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Erin Burnett Outfront
911 Call Reveals Chaotic Moments After Alec Baldwin Discharged Prop Firearm; One Crew Member Killed; FL Surgeon General Raises Baseless Concerns About COVID Vaccine; Sources: Fmr DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark Expected Before Jan 6 Panel Next Week, Pushed Big Lie In Talks With Trump; Progressives Raise Concerns About Concessions To Manchin & Sinema; Attorney: Brian Laundrie's Remains Sent To Forensic Anthropologist. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 22, 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: Very interesting indeed. Brian Todd reporting for us. Excellent report. Thank you very, very much. And to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next breaking news, the 911 call from the set of Alec Baldwin's movie revealing new details tonight as questions grow over how a cinematographer could be accidentally shot and killed with a prop gun.
Plus, the anti-vax movement about to get the Trump treatment. The former president's son headlining a conference that claims it will reveal the truth about vaccines. What does Eric Trump know about vaccines?
And U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn on Steve Bannon's refusal to cooperate with the January 6 Committee and the never-before-seen footage of the insurrection that he experienced firsthand. Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan in for Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight we have breaking news, the 911 call from the tragic shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin's new film, revealing new details about what exactly happened. The call coming in really moments after Baldwin fired to prop gun killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring the Director of the film Joel Souza. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: What's the location of the emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bonanza Creek Ranch, we've had two people accidentally shot on a movie set by a prop gun.
911 OPERATOR: So was it loaded with a real bullet or what (inaudible) ... UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't - I cannot tell you that.
911 OPERATOR: Okay.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have two injuries from a movie gun shot.
911 OPERATOR: Okay, we're getting them out there already.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The shooting happened Thursday at a ranch in New Mexico. And tonight, newly surfaced video shows the type of gun training at least one actor received on set just days before the shooting. One of Baldwin's co-stars actually talked about working with the film's armorer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENSEN ACKLES, ACTOR: They had me pick my gun. They're like, "All right. What gun would you like?" And I was like, "I don't know." And the armorer was like, "You have gun experience?"
JARED PADALECKI, ACTOR: Like, "What's a gun?"
ACKLES: And I was like, "A little." And she's like, "Okay. Well, this is how you load it. This is how we check it, make sure it's safe." She's like, "Okay, I'm going to put some blanks in there and I want you to just go and fire off a couple rounds and towards the hill." And I was like, "Okay." So I put the belt on. I put the gun there and I walked out. And she's like, "Just make sure that you pull the hammer all the way back and you aim at your target."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: That exchange giving us something of a glimpse inside the training that the cast received on weapons. Nick Watt is OUTFRONT tonight live in Los Angeles for us. Nick, what more are you learning?
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, a search warrant has been issued for the Bonanza Creek Ranch where this happened and sheriffs tell us that they will be carefully combing it over this weekend. The local DA says at this time we do not know if any charges will be filed.
Now, it seems like this was an accident but the question is was it someone's fault?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've had two people accidentally shot on a movie set by a prop gun. We need help immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATT (voice over): This is the set. The director, Joel Souza, was
injured. The director of photography, Halyna Hutchins was killed. "Two individuals were shot on the set of Rust," According to the Santa Fe, New Mexico Sheriff's office, "when a prop firearm was discharged by Alec Baldwin."
Baldwin distraught in the sheriff's parking lot after questioning. "The investigation remains open and active, no charges have been filed." A prop firearm should shoot only blanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN SIMMONS, FIRE ARMS INSTRUCTOR FOR ACTORS, CO-FOUNDER, BARE ARMS: With a blank round, you have everything that you would normally have in a real round but you don't have the bullet on the end of it. So that when it fires you do get the flash, you do you get the bang, you get the recoil, you get the explosion but you don't get the bullet flying out the end of the gun. And it doesn't mean that blank rounds are safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (voice over): Hutchins posted this video the day before she died, horse riding on a day off. "One of the perks of shooting a Western," she wrote. Born in Ukraine, Hutchins started out as a journalist then moved to the U.S. to study and work in the movies named a rising star in 2019 by American Cinematographer magazine. She was 42.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM HEMPHILL, FILMMAKER AND JOURNALIST: She kind of brought that eye that she had from documentaries and nonfiction filmmaking to, again, action movies and horror movies. So they had this sort of immediacy and realism, as well as this eye beauty that she had and it was really unique look.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (voice over): A death on set like this rare but not unique. Brandon Lee was shot and killed on the set of the Crow in '93.
