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Commerce Secretary, Gina Raimondo, Discusses Supply Shortages and Rising Prices, Dems Agitated Over Manchin Demands in Biden Agenda Talks; All 21 On Board Survive Plan Crash in Texas; Miami Private School Tells Vaccinated Students to Stay Home; Washington State Fires Coach Over Vaccine Mandate; Gabby Petito's Mother Speaks Out; Judge Denies Bail for Once-Prominent SC Attorney Mired in Scandal; Gang Demands Ransom for Kidnapped Missionaries in Haiti. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired October 19, 2021 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: One more positive side about the economy is the market is up because corporate profits are beating expectations. But the average American is getting crushed by inflation, by rising gas prices, by the shortages.
How are you planning to address that disparity?
GINA RAIMONDO, COMMERCE SECRETARY: The most important thing we can do to address that is for the Congress to pass President Biden's Build Back Better plan.
His proposal is to raise taxes a bit on these corporations that, as you say, are more profitable than ever and are paying less taxes than they have, forever.
And then make investments in infrastructure, broadband, childcare, job training. That's what we need to do to help the American people and to increase productivity.
You know, the single best thing that we could do in the supply chain is to have more people go back to work.
Women are not going back to work. Why? Because they don't have access to childcare. Childcare is unavoidable and unavailable. The president is calling on investments in childcare to make it affordable.
If Congress did that, millions of women could go back into the workforce and you wouldn't see the labor shortages that we are struggling with now leading to these supply chain disruptions.
So in my mind, it's quite simple what needs to be done, which is that we need to make investments to create more jobs and to expand the labor force.
CABRERA: Well, and Democrats could get this done without Republicans. But Democrats can't seem to agree on how to proceed forward.
Our Manu Raju just reported that Dems are getting annoyed over Senator Manchin's demands in these agenda talks.
Is the administration giving Senator Manchin too much leverage?
RAIMONDO: I don't think so. We need the 50 votes. And the president is spending time with many members of Congress, many members of the House and many members of the Senate.
I'll say, as a former governor, I'm so impressed with President Biden and how much time he's spending himself engaging with individual members of Congress in the Senate.
We need to find compromise. But most important, we need to get this done.
I mean, you said yourself that the American people are struggling in certain ways. We know what people want. They want better infrastructure. They want childcare. They want job training. Let's deliver on that.
CABRERA: Secretary Gina Raimondo, good to have you with us. Thank you so much for taking the time.
RAIMONDO: Thanks.
CABRERA: Make sure to tune in on Thursday for a CNN exclusive. President Joe Biden taking questions from the American people. And Anderson Cooper will moderate a CNN presidential town hall with Joe Biden that begins Thursday night at 8:00 Eastern, here on CNN.
Still to come, a school in Miami is telling kids who have gotten a COVID vaccine to stay home. All based on unfounded, baseless and flat- out false claims.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:37:48]
CABRERA: Breaking news, a plane has crashed on takeoff. This happening in a rural county near Houston, Texas.
There were 21 people on board this plane. But as you look at these pictures, incredibly, no one was killed and only two people were sent to hospitals with injuries.
Brynn Gingras is joining us with some reporting on this.
What are you learning, Brynn?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, Ana, look at those images. Local officials in that Houston area saying this is a miracle. And there's a lot of reason to celebrate right now.
Let me explain sort of what happened. What we're learning from officials there is that that plane, which is a very large plane -- if you think about the flights that we fly commercially, it's an M.D.-87, which is about a medium-sized plane. This was being flown privately. And as it was taking off the runway,
it never actually took flight. And it crashed into a fence and then ignited on fire.
And, again, miraculously, the 21 people that were on board, 18 people and three crew members, were able to get off so quickly that they were off the plane before emergency responders were even there on the scene.
As you mentioned, Ana, two people went to the hospital. We know one of those people who was on board was a 10-year-old.
The plane was headed to Boston. And this happened about 10:00 local time there in that, as you said, rural area outside of Houston.
But now the FAA and NTSB are both going to get on the scene and determine exactly what caused this.
But unbelievable as you look at the images that those first responders are putting out. The flames, we're told, are out, all of those flames.
And, again, those people are very, very happy, lucky to be alive right now -- Ana?
CABRERA: Thank god they got off.
GINGRAS: Yes.
CABRERA: They survived this. Unbelievable.
