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Biden Honors Fallen Officers At Memorial Service On Capitol Hill; Biden Says DOJ Should Prosecute Those Who Defy Subpoenas; Capitol Police Sergeant Speaks Out On Trauma Of January 6th Insurrection; FDA Panel Recommends J&J Booster Two Months After First Shot; One-On-One With NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins; Nobel Prize Winner Denies Saying Ivermectin Cures COVID-19; Former President Bill Clinton Battling Infection. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 16, 2021 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Control the information you receive. The all-new "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" tomorrow night at 10:00 only on CNN.

And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The "CNN NEWSROOM" continues with Jim Acosta right now.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

A moment of solemn reflection today as President Biden honored our nation's fallen law enforcement officers. The setting for the National Peace Officer's Memorial Service, the U.S. Capitol, the sight of an insurrection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Particularly appropriate today is here nine months ago, your brothers and sisters thwarted an unconstitutional and fundamentally un-American attack on our nation's values and our votes. But because of you, democracy survived.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And we've got a new glimpse into the horror those officers witnessed on Capitol grounds that day. It was filmed by a rioter who has pleaded guilty to illegally entering or remaining in a restricted building. One of the videos shows what the Justice Department says is one of the first breaches of the Capitol. The person you see using a riot shield to smash a window. That's a member of the so-called Proud Boys. And then more than a dozen rioters climbing through that window.

The second video also shows a breach of the building. People rushing through a door and down a hallway where they eventually have a confrontation with Capitol police officer, Eugene Goodman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. Where are they counting the (EXPLETIVE DELETED" votes?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't do it. Don't do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. Hey. Where are they counting the votes? Where are they counting the votes? Where are they counting? Where are they counting?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The bravery of officers like that comes in stark contrast to those preventing the January 6th committee from doing its job. Trump ally, Steve Bannon, for example, is in a subpoena showdown, refusing to comply. Now President Biden says it's time to play hardball.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I hope that the committee goes after him and holds him accountable criminally.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Should they be prosecuted by the Justice Department?

BIDEN: I do. Yes.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: More on the subpoena showdown in a minute, but first, we begin with CNN's Joe Johns at the White House with President Biden's tribute to fallen officers.

So, Joe, what can you tell us?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, he said it's like losing a piece of your soul. President Biden speaking to the family members of lost law enforcement officers using his own experience with grief and loss in the process. You'll remember that the president lost his son Beau Biden in 2015. He lost a daughter and a wife in 1972. And talked a little bit about that to the crowd up at the Capitol.

He also pointed out that this has been a very tough year for law enforcement officers and said it's going to get even tougher, hard to recruit people if the environment, if you will, doesn't change and it will be harder to hire people. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Being a cop today is one hell of a lot harder than it's ever been. And the families of the fallen, you've suffered an enormous loss, but understand, your loss is also America's loss. America's loss. And your pain is America's pain.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP) JOHNS: He did talk about the January 6th riot and the law enforcement officers who were killed and injured responding to that situation. And the president also kept it current by talking about the most recent situation in Houston where three sheriff's deputies were shot, one killed, expressing his condolences there. The president also very briefly talked about the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. This is an initiative that has stalled up on Capitol Hill. Nonetheless, he did thank the Fraternal Order of Police for support.

There is some question, Jim, as to whether the president might, on his own, use some type of executive action to push through some of the initiatives that got stalled up on the hill. Back to you.

ACOSTA: All right, Joe Johns, thanks so much for that.

I want to go now to CNN's Jessica Schneider.

As you know, Jessica, President Biden is now calling on the Justice Department to prosecute those who were defying these subpoenas from the January 6th committee. What is the Justice Department saying about this? Because, as we know, the president has said in the past he would let the Justice Department make these kinds of determinations themselves.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Jim. As you can imagine, these comments were quickly clarified by the White House press secretary Jen Psaki. She pretty much jumped in right after President Biden made these comments to our Kaitlan Collins.

