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Crews Rush To Stop Major California Leak; After Hectic Week And No Deal, Dems Go Back To Negotiating Table; Interview With Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY); Experts See Reason For Optimism As New Cases, Hospitalizations Drop; Merck Says Antiviral Pill Cuts Risk Of COVID Hospitalization, Deaths By Half; New Video Sheds Light On Petito-Laundrie Domestic Dispute; Explosion Kills Civilians Attending Funeral Service In Kabul. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired October 03, 2021 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:56]

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

All right. We begin with breaking news out of southern California where a major oil spill off the coast is being called a potential ecological disaster. The leak is about three miles off the coast of Huntington Beach and experts estimate as much as 126,000 gallons of post-production crude spilled out apparently from an offshore oil production site.

The impacts to wildlife are already visible. Oil has now started to wash ashore along with dead fish and birds.

CNN national correspondent Natasha Chen is live for us at Huntington Beach. So Natasha, do we know how this happened? And has the leak been stopped in any way?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, there are a lot of questions that are still unanswered at this time. We don't know how this started and according to Orange County supervisor Katrina Foley, who I believe is a guest on your show coming up, will tell you that the responsible party is trying to repair this leak right now.

So everything is still sort of ongoing and not a whole lot of clarity at this time, but we do know that this is about a 13 square mile area. As you said, there have already been reports of fish washing up on shore. We're hearing about birds that have oil on them and softball sized clumps of oil showing up in certain places.

The bottom line is that people should not be in the water. We are here at Huntington Beach where unfortunately there were a couple of surfers that our producer talked to who still wanted to go in the water because they say that in this particular spot, they're seeing that the water is good.

But people in the area have been smelling this for at least a day or two. Here are some folks who live and do their activities near the beach this weekend who have observed that as well. Here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's right here. You can see the slick collecting. It's, you know. So living in Orange County my whole life, this is kind of crazy to think.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The smell is pretty strong. Yes. We can even smell it out in the parking lot. Yes. It smells bad. It's very obvious there's a spill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People I think were reporting they were starting to smell it, locals here right by the beach since Friday. They already had a smell. They're like what is that? So it's been already I guess occurring for a few days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: You can see one of the signs there on the beach that tells people to not go in the water. One thing we should note too is that this was supposed to be the third day of an air show taking place here involving a lot of performances including by the Blue Angels, with an expected million people who were attending over the course of the weekend and that has been canceled today.

There have been people out here who actually did not know today's events were canceled and had to come out here and find that out.

So Fred, a lot of people starting to be affected by this and, of course, very concerned about the environmental impact.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely. All right. Natasha Chen, thank you so much. We're going to check back with you.

Meantime, we're going to get a little bit more on this from a different perspective. Let's go to CNN meteorologist Tom Sater.

So Tom, how likely is it that this oil spill will spread?

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's very likely. At 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning the U.S. Coast Guard noticed off shore this oil sheen. It is believed to be about 5.8 miles in length.

Now, we take you offshore here and I want to kind of explain a little bit about what's going on and what we believe in the early reports.

You see where Huntington Beach is. We're not getting reports just yet of the oil at Newport but most likely on these sea currents it will slide down along the coastline, probably not as far as Laguna Beach, but let's show you where this complex is.

[14:04:51]

SATER: Notice these boxes offshore here. This is called the beta field. It's actually property that is owned by the U.S. Department of the Interior. This property is leased by these oil companies.

Now we're getting in closer and you're going to see we have several of these oil rigs, they all begin with the letter e -- their names. You've got Edith and Elle here. This is the concern.

The red lines that move toward the shore are pipe lines. This is as mentioned is post-production oil. It's not raw crude like we had with the BP oil spill.

So the consistency is going to be a little bit lighter, less dense, so it's easily going to disperse on the field of the ocean waters.

But again, the farther northern line that's Elle's line. We had heard preliminary reports there was a breach on this pipeline where it is unknown. We were told that they did put a temporary patch on it -- or at least a partial patch yesterday and they're getting at work on that again today.

But this is 3,000 barrels of oil. That's 126,000 -- 130,000 gallons. So again, these pipelines carry it to the shore. Where again? We're just not sure of.