[19:05:03]
A blank was fired, but dislodged part of a live round stuck in the barrel. In '84, on the set of the show Cover Up, actor Jon-Erik Hexum jokingly put a prop gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The pressure and wadding from the blank killed him.
Rust, starring and produced by Baldwin hinges on the accidental killing of a rancher in 1880's Kansas. This morning, Baldwin tweeted, "There are no words to convey my shock and sadness. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred. My heart is broken for her husband, their son and all who knew and loved Halyna."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT (on camera): Now, her husband has spoken to insider and said "I don't think there are words to communicate the situation." The bold facts are these, his wife was shot, Hutchins was shot shortly before two o'clock Thursday afternoon. She was helicoptered to a hospital and there she was pronounced dead. Kate?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: So many questions beyond that. Thank you, Nick.
OUTFRONT with me now is Kevin Frazier, host of Entertainment Tonight and John Patteson, a former movie armorer. He also worked on the Brandon Lee film The Crow. Thanks for being here, guys.
Kevin, you've been we're even covering this since this broke. You've been working your sources. What are you hearing tonight?
KEVIN FRAZIER, HOST, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": Well, we're hearing what the L.A. Times reported about the union members who walked off the set and they were concerned about the safety on set that there were reports of a gun misfiring before and that they were also concerned about their hotel rooms and being paid.
Now, all of this turns into a situation where they walk off set, and they are replaced by non-union members and then just six hours later this accident happens and people are very upset and also heartbroken.
BOLDUAN: Heartbroken for sure. John, there are lots of safety protocols for weapons on any set. I want to play again what Baldwin's co-star said just days ago about gun training.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENSEN ACKLES, ACTOR: They had me pick my gun. They're like, "All right. What gun would you like?" And I was like, "I don't know." And the armorer was like, "You have gun experience?"
JARED PADALECKI, ACTOR: Like, "What's a gun?"
ACKLES: And I was like, "A little." And she's like, "Okay. Well, this is how you load it. This is how we check it, make sure it's safe." She's like, "Okay, I'm going to put some blanks in there and I want you to just go and fire off a couple rounds and towards the hill." And I was like, "Okay." So I put the belt on. I put the gun there and I walked out. And she's like, "Just make sure that you pull the hammer all the way back and you aim at your target."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Is there anything in what they're describing there that raises any concerns to you? John, can you hear me?
JOHN PATTESON, FMR. MOVIE ARMORER; WORKED ON BRANDON LEE FILM, "THE CROW": Oh, yes, yes. I didn't know you were speaking to me. The question again? BOLDUAN: In what one of the actors are describing as some of the
training that they received and how it was described, obviously, a lot of people are looking at it in a different light now.
PATTESON: Oh, yes.
BOLDUAN: Is there anything in what you've heard and how they're describing the safety, the training that they received ahead of filming that raises any concern to you?
PATTESON: Well, yes. It seemed like it was a very cavalier attitude throughout the whole process there on both sides of the camera.
BOLDUAN: I want you both if you could, Kevin, since you were referencing it, the complaints that your sources are talking to you about complaints that you were hearing from onset, can you elaborate more about that?
FRAZIER: Sure, Kate. And I also want to mention that Entertainment Tonight has been contacted by the production company and in a statement they told us that they are launching an internal investigation into everything that happened on the set, but that there were no official complaints.
Now, meanwhile these crew members, according to the L.A. Times had complained about driving 50 miles from Albuquerque each way to the set because they have been promised hotel rooms. They also complained about conditions on the set where allegedly a gun had misfired twice before.
And then they also felt like according to the L.A. Times and these sources that they hadn't been paid. So when these crew members walked off set and they were union members, they were told that if they didn't leave the set that the production was going to call security. They were replaced by non-union members, but that Ms. Hutchins stayed on along with one other camera operator.
