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Michigan School Shooting Investigation; Biden to Hold Virtual Call With Putin; New COVID Restrictions. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 06, 2021 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): McCarthy is a liar and a coward. He doesn't have the ability to condemn the kind of bigoted Islamophobia and anti- Muslim rhetoric that are being trafficked by a member.

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JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Thanks for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

Ana Cabrera picks up our coverage right now.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

We begin today with new COVID restrictions across the country aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus amid uncertainty about the Omicron variant. Just this morning, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing all private sector employees in America's largest city be required to have a COVID vaccine mandate beginning December 27.

That comes just hours after a new round of strict travel restrictions went into effect facing any traveler flying into the U.S. Now every single traveler who flies into the U.S. must test negative for COVID within one day of departure, and this applies to every traveler, regardless of vaccination status or citizenship.

We're covering every angle CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is at Dulles International Airport and CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is with us as well.

Pete, let's start with you.

There's a lot of confusion over what these requirements are, who it applies to exactly. What more can you tell us about these new restrictions?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, so smooth, ax.

What is so interesting here is that flights that are in the air right now are going to be some of the first that will have to comply with his new shift. Passengers coming into the U.S. will now have to get tested one day before their departure. And the CDC puts it like this. Your flight is on a Monday, you have to get tested any time on Sunday.

So, this is a one-day rule, not a 24-hour rule. They also have to show prove of that negative coronavirus test to their airline. This does apply to foreign nationals and U.S. citizens, regardless of your vaccination status. Now,

what's so interesting here is that the CDC shifted this timeline. It was three days, now one day, because of concerns over the new Omicron variant. Airlines are pushing back on the efficacy of all of this. They say these new travel restrictions really don't do all that much when it comes to preventing new infections.

But passengers here at Dulles tell me they are fine with this. This is what they told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BERNSTEIN, TRAVELER: Oh, I think it's that they have got all these variants that are coming out, and we don't know what they do. And that's why it's -- that's why it's spreading because it's had an opportunity to do this. So they're just being careful.

BEVERLY SHUGART, TRAVELER: It doesn't matter to me, honestly. I just -- I'm like, all right, cool, if that's what you need me to do, I will do it. I will do what I need to do to travel.

WOLFGANG PFEIFFER, TRAVELER: It's less than it's -- it's one-day testing, because people, they may have contact with people who are infected with COVID. And then you reduce the risk. And it's one-day testing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Another big change when it comes to the federal transportation mask mandate. It was set to expire January 18. Now there's been a two-month extension. It's now set to expire March 18, 2022.

That applies to all public forms of transportation, not only planes, but trains, buses, boats, and also here in terminals, Ana. This is going to apply to a lot of people because the numbers who travel are pretty big. About two million people passed through TSA checkpoints just yesterday.

CABRERA: And we should note right now the U.S. is seeing a spike in cases.

Elizabeth, talk to us more about where we are in this COVID battle as the U.S. implements these new travel restrictions.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ana, I want to show you two maps that I think really shows where we are today.

First, I want to show you a map. If you look at this map, this map is from November 30. And you will see there are three states, just three states, Nevada, Minnesota and New Hampshire, that are in dark red. Dark red means a dramatic increase in cases, more than 50 percent. And you only see three states in red.

Now fast-forward to a current map. This map shows that right now we have more than 30 states in dark red. More than 30 states are showing a dramatic increase compared to the previous week. This is not good. This is not the direction we want things to be going in, especially as we're headed towards Christmas, when people will be traveling, colder weather. People are staying inside.

Now, to give you a bit of good news here, we are seeing more people get vaccinated. Let's take a look at data on people getting first shots. If you look at the week ending November 21, 527,000 people per day were getting first shots of their COVID-19 vaccine.

But far more recently, the week ending December 5, that's nearly 619,000 people. That's a significant difference in just a few weeks. Omicron is probably scaring people, this new variant. In some ways, that is good. We want people to get back donated for all the right reasons and we will take what we can get. And it's good that people are getting vaccinated.

