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Erin Burnett Outfront
GA Secy Of State Speaks Out For First Time After Trump Demands: Decertify Election, "Announce The True Winner"; Report: Cyber Ninjas Head Coordinated With Trump Allies Before He Was Hired By AZ Senate To Conduct Sham Audit; Idaho Hospitals Overwhelmed And Rationing Care; State Has One Of The Lowest Vaccination Rates In The U.S.; FBI Finishes Searching Home Of Gabby Potito's Fiance; Pelosi To Top Dems: "Next 48 Hours" Critical To Economic Deal"; 10,000+ Migrants Living Under Bridge In Del Rio, Texas, Deportations Go On As DHS Warns, "You Will be Returned". Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 20, 2021 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Erin Burnett "OUTFRONT" starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, President Trump demanding the Georgia Secretary of State decertify the election nearly 11 months since President Biden was elected. The Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger responds for the first time tonight in an exclusive interview here OUTFRONT.
Plus, a new 911 call recording a fight between Gabby Potito and her fiance, Brian Laundrie, just days before her disappearance. What did the caller say to 911?
And he's telling his employees not to come back into the office until September of next year, the Airbnb CEO on why the pandemic has changed the concept of going into the office forever. He's my guest. Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, decertify the election. That is the demand coming from none other than the former President Donald Trump and it comes in a new letter to Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The Secretary is OUTFRONT exclusively tonight to respond for the first time to Trump's new attempt to overturn the results of the election nearly 11 months after the election.
So Trump claims in his letter that there is a new report of invalid ballots and says, "I would respectfully request that your department check this and, if true, along with many other claims of voter fraud and voter irregularities, start the process of decertifying the election, or whatever the correct legal remedy is and announced the true winner."
And I just want to be clear that that letter was sent three days ago. The election, of course, was 321 days ago. The election results have been certified and audited again and again and the true winner is still Joe Biden. Trump did not win 321 days ago in Georgia and there has been zero evidence since to change that.
In fact, in Georgia, just the State of Georgia alone, they have performed three recounts and numerous investigations. So not only is the letter baseless, but it again shows that Trump doesn't care at all about the rule of law. In fact, he refers to Joe Biden as an illegitimate president.
Now, there is already an ongoing criminal investigation into Trump's earlier attempts to pressure Raffensperger to overturn the election. If you don't remember why, you may want to refresh your memory, because it's partly because of this call that Trump made to Raffensperger on January 2nd while Trump was still president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more that we have, because we won the state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: No, he did not win the state. OUTFRONT now, the Republican Secretary of State of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, who is also the author of an upcoming book about the election and what he went through in standing up to Trump for the facts on the vote and his book is called Integrity Counts.
So Sec. Raffensperger, I appreciate your time talking to you about this. This is the first time you're commenting on this new letter from the president, in which he refers to Joe Biden as an illegitimate president. What was your initial reaction when you read the letter?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, (R) GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, good evening, Erin. Thanks for having me.
Well, I'm a lifelong Republican. At the end of the day, I have to always put my duty to the Constitution and to our country above all. At the end of the day, we've done audits, we've done investigations and some of those are still ongoing so I can't comment on those. But President Biden did carry the State of Georgia.
BURNETT: So let me ask you about the timing here. You got this letter three days ago, the election was 321 days ago. Were you even given what he said to you on the phone, even given the things he said before, were you surprised to receive this letter three days ago?
RAFFENSPERGER: I think at some level, he must know that he did lose the election. Because his advisors, his lawyers told him that he lost the election. In fact, books are coming out that told him where the polling was coming into the election. But people use elections in this narrative to really disrupt and destroy confidence in the election process.
Like you said, we've done three counts on this. The initial count, 100 percent hand recount and then did a final scan count. And all three results were very close. And at the end of the day, President Trump came up short in Georgia. We checked and ran the trap lines on every allegation that was made. I wrote a 10-page letter to Congress and I've highlighted all that in my upcoming book. It's called Integrity Counts, because integrity does count, it always has and always will.
BURNETT: Well, I hope you're writing that and I believe in that myself. I want to read a specific claim that Trump makes in this letter, Secretary. He says, "Enclosed is a report of 43,000 Absentee Ballot Votes Counted into DeKalb County that violated the chain of custody rules making them invalid."
Now, he's referring, of course, as you know, to a report from a pro- Trump website, which does not question the voters of the ballots themselves, but actually their questioning is on how fast the ballots were actually transported.
[19:05:04]
RAFFENSPERGER: Well, (inaudible) ...
BURNETT: So, yes, go ahead, tell me your response.
RAFFENSPERGER: ... and so as soon as we were notified of that, we began an investigation several weeks ago and coming out of that, the first thing that you notice is that the DeKalb County election official took an extended leave of absence, but we have an ongoing investigation of that.
