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Police: Sister Convinced Suspect In Kavanaugh Plot To Call 911; Austin And NATO Defense Chiefs Meet As Russia Doubts Ukraine's Existence; 9/11 Families Urge Biden To Hold Saudis Accountable During Visit. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired June 15, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:31:11]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We're learning some new details about the man who is charged with plotting to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Police say his sister convinced him to call 911 as he was standing near the judge's home.

And here is a portion of that 911 call that he made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Do you need medical attention?

CALLER: I need -- I need psychiatric help.

911 OPERATOR: Do you have access to any weapons?

CALLER: Yes. I brought a firearm with me but it's unloaded and locked in the case.

911 OPERATOR: And you said you came from California. Did you know someone down here?

CALLER: Brett Kavanaugh -- Brett.

911 OPERATOR: Brett?

CALLER: The Supreme Court justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: FBI officials say that the 26-year-old was upset about the leak of the Supreme Court opinion related to abortion rights. He was also upset about an upcoming gun case and the school shooting that occurred last month in Uvalde, Texas.

Joining us now is the chief of the Montgomery County, Maryland police department, Marcus Jones.

Can you just tell us, Chief, a little bit more about this 911 call? CHIEF MARCUS JONES, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT: Yes. On that particular evening, the individual that was arrested had made a -- made the 911 call. And we would later find out that he had -- he had actually arrived in a taxi cab and -- near the residence of Justice Kavanaugh, at which point in time he began to walk down the street to actually -- to see the residence where he observed the U.S. marshals who were actually there guarding the U.S. Supreme Court justice and his family. And so, the individual decided to continue to walk by.

But in the meantime, he texted his sister to tell her what his intentions were, at which point in time she convinced him to -- actually, to pick up the phone and call 911 to basically turn himself in and not to do what he had planned to do.

KEILAR: He observes the marshals. He is carrying quite a bit of equipment with him. Is that right?

JONES: Oh, yes, that's correct. It was -- it was interesting that he had a suitcase full of equipment and literally no clothes. That he actually flew from California to the Washington, D.C. area in order to -- actually, to carry out this plot.

KEILAR: Did the marshals -- he sees them. Did the marshals see him?

JONES: They did. But again, he was -- he was on the street -- on the residential street. There was -- at that point in time, there was nothing outside of them just being observant that tipped them off that this is -- that was his intention.

And again, he continued to walk by the residence. He didn't stop near the stop residence and do, for example, surveillance. He just simply observed them and continued to walk until he contacted his sister.

KEILAR: Have you heard from the suspect's sister?

JONES: We have not heard from -- I -- again, this investigation has been turned over to the FBI for any follow-up in regards to the investigation, so we have not heard anything further from the sister with my agency.

KEILAR: He walks down the street after seeing the marshals. How far past the house was he as he was sitting there and making his phone call?

JONES: So -- right. So he literally -- he walks literally down the street around a corner. He's not actually arrested on the same street as the justice but he's in the neighborhood.

[07:35:00]

So when the 911 call comes in, our dispatcher did an excellent job. Our call-taker did an excellent job of talking to the individual, gathering the information to be able to relay that to our officers who, in turn, communicated with the U.S. marshals about this individual nearby in the neighborhood. But he never was anywhere near the -- at least in eye contact with the marshals. At that point, he was around a corner when our officers were able to locate him, and then to be able to place him under arrest.

KEILAR: What more do you know about his plan -- what his plan was to presumably go to the house?

JONES: Well, I would just say this. I think his plan was if he -- if he could have -- if there was the opportunity to, I think he had significant plans to actually break into the residence. I think he had actual plans to actually do what he said he was going to do. And I think from the standpoint that I think he might have also committed suicide after -- if he was able to pull this event off.

But beyond that -- I mean, we don't -- you know, again, based upon him really not -- he thought it out. He actually knew exactly where he was going. But what further information he had, I don't have any information as it relates to that. But it just seemed to me that would have been his ultimate plan -- was to break into the residence in order to try to assassinate the justice.