Thank you, Brynn Gingras.
GINGRAS: Yes.
CABRERA: A private school in Florida has made headlines before and now it's at it again, citing disproven information. Centner Academy in Miami is telling students who get vaccinated to stay home for 30 days.
The same school, earlier this year, told its teachers that, if they got vaccinated, they need not return to work.
CNN's Leyla Santiago is joining us live from mime.
[13:40:00]
What exactly is this school's argument here, Leyla?
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can sort of get an idea of what their argument is in this letter that was sent home to parents obtained by our affiliate, WSVN.
I want to get right to that and quote directly from it, Ana.
In part, the school says, "If you're considering the vaccine for your Centner Academy student, we ask that you hold off until the summer where there will be time for the potential transmission or shedding onto others to decrease."
That was in a letter sent home to parents.
And I cannot say this enough, that is false. That is not true. There's not a single credible study out there that talks about any concerns of transmission or shedding of COVID-19 coming from this vaccine.
But as you mentioned, Ana, this isn't the first time that we have heard the Centner Academy, a private school here in Miami, make false claims, to ask people in their school to hold off on vaccines. They did it in April with teachers.
And in a statement to CNN, they told us that this decision, this latest one for students to stay home for 30 days if they get the vaccine, was based on anecdotal reports because they want more information.
And that is something that is very familiar from the last time when I interviewed them in April.
I want you to listen to the exchange I had with the CEO and co- founder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEILA CENTNER, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, CENTNER ACADEMY: Let's get more information. Let's learn more about this.
SANTIAGO: Yes.
CENTNER: That's all I want. I want more information.
SANTIAGO: Have you looked at the FDA? Have you looked at the RDC and World Health Organization? Because they do say that this is effective.
CENTNER: It's an experiment right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANTIAGO: So six months ago, they said that they wanted more information. They are echoing those sentiments today.
But when you speak to the experts in the medical community, the sciences-based studies, you will find that time and time again the scientific-based studies have found that the COVID-19 vaccine is not only safe, Ana, but also effective.
CABRERA: And crucial for helping people stay alive.
SANTIAGO: Life-saving.
CABRERA: Yes. Leyla Santiago, thanks for that reporting.
Let bring in Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. He is a viral researcher and internal medicine specialist.
Doctor, your reaction to this school? Their actions and their policies don't seem to be grounded in any reality.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST & VIRAL RESEARCHER: No. It's bizarre. And I don't know really what their motivation is nor do I care to speculate, but let's just hit this with facts.
First of all, none of the vaccines have even a live virus. So there's no way that you can get a vaccine and then spread the virus. It just isn't possible.
The mRNA vaccines cause your body to make a small portion of the virus, the spike protein, that doesn't even contain any of the viral genetics.
So the fact that even implicate that if you get the vaccine you can spread it to somebody else is completely false, ludicrous, you know, and just bizarre.
CABRERA: Thank you for putting the facts first for us there, Dr. Rodriguez.
Meantime, on the west coast, Washington State University just fired its head football coach, Nick Rolovich, and four of his assistants for refusing to comply with the state's employee vaccine mandate.
He had asked for a religious exemption but, ultimately, was fired for choosing not to get vaccinated.
Here's the school's athletic director.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAT CHUN, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY: We've had conversations that date back months. So, I mean, he was resolute in his stance.
And he's ready to make a choice. That choice did not put him in compliance with the proclamation from the governor. And that's why we sit here today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Full disclosure, this one hits close to home. WSU is my alma mater.
Here's the thing though. The coach, who has had mixed success on the field, he's leaving millions of dollars on the table over a vaccine. I mean, talk about dug in.
Is there anything you can say to convince someone like that to get this vaccine?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know what the point is I don't really think that you can convince like that.
You know, the prior subject that we talked about, that -- that Cantner school is a private institution. They have the right, you know, to put their own qualifications for people to come in.
And Washington State University also has the right to put whatever requirements they have to protect their students in their eyes. They actually require that you have the measles vaccine.
This coach, I mean, he knows that he cannot change the rules of a football game and say, hey, I want five downs just because I think we'll do better.
These are the rules. And he has chosen not to abide by the rules. He has freedom to choose so. And he's done so. So now these are the consequences, and there's nothing you can do.
[13:45:01]
Obviously, he's chosen his beliefs over something else. You have to respect that.
