, the high desert. We went out to San Diego, because she said in the week before she disappeared that she just wanted to go to the beach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN (voice over): The Sheriff's Department said her ex-boyfriend reported her missing about three hours after she disappeared. In a statement, investigators say, "He indicated she was suffering from mental distress."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She worked here at my studio. The plan was I was going to teach her how to pierce, so she was my apprentice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN (voice over): Friends at home in New Jersey say she had wanted a fresh start.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The pandemic was wearing on her and she like had this opportunity to change scenery in her life and go after a dream of cooking and chef work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN (voice over): And baking, shown here on an Instagram account shared by Cho's sister. Cho's sister told CNN the family doesn't have an official statement right now, but describe Cho as a dynamic firecracker of a person who's creative and funny.

[18:35:07]

The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department says it has conducted multiple searches in the last three months and even with the renewed interest in her case, they haven't gotten new substantive leads, leaving friends and loved ones hoping more stories about Cho.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is super caring, very loving and just a really loyal and good friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN (voice over): May help jog someone's memory of having seen her. Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Well, after months of living under a Twitter ban, former President Donald Trump is now asking a federal judge to force the body to unblock him. We're going to have more on that just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:27]

BROWN: Well, if you need more evidence of Donald Trump plans to run for president again in 2024, he is now asking a federal judge to restore his Twitter account. His pet social media platform permanently banned him for inciting political violence last January, two days after the capital riots.

But in the new court filing, his lawyers claimed that he's been subjected to censorship and political persecution. Our Chief Media Correspondent Brian Stelter has the very latest. Hi, Brian. Great to see you.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: You too. BROWN: So Trump's attorneys are calling this a first amendment issue.

STELTER: That's right and this is an ongoing lawsuit that Trump has been waging this war. He's been waging against social media platforms. Now his lawyer is filing for a preliminary injunction. And in the motion, they are saying this is a First Amendment violation. They're also citing a violation of Florida law with regards to business dealings.

But really, what they are saying is that Twitter and these other platforms have gained so much power, monopoly-like power, that it is irresponsible and downright illegal and thus the courts should step in. It's going to be a very, very challenging road for Donald Trump to try to get reinstated on Twitter or other platforms for that matter, but Twitter, especially.

It's going to be extremely difficult for him to make these legal arguments. But the fact that he is trying, the fact that he is having his lawyers wage this legal battle, I think it reveals exactly what you just said, his focus on 2024 and his belief that he needs these social media megaphones in order to reach potential voters, Pamela.

BROWN: Right. And also, you're seeing more and more conservatives like to throw around the flag that they're a victim of big tech. That's another thing that we see for more and more conservative people, politicians and so forth, who are banned temporarily from these social media platforms.

But I do want to ask you, because this is something that's brought up repeatedly, whether it's one account or another. You have now Trump's lawyers complaining that Twitter allows the Taliban in Afghanistan to have an account. That's part of their argument here.

STELTER: Which is a really interesting talking point. I think, from a public relations standpoint, that's really interesting. From a legal standpoint, in order to persuade a judge to take action, it's going to fall flat, because ultimately this is about a private company, Twitter, and its decision, its right to allow whoever it wants on the platform.

The Taliban issues are very complicated and these social networking companies have struggled to figure out what to do about militant groups that the Taliban having Twitter accounts, but it's a separate matter from Trump. And right now the platforms, at least believe, their lawyers believe they are on solid ground.

BROWN: And as we know, Trump views public relations just as important as legal issues, so no surprise that even though it may not be legally sound as an argument that it's in there. So I want to turn to something else, the Infowars' conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones, lost his third Sandy Hook lawsuit this week for years and is now liable for damages for peddling these despicable lies, claiming that the shooting that killed 20 1st graders and six teachers didn't happen. That it was a false flag and a crisis. How big is this decision?

STELTER: Well, this is an important case, because it sets up a kind of rubric for others who may try to take similar action in the future. We are talking about something nearly a decade old. The massacre at Sandy Hook and the parents who felt tormented by Alex Jones, claiming that it might have just been a hoax that it might have been made up for people to try to seize guns. So these parents took legal action, they decided their only option was to go to court.

And now years later, the court is siding with the parents and saying Alex Jones is ignoring our demands, he's ignoring to go through the discovery process. He's not doing the basic requirements that every person must meet when they are sued. And thus, the parents have one.

Now, a jury is going to decide how much these parents deserve in terms of compensation. So that'll be really interesting to see how much these parents end up making as a result of this in order to make up for the awful torment that Alex Jones put them through.

But what we are seeing is the courts as the opportunity, the last resort for people who have been attacked, and bullied, and defamed by propaganda artists. And then we're going to see more lawsuits like this in the future, but let's recognize Pamela it's been almost a decade. Remember, this is something that happened in 2012, Alex Jones has been talking this for years.

[18:45:01]

So what do you do in 2021 if you've - like you're on the receiving end of a disinformation campaign?