[19:10:05]
And if you see this happening, then the tragedy happens so close to the time where they walked off the set and the local IATSE union did offer a statement where they claimed and they talked about what actually went on, that these guns were given to the actors by non- union members. Just to clarify that the people who, they feel, do this a lot weren't there.
BOLDUAN: Now, CNN has not confirmed the reporting, this reporting, I just want to be clear on that. But, John, tell me what you think about Kevin's reporting here?
PATTESON: Well, I'm kind of shocked at it. It sounds like there were a lot of people involved on the periphery that shouldn't have been there and the attitude, as I said before, sounds kind of cavalier about the whole thing. It's something that over the years I've taken very seriously and I've worked with very serious prop masters and weapons people. And it's kind of shocking to hear some of this stuff that the - and again the kind of yahoo attitude about the thing.
The gun doesn't do anything that the person holding it or loading it is capable of doing. I'm really kind of shocked to hear what was going on there. That's not the way it's done or should be done.
BOLDUAN: Yes. Well, there's much more to be learned. Again, CNN has not confirmed the details of that reporting though.
But Kevin, according to officials, detectives, the way they've described it is that detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged. Like on its most basic, what happened that killed Halyna Hutchins? What are you hearing about this projectile, Kevin?
FRAZIER: Well, in the statement that came from the union, they said that the principal actor discharged a round that then was what hit and killed Ms. Hutchings. So that is in the IATSE statement and we don't know for sure exactly what was in that gun, but it's been described by multiple sources and also the authorities as a live round.
Now, I have been on a lot of sets and when guns are involved, the treatment of those firearms is meticulous and in a lot of sets even during rehearsals, they won't let you even use rubber guns. They make the actors hold up their hands or their finger. So in most situations, guns are handled as dangerous firearms and so there will be a lot of questions about how this weapon with a, what is being described as a live round, then got into Alec Baldwin's hands.
BOLDUAN: Yes. Kevin, thank you very much for being here. John, thank you as well.
Out front for us next, Eric Trump headlining a conference that promises to reveal the truth how they - that's what they say, about the COVID vaccine. When did Eric Trump become a vaccine expert?
Plus, there's also breaking news, a top Trump ally from the Justice Department who tried to help Trump overturn the election now agreeing to meet with the January 6 Select Committee.
And Vice President Kamala Harris telling Democrats to step up and make a deal on Biden's sweeping spending bill. Are they listening?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:17:17]
BOLDUAN: Tonight, Donald Trump's son, Eric, and a longtime political adviser, Roger Stone, headlining a conference this weekend organized by two of the biggest spreaders of COVID vaccine misinformation on social media. One organizer telling a news outlet that she expects 2,000 people to attend.
It comes as President Biden is warning about the danger of vaccine misinformation even directly taking on Fox News, a hotbed of vaccine lies during his CNN Town Hall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The gross misinformation is out there like what they're saying about my buddy Colin Powell and he was my friend who passed away. Colin Powell was vaccinated he still died.
Well, he knew he had serious underlying conditions and it would be difficult. He clearly would have been gone earlier had he not gotten the vaccine, had he not gotten the shots. But my generic point is there's so much misinformation.
You know what I find fascinating? I turn on Fox to find out how popular I am, but all kidding aside, one of the things I find, you realize they mandate vaccinations.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": At Fox headquarters.
BIDEN: Yes. I find that mildly fascinating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: But to their credit, some Republicans are standing up to this misinformation. Here's New Hampshire's Republican Governor Chris Sununu speaking to Erin last night about how he takes on vaccine misinformation being pushed in his state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R) NEW HAMPSHIRE: When crazy comes knocking at the door, you got to slam it shut.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Yes.
SUNUNU: There's just absolutely no place for the misinformation, the crazy conspiracy theories, all that kind of nonsense. I don't care what party you're from.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: He's right.
OUTFRONT now, Dr. Jonathan Reiner. He advised the White House medical team under President George W. Bush and Brian Stelter, Anchor of RELIABLE SOURCES, CNN Chief Media Correspondent.