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Hopefully, these numbers will continue to rise -- Ana.

CABRERA: And we keep hearing the push from the administration for people to go get their booster shots and how important that is, if you have now had six months since your last shot and full vaccination.

What are we learning about this new study that's on mixing and matching, specifically the J&J COVID vaccine with the Pfizer vaccine? What did this new study find?

COHEN: So, Ana, this was a new study that was done by Johnson & Johnson. They looked at just about 65 people who were originally vaccinated with Pfizer. They gave some of them a J&J booster, and some of them a Pfizer booster.

Johnson & Johnson says the people who got Johnson & Johnson did better, their antibody response was more sustained. And they also had a better T-cell response. A T-cell is a memory immune cell, a different kind of immune cell than antibodies.

Now, this data has not been put to the test. No one else has reviewed it. Just Johnson & Johnson is saying this. But the bottom line is, get a booster with any of the three. Whatever you got, mix and match. Go crazy. Just get a booster.

CABRERA: Any booster is better than none, obviously.

Elizabeth Cohen and Pete Muntean, thank you both for your reporting.

Let's bring in Dr. Carlos del Rio, the executive associate dean at Emory School of Medicine and Grady Health System.

And, Dr. del Rio, let's go back to Pete's reporting on the new travel testing that's taking place for arriving international travelers. How do you see that making a difference?

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, PROFESSOR OF GLOBAL HEALTH, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Well, Ana, I think not a bad idea. I think everybody needs to be tested.

I will tell you that last year, together with Delta Air Lines and the Mayo Clinic, we did a study to open the corridor from Atlanta to Amsterdam into Rome, in which we tested passengers 72 hours with a PCR before departure, and then right at the time of departure, literally as they were boarding the plane with a rapid test.

And that strategy was incredibly effective to prevent the transmission and to prevent infection in travelers. So my advice to people is, yes, do the 24-hour. But if you really want to be protected, get a PCR 72 hours before you depart, get a rapid test 24 hours before departure, and then two or two or four days after you arrive to your destination, get another test.

I think, if you do that, you will be pretty safe, and you can travel safely. I have been doing that for quite some time. It works really well.

CABRERA: So that's your recommendation. But those aren't actually the new guidelines. People don't have to do that.

And the bottom line is, you're not just protecting yourself, but you're supposed to be protecting the population in which you might be interacting with once you get to your destination, right?

I wonder how effective one test in one moment in time is going to be in terms of stopping the potential transmission and spread of this virus. And beyond that, it's only applying to international arrivals, right? Do you think passengers on domestic flights should also be subject to a testing requirement?

DEL RIO: Well, I think you hit the nail on the head. There are several issues here.

Number one is that the one test at 24 hours may not be sufficient. And what I'm more concerned about is that they will take any test. And we know that some tests are not as reliable as others. And we know some tests available in other countries may not be so reliable.

So I caution people to just have one test and say I'm good and done. That's why I say I strongly recommend you get another test after you arrive back to the U.S. two to four days later.

But the second thing is the issue on national travel. National travel has no testing requirements right now, not even a vaccination requirement. I would urge the administration to at least establish a vaccination requirement. If you're going to get a national flight, you should be vaccinated.

We can talk about testing later, but at least start requiring vaccination, just like you do now with international flights arriving into the U.S. CABRERA: Vaccinations are going up. That's the good news. More than

two million shots are being administered every day, on average, the highest since May.

But the daily number of COVID cases and hospitalizations are also rising right now. What do you think's causing that?

DEL RIO: Well, I think we still have 60 million Americans who are unvaccinated, right? And we have a major Delta surge.

And if you are not vaccinated, Delta will find you and you will get sick and you may end up in the hospital and you may end up dying. We have over 1,000 people dying each day still in our country.

So, yes, I urge everybody to get vaccinated. Don't worry about Omicron right now. Worry about Delta. We have a major problem with Delta right now in our country, and we have to get people vaccinated. And we have not done as good a job as we should.

Places that have high vaccination rates are doing much better than others.