But to your point, the ballots themselves were approved and are lawful ballots, but were processes violated, that's where we're investigating right now, not to come before the State Election Board.
BURNETT: So why do you think Trump sent this letter now? I mean, as opposed to - I mean, he's had 11 months and obviously he's been very vocal in those 11 months, but why do you think he sent this letter now?
RAFFENSPERGER: Well, he's been leaning into and propagating the big lie and has been fundraising off this issue. I know he'll be here in Georgia this coming weekend. So you'd have to ask him what his motivations were. But at the end of the day, we've looked at every single allegation that's been made and we've really want to make sure that we have a true and accurate results.
People said that there were thousands of dead people that voted, it was less than a handful. They also told us that over 66,000 under age voters voted, there was zero. They talked about unregistered voters voting, there were none of that.
And so we have really made sure that we've been very thoughtful and thorough in our responses. But President Trump came up short in Georgia.
BURNETT: So let me ask you, obviously, you're laying all this out very clearly here to me in our conversation. Do you plan to offer a formal response to him or is this it?
RAFFENSPERGER: Well, while we have an ongoing investigation, we'll let them finish up their work, and then they'll report to the State Election Board and that'll be the answer.
BURNETT: So I want to ask you something else. You talk about Integrity Counts and you've been very clear about that. And you have stood up courageously to the president when others would not, certainly not publicly. But you did say recently you wouldn't comply if the January 6th Congressional Committee subpoenas you and obviously January 6th is related to the former president and the big lie. So explain to me why you wouldn't comply if they wanted to talk to you, just what's your logic?
RAFFENSPERGER: Well, we wanted to see if they're going to issue a subpoena. I feel like - I had a conversation with President Trump, it's a one hour conversation. It's all out there in the public domain. We're really right now are focused on implementing all the election law changes that we had with SB202.
We have a lot of elections this fall with our municipal elections. We have work to do here and so if this is just going to be a sideshow up in Washington, we really want to be focused on what we need to do here in Georgia.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate your time. Secretary, thank you very much as always.
RAFFENSPERGER: Thank you.
BURNETT: As, again, I said to you before we even came to air, I said, I'm sorry we have to talk about this again. Yet here we are and I'm glad you do, because I think it makes a difference and I appreciate it.
RAFFENSPERGER: Thank you. Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. And it's not just in Georgia that Trump and his allies are attempting to overturn the election. Of course, Arizona. We are just four days away there from the results of the so-called election audit being released. New reporting tonight reveals that the head of the Cyber Ninjas, which is the name of the group hired to oversee the audit has extensive connections to Team Trump.
Documents obtained by the Arizona Republic show that in mid-November, Doug Logan, who had no prior election experience was scheduled to meet with pro-Trump attorney and pusher of the lie, Sidney Powell. By late November, he's staying at the home of another pro-Trump attorney, Lin Wood. By mid-December, Doug Patriot (ph), believed to be Logan, was working in connection with Powell, former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne to subpoena voting machines across the country.
And just days before the deadly insurrection on January 6th, Logan had written document filled with election fraud claims is given to Powell as part of a bid to pressure U.S. senators for Vice President Pence to delay certifying the election overall. And then by early February, Logan again talking to the Republican State Senate President Karen Fann, a month before she ordered the audit and said Logan Cyber Ninjas firm would lead it.
OUTFRONT now, the reporter behind all of this reporting, the Arizona Republic's Jen Fifield. And Jen, thank you very much. So last night you said you had something significant and this is pretty incredible. So for months there's been questions about Doug Logan, the Cyber Ninjas' group. Who is he? How did this come about? Because they've never done an audit before and have no experience at all in auditing, so you looked into it, how connected is Doug Logan to Trump allies?
JEN FIFIELD, REPORTER, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC: First, thank you so much for having me. This is really important work. And as you said, it's been the question for six months now, how did Doug Logan, the leader of a small cyber security company come out of seemingly nowhere. But as you said, there's connections that we've pinpointed from the mid- November to early January, where he's working in the room or on the phone directly with Trump allies like Sidney Powell, as they attempt to overturn the election or to block Joe Biden from gaining the presidency.
[19:10:10]
So while we didn't pinpoint exactly Doug Logan speaking to Donald Trump, we have him in the room with the people who are speaking to Donald Trump as they do this work. It's probably as close as we're going to get until we get potentially more records from all of this.
BURNETT: So you also lay out in great detail Logan's back story. He's 41 years old. He's only 41 years old. He is a married father of 11 children from Florida. A longtime friend calls him a Christian conservative whose religion is fundamental to everything he does. So how did you find match? How does that fit that his belief about religion to his links to team Trump? How does that all fit together?
FIFIELD: It was really important to show the religious side of Doug Logan, because since this audit began there has been many religious connections on telegram and other right-wing sites. There's many people talking about how this is a religious experience, how Doug Logan is doing the God's work.
