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Manhunt for Escaped Detainees; Fears over First Republic; Flooding Concerns in the Midwest; Limiting Gender-Affirming Care in Missouri; Food Delivery Driver Killed. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired April 26, 2023 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:32:35]
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
Some of the top stories that we're tracking right now. There are major discussions underway up on Capitol Hill. House Republicans, they're trying and struggling so far still to lock in support for Kevin McCarthy's $1.5 trillion spending cuts bill that he needs or says he needs in order to get him to sign off on raising the debt ceiling. McCarthy can only lose four Republicans, as we know, and still the reality is, even if this bill passes the House, it would then need to get through the Democratically-controlled Senate. And even then President Biden has now vowed to veto it.
Next hour, a critical meeting at the White House. President Biden is set to welcome South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. The two leaders will be marking the 70-year alliance. And this is all starting next hour. They're also expected to focus on many important topics, North Korea's escalating nuclear threat, China's growing influence in the Indo-pacific region and the recent leak of Pentagon documents suggesting the United States has been eavesdropping on allies, including South Korea.
Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now, a massive manhunt is underway after four detainees escaped from a Mississippi jail. Officials say they believe these four men, Dylan Arrington, Casey Grayson, Corey Harrison and Jerry Raynes broke out of their cells on Saturday night. Police say that's when they climbed on to the roof of the Raymond Detention Center and likely split up to make their escapes. Then, in Jackson, Mississippi, police found the body of a man who had been shot and killed. They believe Dylan Arrington was behind that murder and stole the man's truck. Another stolen car was spotted in neighboring Rankin County, Mississippi. Investigators believe two of the suspects may have been headed there. And more than 400 miles away a Spring Valley, Texas, officials from, an abandoned public works truck. They found that truck there. It's the same one that was seen crashing through a gate late on Saturday night.
CNN anchor and correspondent Amara Walker is following all of this. Amara, it sounds like law enforcement is really sort of close on their
tail. What more do we know about the case?
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: So, Sara, here's what we know according to Jackson Police and the Hinds County Sheriff's Department. So, they were able to piece together a timeline by (INAUDIBLE) from (INAUDIBLE) inside the Raymond Detention Center. And what they found were these suspects, as you said, they climbed through the ceiling of their cells to the roof of the detention center and they apparently camped out there for some time.
[09:35:04]
They all left in different directions. This all happening around 8:30 on Saturday evening. And it wasn't until about four hours later, around 12:30, past midnight Sunday morning, when officials realized that four of these detainees were missing during a routine head count. And, of course, the Raymond detention facility, by the way, which is located about 20 minutes west of Jackson, Mississippi, it was placed on lockdown.
I want to show you the photos, the booking photos of these suspects one more time because police are asking for the public's help in locating these men.
Twenty-two-year-old Dylan Arrington, 24-year-old Casey Greyson, 22- year-old Corey Harrison and 51-year-old Jerry Raynes.
Now, here's the interesting part, Sara. Officials say Raynes actually has a history of escaping from that very detention center, the Raymond Detention Center. In fact, he had escaped back in 2021 and he was recaptured in another state.
Here is Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones.
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SHERIFF TYREE JONES, HINDS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: We are not exactly sure when that breach started, how they did the breach or how long it took them to breach as well. Of course, that is still under investigation. We are still interviewing people.
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WALKER: All right, so, obviously, this is very embarrassing for officials there in Hinds County and at the Raymond Detention Center. The sheriff acknowledged that changes need to be made. Repairs and updates to the facility so that this doesn't happen again. He also mentioned that there have been a lot of shortages in staffing.
But, right now, there is a manhunt underway focused in two states, Mississippi and in Texas, Sara.
SIDNER: Wow, it's crazy that one of the men had already broken out of the same place not long ago.
Amara Walker, thank you so much for all of that.
John.
BERMAN: All right, Sara, the markets opened just a few minutes ago, and the Dow is up a wee little bit, up 0.2 percent, about 71 points. This followed a tough day, especially late yesterday, over banking jitters. Shares at First Republic, which was at the center of the deposit concern in March, fell more than 49 percent. Not seen there. It fell a lot yesterday. And this morning First Republic is down. I guess that may be what is down this morning. It was down that yesterday.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes.
BERMAN: Reverse that right there.
Here now, CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans.
ROMANS: That's today.
BERMAN: Yesterday.
ROMANS: Yesterday.
BERMAN: Today.
ROMANS: Exactly. Cut in half and still weak.
BERMAN: All right.
ROMANS: A very -- "Dancing with the Stars" has an appointment for you.
