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New Day Saturday

FDA Panel Unanimously Recommends J&J Booster Shots; Biden Trying To Get His Economic Agenda Back On Track; January 6 Panel Moving To Hold Steve Bannon In Contempt; Chicago Mayor, Police Union Clash Over Disclosing vaccination Status. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired October 16, 2021 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: So, as demand rebounds in the U.S., Americans are paying about $16 more to fill up their tanks than a year ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's getting, kind of, ridiculous because people are still trying to get back to work and it's like all of a sudden now, I have to pay more for gas just to get to work.

YURKEVICH: California leads the way with the highest gas in the country, with rates in Washington D.C., Kentucky and Indiana, up as high as 17 cents a gallon in just the last week. The pain at the pump is very real.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like do you want to eat steak, or you want to fill up your tank?

YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN Ridgefield, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST: Well, good morning to you. Welcome to your new day. I'm Christi Paul.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Good morning, Christi. I'm Boris Sanchez.

More COVID booster shots are on the horizon following FDA approval of two vaccines. We'll tell you why one group in particular could be eligible for a booster right away.

PAUL: Yes. And the fight over vaccine mandates that's intensifying particularly in Chicago as the mayor is squaring off with the city's police union, why so many officers are not vaccinated even though coronavirus is the number one cause of death for police.

SANCHEZ: Plus, Christmas crunch. Why experts say you should start shopping now and be prepared to pay up for those gifts even though Christmas is still more than two months away.

PAUL: Yes. And we're going to introduce you to the father who literally kicked down a wall to save his family from floodwaters. SANCHEZ: Good morning and welcome to your NEW DAY. Buenos dias, October 16th, a Saturday. We're so grateful that you're waking up with us. Good morning, Christi.

PAUL: Good morning to you too, Boris.

Let's talk about the FDA's vaccine advisors because they've unanimously voted to recommend a booster shot to the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine to everyone 18 and over who received their last shot at least in the last two months.

SANCHEZ: Right. On Thursday, the same committee backed emergency use authorization for booster shots of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. That booster would be intended for people over 65 and for those who have a heightened risk. And it's supposed to be administered six months after their most recent shot. The move comes amid new guidance from the CDC that came out yesterday that masks and outdoor gatherings are going to be the best way to make holiday festivities safe this year. And their biggest advice remains what we've heard for months, anyone who can get vaccinated should get vaccinated.

PAUL: Yes. And vaccinations are ticking up. But there are battles playing out across the country over the mandates. One of the most intense happening right now as we said in Chicago, the city's police union going head to head with the mayor there. Here's CNN's Jean Casarez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Advisors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously to recommend emergency authorization of a booster dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. And a day later did so again for a booster of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do have 19 out of 19 unanimous yes vote.

CASAREZ: The group voted Friday to authorize a booster shot of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine for Americans 18 and older, at least two months after they get their first shots.

PENNY HEATON, GLOBAL THERAPEUTIC AREA HEAD FOR VACCINES, JANSSEN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: It will increase efficacy against severe disease. It will increase efficacy against all symptomatic COVID and it will increase the breadth of the immune response against variants.

CASAREZ: Johnson & Johnson says studies showed boosting at two or six months can bring effectiveness up to 94 percent.

PAUL OFFIT, FDA VACCINES ADVISORY COMMITTEE: I think this frankly was always a two-dose actually. I think it's better as a two-dose vaccine.

CASAREZ: More than nine million people have received a booster dose of coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is nearly five percent of those who were already fully vaccinated. Unvaccinated adults are 19 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die. In Chicago, Illinois, police officers must submit to testing or prove that they are vaccinated.

LORI LIGHTFOOT, MAYOR OF CHICAGO: What we've seen from other Fraternal Order, police in particularly leadership, is a lot of misinformation, a lot of half-truths and frankly flat out lies in order to induce an insurrection. And we're not having that.

CASAREZ: Their union says half of the cops haven't had their shots.