We found out that there was a prayer board inside the coliseum where Doug Logan would pray during times of stress. It was to show another side of him. It was to show that he really says and tells his longtime friends that he is committed to doing the right thing.
When I met him that first day of the audit, he did come off as he was trying to do the audit accurately, which is in contrary to what you've heard in the news throughout the month. So I'm trying to show that this is a multi-layered idea that Doug Logan is here running this audit being paid and working with all of the Trump allies. But who is he really?
BURNETT: And so now we're just four days away, obviously, from the results here. And now that we know all this and you're reporting about the Cyber Ninjas, the Founder, Mr. Logan and his ties to team Trump. Does any of it make a difference to this fundamental question in your view about the outcome here of the audit?
FIFIELD: I think reading this report on Friday, you're going to want to know everything you can about the man who wrote it, you're going to want to know where he came from, what his intentions were, who was paying him. These are why we've been asking the questions for six months and we're finally starting to get answers here as more records and more documents come out.
And I left the question up to readers to decide what his intentions were and whether he will be honest and forthcoming in this report or whether as in past reports or statements that he's made, he's going to maybe just perhaps raise more questions about our election. And what happens here will really show what's going to happen across the United States as other states consider doing audits like this. It's really all in his hands right now.
BURNETT: All right. Jen, thank you very much. I appreciate it and such important reporting from Jen in The Arizona Republic. Thank you.
And next, the COVID crisis so dire in some parts of the United States that hospitals are now choosing which patients to treat. Everyone from cancer patients to people on a transplant list are waiting, because resources are being diverted to COVID.
Plus, where is Gabby Potito's fiance? The search goes on as CNN obtains a new 911 call tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They ran up and down the sidewalk he proceeded to hit her. Hopped in the car and they drove off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a new ultimatum. Why is she threatening to vote against Biden?
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[19:17:29]
BURNETT: Tonight, more states forced to choose between which patients they treat and which ones they turn away amid an overwhelming spike in COVID hospitalizations. Idaho, a state with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the United States tonight facing crucial decisions as its fight against COVID grows more desperate. Dan Simon is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys want haggis (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAN SIMON, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): He worked as a truck driver. Today, Daryl Rise is a full time caregiver in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to 10-year-old twins Emmett (ph) and Emory (ph) after their mother, Daryl's sister, died last month from COVID-19.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARYL RISE, LOST SISTER TO COVID: As they were innovating her, they've given her the sedation and the paralytic which is standard. Her heart just let go.
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SIMON(voice over): Natalie Rise (ph) was only 46.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON(off-camera): Tell me what did Natalie do for living?
RISE: Natalie was a registered nurse and she did home health care. And she went around and help people in their homes, elderly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON(voice over): Which made her firm anti-vaccination stance all the more puzzling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RISE: She was telling me not to get vaccinated. I think it was from misinformation. I think it was from falling into negative social media and bloggers, YouTubers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON(voice over): As the Delta variant continues to run rampant, healthcare leaders face a challenge. Nearly 30 percent of their own ranks as of July still had not been vaccinated according to The COVID States Project. And as cases and hospitalizations remain high here in Idaho, one official saying there's really only one word to describe the current situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHERINE HOYER, PANHANDLE HEALTH DISTRICT: Awful. We're in the worst state that we ever have been in the pandemic.
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SIMON(voice over): Things right now so dire that last week, the State authorized hospitals the right to ration treatment. It comes even as the State still has no mask mandate. Protesters staging mask burning rallies like this one in March. Idaho also has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.
The lack of restrictions causing frustration in neighboring Washington State where there is a mask mandate and where hospitals like this one in Spokane are filling up with patients from Idaho. Doctors warning everyone from cancer patients to people on a transplant list could see delays in treatment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON(off-camera): Those patients who are impacted in their families, how do they take that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Horribly, and rightly so. We're doing everything that we can to expand capacity, get those folks in the operating room with their surgeons who can cure them, but at the end of the day, we're delaying their care.
RISE: They did CPR for 45 minutes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON(voice over): As Daryl got the tragic call, his sister had died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RISE: I was destroyed. I didn't know what's going to happen with these two beautiful children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:20:03]
SIMON(voice over): He was also grappling with something else, his 71- year-old unvaccinated mother had also gotten COVID and was coming out of a medically induced coma. She had to be told that her daughter just a few rooms away, had died from the same disease.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RISE: I got a phone call from the nurses saying get back up here, we're going to tell your mom. You need to tell your mom. We're all mothers and she deserves to know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON(voice over): Even now, Daryl says his mother is still on the fence about the vaccine, indicative of the struggle to end the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RISE: Do you want chocolate milk? All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON(voice over): Now left to raise his niece and nephew, he says the day following his sister's death ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RISE: The next day I went and got my vaccination. It was the hardest decision of my life. Am I doing right by God, am I doing right by Natalie and I got it out of fear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: So sad. Dan, experiences in Idaho this summer seeing just the groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated, I mean, how tense is it from what you see now in Idaho where obviously you are tonight and also neighboring Washington State where you really do see these pockets of vaccinated and pockets of unvaccinated, how's the tension?
