Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
Siblings Enrolled in Vaccine Trial; Golf Pro and 2 Others Shot on Golf Course; San Jose Passes Gun Insurance Law; Spears Called 911 Before Testimony. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired July 05, 2021 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Here in the coming months.
You know, dad, can you just speak to your decision, both of you, about why this was something you wanted to do.
DR. CJ BUI, CHILDREN ENROLLED IN PFIZER BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE TRIAL: Yes. Good morning.
You know, as you may know, New Orleans was definitely one of the early epicenters. And, you know, we're both -- we're physicians that work, you know, in New Orleans. So to -- after we saw the ravages of the virus on the patients and on our communities firsthand. So the decision to get ourselves vaccinated was actually -- actually very easily. But definitely deciding for our kids, you know, particularly for our baby, was definitely much more difficult.
But, you know, at the end of the day, you know, we kind of had to take our physician hat off, you know, did our research, spoke with our pediatricians, spoke, you know, with parents who got their teens vaccinated and it became abundantly clear that, you know, the benefits of vaccination far, far outweigh any risks from the vaccination, irrespective of age.
You know, it's become very clear that COVID-19 does not only infect the elderly. You know, as we're seeing with the delta variants and other variants that, you know, the age -- you know, the age of being inflected is being pushed down and down. And so now, you know, countries that are suffering from the delta variant, you're seeing the age group being pushed down into the 25 and 50 age range.
KEILAR: Yes.
BUI: So, you know, as we're getting more adults vaccinated, it's going to push the pressure or push the virus down to younger age groups. And so we believe that getting kids vaccinate is going to be the key.
KEILAR: Certainly. And, look, we're going into the school year. And, you know, Erin, tell us, you know, because certainly adults, some adults, I didn't, I had the Pfizer vaccine. I didn't have any issues, any side effects. But some did. How did the kids do? How are they doing? DR. ERIN BIRO, CHILDREN ENROLLED IN PFIZER BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE
TRIAL: Lucky you. I was sick for about six (INAUDIBLE) with this (INAUDIBLE).
KEILAR: I know, I felt very lucky.
BIRO: But the kids are doing great. Eli (ph) actually got her second shot last week and she had a sore arm for maybe 24 hours. Nothing that kept her from playing or doing all her normal kid activities. Christian (ph) and Sloane (ph) got their first shot two weeks ago, absolutely no issues, no sore arm. They get their second shot next week.
KEILAR: And, Erin, it sounds like you guys really went through this process -- first off, you're doctors, which is obviously very helpful as you wade through this information. And I suspect there's a lot of doctors who have made this choice and have their kids in these clinical trials.
But as you went through this process to research, what was the thing that made you say, OK, I'm comfortable with my child being vaccinated with this vaccine, with the dosing level that they're going to do. What was it, Erin?
BIRO: I think the fact that vaccines have always played a key role in protecting us across all disease processes, polio, measles, and even the flu vaccines have a tremendously safe record. And I don't think that the COVID vaccine is any different. There has been very, very low side effect in the adults, and then in the teens, myocarditis aide, but even that is very low in the vaccination population. And we felt that vaccine trials were the way to get all kids to the finish line and have the added benefit of maybe protecting their kids in the -- the short term as well.
KEILAR: Yes, and that is, look, that is not just your children, but they are protecting other children as well. I'm sure that in the years to come as they get older, that will be something they talk about as adults, that they were part of this trial.
Doctors, thank you so much. Doctor Biro and Doctor Bui, really appreciate it.
BUI: Yes, thanks for having us.
KEILAR: Yes, I mean I have a --
JOHN AVLON, CNN ANCHOR: That's just fascinating.
KEILAR: It is, right? I have a three-year-old and a five-year-old. And so I'm sort of living like, you know, some of the sometime, I am being very careful about how I -- how I operate because I have to keep them in mind, right?
AVLON: Sure.
KEILAR: So it's like -- it's not like I have older kids. I think so many parents with younger children who can't yet get vaccinated are -- are in that boat.
AVLON: Yes. And I've got -- you know, we've got a five and a seven- year-old. So, I feel that exact same, you know, concern, especially with the delta variants.
