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Judge Blocks Policy Releasing Migrants Without Court Notices; Mom Guilty Of Murdering Her Kids, Conspiring To Murder Lover's Wife; Ukraine Begins "Shaping" Operations In Advance Of Counteroffensive; Biden's Second Meeting With Congressional Leaders Postponed. Aired 3- 3:30p ET
Aired May 12, 2023 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: It remains unclear. We're going to take you live to the border.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A Marine veteran charged in the death of a homeless street artist on a New York subway appears in court. And now Jordan Neely's family is speaking out for the first time on the charges saying we're closer now to justice?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: And Twitter will soon have a new boss after Elon Musk announced who will replace him as CEO. Will his pick steady the ship? We are following this and many other major developing stories, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
SANCHEZ: As thousands of migrants head to the United States, the Biden administration faces a major legal setback in its border strategy just hours after the end of Title 42. Remember, that policy was used nearly 3 million times to immediately expel people during the COVID pandemic.
Now, a new court ruling has blocked border authorities from releasing migrants without a scheduled court date. The White House is accusing Republicans of trying to sabotage efforts to manage the border. Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, said the policy had been key in trying to ease overcrowding at detention facilities. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It's a very harmful ruling and the Department of Justice is considering our options. The practice that the court has prevented us from using is a practice that prior administrations have used to relieve overcrowding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: In the meantime, we're learning from the border city of El Paso that fewer migrants are coming in compared to last week.
Let's get an update from there right now with CNN's Rosa Flores.
Rosa, set the scene, what are you hearing from officials there?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, officials here say that they were prepared for the worst and the worst is just not materializing at this point. Now, city officials just wrapped a press conference about an hour or so ago and they said that they have decommissioned a school where they have 150 migrants that are being sheltered, but they have another school that they have ready to go. They could have more than a thousand shelter beds available and they don't need them right now.
They also have a migrant center that they could open. They're not needing those resources right now. The point that they're trying to make is that they are ready for whatever is happening on the ground.
Now, the best way for me to explain this to you is visually. And I want you to see these pictures because the video was taken yesterday. That video was taken yesterday and it's of the area where I am right now. It's the area where migrants gather and border patrol agents pick them up, they transport them to processing facilities.
So that video from yesterday, you can see that there's a very large group and I want you to take a look at drone video that is live right now and you'll be able to see the difference. There are - if - and I don't have a live picture of this. So I can't see it myself. I can't tell you exactly what you're looking at. But I know that at last check there were very few migrants there, perhaps one or two family units, but that was it.
Now, that is the picture that we're seeing right now. Now, from that drone, I also want you to look a little closer. You might be able to see the concertina wire that's right by the Rio Grande.
Now, the reason why I point that out is because there are gaps in that concertina wire. Now, I did an overnight embed with the Texas National Guard and learned from the commander as they were deploying that concertina wire that they left gaps, not for migrants to come into the country, but because of the lifting of Title 42.
As you know, Boris, it means that Title 8 is now being used to process these migrants. It has legal consequences. And the message from the Texas National Guard that they were going to be telling migrants is there's a way out. Boris?
SANCHEZ: Fascinating that the policy would actually physically change what we're seeing at the border there where you are.
Rosa Flores, thank you so much from El Paso. Brianna, over to you.
KEILAR: All right. We are following some breaking news here. The jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, the Idaho mother accused of killing her two children and conspiring to kill her husband's first wife. Let's listen.
CLERK: ... answer the questions submitted to us as follows:
Question number one, in regards to count one of the amended indictment: Is Lori Norene Vallow not guilty or guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of Tylee Ryan and grand theft by deception, answer: guilty. [15:05:07]
Question number two, in regards to count two of the amended indictment: is Lori Norene Vallow not guilty or guilty of first-degree murder of Tylee Ryan? Answer: guilty.
Question number three, in regards to count three of the amended indictment: Is Lori Norene Vallow not guilty or guilty of conspiracy to commit first degree murder of Joshua Jackson Vallow and grand theft by deception? Answer: guilty.
Question number four, in regards to count four of the amended indictment: Is Lori Norene Vallow not guilty or guilty of first-degree murder of Joshua Jackson Vallow? Answer: guilty.
Question number five, in regards to count five of the amended indictment: Is Lori Norene Vallow not guilty or guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of Tamara Tammy Daybell: Answer: guilty.