[15:05:02]

This is what Jen Psaki tweeted. She says, "As POTUS has said many times, January 6th was one of the darkest days in our democracy. He supports the work of the committee and the independent role in the Department of Justice to make any decisions about prosecutions."

So really kind of walking those words back saying that of course it is fully up to the Department of Justice to decide whether or not anyone who defy subpoenas will be prosecuted for criminal contempt.

What was interesting about that tweet is that it came right after the Department of Justice put out its own statement. In fact, the spokesperson for the attorney general put it very bluntly in a very short statement saying the DOJ will make its own independent decisions and all prosecutions based solely on the facts and the law, period, full stop.

So they want to make clear this is a Department of Justice who has steered clear of politics for the past, about a year or so, and they want to make clear that it's all about the rule of law. That's something the attorney general has repeatedly stressed.

ACOSTA: And we're also learning about the first Capitol police officer to be indicted on charges of obstruction in connection to the Capitol insurrection. What can you tell us about that? SCHNEIDER: Yes. We know this is a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol

Police. This is Officer Michael Angelo Riley. He actually appeared in court yesterday, federal court. He's facing two charges of obstruction here. The first charge of obstruction is for allegedly telling this rioter that he was in communication with over Facebook to delete all messages, all posts, all videos, that showed this rioter inside the Capitol on January 6th.

That's the first count. The second count of obstruction goes to this officer allegedly then deleting all of this interaction, these messages over Facebook with this rioter. This is something that had gone on for several days over the course of the month of January at the beginning of this year and, you know, they say that he essentially tipped this rioter off to the fact that there was an FBI investigation, warned him that any of his messages could be used against him.

Of course, ultimately, this rioter was arrested on January 19th. The very next day is when the rioter got back in touch with that Capitol police officer and said, hey, I've been talking to the FBI, I let them know that we have been talking. I showed them all of my messages, and then according to this indictment, it was the very next day that this Capitol police officer went into his Facebook account and deleted all of these messages.

And these are hefty charges. These are charges that carry up to 20 years in prison for each obstruction charge -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Wow. Very disturbing allegations. All right, Jessica, thank you very much for that.

Organizers of today's memorial noted how poignant it was to be at the Capitol where just nine months ago members of law enforcement agencies bravely defended the building against an insurrection.

My next guest was beaten with a flag pole, doused with so much chemical spray that it soaked through his clothes and into his skin, and was in a hand-to-hand fight for his life as he tried to drag a fallen officer out of the mob of rioters. Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell joins me now.

Thanks so much, Sergeant Gonell, for being with us. We appreciate it. We're honored to have you here in the NEWSROOM. But we want to make sure, you are speaking on behalf of yourself, not the Capitol Police Department, but is it surreal to hear about one of your fellow officers being charged in this kind of case that Jessica Schneider just laid off, accused of tipping off one of the rioters. What did you think about that?

SGT. AQUILINO GONELL, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: Well, thanks for having me. It is very troubling that, you know, instead of, even though he knew at that time that myself and several of his own colleagues were injured, instead of helping the getting the rioter to come forward, he's telling him to hide the evidence, to delete information rather than try to pursue him and persuade him to -- so to provide that information to the FBI if anything, is a betrayal. Not only to myself, but to his fellow officer and to his oath of office as well.

ACOSTA: And let me ask you, I just want to go back and talk about what you've been through. You are a veteran. You served in Iraq. Earlier this year, you told Congress that the battle for the Capitol was more terrifying than what you saw in Iraq. How are you doing all these months later? And we should point out you brought in a tennis ball with you, which is part of your physical therapy. So you're still dealing with what happened on January 6th nine months later.

GONELL: Correct. I've been most of -- for the most part of the last nine months, I've been on light duty. Being home recovering because of those injury. I had foot surgery. I had, in August, I had my shoulder surgery, my second surgery.

[15:10:05]

And that has been more challenging for myself because it restricts me. I'm still not able to get all the full range of motion that I normally have. And the purpose of the tennis ball is for preventing me, whenever I forget that I'm still injured, from reaching out, and also to serve as a therapy because I use it to roll when my arm gets stiff, I start using it.

