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Man Charged With Killing 11 Worshippers Could Face Death Penalty; Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Reports To Prison; Miami Heat Crush Boston Celtics 103-84, Advance To Finals. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired May 30, 2023 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:33:29]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Really graphic details revealed during opening statements this morning in the federal trial of alleged mass shooter, Robert Bowers.
The prosecutor telling jurors about the carnage inside the Tree of Life Synagogue, when, she says, Bowers opened fire on worshippers.
He is charged with killing 11 people 93 synagogue in Pittsburgh in October of 2018, in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack ever on U.S. soil. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
CNN's Danny Freeman is joining us now from Pittsburgh.
Danny, tell us what we heard inside the courtroom today?
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, earlier this morning, we actually heard opening arguments from both the prosecution and the defense. Both very intense. And really setting the stage for the trial that's going to come up in the next couple of weeks.
The prosecution describing how Robert Bowers, the defendant, methodically went to the synagogue, quote, "hunting Jewish worshippers."
Meanwhile, the defense not disputing that it was Bowers who opened fire on these worshippers but saying his motive were irrational and his intent was misguided.
Here's a preview of what's to come.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
FREEMAN (voice over): Four and a half years after the deadliest anti- Semitic attack in U.S. history, a jury will finally hear opening statements in the trial of the alleged gunman in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting massacre.
After a lengthy jury selection, which started in April, 12 jurors and six alternates were seated.
Questioning focused primarily on whether these men and women could sentence the suspect, Robert Bowers, to death if he's found guilty of killing 11 Jewish worshippers.
[13:35:03]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think I could have ever anticipated the intensity of this jury selection.
FREEMAN: Throughout the process, family members of victims have watched Bowers from across the courtroom, without handcuffs, and dressed in collared shirts while speaking with attorneys.
On the morning of October 27, 2018, prosecutors say Bowers walked up to the Tree of Life Synagogue and opened fire. Members of three congregations were worshipping there at the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very horrific crime scene. It's one of the worst that I've seen.
FREEMAN: Federal prosecutors say Bowers entered the building and intentionally shot people praying while expressing his desire to kill Jews. He now faces 63 felony counts, 22 of which are punishable by death.
His defense team has offered a guilty plea in exchange for taking capital punishment off the table. And two of the congregations who were impacted asked the Justice Department in 2019 to accept a life- in-prison plea.
But prosecutors were unswayed and are still fighting for execution. And families of nine victims asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to keep the death penalty on the table, calling anything less a grave injustice.
DIANE ROSENTHAL, SISTER OF VICTIMS CECIL AND DAVID ROSENTHAL: The death penalty must apply to vindicate justice and to offer some measure of deterrence from horrific hate crimes happening again and again.
BRIAN SCHREIBER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, JCC OF GREATER PITTSBURGH: For us, I think 10/27 is Pittsburgh's version of 9/11. It's a day that really shook the foundation of who we were as a community.
FREEMAN: Brian Schreiber is the president and CEO of the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh, which served as a makeshift command post after the shooting. He says Jewish life here has continued and persevered after the attack.
FREEMAN (on camera): Do you know at this point what justice looks like?
SCHREIBER: I don't. I know that it is going to be grueling for those families that lost loved ones for a process that has taken four and a half years to get here and will take a number of months to go. But they're also stronger together and they do not feel like they have
to take that journey by themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREEMAN: Now, Brianna, we also heard from one witness today. I want to describe a little bit of what we heard on the stand. It was testimony from a 911 call center operator.
She stayed on the line with Bernese Simon. She was one of the victims who died in this attack almost five years ago.
And that 911 call was actually played. It was harrowing. You could hear her say, "I'm scared to death," before you ultimately hear gunshots and then that line goes silent -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Yes, testifying, she said she could hear her being shot. It was harrowing.
Danny, thank you for that report. We continue to monitor this.
Jim?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: The family of an 11-year-old -- this one here -- has filed a federal lawsuit against the Mississippi police officer who shot him.