Dr. Reiner, the website for this weekend event promises a conference that 'reveals the truth about vaccines'. Trump's son and Roger Stone will be speaking, neither a doctor. This is dangerous what's happening. Why are some people so obsessed with conspiracy theories surrounding vaccines?
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, Kate, I think, in the United States, fear and ignorance have always been a very toxic mixture. In this country, it's fueled racism, and anti-Semitism and xenophobia. And now in this pandemic, it's fueled of vaccine hesitancy or refusal and it's being promulgated on Facebook and through conservative news outlets like Fox News.
You can turn Fox News on almost every night and cynically you see folks like Tucker Carlson, not out and out telling folks not to get vaccinated but asking questions.
[19:20:09]
Just asking questions. Now, this event in Nashville is ironically or maybe not ironically being held in a state with one of the worst rates of vaccination in the United States, only about 48 percent of the citizens of that state are fully vaccinated, about 20 percent lower than the national average.
So they're going into a place with people who have great doubts about vaccines and are now spreading out and out falsehood. What is Eric Trump going to do? He's going to he's going to say that his father's vaccine, the vaccine that his father takes full credit for is somehow a fraud? What is he there to do?
BOLDUAN: That is a great question, Dr. Reiner. Brian, you heard also Biden go directly at Fox News about all of this. I mean, one of Fox's longtime anchors Neil Cavuto. He's a cancer survivor who also has a mass and he's announced that he had tested positive for COVID.
And as part of his statement announcing his positive test result, he also said this in his statement. He said, "Had I not been vaccinated and with all my medical issues, this could be a far more dire situation. I hope anyone and everyone gets that message loud and clear. Get vaccinated, for yourself and everyone around you."
You've noted that Fox News has been silent on Cavuto's endorsement of vaccines even in the world of hard to believe that many people live in over there. That's still shocking.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: They have not covered the statement. They have not read this statement out loud the way you have on CNN there. Other channels have been giving Cavuto's statement more attention than the network he works out.
Look, he tested positive on Monday. He's reportedly doing well. He's well enough to give an interview on television this weekend. Hopefully, he will have a very mild case and get to the other side of it.
But the idea that one of Fox's top most veteran anchors get sick with COVID and promotes vaccines, encourages viewers to vaccines and then Fox ignores it doesn't read the statement, doesn't talk about him, only gives viewers brief updates on his condition doesn't share his words with the public, it is disgraceful.
And it's evidence of what Dr. Reiner was saying about this conservative media apparatus that has prolonged the pandemic by standing in the way of progress. Look, I'm glad we are reading the statement. I'm glad we are sharing it, because Fox is not and it's a sign of a broader illness, frankly, on the right and on right-wing media. BOLDUAN: Dr. Reiner, it may not be surprising at this point to hear
misinformation about the vaccines on Fox News, but it is also now coming from Florida's new Surgeon General who yesterday questioned the vaccine's safety with no evidence, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JOSEPH LADAPO, FLORIDA'S STATE SURGEON GENERAL: Part of the reason that people are not comfortable, some people are not comfortable with these vaccines is because the climate of dishonesty, scientific dishonesty about the science, the reality of how safe these vaccines are is absolutely not public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: The reality of how safe they are is not public, meaning - I guess, he's not necessarily saying there it's not safe, but it is safe. I mean, he's claiming doctors are lying or not telling the truth or hiding the safety and efficacy of vaccines. He is a medical doctor and he specializes, Dr. Reiner, in cardiovascular disease. What do you say to him?
REINER: Well, I'm ashamed of him. Look, he's the Surgeon General of that state. And the Surgeon General of the United States or any state in the union, their job is to be an advocate for the people who live in that state, to help protect them from illness and injury and to tell them the truth about their health and how to promote their health.
And what Dr. Ladapo is doing is actually lying to the public about the safety of vaccines. So let me just say it straight out. These vaccines have been incredibly vetted. They've been given to hundreds of millions of Americans and billions of people around the world. He needs to tell the truth to his citizens.
He reminds me of Scott Atlas, Gov. DeSantis' acolyte. Donald Trump, Gov. DeSantis' idol, broad into basically toe the line when Trump was president.