ACOSTA: Your arm still gets stiff.

GONELL: Yes, sir. I can only lift it at a certain level and angle before it hurts, and this is more than nine months later. So when you hear the former vice president saying that that one day in January, well, I'm still living through that one day and still counting.

My injury had not gone away because that one day in January. So all those people that's trying play it off and diminish the danger that we encountered that day, not only to ourselves, but to our democracy and our government, it's very challenging for us to -- and a disgrace as well because --

ACOSTA: You're angry.

GONELL: Yes. I'm frustrating, angry, because of what the level of disservice that they're doing and this is coming from people who swore an oath to protect the country, the Constitution, and yet they playing it off like it was a concert that these people came in and they had a great time and I mean, you saw the video that you showed. The level of violence that those tourists were using just to get into the door.

If they want to call it tourists, well, look how violently they opened that door. Just to get to the concert inside the chamber where the votes were being counted, and I know I'm being sarcastic, but --

ACOSTA: That's not really true.

GONELL: That day, it was not. It didn't feel like a concert. I did everything I could along with all my fellow officers from Metropolitan Police and Capitol police to prevent anybody from getting hurt and we succeeded and now that they escaped with the time that we allowed them to or afforded them to escape to safety, now they're diminishing the whole event and how chaotic and dangerous it was.

ACOSTA: And I know you've been outspoken about this as you are being right now and you talked about people who are trying to whitewash, diminish as you said, what happened on January 6th. You've been called a traitor. Are people still coming after you to this day? Threatening you and that sort of thing?

GONELL: I had not encountered any threats personally. I do walk on the streets sometime or whenever I go to a store, some people recognize me. And for the most part, they have been very supportive. I thank them for being supportive of me because it's still traumatic for me to this day.

I still, I get like I said earlier, the physical and mental injuries are still there. The, my life has not gone back to normal since that day. I can even, normally I'm very active. I play basketball. It relaxes me with my PTSD. I can't even do that.

ACOSTA: It's affected everything.

GONELL: Everything. My family. My son. Even my dog, since I can't even play with him because of my injury. My limitation. And just getting the hang of it as of right now.

ACOSTA: I want to ask you about something that happened this past week at a Republican rally in Virginia. I'm sure you saw this. Attendees there pledged allegiance to a flag that the rally organizer said was flown by the insurrectionists on January 6th.

Let's play a little bit of that and I want to get your comment on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's carrying an American flag that was carried at the peaceful rally with Donald J. Trump on January 6th. I ask you all, I ask you all to rise and join us as Mark Lloyd leads us in the pledge.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Sergeant Gonell, I mean, what do you think about that?

GONELL: A total disgrace because there were in the crowd when I was fighting those people off, there were throwing the flag on the floor and then this -- they threw it in the floor and then they wanted us to pick it up and they got anger -- angry about it.

[15:15:14]

And the way that they're using the flag as if they did something good. And that flag they're probably holding right now that they did that ceremony, that probably was the flag that they hit me with. You know? It's beyond comprehension that they are celebrating something detrimental to the country. Just like the former president, he sent a message to the family of the young lady that died. ACOSTA: Ashli Babbitt.

GONELL: Because of her action that she took on behalf of him, instead of calling the family of Officer Sidney, that they voted for him and he was fan of him. To this day, he has not called them to say my condolence to you. I'm sorry your son died.

So you see in the alternate universe that they live in, they are doing great things. And instead of celebrating the police officer as a party of law and order and pro-police, back the blue, they are celebrating this individual who committed an attack in the Capitol. And you know, it's very disappointing.

ACOSTA: And we mentioned that Trump's ally, Steve Bannon, and how he's dodging the subpoena to testify and cooperate, are you worried that the longer this investigation takes, the less likely justice is served? And what does justice look like to you?