Question number six, in regards to count seven of the amended indictment: Is Lori Norene Vallow not guilty or guilty of grand theft? Answer: guilty.
Dated this 12th of May 2023 signed by the presiding officer.
JUDGE STEVEN BOYCE, IDAHO SEVENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT: All right. Please be seated.
Madam Clerk, thank you for reading the verdict into the record. At this time let me just inquire of the jury is this in fact your true and correct verdict?
ALL: Yes.
BOYCE: Thank you.
Let me ask now from counsel, does the State wish to have a jury poll?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do not your honor.
BOYCE: Does the defense wish to have the jury poll?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Your Honor.
BOYCE: Okay. The jury will be polled at this time.
Madam Clerk, if you would please indicate only by juror numbers of each of the jurors if this is their true and correct verdict individually.
CLERK: Jury number four, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is.
CLERK: Jury number five, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number six, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number eight, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number nine, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number 10, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number 11, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number 12, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number 13, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number 14, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number 15, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CLERK: Jury number 16, is this your true and correct verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BOYCE: All right. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. The jury of the court does find it's a unanimous verdict in this case, so I will direct the clerk to record the verdict into the record of this case.
I'll now have a closing jury instruction for our jurors and also those alternate jurors that are in attendance today. You have now completed your duties as jurors in this case and are discharged with the sincere thanks of this court.
The question may arise as to whether you may discuss this case with the attorneys or with anyone else. For your guidance, the court instructs you that whether you talk to the attorneys or to anyone else is entirely your own decision. It is proper for you to discuss this case, if you want to, but you are not required to do so and you may choose not to discuss the case with anyone at all. If you choose to talk to someone about the case, you may tell them as much or as little as you like about your deliberations or the facts that influenced your decision. If you decide to discuss the case with anyone, you should be careful to respect the privacy and feelings of your fellow jurors.
You should limit your comments to your own perceptions and feelings. If anyone persists in discussing the case over your objections or becomes critical of your service, either before or after any discussion has begun, please report that to me.
At this time then the court offers its sincere thanks to the jurors. I appreciate your patience and attentiveness throughout this lengthy trial. I also thank you again for upholding your important civic duty as jurors in this case. I'd also like to thank the attorneys who tried this case for your professionalism throughout the proceedings and in the pretrial motions that came before trial.
At this time, then, the court will discuss briefly sentencing in this case in Idaho pursuant to Title 19 Chapter 25, a report is required to be prepared before sentencing called the pre-sentence investigation report.
[15:10:04]
In a typical case, that report takes at least two months to prepare. In a case such as this, it will likely take longer. The court will inquire us to a pre-sentence investigator for the timeframe required to prepare the report in this case upon getting an estimation, then the court will reach out to counsel for determining a date for sentencing. I'll just advise everyone that will likely be - I'm thinking at least three months, probably, before that sentencing to be scheduled to have the report completed.
The court will also advise at this time then upon conclusion of the proceedings, the defendant will be remanded back to custody of the Ada County sheriff at this time to be transferred to the Fremont County sheriff for further proceedings in Fremont County for sentencing.
The court will also instruct the clerk to collect any of the juror's notes pursuant to Idaho Criminal Rule 24.1(a). At this time then the court will ask that the jurors and any alternates in attendance be excused from the courtroom and I am going to direct that all in attendance here to remain seated until such time as the jurors have been completely exited from the courtroom. And in additional, I'll let the jurors know there is additional information ...
KEILAR: All right. Lori Vallow Daybell, in this what has become known as this doomsday cult case, has been found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of her two children, Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of her fifth husband's first wife, Tammy Daybell.
I want to bring in Areva Martin, criminal defense attorney, for some analysis on this. This jury deliberated, Areva, for over a couple of days for about eight and a half hours and, obviously, these are pretty serious decisions that they made, but she has been found guilty of everything that she was charged with.
AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, no surprise here, Brianna. This was such a tragic case. This is a mother who has been found guilty of killing her two children. As you said, she was married to her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, and they both have been charged in the murder of her two kids and the murder of his ex-wife.
If you will recall, her two children disappeared and she refused to tell her family members. She refused to tell law enforcement or anyone where her children were. She went off to Hawaii and married this husband. They both allegedly were involved in some kind of religious cult. They believe they had been married in another life.