So let's follow the winds that push the sea currents. Anyone in southern California will tell you, you've got the onshore flow, the offshore flow. So even though you see that red box here -- this is where that oil sheen is, at 5.8 miles in length, when you have the winds pushing on shore at a less density with this crude oil, you can almost expect that field to expand.

So by the time it makes its way further along the shoreline to the south on these winds, sometimes it will push it offshore, you'll start to see at night and then again a process of carrying on.

We can expect that field to elongate, maybe twice its size, possibly three times its size. So again, the winds mean everything. They are light but those sea currents are definitely going to carry on shore.

Another concern is high tide. We're going to hit this twice. This evening and later on tomorrow, high tide is both over five feet. So anything that gets pushed onshore, Fredricka is going to be pushed a little bit further inland.

But you can look at history, they've had a list of problems in this beta field. They've been fined before for corroded pipes and things of that nature. Its current spill 130,000 -- 126,000 gallons.

But in 1969, this was the worst, Santa Barbara spill, 3 million gallons. That was the worst until the Exxon Valdez and, of course, then BP.

But again, a history of problems. Again, you know, you know they're going to be talking about this in more depth not only here in southern California but you'll probably hear about it on Capitol Hill this week as well.

WHITFIELD: That was a lot of great information, Tom. The scariest among them though that this will elongate because of the kinds of currents that you just described that come from so many different directions.

SATER: That's right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Tom Sater, thank you so much.

All right. Let's talk more about all of this. Joining us on the phone is Katrina Foley, who Natasha was making reference to. She's an Orange County supervisor representing Huntington Beach.

So glad you could be with us. I know you've got your hands full. So are you clear yet on how this started?

KATRINA FOLEY, ORANGE COUNTY SUPERVISOR (via telephone): We don't have the source yet in terms of what exactly happened. I'm hoping to get an update around noon. There's a press conference with our Instant Management team at noon. I will be heading for that in Long Beach. And so we should know more then.

They have been working this morning to repair the leak. We know it's a pipeline that's connected to the platform that is the source of the leak. We don't know why it's leaking.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Who is responsible -- the responsible party that is repairing this leak? Can you divulge?

FOLEY: Yes. So there is a company named Beta Offshore and they are actually the responsible party with -- working with our U.S. Coast Guard to coordinate the cleanup.

Their parent company is called Amplify Energy, and so the -- they'll be responsible for, being accountable for the cleanup, the financial consequences, making sure that the cities, the counties, the private entities that were impacted get reimbursed. And, of course, making sure that our natural habitats are properly cleaned up.

WHITFIELD: And already, we're able to report that a lot of that wildlife is already in peril because there are reports of dead fish, already washing ashore and birds coated in oil and just listening to some eyewitness accounts on when they started to smell the chemical that comes, you know -- the chemical smell that comes with the oil, are you able to ascertain when this happened?

Because if already dead fish are washing up and birds that are covered, does that not say to you, more than a day, that this spill has occurred? That it happened?

FOLEY: Well, they're investigating that. I do have a report that there were individuals from the platform that had called the Coast Guard and called our Orange County Sheriff Department's Harbor Patrol regarding a potential leak or spill in the area. That was the night before last.

[14:09:59]

FOLEY: And then the Orange County Sheriff's Department Harbor Patrol really has been wonderful in terms of being aggressive getting the Coast Guard out there, finding the source and helping to coordinate the effort.

So they started doing that right away yesterday morning. But you're right, it seems like it's probably been leaking longer than we know, but I can't confirm that because I don't have that information yet.

WHITFIELD: So you've said reportedly -- you said that significant damage has occurred at Talbert Wetlands from this oil spill.

FOLEY: Right.

WHITFIELD: Can you elaborate on what you've observed or what you've heard?

FOLEY: Yes. So I was out at the river jetty and I've been touring the area. Also received updates from the City Marine Life Management Division for the city of Huntington Beach and our Talbert Wetlands.

The oil has infiltrated the entirety of the wetlands. There's significant impacts to wildlife there. I was out at the river jetty. You could see -- I like to describe it as like a pancake sized cluster of oil up on the shoreline and beading along the shoreline and so that also oil all in the wetlands.