JOHN CATANZARA, PRESIDENT CHICAGO FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE: But even the ones that are still but like myself believe that at first mandate is absolutely wrong.

CASAREZ: Friday evening, a court granted the city of Chicago's request for a temporary restraining order against Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara, prohibiting him from making public comment to media or on social media, encouraging Chicago police officers to refuse to comply with the city's vaccination order.

[07:05:08]

Data isn't available yet to know whether COVID-19 vaccines will need to be given every year as influenza vaccines are. National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said Friday, starting on November 8, foreign visitors who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be able to travel to the United States the White House said Friday. That is good news for the U.S. tourist industry.

Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: We're following your story just in two CNN authorities in Houston say that one deputy has been killed and two others have been wounded in an ambush attack overnight. Police officials say the constable's deputies were, quote, ambushed and shot from behind by a suspect with a rifle. This is while they were working a police-related extra job early Saturday morning.

One of the deputies was shot in the back is not -- they are now in surgery. A second deputy was apparently shot in the foot. Police believe the person responsible for the shooting is in his early 20s. And they say that currently someone is in custody, but it's unclear whether that's a person of interest, a witness or a suspect. We're, of course, going to continue following this story and bring you any updates as we get them.

PAUL: And that shooting in Houston comes just two hours before President Biden is paying tribute to fallen police officers today when he speaks at the National Peace Officers Memorial service. Flags of the White House across the country are half staffed in honor of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.

In fact, in a proclamation, the president also praised the courage and dedication of officers who protect and serve their communities every day.

SANCHEZ: Pivoting to politics now, President Biden is busy trying to salvage his sweeping economic agenda. He's facing divisions within his own party as well as rising prices, I should say. Of course, disruptions in the supply chain are also an issue.

PAUL: Yes. The question a lot of people are asking is, can he turn this around can him back on track with his agenda? CNN White House reporter, Jasmine Wright, with us now Jasmine, good morning to you. Always good to see you. Talk to us about what the President's doing this weekend to revive his plans.

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Boris and Christi. Well, the White House says that the President will be negotiating this weekend as the stakes grow higher, really with every passing day. He is trying to find consensus among the different factions of his party trying to move his sweeping economic agenda forward.

And the President's efforts this weekend will come after the last week of negotiations, where officials say that he spoke to key democratic senators, really some of the holdouts that haven't quite yet agreed to this deal, including senators Joe Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema to have been really in the middle of these negotiations, according to officials.

Now, President Biden we saw him yesterday in Connecticut, really touting the childcare proponents of his sweeping social safety net expansion package, but he told reporters really making it clear that that $3.5 trillion-dollar top line that was initially proposed is now off the table. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, the question is, how much of what is important do we get into the legislation? I'm of the view that it's important to establish the principle on a whole range of issues without guaranteed you get the whole 10 years. So what happens is, you pass the principle, and you build on it, if in fact, it either works, or it doesn't work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So, we just heard the President talking about the principle, that's the notion that Biden is apparently believing that once you get these things down on paper, like the child tax credit, it makes it harder to cut it down the line because it becomes popular. So, he is saying that it's not so important to him around the top number, but it is getting these things down on paper instead of kind of funding it for 10 years, plus, really trying to bring that price tag down so he gets agreement with all parties.

Right now, the White House is looking for it to be about $2 trillion. But that still is not a number that both Sinema or Manchin have agreed to and they also have agreements with other parts of the bill from the scope to things like climate change initiatives and to taxes. So really still no deal in sight here. And really, as the President kind of needs a win, as you said, Boris, in that opening, right? He is dealing with inflation prices from gases, everyday commodities, to the disruption in the supply chain.

And as he deals with these things all at once, time is ticking towards the end of the month where we know there is that soft deadline when that transportation provision expires really where they want to get that bipartisan infrastructure deal pass as well as that looming Virginia governor's race where he is facing pressure to pass that bipartisan deal trying to get a win on the board as that election approaches. So, a lot of things that this President is juggling this weekend as he tries to negotiate his way out. Boris, Christi.