SIMON(on camera): Well, medical officials, Erin, on both sides of the border are saying what is happening is so tragic. So what they're saying is and this is where they get really angry is why stick with the status quo, why not enact a mask mandate. But what makes them really angry is seeing people die needlessly and they blame it almost entirely, Erin, on vaccine misinformation on social media. Erin?
BURNETT: It's unbelievable how powerful that is. More powerful than the truth. More existential conversation. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, Dan.
And next, the new 911 call obtained by CNN reveals what a witness saw between Gabby Potito and her fiance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was slapping her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And President Biden's entire domestic agenda right now teetering on the verge of collapse because of his own party. Speaker Pelosi just said the next 48 hours are critical.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:26:01]
BURNETT: Breaking news, audio of a 911 call just released where the caller reports what he calls a domestic dispute between Gabby Potito and her fiance, Brian Laundrie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm calling, I'm right on the corner of Main Street by Moonflower and we're driving by and I'd like to report a domestic dispute. Florida with a white van - Florida license plates, white van.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were they doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was slapping her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and then we stopped, they ran up and down the sidewalk, he proceeded to hit her. Hopped in the car and they drove off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Now, this as the FBI just concluded a search at the Laundrie family home just a day after officials say they believe they found Potito's remains, which included removing a Ford Mustang from the property when they went to the Laundrie home. Athena Jones is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT(voice over): A massive search for the fiance of Gabby Potito. FBI agents and local police surrounding the North Port, Florida home of Brian Laundrie, carrying out a search warrant and questioning Laundrie's parents who said they have not seen him since Tuesday, when he left with a backpack saying he was going to the nearby Carlton Nature Reserve.
Meanwhile, authorities in Wyoming plan to conduct an autopsy of the body found over the weekend believe to be Potito, a 22-year-old from New York who went missing weeks ago while on a cross country road trip with laundry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Human remains were discovered, consistent with the description of Gabrielle 'Gabby' Potito. Full forensic identification has not been completed to confirm 100 percent that we found Gabby, but her family has been notified of this discovery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES(voice over): Potito's father tweeting this picture of his daughter with the message 'she touched the world'. On Sunday ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we came across a white van that had Florida plates.
(END VIDEO CLIP) JONES(voice over): YouTube vloggers posting new video of what appears to be the White Ford van with Florida plates that Potito and Laundrie were traveling at. They say they saw it on August 27th while searching for a camping spot in Bridger-Teton National Forest. The same area where the body was found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The van was completely dark. There was nobody there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The van looked like it was pretty much kind of abandoned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES(voice over): Laundrie returned alone to the home he and Potito shared with his family on September 1st in the white van. Potito's family reported her missing 10 days later. Laundrie has not talked to investigators.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH TAYLOR, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, NORTH PORT FLORIDA POLICE DEPARTMENT: There's an enormous amount of pressure, I'm sure, on him to provide answers on what's going on here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONES (voice over): And with the likely discovery of Potito's body, more questions now surround the couple's August 12th encounter with police in Moab, Utah captured on body camera and prompted by this 911 call.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're driving by and I'd like to report a domestic dispute. Florida with a white van - Florida license plates, white van.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES(voice over): Police say the pair were engaged in an altercation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABBY POTITO: We've just been fighting this morning, going through some personal issues.
And he wouldn't let me in the car before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES(voice over): No charges were filed. Law enforcement so far not saying what, if anything, they believe the incident has to do with Potito's ultimate fate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES(on camera): Now an autopsy on the body found over the weekend in Wisconsin that's being planned for tomorrow, so it means we could learn relatively soon whether those remains are in fact Gabby Potito. We also learned this afternoon that the attorney for the Laundrie family is going to be having a press conference on Long Island on Tuesday afternoon at 1 pm.
So we don't know what he's going to say, but there are certainly a lot of questions that reporters are going to have.
BURNETT: So many for him. All right. Athena, thank you very much.
So I want to go now to Jim Clemente. He's a retired FBI profiler and producer of Criminal Minds and Lawrence Kobilinsky, Forensic Scientist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
So Jim, I want to again play a part of the 911 call we just obtained, where the caller reports what he calls a domestic dispute between Gabby Potito and Brian Laundrie. Here's part of it.
[19:30:01]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm calling, I'm right on the corner of Main Street by Moonflower. And we're driving by and I'd like to report a domestic dispute. A Florida with a white van -- a Florida license plate, white van.
OPERATOR: What were they doing?
CALLER: We drove by and the gentleman was slapping the girl.
