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Marine Veteran Trevor Reed Wounded In Ukraine Fighting, 15 Months After Being Freed In Russia Prisoner Swap; Biden Unveils New Steps To Expand Access To Mental Health Care; Republicans Flag Politicization Claims To Judge in Hunter Biden Case Ahead Of Plea Hearing; Search Of Home Of Gilgo Beach Murder Suspect Ends. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 25, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The State Department has now confirmed that Trevor Reed, a Marine veteran who was wrongly detained in Russia for nearly three years before being released in a prisoner swap was wounded while fighting in Ukraine. The State Department emphasizing that Reed was not fighting on behalf of the U.S. government. Let's get to the Pentagon now and CNN's Natasha Bertrand is following the latest details for us, So, Natasha, where is Trevor Reed at the moment?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Boris, we understand that currently Reed is in Germany receiving medical treatment. We don't know exactly when or how he was injured. But we do know that he was transported to a local hospital in Kyiv before then being evacuated to an NGO to Germany. Now we don't know the same of this nongovernmental organization, and we don't know what Reed's condition is at this moment, whether his injuries are very serious or not.

But we do know that this was not an operation, of course, carried out by the U.S. military, even though Trevor Reed is a former U.S. Marine. In fact, the U.S. is taking great pains to emphasize the fact that Reed was over in Ukraine on a personal endeavor. This is not any kind of U.S.-sponsored or government-sponsored operation. He was there as a private citizen. And the State Department reiterated today that U.S. citizens should not be going to Ukraine at all, let alone to participate in the fighting.

Now Reed was released in a prisoner swap with a convicted Russian smuggler back in April 2022, after serving nearly three years in a Russian prison. And he has been mostly in the United States since that time. He was just on our air actually, as recently as May. And he's been tweeting, of course, in the last several weeks, most recently at the end of June. So it is not known when exactly he went to Ukraine.

But look, the administration is obviously concerned about this. A U.S. official to tell us there are of course, ongoing considerations with regard to other hostages that are currently in Russian custody. And that it may not be the best look for Trevor Reed to have been fighting in Ukraine. So they are of course, concerned about how this could affect ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Russia when it comes to other prisoners.

The U.S. official emphasized to us though that, quote, this was something an individual did of their own volition and should be treated entirely separately from the negotiation for the release of Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan.

Who are two American citizens currently being held by the Russians. So we're still waiting for an update, Boris, on Trevor Reed's condition. But we are told that currently he is in Germany receiving medical care -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Natasha Bertrand at the Pentagon, thank you so much -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Happening right now, President Biden is rolling out new steps to guarantee access to mental health care. The proposed White House rule would close a loophole and require insurance providers to include medical benefits that mirror the physical health benefits in their coverage plans.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the White House. Jeremy, that sounds significant because everyone's dealt with insurance companies who sometimes make it difficult to make claims for certain things. You can explain exactly how this would work and when it would take effect?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the bottom line here, Jim, is that the administration says that insurance companies basically don't cover by and large mental health care the same way that they cover physical health care. That people are more than likely to have to go out of network as one example when seeking mental health care than they do with physical health care.

And the president is speaking right now on this topic, one of the things that he just said, is that look, mental health care is health care. He said, I don't know what the difference is between a broken arm and mental health care because they are both health care at the end of the day.

So this new proposed rule that the president is rolling out today is seeking to establish more parity between the mental health care services in the physical health services that private insurance companies provide.

[15:35:00]

It's going to require them to evaluate their insurance plans right now by looking at certain benchmarks. Such as provider's in-network capacity for mental versus physical health care. And then it's going to require some of those plans to improve the access to mental health care that they provide. Including expanding the number of mental health care providers who are in network for that plan. And also reducing red tape, such as prior authorizations that certain people face when they try and seek mental health care.

Now this of course addresses this broad issue of mental health care which President Biden includes as part of his unity agenda during the previous State of the Union address. And it's certainly something that the president hopes will appeal to Americans across the country and also something that he believes addresses a very serious and much needed problem right now, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, when we see mental health care issues rising across the country -- Jim.

SANCHEZ: Goodness, gun violence, with drug abuse, a whole host, even kids' social media use. It's so front and center. Jeremy Diamond at the White House, thanks so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, Hunter Biden is set to plead guilty tomorrow to two tax misdemeanors. Why a key House Republican is now sending a letter to the presiding judge in that case.

And later, history made in the pool. Swimming superstar Katie Ledecky just tied one of Michael Phelps records. We'll have the details for you in just a few minutes.

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SANCHEZ: One day before Hunter Biden is set to plead guilty to a pair of federal tax misdemeanors, House Republicans are urging the judge in the case to consider potential political interference claims made by two IRS whistleblowers. In an appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee those whistleblowers allege that the probe into President Biden's son was tainted by political interference. CNN's Sara Murray joins us now. so Sara, what do we know about this new material that was submitted and how might that impact the judge's decision making?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, it's up to this judge tomorrow to accept this plea deal and ultimately to decide Hunter Biden's sentence. Even though we said prosecutors in this case to ask for probation. So what we're seeing from Congressman Jason Smith -- he's the chair of the Ways and Means Committee -- is essentially an urging, a push to the judge to say, please take note of these political interference claims that we have heard from IRS whistleblowers.

Here's what Smith said in his letter to the judge.

He said: The committee member has been made aware that the defendant appears to have benefited from political interference which calls into question the propriety of the investigation of the U.S. Attorney's office. They go on to say: In interest of full transparency and fairness for all citizens, it's critical for the court to have this relevant information when evaluating the plea agreement.