GONELL: I think anybody who took part, who's aiding and abetting those individuals, and if it happened to be some of the Capitol police officer after they fully investigated as well and they go through a process, I don't have no sympathy for them because that's what they are condoning this. And every four years, this could come back and be the norm.

Justice for me, it would look like holding people accountable. Especially those that identify assaulting me because they assaulted me. A lot of them. I have identified many of those suspects, or rioter or tourists as they call them. I was, I guess I was one of the famous person that everybody wanted to give me hugs and kisses, but I -- justice for me would be holding people accountable especially the former president because without his influence on those people, without him telling those people to march down to the Capitol like he say, he emphasized march down to the Capitol and be right there with you.

ACOSTA: He has to be held accountable.

GONELL: He needs to be held accountable in order for me to feel like justice has been served. Another person that I feel strongly about is Mr. Giuliani. He told the crowd, trial by combat. And guess what? That is exactly what we encountered at the Lower West Entrance of the Capitol.

Myself, Fanone, Hodges and the other officers that were in the entrance. There were many. Eugene Goodman, that day. There were many -- Fanone. (INAUDIBLE). Gonell. All, the majority of the officer, they did their job. And we did everything possible to secure the Capitol, to protect the members. And we did that. And now you have including the former vice president and a lot of the leaders of the Republican side stating otherwise.

Like this is an alternative universe that they created. That unless you embrace the lie and you produce an alternative to the evidence, even with the, all the evidence in the videos and pictures that is out there, they still are trying to come in and say, oh, it was a, show them the video where I am fighting rather than the other one when people were being led outside.

ACOSTA: Right. Well, Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, we salute you. Thank you for your service. Thanks for your sacrifice to this country, and as the president said today, for saving democracy.

GONELL: Thank you, sir.

ACOSTA: Thanks very much for your time. Appreciate it.

[15:20:02]

GONELL: And I have injuries and the scars to show those people who continue to disregard this as a tourist event. Come talk to me. FOX News has not invited myself, Don, Fanone, or anybody else that goes against what the narrative that they're trying to say. And we are open to go to their show, but they're not doing it. They're not --

ACOSTA: They won't have you on.

GONELL: No. Of course. Because they --

ACOSTA: They're afraid of the truth.

GONELL: Or Trump.

ACOSTA: Yes. That's right. All right, sir.

GONELL: Thank you for having me.

ACOSTA: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Hang on to that tennis ball. We'll check on you down the road. Thanks so much. We appreciate it.

It's not one and done anymore for the 15 million people in the U.S. who got the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. There's big news about a second shot. We'll talk about it with the head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Frances Collins. He is standing by and he'll be next. Thanks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:05]

ACOSTA: If you're among the millions of Americans who got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine, you may be eligible for a second shot very soon. On Friday, FDA advisers agree with Johnson & Johnson that a second dose of their vaccine is a good idea and that they say that second shot should come at least two months after the first.

And I want to bring in the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins.

Dr. Collins, great to have you back. Thanks for doing this. Big topic just came out yesterday. Johnson & Johnson, as we know, they first rolled out its vaccine. The whole point was that it was a one and done type of vaccine. It seems like that is certainly not the case anymore. In retrospect, was that a mistake do you think for Johnson & Johnson to bill itself as a one-shot vaccine?

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Well, you know, if the MRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna had not been so utterly amazingly effective, 95 percent, then Johnson & Johnson would look like a hero with their one dose.

But I guess our standards are being set awfully high here by the other vaccines and certainly the data that was discussed yesterday by FDA's Advisory Committee says you get that second dose of Johnson & Johnson two months or more after the first one and you get a big boost in the antibody levels and presumably also a boost in your protection against severe disease. So I understand why they made the recommendation that they did.

ACOSTA: And why is the Johnson & Johnson booster recommended for everyone as long as two months have passed, but the Pfizer and Moderna boosters are still limited to certain Americans? You have to be above the age of 65 or have an underlying health condition or a job that puts you at high risk. Why not just say everybody go get a booster?