BOLDUAN: Dr. Reiner, thank you for coming on. Great to see you, Brian. Thank you so much.
OUTFRONT for us next, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn is my guest. Why he says he believes Steve Bannon committed a crime. And his reaction to the never-before-seen footage of the deadly insurrection that he experienced firsthand.
Plus, the lawyer for Brian Laundrie's family revealing new information about Brian's mental state before his fiance, Gabby Petito, was found dead.
[19:25:07]
Did the attorney say too much?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:29:08]
BOLDUAN: Breaking news, CNN learning Jeffrey Clark, the former top Justice Department official who tried to help Donald Trump push the big lie and overturn the election, he's agreeing to meet with the January 6 Select Committee next Friday. This after a new HBO documentary called Four Hours at the Capitol reveals previously unseen and disturbing footage of the deadly insurrection video that is extremely hard to watch, especially for those who lived it including my next guest, U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who told us he just brought himself to be able to watch the whole thing. Here is some of the new footage of an attack on his fellow officer, Michael Fanone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFC. MICHAEL FANONE, DC METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: I remember just kind of getting pounded from every side and then I remember people yelling out to get his gun. Kill him with his gun.
[19:30:05]
And then, I started getting tased at the base of my skull. And it was excruciatingly painful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT with me now is Officer Harry Dunn.
That's so hard to -- it's -- we've seen so many angles, Harry, it's so hard to see it. I do want to point out, just you are speaking on your own personal capacity tonight. Not speaking for the U.S. Capitol Police. But thank you so much for being here.
OFFICER HARRY DUNN, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: Thank you. Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.
BOLDUAN: I know you just watched that entire documentary. Nine months later, Officer Dunn, have you been able to make sense of that day?
DUNN: No, just bluntly, no. I have been able to -- I got to meet Michael Fanone. We've become pretty good friends over the last couple months. Two completely different individuals, completely different backgrounds, fighting for the same rights, for the same dignity, for the same justice.
I've seen his body-camera footage over and over, again. I've heard his stories over and over, again. And just seeing it just then, it still just -- it's rough to watch. It's really rough to watch. But yeah, go back to your question, no, it doesn't make any sense. I -- I still can't fathom it. So --
BOLDUAN: It is -- it is so vivid. It is so visceral. It's so -- it's so absurdly shocking to see it. And it's so many angles of it.
I mean, it is offering -- it -- it -- the documentary offers firsthand accounts from officers like yourself. From lawmakers who were targeted. Also, offers firsthand accounts from protestors and rioters.
And I want to play for you what the founder of Cowboys for Trump said is -- said in the documentary. And I said -- I mean, he makes -- he tries to say that it wasn't Donald Trump's supporters who attacked.
DUNN: Yeah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that you're really stretching whenever you say that it was supporters of president Trump that did it. Just because somebody has a Trump shirt on or a Trump hat on, can you guarantee that that person is a Trump supporter? You have to be very careful with assumptions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: You were there. I mean, what do you say to someone trying to argue that?
DUNN: I don't have to be careful with assumptions. They told us they were there because Donald Trump sent them. Donald Trump told us to come. That dude is nuts. Period.
I -- that -- I guess that's one thing I did say about the documentary. They couldn't find a decent guy to talk -- well, I guess there weren't many decent people there so I guess the pickings of who to talk to that day, it was slim.
But there was no assumptions. They said out their own mouth that Donald Trump sent us. So, whatever.
BOLDUAN: It's -- it's -- I find myself grasping for words to try to talk about it. I see, honestly, Harry, I see the anger bubble up in you just even talking about this again.
DUNN: It's frustrating. I tell you what, though, one thing about that day -- and excuse me, that documentary -- I've said it a couple times that if you ask a hundred different people to tell us what happened January 6th, you would get 100 different answers, 100 different horror stories if you talked to 100 different officers.
It wasn't just the officers that day who were under attack, the staff people that worked in the building were under attack, the Congress. Everybody suffered some sort of trauma that day. It wasn't just us, police officers.