These are wetlands that we've been working with the Army Corps of Engineers, with the Land Trust, with all the community wildlife partners to make sure to create this beautiful, natural habitat for decades. And now just in a day, it's completely destroyed.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So quickly, what kind of resources -- sorry to interrupt but quickly, what kind of resources are coming in to try and you know, soak up, try and pull, contain some of that oil that appears to be -- that you're visibly able to see on the surface?

FOLEY: Well, we have our Orange County Environmental Health out. We also have -- I understand that the responsible party has hired some company to stand up booms and to get out there and begin the cleanup.

I know I'm going to get more updates on -- in terms of like what kind of materials are being used and the like at noon at the press conference, so I can't really answer that right now. But I do also know that our wetlands and wildlife nature center, they're warning everyone, you know, please don't go down and try to help. We're not taking volunteers yet. If you do see an oiled wildlife, call 1-877- 823-6926. And that's the best way to help.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's helpful. Katrina Foley, thank you so much for taking the time. Appreciate it.

And of course, we'll continue to monitor that press conference scheduled for noon Pacific time. Appreciate it. All the best.

All right. Still ahead, President Biden vowing to get his domestic agenda done but a divided Democratic Party still stands between him and the finish line. Is there a path forward?

And this quick programming note. Next Sunday, an all-new season of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING". She explores historical events that changed America but are rarely found in history books.

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

[14:13:27]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi setting a new deadline to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill by October 31st, the clock is now ticking for a divided Democratic Party to reach an agreement.

President Biden has made clear he now believes those two packages are linked with moderate and progressive Democrats at an impasse over the price tag and content.

Here is what the head of the Progressive Caucus said this morning on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): There's no number on the table yet that is -- everyone has agreed to. it's not like --

(CROSSTALK)

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: What do you think?

JAYAPAL: I don't feel the need to give a number because I gave my number. It was $3.5 trillion. So if you're in a negotiation you need to have a counter offer before you bid against yourself.

BASH: So if we're not looking at what about $1.5 like what Senator Manchin --

JAYAPAL: Well, that's not going to happen. So it's --

BASH: Why is that --

JAYAPAL: So it's going to be somewhere --

BASH: Why won't it add up to that number?

JAYAPAL: Because that's too small to get our priorities in. So it's going to be somewhere, you know, between $1.5 and $3.5.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: New York Democratic Congressman Adriano Espaillat joins me right now. He is the deputy whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. So good to see you, Congressman. So if, you know, both the Infrastructure and Build Back Better plans are popular with the American public, what is going to bring some resolution, some common ground on the price tag or the content?

REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY): Well, we'll follow the president's instructions. And his instructions were that we should take a look at the programmatic aspect of this discussion. And that will drive the price tag.

You know, I like $3.5 trillion, but not everybody does. But we ought to take a look at what we can do to help the American people as they come out of this pandemic.

How do we recover as a country is really the goal, the objective, not necessarily the price tag. I think that it is important to take a look at each and every one of the proposals on the table and we prioritize them. I think that's our goal right now.

WHITFIELD: But it seems like that's where the difficulty is. Not everybody is prioritizing the same way. If the priority is, as you say, and as the president wants it to be, prioritization based on the programs, if you all want say, you know, universal pre-k education and you know the price tag is somewhere in the $450 billion range, that means there has to be a consensus to say how do we have the program but then whittle down the price?

[14:19:55]

WHITFIELD: I mean it sounds like that's what negotiation is, but it doesn't sound like that's so easy right now. What's the problem?

ESPAILLAT: Well, our caucus is pretty much united. Let me say, it's never 100 percent. I don't think in any democracy you will find any particular body 100 percent in agreement with anything.

But we're very close to that. I think there's a small minority that may not be in agreement with the price tag that we put forward. But for the most part, I think our caucus is united. And so yes, now the question is to prioritize those programs and to see which are so important.

For example, day care. Day care is critical. Why? Because women were disproportionately at home and fell off the work force. And they got to get back to work now. and you need day care. So universal day care is an important one.