COLLINS: Well, good question. I have two grandchildren who got J&J and they're really interested in this question, too. I think what the Advisory Committee was saying yesterday was maybe this really should have been a two-dose vaccine and since everybody got two doses of Pfizer and two doses of Moderna, maybe we ought to say everybody should get two doses of Johnson & Johnson regardless of their age or their other risk factors. They were trying to be consistent there.

But, Jim, pay attention. There's other stuff happening here. There was data presented yesterday from NIH about the mix and match question, and there was data that suggested if you are going to get a booster for J&J, maybe getting a Moderna or a Pfizer booster would actually have some advantages in terms of giving you an even stronger immune response. So don't run out anybody who got J&J.

ACOSTA: Is that what you would do?

COLLINS: I would wait another week right now and see what CDC's Advisory Committee does with this next week. And maybe a week from today, I'll tell my grandkids what I think they ought to do.

ACOSTA: OK. I do want to pressure you just a little bit on the Johnson & Johnson issue because if it says in this new guidance that if it's been two months, you should go out and get that booster for the Johnson & Johnson, that suggests to me, and correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not the expert here. But correct me if I'm wrong, I mean, there are a lot of folks out there who are well past two months since getting that first dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Does that mean that some of those folks maybe walking around without the protection that they need, the kind of protection that would really help prevent a breakthrough case as they're called? Or am I misreading that?

COLLINS: Well, we do have -- no, I think there is some of that in what we're seeing here in that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine turns out not to be quite as effective as the Pfizer and Moderna and people who got that way back at the beginning of this year therefore have been somewhat less protected, although they're still awfully well protected. Again, we've set the bar awfully high here.

Again, the recommendation from the Advisory Committee yesterday still has to be decided on by the CDC leadership then it's got to go to the CDC's Advisory Committee and to the CDC director. So we're not quite there yet in terms of what the final recommendation should be.

ACOSTA: And we just had a very moving conversation with Sergeant Gonell with the Capitol Police Department. And in addition to what took place on January 6th, we know that COVID-19 has become the number one killer of law enforcement officers in this country.

More so than even gunfire and yet there's a situation in Chicago where half the city's police department, I'm sure you've heard about this, could be placed on unpaid leave after this weekend if they don't disclose their vaccination status.

What's your reaction to that? Is there a way to reach out to this police union and say we need you to get your act together?

COLLINS: Well, I would just appeal to everybody involved. The mayor, the police union leaders, the rank and file. This is not a good thing to mix up a public health crisis and a vaccine that can save lives amongst things like bargaining power.

[15:30:04]

This is the wrong hill to the - this is really a circumstance where those police officers are at particularly high risk because of their occupation. And, yeah, last -- just this year already, more than 200 Chicago police officers have died of COVID-19. Many of those probably unnecessary because vaccinations weren't taken advantage of. So, everybody, take a breath here and try to figure out if you got something you need to settle about negotiating with the union, settle it somewhere else. Not on this life saving vaccine issue.

ACOSTA: Right. And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta went one-on-one with the controversial podcast host, Joe Rogan. Rogan has this huge audience hanging on his every word. Let's listen to what he said to Sanjay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: You know what I think you should do, I think you should get vaccinated and then get sick.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What?

ROGAN: This is why. Because then you got the vaccine protects you from a bad infection. And then you get COVID so then you get the robust immunity that's imparted from having the actual disease itself, which is far more complex and comprehensive than you're getting from the vaccine that targets one specific protein, right?

GUPTA: Yeah, you could make that argument. I think. ROGAN: Yeah. So, that's the move. You get -- get vaccinated, let it wane and hang around with a bunch of dirty people.

GUPTA: So for you, Joe Rogan.

ROGAN: Yes.

GUPTA: I would say you've had it.

ROGAN: Yes.

GUPTA: And I get one shot of the vaccine.

ROGAN: No.

GUPTA: Why not?

ROGAN: Because I have better immunity than I would if I was vaccinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Dr. Collins, what do you make of that?