CABRERA: You talk about Delta being the biggest threat right now here in the U.S., but we're still watching what's happening in South Africa and those Southern African nations.

We just have a report from the South African Medical Research Council giving us a snapshot of patients with COVID in hospitals there in a district where Omicron was first detected. And here's what we're learning; 70 percent in this snapshot were not dependent on oxygen; 66 percent were considered incidental COVID admissions, so it means they had another medical or surgical reason for actually going to the hospital in the first place.

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The majority of the adults were unvaccinated.

And of a recent two-week period there, at least 80 percent of patients were under the age of 50. Now, to be clear, these are all COVID patients, but we don't know if they have the Omicron variant specifically, but the South African Medical Research Council says a reasonable assumption is being made that these infections were from this new variant.

So what do you in this new data?

DEL RIO: Well, Ana, I just a couple of minutes ago spoke to Dr. Salim Abdool Karim, who is a colleague of mine in South Africa, and he said a couple of things that I think are worth saying.

Number one, Delta -- Omicron clearly appears to be more transmissible than Delta. It is highly transmissible. A lot of people are getting affected. Prior infection does not protect you from getting Omicron. Vaccines may limit your risk of acquiring disease. And -- but the most encouraging thing that I heard him say is that

what exactly you said. The disease appears to be mild at this point. Most people, even those who are getting admitted, are getting admitted for two or three days, not for two weeks.

But I would caution people. And Dr. Salim said exactly the same thing. I would caution that this is early to make those conclusions. South Africa has a very young population. We don't -- we're not -- we still need to wait. What happens when you get Omicron in an older population in an population, with a lot of underlying conditions, obesity, diabetes?

So I would caution people and I will continue to say the best protection we have, the best thing you can do is not to get infected. I don't care if it's Delta or it's Omicron.

CABRERA: Dr. Carlos del Rio, as always, I really appreciate you being with us, spending time with us and sharing your insights and expertise.

DEL RIO: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: You think you have had some tense Zoom calls throughout the pandemic?

Well, tomorrow, President Biden will be holding a video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Russia's military buildup on the Ukraine border has NATO now fearing an imminent invasion.

And we have just learned the Biden administration is weighing new sanctions against members of Putin's inner circle to try to deter any military activity.

CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny is live at the White House.

Jeff, the stakes are high here. What do we know about these potential sanctions and what the president hopes to get out of tomorrow's call?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Ana, the stakes are dramatically high as tensions between the U.S. and Russia really are at a low point, certainly since the summit between these two leaders earlier this summer in Geneva, Switzerland.

So much has changed since then, but particularly the troops amassing on the Ukraine border. This is something of deep concern to the U.S. and, of course, European allies as well. President Biden is going to be having phone calls this afternoon with European leaders, trying to coordinate their activity about some of those sanctions you mentioned.

And we're talking economic sanctions here, going after members of Putin's inner circle, going after banks, energy sector, as well as potentially the financial system as well, the simple transactions of doing ATMs and credit cards, potentially blocking that at some point.

But, for now, sanctions are just being discussed. The central part of this conversation tomorrow when they do meet virtually, it'll be about 10:30 or so U.S. time on Tuesday morning, is to go through all this, but, of course, Russia also drawing a red line. They are making demands on NATO.

So President Biden clearly trying to lower the temperature, if you will, speak diplomatically, one adviser said not going to be doing a finger-wagging or offering any type of threats, certainly no military threats. This is all financial at this point.

But, clearly, President Biden and President Putin are going to come face to face in this virtual phone call. Again, it'll be the third time they have spoke -- spoken since this summer. So this is coming as, again, half of the 175,000 troops are massing at the border there. CNN is reporting that this could happen, an invasion, as early as next month.

That's what some intelligence estimates are suggesting, so certainly high stakes in this phone call tomorrow, certainly designed to try and ease some of these tensions -- Ana.

CABRERA: Yes, a new urgency for intervention of some sort. Thank you so much, Jeff Zeleny.

ZELENY: Sure.