BERMAN: Tell me about First Republic and why I just embarrassed myself.
ROMANS: I know, look, First Republic had a really tough day yesterday, reported its earnings and showed the world just how much stress it was under during that banking -- spell of banking worries last month. And $100 billion walked out of the door of First Republic. And that was a big, big outflow of money. And it means it's exploring every option it has here basically to stay alive. And so investors were really pessimistic on that stock yesterday so it fell.
You know, look, now in the pre-market it's down even more. Another 20 percent. It's down 93 percent since that banking stress began last month.
And here's what's wrong -- the problem for First Republic. It has a lot of wealthier customers who have more than the insured amount of deposits there. And so when the going got tough, those people are now finding new places to bank. And so this bank has to really rethink it's entire business model.
So, one of the things - we're looking at markets up here today, and so that's good news because yesterday we had a down day. Banking concerns and also some earnings kind of in the mix. There's just kind of a lot going on, but we're watching those banking worries again.
I think what we're hearing mostly from bank CEOs and from basically regulators and lawmakers is that the system has stabilized. And this morning, if you look at some of those other regional bank shares, those appear to be stabilizing. And that's what we want to watch, John. We want to watch that this doesn't spread to other banks essentially.
BERMAN: So, are there signs -- I don't know if we have the pictures of the regional banks right there.
ROMANS: Yes, they should have those -- we should be able to have a live feed. Many of those are either flat or higher here this morning, bouncing higher.
BERMAN: That's good.
ROMANS: Also, they're all in the midst of reporting their earnings as well. So, we're pouring over every one of these earnings reports trying to see just where the weaknesses may lie and whether those outflows of customer deposits are slowing. And by all - by all accounts it looks like the stress from last month has been contained.
But, remember, the Fed has been raising interest rates for a year now. So that low interest rate environment is gone. And these banks really need to adjust -- adjust to this new reality. And so you're seeing different levels of health around the system. Although what we hear from the Treasury, from the Fed, from the White House and from bank CEOs is the overall fundamental U.S. banking system is strong. Much better than it was in 2008. And these episodes can be weathered. First Republic, this is something that is not, you know, a systematic problem in the economy.
BERMAN: Christine Romans, thank you for helping us understand this and watching me pull a muscle.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
BERMAN: Kate.
BOLDUAN: Ah, John.
All right, let's move to weather right now. River gauges all along the Mississippi River, they have jumped even further this morning.
[09:40:00]
More than two dozen gauges along the Midwest -- all along the Midwest, they're now hitting major flood stage. What does that mean? Well, under the designation, the National Weather Service says that evacuations, they may be necessary because of the extensive flooding risks for homes and roads when it hits this level.
This is the type of flooding that we're talking about here. Here's just one image from obviously drone footage that is extremely helpful in seeing what so many communities are up against right now. This is a riverfront area in Davenport, Iowa. Very clearly under water.
CNN's Derek Van Dam is watching all of this for us very closely and he's joining us now.
Derek, what are you seeing -- what are you seeing today with this ongoing threat and also the thing that's most concerning about this is how long this threat can linger.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes, absolutely. It's going to get worse before it gets better, especially along the communities that line the Mississippi River let's say south of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Here's one such community. This is Hudson, Wisconsin. This is a tributary of the Mississippi. But you can see how the floodwaters have inundated the local parks across this region. Mostly rural communities, but that's somebody's home, that's somebody's park, that's somebody's business that are being impacted by these floodwaters.
You're looking at the current river flooding gauges. We currently have over two does that are under major flood stage. But I want to highlight the attention between Lacrosse and the Davenport region. Those purple dots, that's the major flood stage. But as we advance into the future, this would be the next three days through the course of the weekend, we start to see those dots populate a little further to the south. And that is because we're seeing that river water move further and further south. You can see the flood warnings that stretch the Mississippi River, over 400 miles of flood warnings as we speak.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Four hundred miles of flood warnings.
VAN DAM: Yes.
BOLDUAN: So there is -- this is a major threat in -- along the Midwest as well, but you're also tracking a flooding risk out west as well.
VAN DAM: Yes, look at these images coming out of Truckee, California, near record snow pack and near record warmth that is impacted this region. The water has got to go somewhere. We have 56 inches of what's called snow/water equivalent across the central Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. That's like 56 inches of water just wanting to be released into the valleys and their rivers below.