COLLINS: Well, I think Joe has got a few things mixed up here. First of all, the idea that you would intentionally get sick from this virus for any reason is simply the wrong thing to do.

We've lost over 700,000 lives to this and even those who get sick and then don't end up in the ICU or the morgue have a high risk of this long-term consequences called long COVID. You don't want that either. People who months afterwards are still fatigued, unable to work. So, everything you can do to prevent getting sick is the goal.

And if like Joe, you had natural immunity from natural infection, good for you. That is good. That is helpful. But get a vaccine on top of that and then you're much better protected than just the natural illness alone. It doesn't have to be one or the other. You should do both and if you have the chance.

And it's really unfortunate that somebody who has as many people listening to him as Joe Rogan is willing to put information out there that's just going to confuse people.

I give Sanjay a lot of credit for trying in three hours to try to get through to him, but it was pretty clear that Joe had already kind of made up his mind.

ACOSTA: Yeah. And Rogan is among the people who says he recovered from COVID after several treatments including ivermectin. As you know, this medicine has been pushed by a lot of people on the right. And they like to say that the doctor who discovered that ivermectin can be used to treat parasitic diseases won the Noble prize.

I reached out to that doctor, Dr. William Campbell, he said he was in retirement, didn't want to comment, but he directed me to a statement that he put out last month. And this is what he says.

He says, "I am a biologist with no claim to expertise in the clinical evaluation of drugs against viral infections. Thus, I have not taken a stand in support of, or against, the efficacy of ivermectin against COVID-19."

This is the doctor who made it, just made this discovery, saying he has no expertise in the evaluation of drugs against viral infections. So, why are people holding on to this ivermectin idea as some kind of miracle cure, do you think?

COLLINS: Well, it got going on the Internet. It got a lot of momentum in South America just based on anecdotes. I will tell you, the two most rigorous randomized controlled trials of ivermectin have shown no benefit. We are running the third randomized controlled trial right now. We'll have maybe more data in another month, but when I look at the evidence, there's really nothing to go on there to say that this has any value.

And the idea that a drug that happens to work against parasites would work against a virus, those are wildly different biological pathways and to just jump from one to the other, and think, oh, that will work. It isn't how it works.

So, yeah, this is another one of the many puzzlements that have happened in the course of COVID-19. Starting with hydroxychloroquine and now here we are with ivermectin. And here we are with 66 million people who have decided they're not interested in getting a lifesaving, disease preventing vaccine that can help them, their families, their communities. I'm a little puzzled about our really technological country called the United States of America.

ACOSTA: I'm puzzled, too. We have these vaccines. They work. And why folks are going to cling to these, you know, homemade remedies and what not to me is just, or things that they find on the Internet, to me, it's just baffling. As you said.

[15:35:00]

Dr. Francis Collins, great to see you as always. Thank you so much for the expertise. We appreciate it.

COLLINS: Glad to be with you, Jim. Thanks.

ACOSTA: Good to see you.

And coming up, an update on the health of former President Bill Clinton and why he was forced to spend a fourth night in the hospital.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:00]

ACOSTA: Former President Bill Clinton remains hospitalized in California because of a urinary tract infection that spread to his bloodstream. This morning, we saw former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton along with their daughter, Chelsea, arriving at the hospital where he's been staying since Tuesday.

CNN's Natasha Chen is following this story from Orange, California. Natasha, what else have we learned about how the former president is doing?

[15:40:02]

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, he's doing better, we're told. The tests that are being done show that he is -- showing positive improvement here. But the IV antibiotics treatment is something that's supposed to take three to five days generally and that's what they're still working on for him. That's why he's being kept here.

If you count five days since he arrived on Tuesday, when he first felt fatigued, first felt something wrong, then five days would be in the next day or two. So, it's looking like he may be released soon, but we're not exactly sure which day and we do know however that he has some company inside at the moment.

We did see Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton go in there earlier this morning. Doctors and staff have told CNN that he's in good spirits. He's able to get up and walk around, he's got a couple of books with him, and joking with the staff.