But by the same token, the school has a priority. You suffer the consequences if you don't fulfill the requirements. It's not a mandate. It's a requirement.
CABRERA: Absolutely. Well put.
Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, good to have you here. Thank you for all you do. Appreciate you joining us.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.
CABRERA: Gabby Petito's mom is speaking out today. Hear her message to Brian Laundrie and his family, next.
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[13:50:25]
CABRERA: Anger and frustration from Gabby Petito's mother. Nichole Schmidt speaking out about her daughter's death. She says she wants to see Petito's fiance, Brian Laundrie, behind bars.
Schmidt tells "60 Minutes, Australia," she urged her daughter to be careful as she and Laundrie set off on a road trip across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLE SCHMIDT, MOTHER OF GABBY PETITO: I worried. I told her to be careful, be safe, you know, make sure that -- to be aware of your surroundings, you know, don't trust everybody. I knew.
But I felt safe because she was with Brian and I felt like she would be OK. I thought he would take care of her.
I just want to get him in a cell for the rest of his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Brian Laundrie has not been charged in Petito's death. And he remains missing.
Over the weekend, Petito's family posted photos from Wyoming, where her body was found. The family has received Petito's remains, so now they can lay her to rest.
A judge denying bail for a once-prominent South Carolina attorney embroiled in a string of scandals and tragedies. Alex Murdaugh was in court just a short time ago for a bond hearing.
This is the man whose wife and son were murdered, the same man who allegedly hired a hitman to kill himself.
And now he's facing charges of misappropriating money from a settlement involving the death of his family's long-time housekeeper.
CNN national correspondent, Dianne Gallagher, joins us from Columbia, South Carolina.
Dianne, fill us in on the judge's decision and the charges against Murdaugh.
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the judge said there's no amount of bond that can be set that can safely protect Mr. Murdaugh or the community.
Those were his words as he denied bond this morning here in Columbia, South Carolina, courtroom.
Now, these particular charges against that once-prominent attorney, Alex Murdaugh, are for obtaining property under false pretenses. And as you said, Ana, they're related to the 2018 death of the family housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.
Her family was in the courtroom as the bond hearing was taking place.
According to the state attorneys, they say that Murdaugh set up the Satterfield family with an attorney who brokered a $4.3 million settlement, $3 million of which was supposed to go to the Satterfield family.
But instead, that money was put in an account that Alex Murdaugh ran. And they claimed that he used some of that money for personal expenses. The Satterfields never saw a dime of that money.
Now, the judge did add some stipulations, saying that he wanted to require Alex Murdaugh to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. And at that point, at a later date, perhaps, they could reconsider bond.
He has been in drug treatment facilities in both South Carolina and Florida. He was arrested at a drug rehab center in Florida over the weekend for these charges.
And his attorneys say that is something they think they're going to be able to get done by the end of the week or early next week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DICK HARPOOTLIAN, ATTORNEY FOR ALEX MURDAUGH: We understand the judge's concerns about Alex's mental condition. And we're more than happy to comply with his request.
His mental status is, I mean, good. You know, I spent -- Jim and I spent a year and a half with him and Maggie and Paul when apparently he was on Oxycontin and opioids. And he seems much more clear-headed today than I've ever seen him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Now, during the hearing today, there was actually an agent from the State Law Enforcement Division, Ana, that stood up and sort of issued this list of other cases and investigations that they have right now into Alex Murdaugh.
His attorneys have said that he is still undergoing that treatment for a long-held drug addiction and that he is, as they put it, the healthiest they've seen him.
Attorneys do expect they'll see him in court again in the coming days.
CABRERA: What a story.
Dianne Gallagher, thank you.
[13:54:30]
Up next, the latest on the search for the 17 missionaries kidnapped in Haiti. As the gang responsible demands millions in ransom.
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CABRERA: The Haitian gang that kidnapped 16 Americans and a Canadian says it wants $17 million for their release.
CNN's Matt Rivers is in Haiti.
What's the latest, Matt?
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, $1 million per captive. That is what the gang has told the Christian Aid Ministries, the group that is -- the missionaries are a part of. And $1 million per person is what they're asking for.
[13:59:58]
Several calls, we know, have taken place between that group and the gang since they were taken on Saturday. The first call coming in just a few hours after they were kidnapped.