To me immigration is critical. I think that over five million immigrants -- undocumented immigrants were there for us when we needed them. Delivering food to our homes, making sure that our seniors and our frail were taken care of.

You know, we have to be there for them now. So how do we bring them in is a great challenge. But you know, I think we'll get there.

We have the vast majority of our caucus in agreement that we will follow the president's lead. This is his plan and it's just a question of how bold we want to go.

WHITFIELD: And now this, are you worried about losings the Republican senators who voted in favor of the infrastructure bill? You know, now expressing concern about the idea of decoupling these two bills?

ESPAILLAT: No. I think that both in blue states and red states there is an urgent need to take a look at our infrastructure and to build new transportation systems.

I think that that's so important to our recovery, but most importantly, you have roads and bridges that need emergency repair in both blue states and red states.

And not only that, but this is a great job creator. So the fact that we're going to create millions of jobs and we need to train those folks. And that's why these two bills are connected: the human infrastructure --

WHITFIELD: Right. Well, that's you pushing for the bills and the value of them, but the question really is about those Republicans who are threatening to change their mind on supporting these measure because of the separation of the measures.

ESPAILLAT: Well, I think they go back to their states and they will hear from their constituencies. And the need to build bridges that are nearly collapsing and to ensure that they bring back prevailing wage jobs for people that are trained for that industry.

That kind of addition will resonate and will bring up (INAUDIBLE). I think it's important that they hear their constituencies and I think they will.

WHITFIELD: And now on moving this deadline to Halloween, House Speaker moving that deadline, heard from the president when he was on the Hill, he said six minutes, six weeks, six months -- whatever it takes. Is there a disadvantage to moving the goal post, the deadline?

ESPAILLAT: I think it's towards the end. I don't know if it's Halloween. It's towards the end of October. But yes, I think it's important that we have the ample time. It's not just about how quickly we get to the finish line but getting to the finish line the right way, I think is the challenge.

And of course, we must make sure that America recovers, that the jobs are there, that day care is there, the free community colleges are there, that hearing, eye care, dental care are provided for seniors. These are all critical aspects of this discussion and America wants it.

WHITFIELD: Congressman Adriano Espaillat, thank you so much for your time.

ESPAILLAT: Thank you, Fredricka. Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: Thanks. All right. A possible game changer in the fight against COVID. A pill for COVID patients the doctors say cuts the risk of death or hospitalization in half. Details on that straight ahead.

[14:23:52]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now experts are urging Americans to avoid complacency despite some promising pandemic trends. The average number of daily new infections is now at the lowest rate in the U.S. since early August.

COVID hospitalizations are also down by more than 20 percent from the last month. And on top of all of that, there could still be something new in the pandemic toolbox.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck says its new antiviral drug cuts the risk of hospitalization and deaths by 50 percent for COVID patients. Dr. Anthony Fauci says he looks forward to seeing the impact this drug could have.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The results are really quite impressive. As you mentioned, it decreases the likelihood of getting hospitalization or dying in people who early in the course of their infection take this particular medication.

In addition, there's another part of that study that is really impressive. Among the deaths in the study, there were eight deaths among the placebo group and no deaths among those who took the medication. That's very impressive.

So we really look forward to the implementation of this and to its effect on people who are infected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me right now to discuss is Dr. Anand Swaminathan, an emergency medical physician in New Jersey.

Doctor, always good to see you.

All right. So we've, you know, talked about the inequities before in terms of treatment. Do you believe this is going to address those inequities or exacerbate?

DR. ANAND SWAMINATHAN, EMERGENCY MEDICAL PHYSICIAN: I think this drug has a potential to really exacerbate some of those inequities. Let's say that it works the way that it's being billed, which we don't know yet.

[14:30:00] We need to see the data. But it's going to cost about $700 for a course. Now we have about 30 million people in this country who are insured, about 25 percent of people in this country don't have a primary doctor. This drug has to be gotten to the people who are getting COVID very early in the course in order for it to be effective.