And this is a complicated issue for some parents. But, you know, just listening to those two doctors having the courage to enroll their own kids in that clinical trial I think really speaks to the way things are going to go for a lot of parents. It sounds like you would get your kids vaccinated.
KEILAR: Oh, sure.
AVLON: I certainly would get ours vaccinated.
KEILAR: Yes.
AVLON: Frankly, I think they're looking forward to getting inoculated. Not the shot, the inoculation.
KEILAR: Yes, the five-year-old, we've talked to him about it. We've talked to him about it. He's waiting for it. Obviously, he doesn't fully understand it. But he knows there's something on the horizon for him. And he seems cool with it.
[08:35:03]
AVLON: Yes.
KEILAR: So, good for him, right?
AVLON: Yes, it is.
KEILAR: You know, let's talk about this next story which is really just -- it's horrific. A Georgia golf pro shot on the golf course and killed, his body discovered on the 10th green where at the golf club where he worked. We have CNN live on the scene of this murder mystery.
AVLON: Such a disturbing story.
And if you want to own a gun in San Jose, California, it's going to cost you. A new one of a kind law targets gun owners, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: A professional golfer shot and killed on the course where he worked. Two more bodies found in a truck on the green. And a suspect on the run. This is the mysterious case that Georgia authorities are trying to solve this morning.
CNN's Ryan Young is live near Atlanta where all of this unfolded over the weekend.
This is so many questions. Such a horrific story. Where do things stand?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. If you think about it, this is still an active investigation.
[08:40:00]
You have a murder suspect who is still on the run. And if you kind of look behind me, you can see the country club.
This is a very quiet neighborhood. And, in fact, people were shocked to learn about the details about this. But what they know so far, someone driving a truck crashes on to this golf course. At some point, that person encounters Gene Siller. He opens fire, shooting that father of two, leaving him for dead. And when police arrived, they find two more bodies of the truck. They believe one of the bodies is the owner of the truck.
But, at this point, that suspect is still on the loose. There was an all-call put out to any of the homes in the area to see if anybody picked up any video of the suspect as they ran away. We don't even have a description to share with you.
But as you can imagine, the shock here at this country club is just unbelievable. In fact, listen to someone who played with Gene Siller the day before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEBASTIAN SCHUTTE, FRIEND OF GENE SILLER: It didn't hit me until later, you know, that this happened at our country club. And it was really -- it was -- I still can't believe it.
A really nice guy. Greeted everyone. Treated everyone with respect. You know, a really good guy.
I think we're all trying to stay kind positive, you know, bring each other up, because this is just such a tragedy that's happened. Yes, I just think we're -- we've just got to keep each other happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Yes, it's the Pinetree Country Club behind me. It's in Kennesaw. And I can tell you, people are shaken by this. In fact, while we're doing this live shot right now, people are pulling over to the side of the road asking us if we have any more details about this.
But as of right now, police have not released any new description information. But you still have this tragic situation with three people dead and that murder suspect still on the loose.
KEILAR: Yes, it's incredibly scary for a community that I'm sure did not expect anything like this.
Ryan Young, thank you so much, live for us in --
YOUNG: And doesn't deal with this.
KEILAR: That's right. They don't.
Ryan Young live for us in Kennesaw. Thanks.
AVLON: And San Jose, California, has passed a new gun law that's the first of its kind in the nation. Now, get this, the law requires gun owners to have liability insurance, to pay an annual fee to help curb the cost of gun violence. The bill was proposed in the wake of a shooting at the Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority that left nine people dead back in May.
Joining us now to analyze this is CNN "EARLY START" anchor Laura Jarrett.
Laura, this is a really interesting, innovative policy suggest by the San Jose mayor. How would it work?
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": So, super interesting. Novel, first of its kind, as you said. And, of course, as you can imagine, very controversial already, right?
AVLON: Yes.
JARRETT: So the best way to think about this, I think, as you and I were discussing in the break, is think about car insurance. Anyone can wrap their heads around that, right? The idea is, if you own a car, you have to have insurance. You pool the risk. Hopefully you don't have as many accidents that way and the same might be true here, if this actually goes through.