He eventually of course has to get on a plane to go home and they do want to make sure that antibiotics IV treatment is done before then. And the doctors here of course are in constant communication with his medical team in New York as well, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Natasha Chen, thank you so much for that report.

Coming up, three Houston deputies ambushed overnight leaving one dead in what the Texas attorney general is calling an evil act. We've just learned their identities. That's next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:00]

ACOSTA: A man hunt is underway right now in Houston after official say deputies were totally ambushed outside a bar early today. One deputy was shot and killed in the attack. Two others were wounded. Investigators say the shooter came out of nowhere and opened fire.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following all of this for us. Jean, Houston officials just identified the officers killed and injured. What more are you learning?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are learning a lot more information. First of all, you are right. The man hunt is continuing. They are trying to find the actual shooter, who we now have learned used an AR-15 assault rifle on these deputies.

It happened about 2:12 this morning. And it was at a sports bar. Deputies, we're told, something was happening, a robbery, it was believed in the parking lot. They went. They began to arrest the person that they thought was responsible. So, they are there with him on the ground and that is when they say someone else came from behind a car with that assault rifle and started shooting.

One officer shot in the back. The other officer there apprehending the suspect was shot. And he is now deceased. The third officer came into the picture. He was shot in the leg. Multiple fractures of the leg.

We want to show everyone names and pictures of who law enforcement have just released as were the victims here. First of all, Kareem Atkins. He is 30 years old. He just returned from paternity leave. He leaves a wife and 2-month-old baby.

Next, we have Darryl Garrett. 28 years old. He was shot in the back. He has been in surgery all day. He is now in the intensive care in a Harris County hospital.

And finally, Juquaim Barthen. 26 years old. And he has been at the precinct since 2019. He was shot in the leg. Multiple fractures of that leg.

Now, these officers, they work together. The deputies knew each other. They were buddies. I want you to listen to what the constable, Mark Herman, tells us about what one officers was told as he was just about to be wheeled into surgery this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONSTABLE MARK HERMAN, HARRIS COUNTY PRECINT 4: He found out laying, bleeding out on a gurney that his buddy he'd just been with was deceased. And - but I can tell you, all three of them, they work the same area. They're good friends. They - they -- it's just a complete tragedy is what it is.

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CASAREZ: So, we're not getting a lot of information of who they are looking for, but it is someone that is young. They believe about 21 years old, to have shot these officers this morning. Jim?

ACOSTA: Such a sad story.

All right. Jean, thanks for those latest details. We'll have more on all of that as it develops. Thanks so much.

Coming up, she is off.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liftoff. Atlas 5 takes flight. Sending Lucy to uncover --

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ACOSTA: NASA's Lucy is on a 4-billion-mile journey. Her mission, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:53:35]

ACOSTA: A new asteroid hunter named Lucy is now in space and on her mission.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liftoff. Atlas 5 takes flight. Sending Lucy to uncover -

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ACOSTA: This morning, NASA launched its newest asteroid probe. Lucy blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is now embarking on a 12-year mission to Jupiter. Once there, Lucy will will study two clusters of asteroids that are billions of years old and made up of leftover debris from the solar system's formation. She is expected to provide the first high resolution images of what these asteroids look like.

And when the pandemic struck the island of Bali, tourism practically came to a halt. Thousands of people who were left out of work and at risk of going hungry. This week, CNN Hero find a way to help this community by implementing a simple plan. Empower people to trade and collect plastic waste for rice.

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MADE JANUR YASA, CNN HERO FROM BALI, INDONESIA: I keep going with this mission because people empowered. Because people get excited. Because of the community that respond into this initiative.

I see the smile on their face. I see the cleaner environment. And also, I see they can provide for their family. This initiative is so simple. And we can do this in every community.

[15:55:05]

We clean the environment, we feed the people, and they're proud doing this. My goal is to really spread this movement. I want to inspire people that everything is possible. There is no small breed. If you believe and you do it with the community then you will succeed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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