[07:10:26]

PAUL: All right, Jasmine Wright, we appreciate the wrap up. Thank you so much.

So, let's get more on the challenges facing the agenda and other political headlines, CNN political analyst, Laura Barron-Lopez with us now. She's White House correspondent for Politico. Laura, it's so good to see you this morning.

I want to share some numbers that we're getting Quinnipiac Poll recently, particularly regarding President Biden and the economy. He has a 41 percent approval, 55 percent disapproval. Now, look, he is definitely battling some things that we feel in our daily lives that the gas prices that are surging, the grocery prices that are surging, the supply chain issues we're seeing.

But just like -- just like Jasmine said, I heard Michael Smerconish say yesterday, this president needs a win. Where do you see one?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the closest one would clearly be whether or not Congress is able to pass the President's infrastructure package along with the social spending package. They do have that October 31st deadline that is self-imposed, where they want to see some kind of an agreement come together, and then after the agreement, potentially a vote on just the infrastructure element.

But again, as Jasmine been pointed out, we aren't getting many details about how much progress is happening on that set agreement. A lot of Democrats have told me that they're pretty optimistic that little progress is being made. But, again, we don't know how far along Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are to getting to yes, because those are big holdouts in the Senate.

A big win there would clearly help Biden. It would also clearly help in the Virginia Governor race. The Democratic candidate there, Terry McAuliffe, has said that he wants Democrats to hurry up and pass Biden's agenda.

But again, the White House and a lot of voters that I've spoken to say that this does all come back to the pandemic. So even if Biden is able to get a win on his infrastructure and social spending package, voters are ultimately going to judge the Democrats on how much they feel the pandemic is behind the country, and how much they're able to get their lives back to normal.

PAUL: OK. So, let's talk about something else that was in the news, very often this week, the January 6 insurrection and the committee that's overseeing it. They moved, as we know, to hold the former White House Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, in contempt for defying his subpoena. We had President Biden yesterday asserting, listen, if the DOJ needs to prosecute people, he says, who defy those subpoenas.

Let's listen to what the DOJ said to that. This was their statement. They said the Department of Justice will make its own independent decisions and all prosecutions based solely on the facts and the law. Period. Full stop. Obviously, very definitive reaction to what the President said yesterday. It's certainly prompted some questions about separation between branches of government.

But how forthcoming do you think? What are you hearing about the potential consequences for former advisors who do not comply with these subpoenas?

LOPEZ: Well, the Select Committee both the chair and the ranking, which is Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney have said that they are going to really hold everyone accountable who decides that they want to defy requests for subpoena, who decides that they want to defy the helping the investigation and providing documents about what ultimately incited and what precipitated the assault on the Capitol.

So, the committee is expected to send that recommendation to the full House, the House will then is expected to have the votes. Democrats will to vote for it and send it over to the DOJ. And then ultimately, it is the DOJ's decision. You saw Biden saying that he really wants to see the DOJ prosecute all of the people that decide that they want to defy the subpoenas and withhold information about what happened on January 6.

But Biden has also pledged that the DOJ is a separate entity. It is independent. And so, the Attorney General there has so far acted in that way, which is that he has not taken any of that advice or commented on the advice that the President is trying to put out there publicly.

One other thing I want to say particularly about Bannon, Christi, is that this rejection of the subpoena and him defying it and facing the criminal contempt charges also comes, you know, just days after Bannon was at a rally in Virginia supporting Glenn Youngkin. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate wasn't there. But Bannon was there at this event where attendees pledged allegiance to a flag that was carried on January 6.

[07:15:11]

And it's another sign of just showing how defiant Republicans and the Trump wing of the party are being in the face of this very serious assault on the Capitol. PAUL: You mentioned the Trump wing of the party. I want to look ahead of the 2024 primarily because a lot of people are doing it. CNN Harry Enten analyzed some striking numbers for us. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: George H.W. Bush was in fourth place in 1993 for the '96 primary. Jimmy Carter was in third place for the '84 primary back in '81, '82. And even Gerald Ford, who lost a very tight race in '76, was in second place to the eventual nominee, Ronald Reagan.