Now, this is just a draft proposal that they're considering. But if it goes through, it's not only about it's not only about the devastation to the families, obviously, you know, loved ones are lost, people feel that. It's also super expensive for cities that are really impacted by this, right?
Check out one data point here. I think if we have it. In just the six years from 2013 to 2019, one estimate shows there's over 200 incidents of gun violence in San Jose. Guess how much that costs taxpayers, John? An estimates $442. So this would be a huge savings.
AVLON: Million.
JARRETT: Yes, $400 million, yes.
AVLON: That's unbelievable the cost of the each shooting.
JARRETT: Yes. Yes. Exactly. So this would be a huge savings if it goes through.
But, obviously, the devil's going to be in the details, right?
AVLON: Well, it always is. And the San Jose mayor isn't naive about the fact this is going to get legal challenges from day one.
JARRETT: Right.
AVLON: But it's something he confronted that head on. I want to read folks what he said. He said, look, skeptics will say that criminals won't comply. They're right. Yet that's an important feature of these proposals, not a defect. These ordinances create a legal mandate that provides police with a lawful means for seizing guns from non-law- abiding, dangerous people.
So he's saying basically bring it on.
JARRETT: Yes.
AVLON: But saying that this process not only will allow for some legal gun confrontations for illegal guns presumably or people not complying --
JARRETT: Yes.
AVLON: But then there's the aspect of mitigating the civic cost. Is there anything to suggest in case law that this effort to create a license or pool the insurance would be considered constitutional, consistent with the Second Amendment?
JARRETT: Well, it's hard to know because this has never happened before, right?
AVLON: Yes.
JARRETT: But I think in terms of the legal challenges, one area to look at -- and if this actually goes through is to see how much are we talking here? Are we talking $5?
AVLON: Yes.
JARRETT: Are we talking $50. Are we talking $500? The whole question is going to be, is it overly burdensome on people who are -- obviously have a right to bear arms.
AVLON: Is it -- that's right.
JARRETT: The other question, as you mentioned is, the enforcement. The police chief says they're not going to go door to door. OK, so how are they going to find out? And the biggest one here is any exemptions, right? So somebody who is a retired police chief, maybe they don't have to do this, but maybe just a regular old citizen might have to. Bottom line, a lot of legal challenges.
AVLON: A lot of legal challenges. Fascinating questions.
JARRETT: Yes.
AVLON: And it's always good to see innovative, public policy proposals.
JARRETT: Thinking outside the box.
AVLON: That's right.
JARRETT: Yes.
AVLON: That's how we move forward as a society.
Thank you, Laura. Good to see you.
JARRETT: Sure.
AVLON: All right, we've got a stunning new report into Britney Spears' legal drama. What we're learning about her call to 911 the day before her emotional courtroom testimony. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:49:06]
KEILAR: A new report from "The New Yorker" is shedding light on Britney Spears' conservatorship and her attempts to be released from it. They write that on the eve of Britney's bombshell testimony last month, according both to a person close to Spears and to law enforcement in Ventura County, California, where she lives, Spears called 911 to report herself as a victim of conservatorship abuse.
Joining us now to talk about their stories are the staff writers for "The New Yorker," Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino, who co-authored this article.
Thank you so much to both of you for being here. This is a fascinating read. Lots of new details.
And, Ronan, one of the big ones, obviously, is what you start on, which is this 911 call.
Tell us about it.
RONAN FARROW, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, "THE NEW YORKER": Well, we know now, even from subsequent publication confirming our reporting, that officers were dispatched to her home the previous day. And I think, Brianna, it fits with what we learned in that explosive courtroom testimony from Britney Spears, that she says that she is being exploited and, in her words, enslaved and that her basic bodily and economic and legal rights are being violated.
[08:50:12]
And that's opened up a whole wider debate about conservatorship abuse allegations in cases where people are much less famous than Spears.
KEILAR: Yes, it's opened up a lot of issues. I think so many people look at what's happened to Britney Spears and they don't understand how it has gone on for this long.
Jia, you talk -- you write about in this story about how Britany Spear's lawyers, or really the lawyers for the conservatorship, were frantic that she might go rogue in her hearing last month. She was furious, as you point out. Tell us about what they were expecting and how surprised they were.