So, look at the water - or the warming temperatures through the course of this weekend. And we think about the snow that is still left within the mountains. And we're talking about astronomical amounts of snow that we have never seen before, especially in the southern Sierra Nevada, sitting at 324 percent of average to date. That is snow/water equivalent. But statewide even more impressive, we didn't even break average the past three years, but this year, 256 percent of average snowfall across California. That water has to go somewhere, Kate.
BOLDUAN: It absolutely does. Really interesting the way you're able to illustrate it.
Derek, thank you so much for that.
VAN DAM: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Sara.
SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.
A last-minute effort in Missouri. Advocates are suing to stop the attorney general's new rule that goes into effect tomorrow that would make gender-affirming care nearly impossible to obtain in that state.
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BERMAN: In Missouri, an emergency rule is set to take effect tomorrow that will make obtaining gender-affirming care for minors and adults in the state much more difficult, even impossible for some. Gender- affirming care helps a person transition from their gender assigned at birth to the gender they identify with. Missouri joins a growing number of states seeking to restrict access. In just the first two months of this year, more than 80 bills were introduced around the country targeting trans youth and their access to this care.
CNN's Kyung Lah joins us now from Kansas City in Missouri.
And, Kyung, you've been spending time with people who are being affected by this. What have you heard?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're spending time inside the clinics where patients are being treated, where doctors and physicians are trying to help them get in before this emergency rule is scheduled to go into effect. And what we are seeing at the patient level, at the clinic level, is extreme confusion about what happens next.
What I can tell you, John, is what is happening today is a legal showdown, a last minute legal effort by Landalegal (ph) as well as the ACLU of Missouri, a lawsuit has been filed in order to try to stop this emergency rule from going into effect. Emergency rule written by the attorney general of the state of Missouri. And this hearing is scheduled to take place this afternoon here in the state of Missouri.
So, again, a continued scramble that we're seeing throughout the day inside of these clinics because if these patients, John, can establish their care today, then tomorrow when the emergency rule goes into effect they can continue that care under this emergency order.
And one last thing, the reason why this is such an important national story for advocates is because they see this as the most restrictive rules that could go into effect, affecting not just children but adults as well.
John.
BERMAN: So, a lot on the docket for today. Kyung, please keep us posted. Thank you so much.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: A lot to happen with that today for sure.
Coming up for us, an Uber Eats driver in Florida, on his last delivery of the night, murdered. Police are calling this crime demonic. That's next.
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SIDNER: A Florida sheriff says a paroled gang member killed an Uber Eats driver in a crime that he calls demonic. Police say the victim, 59-year-old Randall Cooke, had been texting his wife. He was making his last delivery of the night when he disappeared. Police tracked his GPS data to the suspect's home and found the victim's body in trash bags.
CNN's Carlos Suarez is live for us now with more on this story.
Have police figured out why on earth someone would do this?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, good morning.
So, the Pasco County sheriff believes that the accused here, the suspect, wanted to rob the victim. It appears that they found some of his jewelry inside of the suspect's home. That suspect has been identified as 30-year-old Oscar Solis. And the victim was identified as Randall Cooke.
Now, according to the sheriff's office, Cooke was texting his wife. Told her he was making one more Uber Eats delivery and that he was going to go home right after. Some hours passed by and the wife becomes concerned because she hasn't heard from her husband.
Now, according to investigators, she calls the sheriff's office, tells them that her husband is missing and they make contact with Uber Eats. At some point Uber Eats tells them this is the last place that we believe he was at. The deputies, they go out to that home, but there's no one at the house.
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And so they returned the next day. That's when we're told that Solis' roommate shows them some surveillance video from that house. Here is the sheriff describing what the video captured.
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SHERIFF CHRIS NOCCO, PASCO COUNTY, FLORIDA: You can actually see the victim walking up to the house to deliver food. But the video cuts off at that point. You actually see on the following day, on the 20th, the suspect, Oscar Solis, was carrying trash bags with another individual and you can see them carrying these trash bags around the side of the house.
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SUAREZ: Again, it appears that the victim here was killed for his jewelry, it seems.
As you mentioned in your lead in coming to me, the sheriff's office says that Solis was on parole out of Indiana and he had not registered in Pasco County as a convicted felon. Pasco County is just north of Tampa.
Sara.
SIDNER: All right, thank you, Carlos (INAUDIBLE).
Kate.
BOLDUAN: That is (INAUDIBLE) horrible, Sara.
SIDNER: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Coming up next hour, a critical meeting at the White House. South Korea's president arriving at the White House for an official state visit. On the agenda, North Korea's escalating nuclear threat, China's growing influence in the region, and President Biden's push to blunt that. We're live at the White House.
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