So you can see the difficulty here of getting an appointment with a primary doctor to get a prescription and then paying for it. If you don't have insurance, you're not going to be able to afford this medication. This is a medication that is going to be widely taken up by the rich and by the well-insured, but it's not going to be there for our black and brown communities, for the marginalized populations, for homeless people, people who are really suffering through COVID-19 during this pandemic.

And that's why I think this is kind of a problem that we see over and over again. We're looking for these high-tech, very expensive solutions, when what we should be doing is investing those billions of dollars in supporting our public health infrastructure, in education, and investing in public welfare. That's how we beat this pandemic and that's how we best prepare for the next pandemic as it comes up.

WHITFIELD: All right. So let's also talk about, you know, the data that suggest that vaccine mandates work. People across the country have been trying to use religious exemptions to bypass the requirements. Dr. Anthony Fauci says, you know, people sometimes confuse a philosophical objection with a religious objection. So how do, you know, experts separate legitimate requests from those who are just looking for a loophole?

SWAMINATHAN: We see a lot of religious leaders across the country saying the same thing over and over again, that getting vaccinated is our duty to each other, that if you truly believe in religious teachings, you understand that you have a duty to your fellow man, your fellow woman, and so this is part of our duty to get vaccinated because choosing vaccination is not a personal choice at this point.

This is really a choice for everybody. Public health is not about the individual. It's about our entire society and getting vaccinated shows that you understand that duty to each other, that you understand your role within society, and that you understand that duty and how important it is for us to protect each other. So I think the religious exceptions should be extremely narrowly defined because we do see that mandates work.

Mandates are going to work. They're going to help us to push our vaccination rates higher and we need to be continuing to push this, and I expect you'll hear more and more religious leaders saying the same thing. This is part of our duty to each other.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Anand Swaminathan, always good to see you. Be well. Thank you.

SWAMINATHAN: Thank you. WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, as police continue searching for

Brian Laundrie, new body camera footage reveals a domestic dispute between Laundrie and fiancee Gabby Petito a month before she went missing. Did police miss possible warning signs?

I'll talk to a domestic abuse expert straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:37:34]

WHITFIELD: New bodycam footage shows police interaction in the moments after a reported domestic dispute between Gabby Petito and her still missing fiance Brian Laundrie. It was taken during a police stop in Utah following a physical altercation between the two seen by several eyewitnesses. About a month later Petito's body was found in Wyoming.

Nadia Romero is on the scene in North Port, Florida, where police are continuing to search for clues, information, and of course for Brian Laundrie himself.

Nadia, first, where do things stand right now in that search operation? What kind of activity, if any, is happening at the fiance's Laundrie's family home?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, we've definitely seen a more scaled down search effort than maybe two weeks ago. Not far from here is the Carlton Reserve and that's where Brian Laundrie's parents say they believe their son was headed on September 14th and that was the last time they say they heard or saw from him. So there was a lot of police activity and there were a lot of people out searching for him in the very swampy area.

But then that started to really scale down just this past weekend and definitely now. Here at the Laundrie family home, we've seen the FBI come in and out over the past week, collecting items belonging to Brian Laundrie, trying to get those items together for those K-9 units that are out searching for him and also to try to potentially match for DNA. And so that is a very important part of this process, but we know that the FBI says that they're going to have a much more targeted approach when it comes to their search for Brian Laundrie.

Fredricka, you mentioned that video from August 12th, the domestic dispute between Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito giving us more insight into their relationship that it wasn't all wonderful and lovey like we see on social media, but instead, there was this other side of the relationship that was pointed out by that video. That entire response to that domestic call is now under an independent investigation.

Here in Florida it's relatively quiet right now. The hecklers that we sometimes see along the street in front of Brian Laundrie's home say that they're going to a different location, to another Laundrie family member's home, instead of being here out in front of the parents' house -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then, Nadia, quickly on those hecklers, are those people who live in the neighborhood? Did they come from elsewhere?

ROMERO: Yes, they're people who live nearby and you see some familiar faces day to day who come out.

[14:40:03]

You see new people who were encouraged to join them. The police usually come when they show up. Right? Someone in the neighborhood if not the Laundrie parents themselves call the police because of the noise ordinance. Now we saw them with bull horns. They're not allowed to use those anymore. We saw them come out with mega phones and speakers. They're not allowed to use that either. But they're using their voices and they're almost just as loud -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then, Nadia, are investigators kind of re-examining or looking at some of that body cam video a little differently or more attune to looking for certain clues that perhaps might have been overlooked before?