So I want to make that clear. Yeah, the police officers, we took the physical brunt of it. But there was a lot to -- a lot that went on that day that -- that traumatized a lot of people in this country. People have reached out to me said I was justice watching it o TV and it was just hard, hurtful and hard to watch. So a lot of people experienced some trauma that day. So --
BOLDUAN: Journalists reporting on it from inside have experienced a lot of trauma from it, too, from -- a lot of my friends talking about that, as well.
DUNN: Yeah. They -- they have. I have talk today a few of them, too. And you have.
BOLDUAN: I want to read for you what Donald Trump said just this week about this, because this gets to an important point of where -- where this conversation has gone.
[19:35:09]
He said the insurrection took place on November 3rd. Election day. January 6th, he says, was the protest. And I -- in seeing that, wanted to ask you are you around about how much this has turned even further from the truth? From Republicans arguing that this wasn't that bad? To now, trying to say it didn't happen at all?
DUNN: It's troubling. It's troubling but it's not surprising. The longer people keep telling themselves lies, the -- the more they continue to believe it themselves. So, of course, his supporters and -- they are going to continue to believe him because they believe in them -- in him.
And if they have to go back on saying, you know what? Maybe, he was wrong. That makes them look bad. So they will just continue to double down, triple down, and just push it until -- who knows what happens next? But I'm not surprised. It's just disappointing, though.
BOLDUAN: Yeah. I just continuously wonder with fear where this all goes. Where does this end up? And that is the sad and terrifying kind of unknown right now. That's what the committee is about that is investigating and trying to get answers to exactly what happened, to try to avoid what I fear where this all ends up.
Thank you, Officer Dunn, for coming on.
DUNN: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
BOLDUAN: Really appreciate it. OUTFRONT for us next. President Biden laying out the harsh reality of what's in his sweeping spending bill. And what's not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These American family plan will finally provide up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. Can't get 12 weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But is he also breaking promises?
BOLDUAN: And the body of Brian Laundrie could soon reveal a secret that has stumped investigators for weeks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:41:01]
BOLDUAN: New tonight. We'll get this done. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowing that Democrats will reach a deal on President Biden's sweeping economic agenda. A deal they had hoped would be hammered out by today.
But it clearly has not been, as Democrats remain divided over what exactly is in the bill and what is now going to be getting cut.
Vice President Kamala Harris sent members of Congress this message today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, I'm here today to ask people to see this moment for what it is, and to step up. We can do this. It is the right thing to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT now, Democratic congressman from New York, Jamaal Bowman. He was with the vice president at this event earlier today.
Congressman, thanks for coming in.
So Speaker Pelosi says that she is hopeful there could be votes next week on the spending bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Is that realistic to you?
REP. JAMAAL BOWMAN (D), NEW YORK: Yes, it is s. We've been working and negotiating around the clock to make sure we get this done. You know, discussions are happening at the White House with both progressives and moderates. And we are getting closer to being on the same page.
Now, everyone, you know, neither side is going to get everything that they want. But some of the essential provisions that progressives were looking for, like childcare, 3K programs, violence reduction, and some climate action are still parts of the bill at this time. But it's -- a lot is still being negotiated and like I said, we're all working around the clock.
BOLDUAN: President Biden -- I mean, he has made a lot of promises about what he wanted to see in this spending bill. As -- as the long lead-up to this. I want to play you some of those promises up against what is the reality that he laid out in the CNN town hall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLPI)
BIDEN: Big corporations and super wealthy have to start paying their fair share of taxes. It's long overdue. She says she will not raise a single penny in taxes on the corporate side and/or on wealthy people. And then, I want to add two years of free community college for everyone. And we can afford it.
Mr. Manchin and one other person has indicated they will not support free community college. These American family plan will finally provide up to 12 weeks of paid
family and medical leave.
And the reason it's down to four, because they can't get 12 weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: There was a lot about a lot that we heard last night. Do you see the deal that's coming together as breaking promises?
BOWMAN: I do not. First of all, I want to applaud President Biden for being at the table for so long. Negotiating, both, the bipartisan infrastructure framework as well as the Build Back Better Act. He is very involved. He understands the importance -- importance of this, especially, as we respond to COVID.