So, the fact that Trump's position is holding and he's in first place, that is a real departure from the normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Is there any real gauge, really strong gauge, Laura, of the momentum that the former president does or does not have?

LOPEZ: Well, I should say that when I said Trump weighing, I really should say that -- I mean, the entire party is Trump's party now. And it's very evident in the fact that you see that Trump is trying to influence a lot of the races be at gubernatorial races, Senate races, House races. And you don't really see other than Liz Cheney and a few Republicans currently in office -- you don't see many Republicans in power pushing back at all on Trump, whether it's saying declaratively that his continued conspiracy theories about fraud in the 2020 election are false. You don't see many Republicans doing that.

And so, I think all of those pieces taken as a whole, Christi, show that Trump still has this strong hold on the party on elected officials. And it is a sign of what direction they are headed in come 2022.

PAUL: Laura Barron Lopez, your insights are very appreciated by us. Thank you so much.

LOPEZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, Chicago police officers squaring off with the city's mayor over a requirement to disclose vaccine status. Now, up to half of rank and file officers could be placed on unpaid leave. Details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:30]

PAUL: Twenty-one minutes past the hour, we have an alarming new statistic to share with you this morning. COVID-19 has killed more law enforcement officers since the start of the pandemic than anything else, even gun violence. Now, despite this, there are many police forces that still are largely unvaccinated to this day.

SANCHEZ: Yes. In Chicago, things have escalated to the point where up to half of the city's rank and file police officers could be placed on unpaid leave over a mandate for them to disclose their vaccination status.

Chicago's mayor, Lori Lightfoot and the police union are at a standoff over this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIGHTFOOT: This is a manufactured crisis by the Fraternal Order police, same guy that thought that the 01/06 were just patriots exercising their First Amendment rights. So, let's consider the source. But the reality is, the only way that we can create a safe workplace and maximize that is by getting people vaccinated. And what we've asked our employees to do is two simple things, say yes or no as to whether or not you're vaccinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So, as all of this is happening, in other parts of the country, there are so many families that are lost people they love in law enforcement, and they've lost them to COVID over the last year. Some of these families are talking about it now and they're pleading for officers to get vaccinated. Here's CNNs Ryan Young.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREN WEISKOPF, HUSBAND DIES DUE TO COVID-19 COMPLICATIONS: This was horrible. This did not have to happen.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael Weiskopf was a beloved officer with the St. Petersburg police force for 18 years.

WEISKOPF: He was so strong, he was so healthy.

YOUNG: His wife says she pleaded with him to get the vaccine but he remained skeptical.

WEISKOPF: I felt like Mike did not get vaccinated because he didn't have all the facts. There was a lot of information just kind of moving around, moving parts, you know. And when that happens, you can see rumors -- miscommunication information, science leaves the picture. It just becomes chatter. It attacks his lungs and made them look like baby Swiss cheese.

YOUNG: Over a thousand miles away in Massachusetts, Jessica Desfosses has also lost her husband Steven in January about a month after he contracted COVID-19 on the job with the Norton Police Department. She says Stephen wanted to be the first in line to get the vaccine, but never had the chance.

JESSICA DESFOSSES, HUSBAND DIED DUE TO COVID-19 COMPLICATIONS: It's as absolutely as bad as you would imagine to be raising two small girls without their dad. And if he had the choice to give himself that extra protection, so he could continue to serve the public and still come home to his family, he was absolutely would have done it. YOUNG: Jessica shared the final heartbreaking text messages that the couple exchanged on Facebook, hoping to plead with police officers to get the shots.

DESFOSSES: If you are serious about your commitment to protect the public, and if you are serious about your personal commitments to your family, then that should be enough.

YOUNG: COVID-19 is the number one killer of American law enforcement officers over the last two years taking over 470 lives. According to Officer Down Memorial Page.