ROMERO: Yes, Fred. They have to use everything they can because many people believe, especially Gabby Petito's family, that Brian Laundrie has the answers. They can't find him. So they've got to use that call, that police interaction, for something that potentially will give them a clue or another piece in the puzzle.

We're also hearing about possible sightings of Brian Laundrie in North Carolina. The sheriff there in that area says he doesn't know how valid those sightings are, but all of that information being taken to the FBI because they're trying to use every resource possible.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nadia Romero, thank you so much, in Florida.

All right. Let's talk more on this and zero in on some of the images we saw in that body cam video which I think everybody knows is just so disturbing. I want to bring in Dr. Ludy Green. She's an expert on violence against women and children, and executive producer of "Ending Domestic Abuse" podcast.

Dr. Green, so good to see you.

DR. LUDY GREEN, HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN: Thank you so much for having me.

WHITFIELD: I think it's been so troubling for everyone to see that video and to see different angles of it and different portions of it, and try to piece together what was happening, and just to see, you know, Gabby Petito, you know, just crumbled in tears and clearly in a lot of pain.

So when you look at this footage with the expertise that you have, you see something different perhaps or something a lot more magnified. Is this a window into what domestic abuse cases look like or do you see something else and you can educate us all?

GREEN: You know, it is. First, we start with her. If you look at Gabby, I mean, the behavior of her, blaming herself, protecting the abuser. Then she's started coming across confused. She was very anxious. So totally that shows that she was already a victim. And what I have seen and what I can tell in this case that this is not the first-time victimization. This has been going on for a long time.

And also, let's discuss about him. He said he start like, you know, sort of like defending himself, she's worked out herself, you could see that she's not acting well so I had to push her away. First of all, pushing is abuse. That's a behavior, abusive behavior.

Second of all, he's shouting at her. Not only that, I noticed he's saying that he was driving fast. He was driving fast to scare her, to intimidate her. So this was abuse going on between the two of them.

WHITFIELD: And then I want to play this particular encounter where Gabby Petito details the fight between she and Brian. Just listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK if you're saying you hit him and then I understand if he hit you but we want to know the truth if he actually hit you. Because you know --

GABBY PETITO, VICTIM: I guess, yes. But I hit him first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did he hit you? Don't worry, just be honest.

PETITO: Well, he like grabbed my face like this. He didn't like hit me in the face, like he didn't like punch me in the face or anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he slap your face or what?

PETITO: Well, like, he grabbed me like with his nail, and I guess that's why it looks -- I definitely have a cut right here because I can feel it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I mean there's so much there, Dr. Green. I mean, it goes back and forth, too, because she's almost like in a moment now revealing how in pain she is and, you know, revealing being victimized but then she kind of waivers back to, you know, well, you know, I hit him, and then to even hear the police there say it's OK if he hit you or you hit him.

I mean, how do you decipher all of that? Because it just seems like it was such a mix of pointing the finger, of admitting being a victim and then going back to, I guess, she being accused almost as the aggressor.

GREEN: Well, we have to understand that in certain states the person who hit is the abuser. So we have to understand where is in that state that where she's in. So she can come across like the abuser but if you look into the whole relationship and the situation, whatever occurred there, you can see that both were abusing each other. But she was the one that was oppressed. She's the one that keeps blaming herself and apologizing. So she was really the victim. That's how I see it with my eyes. And

what I have experienced in my work in 26 years. On the other hand, the police, you know, they have training through the sheriff's association, they're training for a day and a half for police when they get a call from 911.

[14:45:06]

So they learn about basics, but they are not psychologists or psychiatrists to understand what is happening in this relationship. So they need to be much more training and understanding about what happened.

WHITFIELD: I feel like, too, this case is revealing something else to us, to the masses, that perhaps, you know, masking an abusive relationship is something that happens, too. I mean, we saw a video that Gabby Petito had put on Instagram I believe it was, on social media, just really conveying how beautiful the relationship was, how perfect their road trip is, this you cross-country journey, you know, kind of sending the message of just pure happiness and euphoria.