CABRERA: "We haven't ruled out anyone" -- that from the prosecutor on the deadly Michigan school shooting when asked if school officials could face charges for missing red flags from the alleged gunman.

Plus, one of the most anticipated political showdowns in the country just got more interesting. Trump-backed David Perdue now mounting a primary challenge to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. And Perdue's announcement starts with a big endorsement of the big lie.

And China vowing revenge if President Biden goes through with his plan to partially boycott the Beijing Olympics.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay right there.

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CABRERA: School officials had legal grounds to search the suspect's backpack in the deadly shooting in Oxford, Michigan, but didn't. That's according to the county prosecutor.

Right now, the alleged shooter and his parents are sitting in the same jail, but different cells. We're told they can't communicate with each other, and all three on suicide watch. The parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were arrested after spending part of the weekend on the run.

They're now charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. They failed to show up at their arraignment on Friday.

CNN's Athena Jones joins us now from Oxford, Michigan. And, Athena, we're also learning the school system has requested an independent third-party investigation of Tuesday's shooting. What more can you tell us?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ana.

That's right. The school superintendent sent a letter to the Oxford schools community talking about that third-party investigation that they have asked for into the events leading up to Tuesday's shooting.

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And that's because, ever since the day of the shooting, ever since Tuesday, there have been a lot of questions raised about how the school handled Ethan Crumbley and what they were speaking about with him and his parents, this after two separate teachers reported on two separate incidents that alarmed them.

On Monday, a teacher seeing Ethan Crumbley looking for images of ammunition on his phone, and then, on Tuesday, another teacher alerting the school counselor to a concerning drawing of Ethan Crumbley's that depicted, among other things, a semiautomatic handgun, bullet -- a bullet, and a body with bullet holes in it that appeared to be bleeding, and with the words "Blood everywhere."

And so the school is saying in this letter that they had discussions with Ethan after both of those incidents, discussions with Ethan and his parents on Tuesday after that drawing, and that at no point did the school counselor or school staff feel, based on Ethan company's answers and his demeanor, his calm demeanor, that he was going to be a danger to himself or to others.

And so when his -- when the school asked his parents to take him home, and they flatly refused, in the words of the superintendent, and left the school with -- leaving him there, apparently to go back to work, they decided that, because Ethan Crumbley had no prior disciplinary infractions, he could be allowed to return to class.

Now, the one question here is whether or not the school authorities should have done more, for instance, searched the backpack that Ethan Crumbley had with him. We know from the superintendent's letter that the Crumbleys did not share with the school district that Ethan had access to a firearm or that they'd recently purchased him a firearm.

We also don't know, though, from that letter whether school officials asked the Crumbleys directly whether Ethan had access to a weapon. Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald was asked this morning on "NEW DAY" whether or not school officials might face charges of some sort. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN MCDONALD, OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN, PROSECUTOR: It's under investigation. So, no, I have -- we haven't ruled out charging anyone.

Our first priority is keeping the community safe and holding the people accountable who could have prevented this. And right now, the Crumbleys are those two people. None of this should have happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So, clearly, a decision that not made yet, but the sheriff of Oakland County has said, look, he really wishes the school had come to law enforcement with these concerns before the shooting. Maybe they could have prevented this sort of carnage -- Ana.

CABRERA: So much hindsight 20/20 at this point. Thank you so much, Athena Jones.

Joining us now is criminal defense attorney Sara Azari.

And, Sara, let's talk about the parents for a moment, because here's the prosecutor this morning on CNN defending her decision to charge them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCDONALD: If he had not had access to that weapon, if it was secured away from him, whether it's locked or not, he had access to it. And all of this could have been prevented if he hadn't had access, or if just one of those parents had said, I'm concerned about what I'm seeing right now, and I also want you to know we just bought him a gun for Christmas.

And that didn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: In addition to the involuntary manslaughter charges, you also have their behavior after learning of the charges that's part of this equation now.

How strong is the case against the parents? And given how rare it really is for parents to be implicated in a school shooting, could this case set a new precedent, do you think?