Since the start of the pandemic, more than four times as many officers have died from COVID-19 as from gunfire. That Memorial Page says, this despite being among the first groups to have access to the vaccine.

DAN YANCEY, OWASSO, OKLAHOMA POLICE: To ride to obviously get vaccinated, it's an individual right. And I firmly still believe in that. But I would certainly encourage people to do that.

[07:25:07]

YOUNG: Across the U.S. some officers hesitant to get vaccinated. In Miami, officers are resisting a potential vaccine mandate.

In San Francisco, at least 120 officers will be off the street after failing to comply with the city's order that high-risk employees be vaccinated. The San Francisco Police Association said the National Police Union is encouraging vaccinations but is not in favor of a mandate.

CATANZARA: We're going to keep fighting this mandate and this dictatorship. You would think that there's no crime in this city to worry about. You would think that there's no murder, no robberies, no guns being fired.

YOUNG: Up to half of Chicago's police officers could be placed on unpaid leave after this weekend, if they don't disclose their vaccine status. The police union is telling officers to ignore the deadline. And Mayor Lori Lightfoot is accusing the union president of trying to induce insurrection. As Karen Weiskopf watches the battles raging across the country, she hopes her husband's death is a lesson to his fellow officers.

Do you think Mike dying to help other officers in this department?

WEISKOPF: Absolutely. To this day, I still -- I get -- I get letters, I get calls. I'll get copies of people's vaccination cards in the mailbox that I don't know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Excellent reporting from CNN's Ryan Young as always.

Still ahead, an act of terror. A British lawmaker fatally stabbed at a meeting with voters. We have the latest information on this investigation after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:51]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So, officials in London have formally declared the fatal stabbing of a member of parliament a terrorist incident.

They say it's potentially linked to "Islamic extremism". David Amess was at a meeting with his constituents on Friday when a 25-year-old suspect walked in and stabbed him several times.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): And the suspect has been arrested. But, I want to bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz. She's live from London right now with the very latest.

Salma, it's good to see you. Talk to us about what you're learning this morning.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL FIELD PRODUCER (on camera): Boris and Christi, I'm just in front of the church where Sir David Amess was brutally murdered and stabbed, doing what he loves to do the most, his friends say, meeting with voters, speaking to the public, trying to solve the issues of his community.

We arrived here last night and we've been speaking to people who knew him personally, who described him as a dedicated public servant. As someone committed to charity.

One of his friends told me if you wanted something done, you could ask Amess and it would be done. And that's why this community here is grieving the loss, not just of a politician, but really of a community leader who had dedicated almost 40 years of his life to this area.

He's age was 69. He was the father of five. And at noon, yesterday, that man you mentioned, that suspect, that 25-year-old, entered that church just behind me and stabbed him multiple times in front of members of the public.

We now know that the counterterrorism police have taken over the investigation. They are leading this investigation because again, potentially, that suspect had links to motivations, potentially of Islamic extremism.

Now, we're waiting to find out more from the authorities. But what I can tell you is this will have repercussions way beyond this singular incident. This is the second time a politician has been murdered in just five years, both in a very similar and brutal fashion.

We're now hearing from lawmakers, Boris and Christi, who feel the democracy of this country is under attack.

PAUL: Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much for bringing us up to date. We appreciate it. PAUL (voice-over): We do have a quick programming note for you. On a new episode of the CNN Original Series "DIANA", we're going to take you behind the scenes of a fairy tale where trouble was actually brewing from the start. You can watch it tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

SANCHEZ: High prices and long delays. Why some retail stores are bracing for major headaches at the holidays. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:37:59]

SANCHEZ: We're still months away from Christmas, but it appears the Grinch may have already done his work. Disruptions and global supply chains have created shortages of many in-demand holiday items, like toys and electronics.

It's also making the stuff that does wind up on store shelves more expensive. CNN's Camilla Bernal reports.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This wholesale retail store distributes toys all over the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLAIRE LU (PH): I'm scared.