KEILAR: As we've seen some protests outside of the homes of justices, have you enforced the federal law that bars protests like that? How are you handling that?

JONES: So, here in Montgomery County we are, again, our local police department for the county. We do not enforce federal law. We do have state and local laws that pertain to protests.

So we have -- we have had several protests at -- in this Chevy Chase area and we have basically done what we have traditionally done as it relates to any protest for any individual when it comes to groups or individuals protesting at residences.

And that means that we have these specific rules that people have to abide by. They are allowed to be in the neighborhoods but they must continuously walk. They cannot stand specifically in front of a neighborhood with signs and bullhorns, and yelling at the residents. They must not block sidewalks and they must not block the streets.

And if they violate any of those particular items, then we -- or those particular regulations, then we will arrest them. And we basically inform them of any protests that we have at the residences, particularly that we've had recently at Supreme Court's justices or homes. We make sure that we tell them this information so that they are clear on the law.

And so, generally, over the past couple of months, that has been fruitful for them to understand and we've had no arrests to this point.

KEILAR: Chief Jones, thank you so much for being with us this morning. We do appreciate your time.

JONES: Thank you.

KEILAR: And we continue to follow the news this morning of President Biden's warning to oil companies. We'll be joined by white -- by energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, the former Russian president suggests Ukraine may not exist in two years. This, as Ukrainian military officials say the fight in the east is growing more difficult.

And ahead of the FDA's decision on vaccines for younger kids, answers for parents' pressing questions.

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[07:43:25]

BERMAN: The U.S. could be just days away from offering COVID vaccines to kids younger than five. FDA vaccine advisers are meeting today to discuss authorizing both Moderna and Pfizer's vaccines for children as young as six months old.

We invited viewers to submit their questions through CNN's Instagram.

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now.

Elizabeth, people have questions. Let's give them to you. Let me read them off my paper here.

One parent asks -- do you have it right here?

KEILAR: How many shots?

BERMAN: How many shots will my toddler need? Several months ago I even heard possibly three shots.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You heard right. For one of these vaccines, it will be three shots.

And so, let's take a look. There's Pfizer and there's Moderna. Both are under consideration for vaccinating children -- for little children six months to five years. So let's take a look at what each of them involves.

For Pfizer, your child gets a dose. This is six month -- you know, for younger children. And then three weeks later, they get a second dose. And then eight weeks later, they get a third dose.

For Moderna, they get a first dose, and then four weeks later they get a second dose.

So, Pfizer is three, Moderna is two. You can see those -- the time differences there.

But I'm going to give you some Moderna efficacy data and I'm going to tell you Moderna, in the future, may turn into a 3-dose vaccine, and you'll see why when you see this efficacy data.

So, it was a trial with 6,000 children and they were looking how protective is this to protect children against getting COVID. Not ending up in the hospital but even just getting COVID. [07:45:00]

Two to 5-year-olds -- it was 36.8%. That is not great. For six months to 23 months, it was 50.6% -- a little better but barely over the -- sort of the level that FDA wants to see in order to authorize a vaccine. And that's why a lot of people are saying you know what? This may turn into a 3-dose vaccine at some point.

For Pfizer, the data was better. Six months to 4-year-olds -- for both of these -- the antibody response. When they looked at children's blood, the antibody response was as good as an adult's. In a clinical trial with Pfizer, 4,500 children, the estimated vaccine efficacy, 80.4%.

So there's two notes I want to give on that. One, this is estimated. This is preliminary. This is not going to be the final data that we will have later on in time.

The second note is that this is how effective was the vaccine at keeping your child from getting symptomatic COVID? And so, it did -- it did work to some degree. It is believed that it is probably way more effective at keeping your child out of the hospital or at keeping your child alive when they have COVID.