The president had a vision, you know, and I align with his vision to invest at least $6 trillion into our economy and to deal with the issues that are catastrophic, like climate change and many others.
But he is not King Biden. He is not Emperor Biden. He's President Biden. And he has to work within the framework of Congress and our democracy.
And the majority of Democrats are working in alignment with him. Unfortunately, there are one or two, particularly in the Senate, who have their own agenda that doesn't align with polling, doesn't align with the working class, and doesn't align with the majority of Congress.
So, he's still negotiating and we're still working with him. But he's not King Biden, he's President Biden and we have a democracy.
BOLDUAN: So, one of the people you are talking about is Kyrsten Sinema and she's made clear she does not support tax hikes on corporations.
[19:45:03]
Biden laid that out last night. Senate Democrats are now looking at what they are calling a billionaires' tax. It would raise hundreds of billions off of the richest of the rich, about 700 people. Would you support that instead of the initial tax hike plan to pay for this thing?
BOWMAN: Well, I would like for both things to happen. I think it's far past time for large corporations to pay their fair share.
BOLDUAN: But if it doesn't because of the makeup of how this deal's coming together, what do you think of that?
BOWMAN: Well, you asked me what I want. What I want is large corporations paying their fair share, international corporations paying their fair share, a billionaire's tax, taxes on unrealized capital gains, as well as a polluters pay climate fund because we know the top polluters of our environment. Those who have been the biggest contributors to climate change, we know who they are and they should pay into a fund to help us clean up the climate. As opposed to what's been happening, which we continue to give subsidies to fossil fuel industries, without holding them accountable for the climate damage they have caused.
BOLDUAN: So how to pay for this is still not decided. That's what I hear tonight. Thank you so much, Congressman, for coming in.
BOWMAN: Thank you so much. Good to be here.
BOLDUAN: They're making progress but they're definitely not there yet.
OUTFRONT next, Brian Laundrie's remains now in the hands of a forensic anthropologist who could soon answer the question that has stumped investigators.
And China with a warning tonight for President Biden who vowed to protect Taiwan in CNN's town hall.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:50:15]
BOLDUAN: Tonight, the Laundrie family's attorney confirming Brian Laundrie's remains have been handed over to a forensic anthropologist. That's someone who will study skeletal remains to determine how a person died.
It comes as the Laundries' attorney says Brian's parents knew he was, quote, grieving when he left their home and headed to the nature reserve. And that was six days before his fiancee, Gabby Petito's body was found.
Leyla Santiago is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, so many unanswered questions following the news of Brian Laundrie's death. Today, his parents receiving flower deliveries at their home while their lawyer has been speaking out on their behalf.
STEVE BERTOLINO, LAUNDRIE FAMILY ATTORNEY: Yesterday was, you know, very hard on them. As I'm sure everybody can imagine.
SANTIAGO: While the FBI confirms the skeletal remains found in the Carlton Reserve were Brian Laundrie's, the family attorney says the family had discussed the possibility of suicide.
BERTOLINO: You know, we had that conversation between the three of us, Chris, Roberta, and myself, several times. You know, we just do not know, of course, knowing his mental state when he walked out the door, it was always a concern.
SANTIAGO: These new details raising more questions about what the family knew the night Brian disappeared.
BERTOLINO: Brian had been extremely upset. Chris and Roberta were very concerned about him. They expressed that to me that when he walked out the door that evening, they wish they could have stopped him. They wish they could have, you know, prevented him from going out but he was intent on leaving. And -- and Chris said to me, you know, in hindsight, I know I couldn't stop him.
GABBY PETITO, YOUTUBER: Never goes outside.
SANTIAGO: Why Brian was extremely upset, their attorney wouldn't say. But this was six days before Gabby's body was found at a campsite in Wyoming.
BERTOLINO: I been quite clear on this from the is beginning when it comes to the FBI, we have absolutely nothing to say with respect to the Gabby Petito incident. With respect to Brian, we have been cooperating from day one.
And, you know, those are two different -- from a legal perspective -- those are two different scenarios.
SANTIAGO: Along with Brian's remains, police say a backpack, a notebook, and clothing belonging to him were also found nearby.