She didn't put on a defense at this trial. But yet at the closing arguments, her lawyer argued that her husband, Chad Daybell, manipulated her and he was the cause for the death of her children, the murder of her children. He's facing his own murder trial, the death penalty is at stake with respect to the charges against him, although Lori will face, in all likelihood, life in prison without the opportunity for parole, what a very sad case.
KEILAR: And look, this isn't all of it. I mean, this is awful. These two beautiful children gone for what, for these beliefs that this couple held. But you also have Lori Vallow Daybell's brother, who's been accused in conspiracy to commit murders. You - he died in December of 2019, shot and killed her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, right?
So she is now facing a separate conspiracy charge in Arizona, a conspiracy to commit murder charge for her former husband's murder.
MARTIN: Yes, there are four people dead as a result of Lori Vallow, the allegations are is that she manipulated her own brother as well as her husband to kill her two children and to kill her ex-husband and her husband's ex-wife and all because of money.
They said that she collected Social Security payments on her two children after they were murdered, that she concealed their murder so that she could collect this money. This is a case that the prosecutors describe - that's about power, greed and money. And quite simply, this was all about Lori Vallow's manipulation to receive money.
Apparently, she was angry because her ex-husband had changed her as the beneficiary on an insurance policy that they had. They changed - he changed her name to his sister's name and I guess she vowed for that to never happen again. So she kills her children to collect Social Security payments. At least that's the argument that the prosecutors made and these juries accept - this jury accept it in finding her guilty on all four counts.
[15:15:02] KEILAR: Yes. Areva, thank you so much for taking us through that. Obviously, a very complicated case, but Lori Vallow Daybell found guilty of all charges, murder and conspiracy. Jim?
SCIUTTO: Overseas now, Ukraine readying a major counteroffensive against Russian forces. I'm told by a senior U.S. military official, senior Western official as well that Kyiv has begun what's known as shaping operations, basically preparing the battlefield for an offensive, strikes meant to take out strategic targets such as ammunition stores, command centers ahead of a major advance.
The fierce fighting around Bakhmut, meanwhile, has not led up. Today, we have new showing what it's like to be on the front lines there for Ukraine.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Ukraine.
And Nick, we've seen an uptick in a whole range of activity in recent days. You have these operations as I was reporting. You have some advances by Ukrainian forces around Bakhmut, but also now these strikes in Luhansk well behind Russian lines from where you are in Zaporizhzhia. And from the sources you speak to, is this the sign that the counteroffensive is - well, possibly underway?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine's been very clear, Jim, that they're not going to necessarily blow the bugle and say that the counteroffensive is happening, surprise being their element. It's also fair to say, I think, over the past couple of weeks, we've noticed and even heard from pro-Russian officials in occupied areas and even Ukrainian officials themselves of multiple things which would potentially constitute part of the shaping operations.
The strikes on Luhansk today extraordinary in their size and their depth inside occupied areas, seeming to hit factories in one case. That is certainly an example of what shaping operations do, target key parts of infrastructure, key parts of supply distribution. We've also been seeing there over the past weeks' fuel supplies, infrastructure being hit quite clearly as well, command hubs as well.
So a real sense over the past weeks that we've been beginning to watch this build, perhaps going up a notch, though, in tempo over the last 48 hours. It's possibly fair to say the pressure around Bakhmut particularly important. It's really inflamed the extraordinary disunity amongst Russian ranks between the Wagner mercenary group headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
He's been ranting, frankly, furiously at the top brass of Russia over the past week. But that seems to translate it today into a loss of territory. He said that five square kilometers outside of Bakhmut were lost to the Ukrainian military. That was essentially backed up by a Russian ministry of defense statement and by the Ukrainian military too.
So, yes, what we're seeing ahead of this counteroffensive, which Ukraine's president's clear hasn't begun yet, a rise in the shaping operations, these targeted strikes over weeks, that's fair to say. And also extraordinary chaos in Russian ranks, Jim.
SCIUTTO: And remarkable around Bakhmut, given that Western nations seem to have been pushing Ukraine to give that up for days and weeks ago.
Nick Paton Walsh, please keep yourself, your team safe there. It's always dangerous in Ukraine. Boris?
SANCHEZ: A warning today about America's debt ceiling and the significant risk we face if it isn't raised. This as President Biden and top congressional leaders postpone their sit down. We're going to show you what comes next.