OPERATOR: He was slapping her?
CALLER: Yes, and then we stopped. They ran up and down the sidewalk. He proceeded to hit her, hopped in the car, and they drove off.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: So, Jim, I do just want to make sure I'm clear here. Talking to Athena, she was explaining this call was about the same incident that then appeared on body cam. The police did conclude based on other -- what Gabby and Brian said as well as others who saw, that this wasn't exactly what happened, that she was the one who was slapping him.
But you get a call like this. So you're shaking your head. You tell me how significant you think this call could somebody.
JIM CLEMENTE, RETIRED FBI PROFILE: I think this call is very significant. This person has no, you know, horse in the race. He has enough fear and anxiety about what he saw that he called 911. That's usually a pretty high bar. I don't believe what the police determined was actually accurate. I
think that body cam showed multiple indicia or typical things we see in coercive control domestic violence situations. He was blaming her. Laundrie was blaming Gabby for everything. She was taking it on herself, saying that he gets frustrated with me. She was saying that he grabbed her in the face.
Now, this is in direct contradiction to what he said. He said he didn't put his hands on her. He said he didn't hit her. And yet those lies to the police, they were believed.
And unfortunately, the first officer was treating her perfectly. It was great. But then the second officer came in, and he made a determination that Laundrie was actually the victim, and that was based on incorrect reading of the nuances of those circumstances.
BURNETT: I think that's really crucial what you're saying because obviously it is important. The police report did conclude something different. As you lay it out, when you hear the audio cues and how he was talking and treating her, you hear something that supports what the 911 caller said.
So, Lawrence, let me ask you about where we go from here. An autopsy will be scheduled, or it is scheduled, I understand, for tomorrow. So how soon do you think it will be, and do you think it will be definitive in terms of a cause and time of death?
LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST, JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Well, clearly, the autopsy is a major piece of evidence in this case. First of all, the body has to identified 100 percent. That can be done through dental records, fingerprints, or DNA. But it's likely that it is her. It's got to be confirmed.
But then the cause of death must be determined. The cause of death, the manner of death, and if possible, the estimated time of death.
Now, all of these things are very crucial, but also the state of the body. We're talking about roughly 17 days after the FaceTime phone call from Gabby to her mother on August 24th. And so, three weeks is a long time for decomposition to take place. I don't know how -- what the state of the body is to be quite frank, and that could complicate the autopsy.
Now, if the cause of death is something like blunt trauma to the head, there's going to be physical evidence. You could see the trauma in the head or in the skull, either by x-ray (ph) or visually. If it's a strangulation, for example, you can see that in a fractured hyoid bone, or damage to the structures of the neck. So, the cause of death is very, very crucial. The manner of death clearly is going to be called a homicide.
But, of course, Brian Laundrie, if he's found alive, he may claim it's an accident or a drug situation. Maybe he'll say she overdosed. And so, we won't have a toxicology report for quite some time.
BURNETT: Yeah. KOBILINSKY: I believe that cause of death will be determined and the
manner of death will be declared a homicide.
BURNETT: So, Jim, let me ask you about the 911 call because I think this is actually important, right? So the police came out and concluded that what the 911 caller said was not true, right, that they said she was the aggressor and not he. But you say you see things in the body cam video that show that indeed he was the aggressor, these classic signs of domestic abuse and control.
So, I just wanted to play again a part of the body cam video from the incident that police say and give you a chance to tell me exactly what you mean. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETITO: We've been fighting all morning, and he wouldn't let me in the car before.
[19:35:04]
POLICE OFFICER: Why wouldn't he let you in the car? Because of your OCD?
PETITO: He told me I needed to calm down. But I'm perfectly calm. I'm calm all the time, and he really stresses me out. It's a rough morning.
BRYAN LAUNDRIE, FIANCE: She just gets worked up sometimes. I try to distance myself from her, so I locked the car and walked away from her. What happened this morning is that she's trying to set up her own website blog. We really had a nice morning if anything, but she just got worked up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Jim, obviously, there's a lot more where that came from, but what do you see?
CLEMENTE: Well, first of all, the dramatic difference in what they're going through at the same time emotionally. I mean he is calm, cool, just being charming, you know, with the police officers. He even goes into joking and so forth.
She's clearly in distress. If he really cared about her, he would be caring about her situation at this point. But she says that he gets frustrated with me. She also says that he -- she says that it was her fault because she's got OCD. She's blaming herself.
These are really indicators of coercive control. He also lies directly to the police about why he hit the curb, that she yanked the wheel. And she completely contradicts that.
And when the police officer calls the one witness, not this 911 caller but another witness, that witness said, I saw him shove her, but I didn't see whether she did something first. So the officer then concludes, well, she must be the aggressor even though the only information they have is that he actually shoved her.