SARA AZARI, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I mean, Ana, look, I don't think this is -- the fact pattern here is also unprecedented. We have some really egregious facts here.

And the prosecutors has made it clear that not every school shooting will result in charging parents. And the reason is because here you have not only the parents' inaction, but their action. They bought him a gun. They gave him access to the gun. They taught him how to shoot. They went on social media, posted and boasted about the gun.

And then when they could stop him, they instead encouraged him, just LOL, just don't get caught or don't do it. And then when they were faced with that deadly note, they failed to tell the school that he had access to a gun.

So I disagree with folks who have been saying it's a hard case to prove because of omissions. I have had a number of child neglect cases that are about what the parents don't do, not what they do, do. And, here, I think we have what they did and what they didn't do.

With respect to their post-indictment, post-charge behavior, I think it's hurt them already and it will continue to hurt them. Number one, it impacted their bond; $500,000 on involuntary manslaughter is significantly high. They're unable to post it and they're detained.

Secondly, down the road, the prosecution is going to be able to argue that, when you flee, that is consciousness of guilt. So if they didn't do anything wrong, why did they have to run away? So I think that has definitely hurt them as well.

CABRERA: They were eventually found hiding in a warehouse, and officials say the man who helped them get into the warehouse is cooperating with authorities.

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But what kind of legal trouble could he be in?

AZARI: So, Ana, under Michigan law, harboring a fugitive can be a felony offense. You're exposed to four years imprisonment if you're convicted.

But it turns on knowledge, right? Did this man know that they are wanted on a felony when he gave him access to that building and then essentially let them stay there? Now, according to his own statements, I understand he's saying they're just an acquaintance. He doesn't know them that well. They have used that workspace before. So there's that idea that there's no bias, there's no close relationship, but also that he was unaware.

Now, that's a little dubious, right? With a high-profile case like this, and the resources that were put out and the manhunt for this couple, the idea that he didn't know that they're wanted on felony charges is questionable.

So, of course, as they continue this investigation and find evidence of his knowledge, that's what his liability is going to turn on.

CABRERA: I do want to ask you about some of these new details we're learning about what the suspect allegedly told school counselors before the shooting.

The superintendent now says the suspected shooter said that the drawing, one that raised red flags, was -- quote -- "part of a video game" he was designing. The superintendent also says, as counselors tried to reach his parents, the suspect was concerned about missing assignments and -- quote -- "requested his science homework," which he then worked on in the office.

I wonder how could these details that we're learning be used in the case against the suspect? Does this speak to his state of mind?

AZARI: I mean, look, from a parental and academic standpoint, I think, when you start failing in school, missing assignments, that's an issue, but it's not -- doesn't rise to the level of giving the school some kind of notice that he's on the brink of committing a violent act.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Well, and, in fact, quite the opposite here. It sounded like he was trying to be a good student, the way they characterized it, and was worried about being out of class and missing the assignments that were taking place during his absence at that moment and asked to have that work brought to him so he could work on his science homework.

AZARI: Right, Ana.

And to that point, they -- the school relied heavily on the fact that he had no disciplinary record, right? But, as we know, shooters don't typically come with fat rap sheets and fat disciplinary records.

So there's a first time and it's fatal. And so I think the school definitely is culpable. I'm not sure if it's criminal culpability. I think they failed to search him. They failed to search his locker. They didn't ask about whether he had access to the gun.

But as the prosecutor turned it around this morning on "NEW DAY" on the parents, that the parents should have informed the school that this child had been gifted a gun and had access to a gun. So, again, I think the parents' culpability is criminal. The school's culpability is most definitely civil, because they have an inherent duty to keep the school safe.

But they -- I think they made the mistake of not expelling the kid right away and not searching him, for sure.

CABRERA: Sara Azari, always appreciate you. Thank you very much for joining us.

AZARI: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: What is going on with the Georgia governor's race?

Former President Trump just released a new statement slamming Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and praising his new primary challenger, David Perdue. But get this. Trump did not clearly say Perdue has his endorsement.

That's next.

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