Plus, Elon Musk naming Twitter's new CEO. We have new details on who will fill that role and how this could all affect your use of the social media app. Stay with us.
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[15:22:52]
SANCHEZ: A high stakes meeting has been postponed, President Biden not gathering with congressional leaders today, as was originally planned, to talk about the debt ceiling. Meantime, the clock keeps ticking with a potentially catastrophic default as early as June 1st.
The CEO of JPMorgan Chase says that just flirting with the deadline is going to rattle confidence around the world. Here's Jamie Dimon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE DIMON, CEO JPMORGAN CHASE: It gets catastrophic and the closer you get to it, you will have panic. And so the closer you get, you have markets get volatile, maybe the stock market go down, the Treasury markets will have their own problems. This is not good. And people should remember the American financial system is the foundation to the global economic system is please negotiate a deal
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Joining us now is Mark Zandi. He's the chief economist at Moody's Analytics.
Mark, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. Sources close to lawmakers on both sides say that delaying this meeting is a good idea. I'm curious to get your reaction
MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S ANALYTICS: Yes, Boris, I take some encouragement in it. These are staffers that are getting together and they're working out the nitty-gritty of a deal. And at the end of the day, they've got to go through all of this detail to get things nailed down to come to an agreement.
And then they bring in the so-called principals, the President and Speaker McCarthy and others. So I view this as a positive development. Of course, a lot of script to be written, a lot has to get done in a very short period of time, so no guarantees, obviously. But I take some encouragement in this, yes.
SANCHEZ: Mark, have you ever been more concerned about a potential default? Is this as much cause for concern as it was in 2011?
ZANDI: Yes, I've seen a lot of debt limit dramas. I've been watching this for 30 or 35 years. And I don't think I've ever seen a drama as dramatic as this one. It's coming right down to the wire here. Obviously, in 2011, the stock market reacted. It was down 20 percent when it was all said and done. S&P, a credit rating agency, downgraded the debt.
[15:25:04]
So far, this isn't nearly as bad as all of that. But the lawmakers can't get it together here in the next week or two. I fear that we will see that kind of market reaction and, ultimately, if they breach the debt limit, if we get through the X date and the Treasury can't pay all its bills on time, then we've got a big problem.
SANCHEZ: Well, let's talk about a breach because you're putting the odds of a breach at 10 percent. What is, in your view, the actual risk of a default and which one is riskier, a breach or a default?
ZANDI: Well, a breach - when I say breach, what I mean is that somebody that the federal government owes money to won't get paid on time. So that could be the military, that could be a Social Security recipient, that could be even the electric bill for a federal building in, let's say, Omaha and Nebraska.
A default in my terminology would be the Treasury Department doesn't pay on the government's debt to bondholders. We borrowed all this money, those bonds are out there. We've got to pay interest and principal. The Treasury doesn't pay that on time. That's a default.
A breach we can live through for a little bit of time. I mean, that's - it's obviously not good. It's going to create a lot of angst and market turmoil, but an actual default, that would be that would be beyond the pale, that would be catastrophic. That's the scenario where we go into a very deep, long recession.
SANCHEZ: Mark, you've talked about the 30 years that you've watched this drama unfold, neither party has historically adhered to a debt ceiling. It's supposed to be in place to keep the government disciplined on its spending. It fails at that. What would the country lose by getting rid of the debt ceiling altogether?
ZANDI: This drama, Boris, I think we need to get rid of this. And it's just getting worse. Obviously, our politics are very polarized increasingly so. And lawmakers are just having a very difficult time coming to agreement on anything. And we just can't go down this path every one, two, three years. It's costing us too much.
And at some point, if we don't breach this to go around, if we - the odds that we do the next time or the time after that are quite high and it's just not productive. So at this point, I think we really need to get rid of this process. It doesn't work. And think about how to run the railroad in a better way, because if we keep this debt limit, at some point, if not this time, some other time, we are going to breach and we're going to pay a high cost for it.
SANCHEZ: Yes, the consequences, again, could be devastating.
Mark Zandi, thank you so much for sharing your perspective with us.
ZANDI: Sure thing.
SANCHEZ: Brianna?
KEILAR: Daniel Penny, the former Marine accused of choking a homeless man to death on a New York City subway, turned himself into police today. Why his attorneys say he took down the man having a mental health emergency ahead.
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