Earlier this month, you may remember Aderrien Murray called 911 at his mother's request after her ex-boyfriend entered their home. The responding police officer entered the house and shot the child in the chest.
That bullet fractured his ribs, lacerated his liver, and made his lung collapse, which meant he then had to be put on a ventilator.
The family is demanding that the officer involved be fired and charged. Next hour, I will speak with their attorney about the potential next steps in this case.
Boris?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Still ahead, time's up for Elizabeth Holmes. The disgraced founder of a biotech startup arrived hours ago to begin her new life at a prison in Texas.
[13:38:39]
Plus, a big step forward for China's ambitious space program, sending civilian astronauts to its own space station. More details, straight ahead.
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[13:43:16]
SANCHEZ: You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Here's a look at some of the other headlines we're following this hour.
A Virginia cruise ship is returning to Norfolk, following an unsuccessful search for a passenger who went overboard.
Carnival Cruise says its security footage shows the passenger falling over the water after leaning over his balcony in a state room around 4:00 a.m. But he wasn't reported missing until late Monday afternoon.
The incident took place nearly 200 miles off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida.
Also, China has successfully sent another manned mission into space. The rocket docked at China's space station this morning after a six- and-a-half-hour flight.
The crew includes an aeronautics professor, the first civilian that China has sent into space. They're going to be relieving astronauts who have been at the recently built station since last November.
Just as China is heading out into space, the capsule carrying a private Axiom-2 mission is on its way back to earth, returning to the International Space Station.
The crew was made up of a former NASA astronaut and three paying customers, including the first two Saudi astronauts in space. They spent much of the last eight days conducting experiments and working on plans to build private modules on the space station.
Jim?
SCIUTTO: I love the way the capsules now, they're doing it all on tablets. It kind of feels like we can do it. We'll see.
Well, Elizabeth Holmes has reported to a federal prison in Bryan, Texas. This is video of her arrival there just moments ago. The disgraced tech executive founded the now-defunct blood testing startup, Theranos.
In November, a judge sentenced her to more than 11 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy, after she raised many millions of dollars from investors by making false claims about her company.
[13:45:02]
CNN's Rosa Flores, she's live in Bryan, Texas.
Rosa, of course, she was once an icon of the tech world. She had many high-profile investors who put up many millions of dollars. Of course, the plan -- the company itself turned out to be a fraud.
What can she now expect behind bars? And for how long?
ROSA FLOES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, let me take you through that. Our cameras were rolling, Jim, when she turned herself in.
It was 12:17 when an SUV drove up to the gates of the federal facility that you see behind me. They parked in a -- visitor parking. Shortly thereafter, Elizabeth Holmes walked out of that vehicle, turning herself into authorities.
If you look closely behind me, you'll see, there's no barbed wire in the front of this facility. This is a minimum-security facility for female inmates. The population is just over 600.
Now, Holmes had delayed her surrender to authorities for weeks. We know that she was supposed to surrender on April 27th.
But just a few days before that, she filed an appeal through her attorneys asking that a judge allow her to be free on bail while she fought her conviction. Well, that was denied.
Her attorneys reset her surrender date to May 30th. And that's why we are here today. We were able to witness Elizabeth Holmes walking into this federal facility.
Now, what can she expect while she's here? There's an 82-page handbook that kind of spells out what she will be doing from now on.
The first thing, according to this handbook, happens is she will get a social and medical screening.
It also says that every inmate has to maintain a job. The pay is up to 40 cents. It appears to be per hour. It is not clear, based on that handbook.
It also says that inmates who are first admitted into this facility will first serve in the food service area of the facility.
It goes on to say, Jim, a lot of the things that she will be experiencing. Like she will have to wake up at 6:00 a.m. every morning, make her bed. Mop her floor, take out her own trash.
She'll be wearing an I.D. that has her name, that identifies her at any point in time.
She does -- she is allowed to have some personal property, like photographs and magazines. She'll be able to have a radio, an MP3 player and a few other items, but not a lot of items, according to this handbook.