BERNAL: But the merchandise comes from China. And with delays at the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports, they're either stuck on shipping containers along the coast or coming at dramatically increased prices.

LU: Like every day, I'm crossing my fingers. I'm hoping that our containers gets here.

BERNAL: Ports in Southern California now operating around the clock.

LU: Our most popular product right now are all the pop fidget toys.

BERNAL: But for distributor, Claire Lu (PH) --

LU: This Christmas, the damage is done. We just have to hope and pray and that products are getting through.

BERNAL: These small businesses prepare for the holidays months in advance. But goods are already limited and prices are already high.

DR. NICK VYAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KENDRICK GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Moving goods from the factory to the customer. Some numbers that I've seen the early indications suggest it has gone up on average about 56 percent.

BERNAL: At La Fiesta Party Supply in downtown Los Angeles, the owners worry about their holiday supply.

JOSE GARCIA, OWNER, LA FIESTA DOWNTOWN, LOS ANGELES: A year ago, we will bring in product for Christmas. But because of the delays and logistics, we got the product for Christmas, we got it on January.

BERNAL: They expect a similar situation this year. Plus, the added cost.

GARCIA: I had to pay rent, I had to pay employees. And if I don't increase the price, then, it wouldn't be a business.

BERNAL: Both of these small businesses say, in the end, they suffer. As the retail stores Americans rely on every day. And their customers pay the price.

[07:40:03]

LU: Look at it in a different perspective. It's everyone's concern, it's everyone's problem.

BERNAL: In Los Angeles, I'm Camila Bernal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: A Dad in Alabama is being hailed as a hero after rescuing his family from flash flooding. Now, the family facing an entire new set of issues will join us after a quick break. Stay with CNN.

PAUL: Well, welcome to "UNDERSCORED". Your guide for the best in textile health and travel. The editors at "UNDERSCORED" worked to find, they tested, they rated products to help you make informed decisions before you spend your money, of course.

So, we have Mike Bruno with us. He's the editorial director for CNN "UNDERSCORE", and we're talking about what a lot of people cannot live without. I hear it all the time, I can't wake up without my coffee.

MIKE BRUNO, CNN UNDERSCORED EDITORIAL DIRECTOR (on camera): That's right.

PAUL: How do we get started with then, here?

BRUNO: So, we did drip coffee makers. We spent about a month with them, variety of different roasts. The primary thing we did was taste, right? That's obviously the primary thing you're going to do with coffee.

It's somewhat subjective, but we did get an expert to do it. And we tried enough different types of roasts where we really kind of felt like we were able to get his objective as you can in terms of quality even an extraction and actually a nice tasting coffee.

But, there's also speed, there's durability features, and some other things that we all consider to get in. And our pick is the Braun Brew Sense Drip Coffee Maker. It's about $90. It's really good looking and look nice under-counter, comes in this sleek white.

BRUNO (voice-over): I think it also comes in black.

We really find this is the best bang for your buck under $100. BRUNO (on camera): It was a little slow compared to some of the other ones, we did test the time. It took about 11 minutes to make the full 12 cups. It was a little slow compared to some of them. But not, not, not too bad. It was a little tricky --

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: 12 cups is a lot of coffee.

BRUNO: Yes, well, I mean, it depends how many people you have to go on it, I guess.

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: That's true. That's true.

BRUNO: You know, it depends how many people you have to go. Some of them are 10, 12 -- 10 to 12 is about right, but this was a 12-ouncer.

Was a little tricky to clean. We found sometimes that when you filled the basket all the way up, sometimes the grounds have come over the top a little bit. It's not a terribly unusual thing, but we did have that so it's worth noting here.

PAUL: So, but if you're a coffee geek --

BRUNO: Yes.

PAUL: Wouldn't you kind of -- does that fall into coffee guru and expertise and then this guy is what you would want for that?

BRUNO: Well, that's our luxury pick. That is the Technivorm Moccamaster. This thing has its disciples. It's been around since the 60s. Handmade. It has all the international coffee certifications and all those kinds of things.