So, both do appear to be quite effective at keeping your child out of the hospital and keeping them alive, which really is what we want a vaccine to do -- John, Brianna.

KEILAR: I hear three shots and I -- that's a lot. The pro tip I have that I learned -- not with the first shot --

COHEN: It's a lot.

KEILAR: -- because that was a disaster -- the second shot was pairing a new toy that is not revealed until the second --

COHEN: Yes.

KEILAR: -- before the shot. It was like -- it was over. There was no crying. It was amazing. I'm trying that now with the second kid --

COHEN: Magical.

KEILAR: -- when we go through this process. It was, pretty much.

OK, so another viewer --

COHEN: There you go.

KEILAR: -- wants to know, Elizabeth, how small of a dose are they going to get? Will their body be able to handle it. Obviously, some adults had side effects from the vaccine. They don't want to see their kids go through this. Can they handle it?

COHEN: Right. So, the -- some of the really great news about these vaccines for little children is that they were found to be safe. They did not find that children had bad side effects -- you know, had terrible side effects that we worry about from this vaccine. The doses that they're getting is much smaller than what we got as adults.

So if you look at Pfizer for six months to four years -- the very littlest one -- it's three micrograms. Five to 11, it goes up to 10. Twelve-plus, it goes up to 30.

And if you take a look at Moderna, six months to five years, 25 micrograms. Six to 11, it went up to 50. Twelve-plus, it goes up to 100.

So you can see that they really tried to keep this dose small for the very smallest of children -- Brianna, John.

BERMAN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thanks.

BERMAN: Severe weather plaguing much of the U.S. CNN crews live in areas experiencing blackouts and washouts.

KEILAR: And what exactly was a white nationalist group planning to do at an Idaho Pride parade? We have some new details revealed this morning.

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[07:52:15]

BERMAN: A chilling social media post from Russia's former president speculating that Ukraine might not even exist two years from now. That's the backdrop for a critical meeting of NATO defense chiefs in Brussels who are facing the very real possibility that Ukraine is losing the war in the eastern part of that country.

Joining us now, Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann at that meeting. What do you expect, Oren?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, we've heard from a senior U.S. Defense official that they expect announcements from some of the nearly 50 countries that will be in attendance at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, as it's known, of more weapons to Ukraine, more shipments, and more equipment.

Ukraine has made it clear just how difficult and challenging the situation is, especially in Eastern Ukraine and particularly, in the city of Sievierodonetsk, which is the focus of a lot of the fighting now, and in which Russia is making some pretty serious but incremental gains.

Ukraine says they need 1,000 Howitzers, for example. To put that in perspective, to date, the U.S. on its own has provided about a tenth of that number.

So, Ukraine calling for much more firepower and much heavier firepower, including MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket Systems). We saw the U.S. announce four of those launchers earlier this month on June first in the latest package. Now we're looking to see if there's another announcement from the U.S. or from anyone else.

The first time this forum was held in late April, we did see some announcements from, for example, the Canadians and the U.K. We'll be looking their way as well as many of the other countries here to see what kind of weapons the U.S. and Western allies are ready to ship in now to the fight in Ukraine.

As you pointed out, the backdrop to all of this, a chilling statement from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. This is somebody who was once considered a potential reformer of Russian politics. It seems we are very far away from those days now. He questioned who said Ukraine would even exist in two years, a statement that seems to hint at or suggest that the exact sorts of war crimes of which Russia has been accused -- John.

BERMAN: Yes. The question is can they get the weapons where they are needed quickly enough at this point?

Oren Liebermann, thank you very much.

KEILAR: A coalition of families and survivors of 9/11 is urging President Biden to hold Saudi Arabia accountable during his visit to the kingdom next month.

After the White House formally announced the trip, the national chair of 9/11 Families United, Terry Strada, whose husband died in the 2001 terrorist attack, released a statement that says, in part, "President Biden must do what past presidents have not, which is to demand transparency from Saudi Arabia and accountability for those who supported al Qaeda and the hijackers who murdered our loved ones."