And then now, to learn that it was strangers, people in the public who would see that she was being slapped around is how one witness, you know, described it enough to raise their concern that they called police. So talk to us about I guess the issue of masking, trying to divert attention from the real horror that someone is living?

GREEN: You know, it's quite common. Many people outside the home, they go to events, they look beautiful as couples, the relationship looks perfect, but you don't know what is going on behind doors. That's what the reality is. Where the reign of horror occurs.

But now because we have also the social media, we portray what we are not really having. Because you know what, we want to be accepted by others, by our society, by our families, and think that we have it all perfect.

In the case of Petito, she was also using social media because her dream was to create this blog, right? She wanted be a blogger and she changed her careers. So she might have been going also through some emotional I would say like economic situation that she's dealing with, economic abuse as well. Because we don't know her circumstances. She was transitioning from being unemployed to being a blogger and she wanted this to happen.

WHITFIELD: Yes. It's all so sad.

All right, Dr. Ludy Green, thank you so much for your perspective and of course we're hoping this is an instructive conversation for a lot of people out there who might feel like they can't share what's really going on in their lives and they're also learning something about what we're sadly seeing in public view.

Thank you so much, Dr. Green.

Everyone deserves relationships free of domestic violence and if you or someone you know would like to talk to someone, it's confidential and available 24 hours a day. Call the National Domestic Violence hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE or visit the hotline.org.

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[14:52:17]

WHITFIELD: A number of civilians are dead in Kabul after an explosion ripped through a crowd gathered outside a mosque. People were there for a funeral commemorating the mother of a Taliban spokesman. It's not yet clear who carried out the attack.

Clarissa Ward joins us now on the scene in Kabul.

Clarissa, what have you learned?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I should start by saying that this really is the most significant explosion that we've seen here in Kabul for many weeks now. From what we understand the target was the senior leadership of the Taliban who were gathered at the Eid Gah Mosque for funeral prayers to commemorate the death of the mother of Zabihullah Mujahid, who is the group's spokesperson.

Journalists who arrived on the scene in the moments afterwards were not allowed to get anywhere near the mosque. The Taliban really trying to push them back saying that that was for security reasons, but there does seem to be an effort as well to try to sort of quash reporting on attacks of this nature because there are a lot of tensions at the moment with ongoing skirmishes between the Taliban and ISIS-K.

I should add, ISIS-K, Fredricka, has not yet claimed responsibility for this, but obviously they did claim responsibility for that horrific attack on the airport and they have also claimed responsibility for a number of smaller attacks and IEDs, explosions in Jalalabad and other parts of the country. So the sense at the moment with many is one of deep unease.

Can the Taliban continue to provide effective security across the country when it has so much on its plate and has a formidable adversary it would appear in the form of ISIS-K? Though I should add, as I mentioned before, that they have not yet claimed responsibility for this attack -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Clarissa Ward, in Kabul, thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

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[14:58:52]

WHITFIELD: All right, after winning multiple Super Bowl championship over 20 years playing for the New England Patriots, Tom Brady is returning to his old stomping grounds to square off against his old team. CNN's Coy Wire has a preview.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. One Boston radio host described this as the high school reunion where you have to see the ex who broke your heart. That's how some Pats fans might feel about tonight's game but it's also how Tom Brady might feel about the breakup with the organization after 20 years when he walks into Gillette Stadium to play his former team for the first time.

Physically, Brady will try to prepare the same way he does for every game but mentally there's no way to prepare for something like this. It will be surreal for Brady to face his former team and his former mentor and coach Bill Belichick. He posted a powerful video taking a trip down memory lane, highlighting the six Super Bowls he won for New England, and the title in Tampa last season, along with the famous Jay-Z lyrics, "Allow me to reintroduce myself."

Now some Pats fans say there will be boos for Brady. Others they'll be cheering for him over their own team. Now some held a parade for the greatest of all time marching goats in Pats jerseys through downtown Boston yesterday. And as fate would have it, Fred, Brady will likely break another record tonight in Foxborough.