BROWN: Right.

STELTER: The courts may be your only option, but it may take years to see any result.

BROWN: That's a really important point there. Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

BROWN: Well, the NBA may have burst that so-called bubble for this season, but they aren't going easy on unvaccinated players who can't play because of local COVID restrictions. They have to play to get paid. I'm going to speak to Celtics center, Enes Kanter, about that up next. You don't want to miss that conversation, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:16]

BROWN: Well, the NBA preseason officially starts this weekend, but it comes at the same time as growing tension over vaccines. This week, the NBA announced that it will begin docking pay from unvaccinated players who miss games because of local vaccine mandates.

Still, roughly 10 percent of players refuse to get the shot. One of the most visible holdouts is Brooklyn Nets point guard, Kyrie Irving, who could be barred from playing any home games this season due to New York's vaccine requirements. Here's Irving dodging questions about his vaccine status earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYRIE IRVING, BROOKLYN NETS POINT GUARD: Honestly, I like to keep that stuff private, man. I'm a human being first and obviously living in this public sphere. There's just a lot of questions about what's going on in the world of Kyrie and I think I just would love to just keep that private.

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BROWN: Joining me now Boston Celtics center, Enes Kanter, who has been working tirelessly to convince his fellow players to get their shots. So let me just ask you, Enes, by the way, it is so great to have you on the show. He's saying, look, I want to keep this private. This is a private matter, but to you is it really a private matter, whether or not players that you are playing against up close and personal are vaccinated?

ENES KANTER, BOSTON CELTICS CENTER: Right. Thanks for having me. I mean, obviously, everyone has a choice to make. But in this pandemic, our choice actually can hurt others. And we are playing a team sport, just think about all those unvaccinated players going to go against the players who are vaccinated for 48 minutes. And it's not like we are playing ping pong, we are playing a contact sport as basketball.

So 48 minutes, they will be sweating and they will be on us whole game. So I don't know if the vaccinated players will be comfortable to go against unvaccinated player. So I feel like we need to definitely touch that point for sure.

BROWN: To be clear, you don't believe there should be a mandate, but do you think if there's not a mandate that these unvaxxed players can be persuaded?

KANTER: I mean, obviously we have to respect everyone in the locker room and respect their decision. But like I said, again, we are playing a team sport and some of the players are living with their parents, and grandfathers and grandmothers who are old. So if one of us can catch any kind of a virus, we can pass it to those you know who are very old and they could be in trouble.

So I feel like in this pandemic, we cannot just all only worry about ourselves but we have to worry about everyone else around us, especially if you're playing a team sport.

BROWN: Given how high the stakes are, why don't you support a mandate?

KANTER: I mean, like I said, again, at the end in America there is a freedom of speech, religion and people obviously can do whatever they want. But they need to be definitely smarter on their decision because obviously we are athletes and we have a huge following.

So there are so many people out there especially so many kids out there are idolizing us and following our social media and everything. So I feel like we should definitely be a role model, an example of good for sure.

BROWN: LeBron James finally revealed just recently that he is vaccinated, but he declined to call on others to do the same. Do you think players like LeBron James who were so high profile, so looked up to have a responsibility to protect not only his fellow players, but also the black community when we know the black community has been disproportionately impacted by this virus, by COVID?

KANTER: When I heard it, I was very disappointed and it's ridiculous. Obviously, LeBron James, he's one of the face of the league and he should be the first one to go out there and say, listen, everyone, I got the vaccine and I'm encouraging everyone, my community, everyone, basketball fans, non-basketball fans, all of the sport fans are just going out there to get this vaccine so we can save other lives.

So when I heard that, I just couldn't believe it. But I hope he can educate himself about this vaccination and inspire and encourage other people around him.

BROWN: Very quickly, have you reached out to some of these vaccine- hesitant players personally trying to appeal to them and what have you heard back? Do you think there's any hope that your efforts are going to be effective?

KANTER: I mean, I just signed with the Celtics so I cannot talk about the Celtics. This is my third day, but last year with Portland Trail Blazers, we were fully vaccinated.

[18:55:00]

But in summer time, I had many conversation with many of the unvaccinated players and some of the things that they were telling me was just all these conspiracy theories. Other one was about religion. Obviously, I respected buddy's religion but I'm asking everyone from here what is more religious than saving lives.

But I feel like we just need to keep pushing and educating each other first, so we can educate others. But right now, so far 94 percent of the players are vaccinated. But look, NBA could be canceled again or we can go in other NBA bubble like we did two years ago. So I feel like we should definitely be smarter about our decision.

BROWN: All right. Enes Kanter, thanks so much for making time for us on this Saturday night. We really appreciate it great hearing of your perspective on this.

KANTER: Thank you so much.

BROWN: Well, coming up, to hell and back. The Congresswoman who predicted a week from hell on Capitol Hill during an interview with me last weekend is here again with her take on what comes next.

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