PAUL: Wow.

BRUNO: This is a real coffee this is the one that the pour-over people will deign to drink -- the drip coffee from this machine. It's the one, it's really is. When our tester started to test them, received phone calls and e-mails from friends that were like, game over, it's this one. This is your best pick.

PAUL: Really?

BRUNO: It's $320. So, it is not a cheap piece of machine. But it really -- it's really, really does consistently makes the best coffee. It's beautiful, it's cool. The water bubbles up as it starts to go through that see-through water reservoir.

PAUL: You said it looks like a science experiment.

(CROSSTALK)

BRUNO: It looks like you're making a little chemistry experiment. PAUL: So, it can entertain the kids too, which is also nice.

BRUNO: It's pretty neat. It does have some pieces that you have to take apart. This lid comes off where you put this -- we put the coffee in there, and the lid comes off the top. There's a little bit of that. But it's not a terrible amount of extra work, and it's actually offset by far by the fact that you'll get your full craft of coffee here in six minutes. Very quick.

PAUL: Oh, nice. OK.

BRUNO: And again, consistently the best coffee.

The other coffee machine that we recommend, it's sort of for the tech lover. It's our Cuisinart Touchscreen. 14 Cup. This has a nice little touchscreen here. Like I said, it's for a tech lover.

You could program things, you could (INAUDIBLE). It -- we just thought it was kind of cool. It also consistently made good coffee. The one thing to note on this is that: A, it did take about 12 minutes to make the full craft.

Again, this is 14 cups. So, if you have a lot of coffee you need to make, it's a lot. But we kind of found it wasn't necessarily the best for everyone, maybe, because in the morning, some people just don't want to sit there having to program and touch touchscreens. They want to just be like, please make me coffee now. I need coffee.

So, it's for the right person. This is a beautiful. This is about $130, similar in price.

But we do recommend this one, the Braun the most at 90 bucks.

PAUL: Good to know. So, now you can just get up and get going.

Mike Bruno, I appreciate you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

BRUNO: Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you.

BRUNO: Thank you.

[07:44:20]

PAUL: So, you can learn more about all of these products by visiting cnn.com/underscored.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Listen, I want to share with you this morning the story of one heroic father and his family. They lost everything, first of all, on last week's definitely flooding in Alabama. LaMontay Pinkard, his fiancee, LaVon Carter, and their 2-year-old daughter Shelby were trapped inside their house when the flooding blocked the only exit, their only way out.

Look at this. Can you imagine what you would do if you saw this happening? I mean, my gosh. They were also worried about electric. The -- you know, the danger of an electric shock in the water.

LaMontay says he then kicked his way through sheetrock. That was his last resort to get them to safety. Their homes destroyed. They say insurance is not covering the loss. But they are obviously so grateful that they're all here to tell about it. LaMontay and his fiancee, LaVon with us now.

[07:49:56]

PAUL: First of all, we are grateful that you are here to tell about that. And that you are all OK. So, we want to start off there, but I do want to ask you to bring us into that moment.

We saw the water that was rushing and I read that it was pouring through the walls, it was pouring past doors. I mean, what were you up against what happened?

LAMONTAY PINKARD, HOME DAMAGE IN ALABAMA FLOODING: Basically, like the article say we were -- it was a typical night, we had been downstairs, you know, just watching television and -- as a family.

And daughter has a bedtime around 8:30, but we try to get her at about 9:00. So, we had been receiving alerts on our phone about the inclement weather that was going on.

So, I checked and look outside the door on our way upstairs. You know, it was rained a little but wasn't anything bad. It's just consistent. I'm going upstairs and go into the guest bathroom and take a shower while she went with our daughter to bed.

As she pass by, she thought I was taking a shower, hear the running water. And I had heard the running water, but I -- thought she was taking a shower also, I thought it was her.

So, she had needed to scream my name again. And I rushed out of the bathroom because it sounded urgent, like I said, and she was looking down at her phone. So, I thought it was something on her phone, maybe somebody at the ring camera, trying to you know, get to the door or something.