It's just really unfortunate that that officer decided -- and I think he superimposed situation from his own life because he talks about his ex-wife being very filled with anxiety and caused problems, and he let that drive him instead of what was right in front of him. He should have asked Gabrielle many more questions.
BURNETT: Really important insight.
Lawrence, before we go, do you believe, again, given the amount of time that has passed here, that they will be able to determine, you know, the basic -- the very, very basic thing of whether it was a homicide?
KOBILINSKY: Most likely they will find the cause of death, and they will be able to declare it a homicide.
However, because this body could be in advanced decomposition, there may be only a skeleton remaining. So if you don't see any signs, tool marks, or something of that sort, fractures of the bones, it's going to be hard. You've got to try to rule out as much as you can, but not every autopsy gives you a direct medical reason for the death.
So we have to wait for the toxicology report. There's other information that the coroner needs to assemble to complete the autopsy report. The case is going to come to a close. The information will be there, but I think most likely they will have a cause of death, and we'll know that pretty soon.
BURNETT: All right. Lawrence, thank you very much. Jim, thank you very much.
CLEMENTE: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: Next, will some Democrats, including Joe Manchin, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez scuttle President Biden's entire domestic agenda? Nancy Pelosi sounds the alarm, saying it comes down to the next 48 hours.
And the United States drops travel restrictions for international flyers who are fully vaccinated. The CEO of Airbnb is OUTFRONT. Why he thinks we're on the cusp of a travel revolution in the midst of the pandemic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:30]
BURNETT: Tonight, President Biden's entire domestic economic agenda facing real danger from his own party.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez telling our Manu Raju that dozens of progressive Democrats won't support Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill if the Senate doesn't first pass a sweeping $3.5 trillion budget plan totally on party lines that would increase spending on everything from education to health care to climate and other things as well. And, of course, you've got other Democrats like Joe Manchin who that's a complete non-starter for them. So, there you are, killed by fire from your own.
Manu Raju is OUTFRONT from Capitol Hill.
And, Manu, I mean, this is a pretty incredible moment, right? Speaker Pelosi said the next 48 hours are crucial. You just spoke to her. What did she say?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, she told me that it's now is just a question of finalizing some of the key final details here. Yeah, you mentioned it. Behind closed doors, I am told she told her leadership team the next 48 hours are critical here. Big decisions need to be made about health care, about taxes, about the scope of the bill, major issues that have divided the Senate and House, Democratic caucuses for weeks and raised questions about whether they can pass this massive $3.5 trillion plan.
And this is so critical, Erin, because not just is this riding on it, but also that separate $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan for roads and bridges and broadband. That was passed by the Senate last month. Pelosi has set a September 27 date to have a vote on that because moderates in her caucus demanded that. But if they don't have a deal on the larger package, if it's not passed and the House and Senate by next week, that separate infrastructure bill could be sunk by those same liberals who are demanding passage of that larger bill.
So, a lot of questions here, Erin. Next 48 hours crucial. Can they get a deal? Major questions about whether they can do just that.
BURNETT: And major questions. And, of course, that deal, $3.5 trillion, you know, you've got progressives who are do or die on that. And you got a lot of moderates who don't want any parts of it. You got some who are willing to stake their reputations on and say no. That includes Joe Manchin.
He -- you've talked to him, and he said, you know what? This whole $3.5 trillion bill thing really needs to slow down. We're not even ready on this. I mean, that's pretty incredible, Manu.
RAJU: Yeah, and I asked him directly whether or not it should be punted until next year. He didn't go that far but made very clear that the brakes should be hit by the leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: You want to delay until next year, right?
SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): No, I didn't -- you know what I said? I said let's wait a see, whatever we need, when we have good idea. The main thing is inflation right now. Inflation is still high.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:45:00] RAJU: But the question is that if there is any delay, will that sink that separate smaller infrastructure bill that is awaiting action in the House? It just shows you, Erin, there's no margin for error in the Senate. Manchin's not there. Kirsten Sinema is not there yet. And then the House, Pelosi can only afford to three Democrats if all Republicans vote no. Very big questions and a key moment for Joe Biden's agenda -- Erin.
BURNETT: I mean, incredible. All right. Thank you very much, Manu.
And next, one boss telling his workers not to come back to the office until September of next year. And by the way, even then, not all the time, not even close to it. The CEO of Airbnb is my guest.
And the White House calling this footage of Border Patrol agents apparently confronting Haitian migrants, quote, horrible to watch. What we know about these images, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:55]
BURNETT: Tonight, the White House announcing it will ease travel restrictions and end quarantine requirements on all fully vaccinated travelers from overseas. A major boon for the travel and tourism industry, which, of course, has been completely battered by the pandemic.
And it comes as Airbnb's CEO Brian Chesky is betting on what he calls a, quote, travel revolution, that sees the industry coming back, and again I quote him, bigger than ever. OK. But at a time when the U.S. is still averaging close to 150,000 new COVID cases, nearly 2,000 deaths a day, what makes him so confident?