Terry Strada is joining us now. Terry, we're coming up now on 21 years, which means I know your son is about to turn 21 as well. When you lost your husband you had a 4-day-old, just to put into perspective where you were in your life at that moment.

[07:55:06]

Tell us how it feels for the president to be traveling to Saudi Arabia as the White House says this is about diplomacy and security interests. Do you think that it is?

TERRY STRADA, NATIONAL CHAIR, 9/11 FAMILIES UNITED, HUSBAND DIED IN NORTH TOWER ON 9/11: Yes, I do. And I believe that the president has an obligation to the 9/11 community. Empathy is not enough anymore. We need action.

President Biden -- he put his hand on a Bible and he swore -- he took an oath that he would protect Americans' interest abroad, and that is what we need him to do now. That is his job.

And with all of this new evidence that has been released recently, he will be traveling to the kingdom just weeks after thousands of pages have been declassified on his executive order. So now he needs -- he needs to demand transparency from the kingdom. That is his job. He needs to demand a full accountability from the kingdom. That is his job.

And the 9/11 community -- we will not accept anything less than that. And the American people deserve nothing less than that. We need him to do his job.

KEILAR: Here's what John Kirby, from the White House, said yesterday when we asked him specifically whether the president would be raising your concerns on his visit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: He continues to do everything he can to support the families of the victims of 9/11. He knows what a devastating grief that they still endure and he will not shy away from representing them and their concerns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Do you take that to mean the president is going to do what you are asking?

STRADA: It's signaling that he is going to do what we're asking. I would like a confirmation of that prior to the trip. You know, he can -- he knows how to reach us. We would like a solid confirmation. But that is signaling that, yes, our concerns are going to be addressed.

But we all need to remember that this is -- for the safety of America going forward, we have to fully address what happened to us on 9/11 with the kingdom. He has to have this hard conversation with them and he cannot back down.

KEILAR: The White House shies away from the suggestion that this is about energy prices, right? But observers looking at this say they don't think the president would be making this visit if gasoline were not at $5 a gallon.

Do you worry that is going to undercut the president's ability to carry the message you want?

STRADA: No, not at all. I believe fully that the kingdom needs us more than we need them. Everybody says we're going to go over there and ask if we can buy their oil. They need to sell their oil as much as we might need to buy it.

But -- and there's many other ways that the kingdom relies on us. For security, our military bases over there. They need us more than we need them.

So we can walk in there with a very strong message of now you can no longer deny your culpability in the 9/11 attacks because of the evidence that has been released. All of these declassified documents that have damning evidence against the kingdom. They were always able to deny it because the evidence was buried. It's out there now. So the truth is there and now we need to deal with it.

KEILAR: Of course, I want to ask you about Phil Mickelson as well. He's part of this Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour. And he was asked specifically about your objection by our CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan. Here is -- here is the exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: -- the deaths of your fellow Americans.

PHIL MICKELSON, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: No, I've read all that. Is there a question in there?

BRENNAN: OK. Yes, there is. How do you explain to them, not to us but to them what you've decided to do?

MICKELSON: I would say to the Strada family, I would say to everyone that has lost loved ones, lost friends in 9/11, that I have deep, deep empathy for them. I can't emphasize that enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What's your reaction to that, Terry?

STRADA: Well, first, I thought he was rude to the reporter. And then his words of empathy -- they just fall hollow because he's asked then about the LIV tournament and working now -- or partnering up with the Saudis and he doesn't have any response to that.

And he needs to understand it's our mission and it's been my mission for the last 20 years to live in my late husband's -- you know, to honor him by fighting for justice for his murder.

And when they partner with the Saudis they are hurting our cause and they are impeding our ability to hold them accountable by now whitewashing and erasing the history that we have with them.

[08:00:00]