So, I looked at her phone, she was pointing down the stairs. And when I looked and seen the water rushing in, I just immediately thought that, hey, we have to get out of here. That much water is rushing in the door like that. Like I just didn't know how much was downstairs.

But as I look at the water, the light started to flicker a little. That's what gave me the indication that it had breached the electrical outlet.

PAUL: (INAUDIBLE) right.

PINKARD: So --

PAUL: And when you see all of that water rushing in -- I mean, we're watching it as well. I want to ask you real quick LaVon -- we just have a couple of minutes here, but how was your daughter?

LAVON CARTER, HOME DAMAGE IN ALABAMA FLOODING: My daughter was fine.

PAUL: OK.

CARTER: She's been in swimming lessons lately. So, she immediately just start saying, water, water. And just -- hide, and LaMontay say, we have to get out of here.

PAUL: Yes.

CARTER: So, we have made a plan.

PAUL: I read that you were in waist-deep water at one point. Were you concerned about what was in the water?

PINKARD: Oh, of course. Because once I got the sheetrock opened up, and we can see into the garage, the garage, and about a foot of water. But once we opened the garage door, more water rushed in.

So, of course, it's dark outside and the lighting was very well and things were floating in the water. So, we just did the best we could to get to our feet.

PAUL: Sure. So, I want to point out that I know your sister has started a GoFundMe page, and here is what she's writing about all of this. She says, "Years of paying fees and premiums had amounted to nothing. The safeguards they thought they had in place to help in the event of a disaster, ended up only guarding the interests of their providers."

She's speaking of course about the insurance that you do not have now or that they're not helping you with. What is your most urgent need right now?

PINKARD: Right now, our most urgent need is that we have structural damage to our condo, and we have an HOA association that (INAUDIBLE) outside. Our insurance covers the inside of the structure. We had enough to rebuild the structure had it been on our -- on our side, but we have structural damage. We have to get a structural engineer out because they haven't been asked to take in every the restoration companies are backed up. So, we're on the waiting list for that.

Basically, just you know, flooring was gone. You know, the belongings are (INAUDIBLE) just putting our home back together.

CARTER: Just making the repairs -- getting repairs that are needed to be --

PAUL: OK. Well, and we -- and we hope that happens for you especially since, you know, we're heading into a season of the holidays where we like to be home and we'd like to be with our family and we're just grateful that your family is OK.

LaMontay and LaVon, thank you both for sharing with us. We are wishing you every good thing.

PINKARD: Thank you.

CARTER: Thank you.

[07:54:21]

PAUL: Absolutely. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: In California, Santa Ana winds may worsen ongoing wildfires across the state and the wildfire season has already been devastating.

PAUL: No kidding. Allison Chinchar is live from the CNN Weather Center. Talk to us about what you've seeing.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Yes, so winds today are forecast to get around 40 to 55 miles per hour. In this area here, the red flag warning, which does include the city of Los Angeles and a lot of the surrounding communities.

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SANCHEZ: Hey, Al --

CHINCHAR: Now, the big concern here is really going to be the impacts that it will have on a lot of the wildfires in and around the area. This morning, those winds that hot, dry air inland will be pushing out to sea. But as it does so, those very strong winds will be sweeping across a lot of those communities.

The good news is by this afternoon, we get a bit of a wind shift and the wind actually comes from the ocean, allowing those humidity levels to go back up which will be good news for a lot of the firefighters still battling a lot of the fires that will be ongoing.

And again, it's not just California, you have 30 large active wildfires across five states. The bit of good news here is that number was 41 yesterday, so they've made big improvements on the containment numbers on a lot of those fires.

Now, in the eastern half of the country, we're also dealing with some strong winds but this, for a different reason. This cold front here is going to be bringing severe storms to areas of the Northeast in the Mid Atlantic. This does include New York, Philadelphia, even Albany, New York.

Damaging winds, Boris and Christi, are going to be the biggest concern there, especially this afternoon and the evening.