JIA TOLENTINO, STAFF WRITER, "THE NEW YORKER": So it's a feature of these conservatorships that, you know, they have had -- they have had it on lock for a long time. It has -- the public has sort of desired to respect her privacy after so much invasiveness. They have effectively been able to control her communication. She has not had the right to counsel of her own choosing since -- she has never had the right to counsel of her own choosing. So there have not even been a -- there has not even been an opportunity for her to speak out against the conservatorship. And the idea that she suddenly had one came as a shock.
KEILAR: Yes, it's stunning in your story how you detail that there were things she wasn't aware of, right, that the judge actually made it so that she didn't know certain things.
I do want to ask you about the relationship, Jia, between Britney Spears and her father, Jamie Spears. Tell us what you learned.
TOLENTINO: So by all accounts, all the people we spoke to, they have never had a great relationship. The sort of -- Britney's mother, Lynn, writes had her memoir that Jamie was wrestling with alcoholism for much of their childhood. And, you know, what we heard from our sources was that Jamie came in and took charge of the conservatorship in part because he was not afraid of assuming this control, of having her be extremely mad at him. He was not afraid to use the primary weapon that it seems that they had to get her to cooperate, which is to say do this or you will not have access to see your children.
KEILAR: And you detail how devastating that was, how effective that was of a cudgel in a way.
And, Ronan, if Britney Spears and her father, you know, they had this so-called strained relationship, and I should say that we reached out -- we did reach out for some comment. We didn't receive one. But with this strained relationship, why then was he one of the people appointed to her conservatorship?
FARROW: Well, that's something that a lot of people around the conservatorship's creation remarked upon with shock. People knew going into that phase of Britney Spears' life, which was something of a nadir a lot of people said in terms of her mental health, there were some sincere issues there in the eyes of people who did have her well- being in mind. And the family, at least in part, you know, I think was dealing with a complicated situation that many families find themselves in where they were fearful for her safety.
That said --
KEILAR: Do you -- sorry, go on, Ronan.
FARROW: Jamie Spears being appoint in this controlling role was, I think, an early sign for many of those spectators that there were other motivations at play. That this was also a family that had been financially dependent on Spears for a long time and that this was the beginning of a trend of decisions around how this legal structure was managed that seemed directly at odds with what Britney Spears would have wanted herself. A lot of people told us that. KEILAR: Jia, you spoke with people who supported the conservatorship
at first but then over time did not. This conservatorship was supposed to be temporary, right?
TOLENTINO: Yes, and I think it's important to note that the type of conservatorship that Britney's under, a probate conservatorship, it is not even intended for people in mental health crisis. That's a different kind.
This is intended for people who will not get better, for whom there is no chance of getting better. And I think as time has gone on, as Britney's released albums, as she has gone on global tours, performed for years in Vegas, made so many people huge amounts of money, including her conservators, it has become increasingly clear to people who may have thought, OK, maybe some extra structure is necessary to think something does not add up.
KEILAR: And, Ronan, she's on an allowance you write. She's on a limited allowance while she's footing the bill for, you know, even the lawyers for the conservatorship.
FARROW: This is one of the striking things that we found, Brianna. You know, this is a woman of tremendous earning power, and she is paying exorbitant fees to not only her own attorneys but attorneys representing her father in this fight as she has struggled over time to remove him from his controlling roles in her life.
[08:55:03]
PR people working for her father. We spoke to representatives of Jamie Spears, you know, knowing from court filings that those representatives were being paid hundreds and hundreds of dollars an hour to give us those responses, money that was coming are from Britney Spears. And she got up in court and said that she feels deeply uncomfortable with that, which, you know, understandably, a lot of disability rights activists are saying this is a common way in which conservatorships can be abused, can go wrong.
KEILAR: It's really a stunning piece that you write, and I certainly encourage people who I know are increasingly interested in this story to take the time to read it.
Ronan Farrow, Jia Tolentino, thanks to both of you.
FARROW: Thank you.
TOLENTINO: Thank you.
KEILAR: CNN's coverage continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:00:05]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Monday morning to you this holiday weekend. I'm Jim Sciutto. Poppy Harlow has the day off.