And lastly, she can also wear some jewelry. According to this handbook, Jim, she can wear a wedding band. But the value of that wedding band has to be under $100.
But again, the breaking news here out of Bryan, Texas, is that Elizabeth Holmes has turned herself into a federal facility -- Jim?
SCIUTTO: As far as I could tell, this video we're playing just now, she was smiling as she was greeted there by people from the prison. Is that what you saw when she walked in?
FLORES: You know, I was there, but I was shooting with my cell phone so I couldn't see. You're probably seeing a better picture than I could.
What I was able to see was the overall activity, which was the SUV driving in, parking in visitor parking. Then waiting for a moment. And then what appeared to be two guards going to her vehicle. And then she walked out, turning herself into federal authorities -- Jim?
SCIUTTO: Rosa Flores, in Bryan, Texas, thank you so much.
Brianna?
KEILAR: Jim, have you noticed how happy Boris is today? Just off- camera here in the studio. One -- Boris is grinning ear to ear.
SANCHEZ: Yes, yes.
KEILAR: His Miami Heat moving on to the NBA finals after --
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KEILAR: -- denying what could have been a historic comeback.
SANCHEZ: Yes, I see you, Berman. I see you, John Berman.
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[13:49:52]
KEILAR: We're going to show you what's next for them, after the break.
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SANCHEZ: The NBA finals are set and the Miami Heat have dashed the comeback dreams of the Boston faithful. The Celtics came all the way back from a 3-0 series deficit.
But with apologies to John Berman, Miami was way too much.
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ANNOUNCER: May stand eye to eye with history --
(CHEERING)
ANNOUNCER: -- and they did not blink. The Heat are going to the NBA finals.
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SANCHEZ: CNN's Patrick Snell joins us now.
Patrick, a lot of talk about how the Celtics almost made history. The Heat made history. They're the first play-in team to make it to the finals and the first eighth seed in a full season to make it to a final round.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN ANCHOR, "WORLD SPORT": Incredible stats, Boris. I know you're one very happy man today. Congrats to you.
I'll tell you what, there is work still to be done, of course. And they face, perhaps, the best team in the NBA this season.
One which has a two-time MVP, no less, in the Serbian superstar who maybe should have won his third straight this year and was also having maybe the best post-season run in NBA history. Just incredible story lines statistically speaking.
But if anyone, if anyone can go up against those odds, it is, indeed, the Heat. They have seven guys who are undrafted on this team, the most any team has ever had that made it into the NBA finals. And a lot of them are playing really important key roles.
[13:55:08]
You mentioned Kelly Martin. He was incredible this entire series.
And, of course, we have to mention the incomparable Jimmy Butler. Give him full credit. He was confident they were going to win the entire time.
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JIMMY BUTLER, MIAMI HEAT FORWARD: I'm confident. I know the work we put into it. I know what we're capable of. But nobody is satisfied. We haven't done anything.
We don't play just to win the Eastern Conference. We play to win the whole thing.
Everybody's confidence is so high. We've got to believe we can do something incredibly special. So we're going to hit the ground running when we get to Denver and I like our chances.
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SNELL: I like our chances. That's what he said. Keeping his feet firmly on the ground, though, for now, Boris.
Denver will certainly be the favorites, but Miami really has thrived on that underdog role. It's going to be great to watch it all unfold starting with game one on Thursday.
SANCHEZ: Can't wait for that, Patrick. I've got the Heat winning in three games. It's going to be a historic final.
Patrick Snell, thank you so much for that.
Heat in three, Jim?
SCIUTTO: You know, I didn't know a Miami team was in the NBA playoffs working with Boris. Have you mentioned that before, Boris?
(LAUGHTER)
SCIUTTO: It's the first I've heard.
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SCIUTTO: A little bit of a sports fan here.
Well, can the debt deal pass Congress? It faces its first test just over an hour from now. But with no plan "B," what happens if that bill that could prevent economic calamity goes down in flames? We'll have an update.
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