He's OUTFRONT now. Brian Chesky, the cofounder and CEO of Airbnb.
OK. So, you know, your words, travel revolution and you think the industry will come back bigger than ever.
BRIAN CHESKY, CEO, AIRBNB: Absolutely.
BURNETT: OK. Some people look at this and they say, wait, things have fundamentally changed and the way people view travel has changed. What are you seeing that makes you so optimistic?
CHESKY: Well, they're right. Everything has changed. The world is never going back to the way it was in 2019.
Before the pandemic, we used to live in one place, our house, work in another place, our office, go third place to travel. Now all three places are in the same place and they can be anywhere we want to be.
And so long as like employers allow people to live a hybrid life, where we don't have to come back to work five days a week, what it means is millions of people are now more flexible. They're more flexible about where they can go, when they can go. And so, this is I think going to open up a huge amount of flexibility and therefore, a lot more travel for people.
BURNETT: OK. So, this travel then, some of it's related to, I guess this is what you're saying, longer stays or longer weekends.
CHESKY: Absolutely. To give you an example --
BURNETT: Yeah.
CHESKY: Half of our nights booked are now a week or longer. Half of our business is a week or longer. This is way outside what was typically considered a typical travel trip, which is just a few nights. A fifth of our business by nights is longer than a month. That's not even travel.
This would have never been possible because you would have been back in the office.
BURNETT: Right. Well, yeah, I mean, you generally plan around a one- week vacation.
CHESKY: Exactly.
BURNETT: Which by the time you get there and you settle in and you leave, right.
CHESKY: Exactly.
BURNETT: It's a few days.
CHESKY: And you don't have to believe that like the world's going to stay like this forever. All you have to believe is that everyone's not going to go back to the office five days a week to believe that everything has changed, at least somewhat. And that's what we're seeing.
BURNETT: OK. So, now, let me talk about this because this is what it's about. It's about work as well.
[19:50:05]
CHESKY: Absolutely.
BURNETT: It's interesting how you talk about work, travel, home all in the same place.
CHESKY: They're totally related.
BURNETT: But what about you? So, Airbnb the last I checked. You're not requiring people to come back for a year now.
CHESKY: Yeah.
BURNETT: And even then, you've described the lifestyle as live anywhere.
CHESKY: Yeah. BURNETT: Okay. So that's very different than what we hear from some
other companies. The CEO of Morgan Stanley has now famously said, if you can go to a restaurant, you can come back in the office. So, if I see you there, I better see you here.
You feel differently. Tell me why.
CHESKY: Well, I don't think CEOs are going to dictate how people work in the future. I think employees will. If a CEO says, you have to go back to the office, they'll have a choice. I do want all the tag pull or just the people willing to come to my office?
I think ultimately we need to compete for the best talent. And after compensation, the next most important benefit will be probably flexibility. And so, I don't think that like, ultimately, employees are going to drive their future, not employers.
BURNETT: Which is fascinating. When you think about this and you look out, I know that this is permanent in your mind.
CHESKY: Absolutely.
BURNETT: How you're going to allow people to work. But there is this whole, well, you want to see them sometimes.
CHESKY: Me too. I don't think -- like I he don't think 100 percent -- I don't think anyone who is thinking they're going to make the employees go back five days a week or anyone saying they're 100 percent remote, both those positions are probably going to convert to somewhere in the middle. So, we're going to want to see employees occasionally, like we have to figure out when that is. But, you know, you can save money on real estate.
You can hire a much more diverse talent pool. Like we're based in San Francisco. San Francisco does not represent all of the talent in the world. So, especially around the country. So I think there is a huge opportunity here.
Now there are risks. There are risks of remote is often very isolating. It can be very lonely. So, I do think that when the risk is a lot of physical communities are going away.
Physical offices, not as many people going to restaurants. Not as many people going to churches, malls. So we're going to need to design ways for people to connect in I think one of the things we're trying to do with our business is inspire more friends, off sites, family gatherings, ways for people to connect.
BURNETT: Right. So larger groups. Now it becomes like a business thing. You do an off site for a group or something like that.
CHESKY: Absolutely.
BURNETT: Okay. So, you know, in terms of your business, it was a existential threat when it first happened. Now it's like I look back and think, okay, Airbnb became a great place to be because I wanted to go and couldn't good far. But at first, it was Airbnb is done.
CHESKY: There were articles, will Airbnb exists? Is this the end of Airbnb? Can Brian Chesky save it? And this was crazy because only eight weeks earlier, we were preparing for an IPO. We are a highflying tech start-up.
BURNETT: Yeah.
CHESKY: And then, eight weeks later, we lose 80 percent of our business. That's like a Mack truck going 80 miles an hour and slamming on the brakes. Usually, nothing good happens.