BRIAN LAUNDRIE, GABBY PETITO'S FIANCE: So, we are --
SANTIAGO: But whether they will provide any answers about what happened to his fiancee Gabby Petito is still unknown. The notebook, a possible key to so many unanswered questions as to what happened to Brian and Gabby. But finding those clues could take time.
JOSH TAYLOR, SPOKESMAN, NORTH PORT POLICE: That will need to be processed. Want to make sure that's handled as carefully as possible. You only get one shot at these types of items. To hurry up and, you know, rifle through that potentially damaging it would, you know, would not be helpful.
SANTIAGO: As for how Brian Laundrie died, that remains an unanswered question.
Were there any weapons found?
TAYLOR: I can't get into that information.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANTIAGO (on camera): And, Kate, as you mentioned earlier, his I remains, the remains found here at this reserve have been sent to a forensic anthropologist. This will be the next step for forensic -- or excuse me -- for investigators to try to get to the bottom of not only the manner of death, but also the cause of death in the case of Brian Laundrie.
BOLDUAN: Leyla, thank you so much for that. OUTFRONT with me now is Tim Clemente, former FBI special agent. He was
part of the search team who tracked the Olympic Park bomber, Eric Rudolph.
Tim, you heard from Leyla the morning the Laundrie family attorney said Brian -- Brian's parents described him as upset when he left the house. And that they wished that they would have stopped him. There are so many questions around their actions that everyone reads into anything the attorney says because he says so little.
What -- what questions does this raise for you?
TIM CLEMENTE, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: It raises all the questions I could possibly imagine anyone thinking of. What did they know? When did they know it?
Clearly, Gabby's body wasn't found for six days after he left but where was she? And it didn't even occur to them apparently to ask him? They haven't put that information forward as far as he returns with her vehicle without her. It's his fiancee. She's not with him. Is he upset because they broke up?
Okay. Where is she? How is she? How is she doing? But it seems like the parents were only concerned with the wellbeing of their son, and not with his future bride to be.
BOLDUAN: When Brian's remains were found, the FBI -- was able to confirm, like, within a day that it was him. And today, now his remains were sent to a forensic anthropologist.
What does that mean to you? What do you think that means? I mean, do you see that as a delay in sharing his cause of death?
CLEMENTE: No, I think they have to determine that. The problem with the situation when a body has been in a wet environment, especially, for several weeks now possibly five weeks in that one place, the decomposition, alone, could be almost 100 percent of the -- all the soft tissue.
[19:55:14]
So you may be lift with mostly just a skeleton. Now, if he took pills to overdose to kill himself, if he shot himself, if he slit his wrist. If you use one of those forms of killing yourself, there is the possibility that you would see slash marks on the wrist bones or perhaps a bullet hole in the skull. Something like that is very evident, very easy to see.
But you still have to prove that that was him that did it. And so, there had to be a weapon on scene. The answer we heard from the officer saying I can't get into that about whether or not there was a weapon on scene leads me to believe there might have been.
BOLDUAN: As with everything with this, the questions remain and more can be learned. Thank you, Tim. Appreciate it.
OUTFRONT next, tension between the U.S. and China hitting a new high tonight as Beijing warns Biden not to interfere with Taiwan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Tonight, China warning the U.S. against sending any wrong signals on Taiwan. China's foreign ministry saying, quote, no foreign or outside interference is tolerated. This is after President Biden in a CNN town hall talked about how he would respond if Beijing attacked Taiwan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Can you vow to protect Taiwan?
BIDEN: Yes and yes. I just want to make China understand that we are not going to step back, we are not going to change any of our views.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: So are you saying that -- that the United States would come to Taiwan's defense if China attacked?
BIDEN: Yes, we have a commitment to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: The White House immediately clarifying Biden's comments, though, saying there is no change to America's longstanding policy of strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan.
But Beijing heard that -- what Biden said and the stakes couldn't be higher, as China sends a record number of warplanes into Taiwan's defense zone, including fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers.
Thanks for joining us tonight. I'm Kate Bolduan.
"AC360" starts now.