We had to rebuild our company from the ground up. And, by the way, we did the entire thing on Zoom. We went public on Zoom.
BURNETT: Public on Zoom, hired 1,000 people on Zoom.
CHESKY: Hired a thousand people on Zoom, and we're more productive than we've ever been. Again, I don't think we should live remotely 100 percent of the time.
BURNETT: Yeah.
CHESKY: But we should acknowledge this is part of the future.
BURNETT: So, let me ask you about one other thing. And that is the temporary housing for Afghan refugees. I notice when you announced that you said free temporary housing for 20,000.
BURNETT: Yes. And it was coming through the foundation and you personally and also from hosts who were willing to do it.
CHESKY: Yes.
BURNETT: So where are you right now? How many of these refugees have found Airbnb homes?
CHESKY: So we have had -- so we have probably around 700 or so people that we have housing for. But we would like to provide housing for 20,000. It seems like there is a lot more than 20,000 refugees.
So we're working as hard as we can to get as many hosts as possible to open their homes all over the country. We started the efforts about ten years ago, actually, initially with people that were temporarily displaced because of disasters like hurricane Sandy.
BURNETT: Yeah.
CHESKY: Eventually we started housing refugees. So if anyone is really interested in providing housing for refugees, you can go to Airbnb.org. We provide all the tools. You know, you can choose to open your place for free. But if you want to get paid, we will still reimburse you
BURNETT: All right. Well, Brian, it's great to see you and in person.
CHESKY: Exactly. Good to see you.
BURNETT: All right.
And next, shocking video of Border Patrol agents apparently confronting Haitian migrants. An investigation now on what happened here. The White House calling it horrible to watch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:29:
BURNETT: Tonight, don't come to the United States illegally. That is a strong message from the DHS secretary tonight as more than 10,000 migrants are still living under that bridge in Del Rio, Texas. It comes as new video shows law enforcement agencies confronting Haitian migrants.
Rosa Flores is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Questions tonight about this video appearing to show Border Patrol agents confronting refugees aggressively on the Rio Grande.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate.
FLORES: The conditions under the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, a border town 150 miles west of San Antonio also raising eyebrows.
Have you have seen anything like this before?
LT. CHRISTOPHER OLIVAREZ, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: No, this is a first.
FLORES: Thousands of migrants living in make shift huts, sleeping in the dirt, waiting their turn to get processed by U.S. immigration authorities. A sight DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas witnessed today.
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: If you come to the United States illegally, you will be returned. Your journey will not succeed and you will be endangering your life and your family's lives.
OLIVAREZ: Right now, we're going down to the international bridge here in Del Rio.
FLORES: CNN rode along with Lieutenant Christopher Olivares with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
OLIVAREZ: So right now we're here at one of -- this is the area, this is the main area that they were crossing.
FLORES: Our first stop, an area where from the air, CNN cameras captured migrants crossing freely just days earlier. They were crossing to and from the U.S. via this dam. Just take a
look, that's Mexico. You can see the flag flying.
And now, the flow has stopped. Olivarez says this sea of Texas state troopers helps secure the rougher.
OLIVAREZ: Just be careful.
FLORES: And moments later, we see the shocking scene under the Del Rio International Bridge. Thousands of migrants mostly Haitians say officials living in squalor like James Tillas (ph) who says he left his home country for Chile in 2015, with his wife and two children.
He says that someone assaulted him in Haiti, and someone shot at this aunt.
And two months ago, they started the trek to the United States.
You say the route is open. What does that mean, family friends, he says?
The border is open?
Tllas (ph) voice breaks as he talks about his family.
Why is it so painful?
Because you're suffering.
He says food is hard to come by and the weather is tough to bear.
If you look closely, you'll see that these are men, women, children. I see pregnant women, infants.
Border Patrol's top cop announcing this weekend a surge of 600 agents, officers, and other personnel. Why Del Rio? Why now? What does your intelligence tell you?
RAUL ORTIZ, CHIEF, U.S. BORDER PATRO: Traditionally, it's because of word of mouth. Certainly what happened this time is that number doubled and then tripled relatively quickly.
FLORES: And to expedite processing, removal flights to Haiti have increased, says border patrol. And word about this is spreading quickly under the bridge.
You don't want to return to Haiti? Too difficult, you say?
Were the immigration waiting room into the U.S. is quickly turning into a gate back to Haiti.
(END VIEOTAPE)
FLORES (on camera): After Secretary Mayorkas viewed that controversial footage of Border Patrol agents on horseback, DHS issuing this statement that says, in part, the Department of Homeland Security does not tolerate the abuse of migrants in our custody. We take these allegations very seriously. U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the matter and has alerted the DHS office of inspector general -- Erin.
BURNETT: Rosa, thank you very much for your continued, amazing reporting there.
And thanks so much to all of you.
Anderson starts now.