That would be a pretty extraordinary move to see the judge come out and this reject miss plea deal. But I think this is an effort by Republicans to sort of get their side of the story, the whistleblower side of the story, into the mix. Even though we've have seen David Weis, the U.S. attorney in this case, wrote a number of letters to The Hill, debunking a variety of the claims the IRS whistleblowers have made. Even saying he's willing to come up and testify in the next couple of months because he wants to set the record straight on a couple of these issues. SANCHEZ: We'll be watching the proceedings tomorrow closely, Sara

Murray, thank you so much -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Here's some of the other headlines we are watching this hour.

President Biden just signed a proclamation creating a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till Mobley. It will be spread over three different sites, in Mississippi and Illinois -- significant to his life story. Till was just 14 years old when he was beaten and shot to death for allegedly whistling at a white woman who later recanted her story. An all-white jury convicted his killers, but till's murder helped galvanize the civil rights movement. CNN's Sara Sidner spoke to Emmett Till's cousin about the significance of this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH WATTS, EMMETT TILL'S COUSIN: It's an exciting time and it's one that I think well overdue. We know that it's time that we even have a seat at the table, that our family has a seat at the table. So that the erasure, the reimagining of the truth is not retold in a way that it removes the dignity, the sacrifice and of the horrific nature of what happened here because we don't want that repeated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The jury, of course, acquitted Till's killers. Today would have been Emmett Till's 82nd birthday.

Plus, U.S. home prices continue to rebound, rising for the fourth consecutive month in May. Chicago, Cleveland and New York prices rose the most. However year-over-year prices decline, down just about .5 percent from May of last year.

And swimming superstar Katie Ledecky continues to collect titles and make history. She's now tied Michael Phelps. That Michael Phelps, for the most individual world swimming titles with 15. Ledecky won the 1500-meter free style in Japan by a whopping 17 seconds. Boris, I couldn't do that in a boat.

SANCHEZ: Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Quote, a massive amount of material, that's what officials say they found inside the home of the Gilgo Beach serial killing suspect. The latest on the investigation moments away.

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SCIUTTO: The latest now in New York's Gilgo Beach serial murder case. The Suffolk County D.A. says an exhaustive day long search of prime suspect Rex Heuermann's home is over. He said investigators obtained a trove of evidence that will, quote, take some time to review. At the same time, a former escort who went out with Heuermann in 2015 says she at least is convinced he is the serial killer. She said their date was going fine until something really strange happened. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIKKI BRASS, DATED GILGO BEACH KILLINGS SUSPECT REX HEUERMANN: It didn't get weird until he asked me if I was a true crime fan. It was when he said, well do you know about the Gilgo Beach murders?

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: He brought it up?

BRASS: Yeah, he said -- he said to me exactly, do you know about the Gilgo Beach murders? And I was like, yeah, I'm from Long Island. Everybody from Long Island knows about them. You know what I mean. And that's when he started talking about it.

But here is the thing. When he brought it up, his whole demeanor changed. He sat up straighter, you know, he had like a smirk on his face. He seemed almost like too excited to talk about it. And then once he did start talking about it, it didn't seem like a true crime fan who just knows information they've seen on TV or read. It seemed like someone who was reliving it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Wow. That is frightening. CNN's Jean Casarez is here with more on the investigation. So Jean, did the D.A. share anything about what was recovered at the home?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, he spoke a lot and there were a lot of questions. 12 days of collecting potential evidence. But I want to show you what is happening right now. Because look behind me. It looks like it's just routine city maintenance, right? They're installing a camera up there because there is going to be 24-hour police presence at this home for some time. They do not want this home disturbed at all.

And the district attorney, as he was talking about what was collected, he used words like just an immense amount of items were collected. And then he said that they have to be catalogued and then they have to be analyzed. And they're going into the hands of the task force. But beyond that the forensic experts really have to get involved to test this evidence. He said they're looking for trace evidence. They're looking for DNA. They're looking for hairs out of that home. And that they collected everything. It was very cluttered home, they said. Because there was so much that they had to look at.

Now as far as the backyard, he said there was sonar and they did that work. But they didn't find anything. But he did say that there needs to be an analysis of trace evidence from that search. So -- and then they kept asking about the vault -- reporters kept asking. You know, what did you find in the vault? Well for the first time it was confirmed 279 firearms were found. But that is not necessarily the cause of death. It's homicidal violence and these were remains that were found.

But he said there were other things in the vault that were collected in the basement. But he wouldn't say what. Now I asked the question about Maureen Brainard-Barnes, who is the fourth victim of the Gilgo four. He has not been charged with her murder. But I asked, what about the hair found on her body, on her remains, is there testing of that? What do you know? Listen to his answer. It's interesting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMOND A. TIERNEY, SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This investigation is continuing with regard to Maureen Brainard-Barnes as well as other aspects of the case and that's being done in the grand jury or through the grand jury process. So I can't talk about that.

CASAREZ: Is that hair being forensically looked at in a more sophisticated way?

TIERNEY: There is testing going on with regard to the hairs that were mentioned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ (on camera): So he mentions a grand jury in conjunction with that fourth victim. And remember last week they said he's a prime suspect in her murder.

Now one last thing, they don't want the public walking around here and the police have been here all day alerting the media to spread the word. If you are caught just mulling around, looking at the house, standing in the middle of the street, you're going to be issued a summons, because they want this to return to be a quiet residential neighborhood -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: It will be hard to do. Jean Casarez -- given all we know -- thank you so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: So Skittles is rolling out a new flavor and its blah. That's next.

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SANCHEZ: This cannot be what a rainbow tastes like. And what could be the most unnecessary and just plain wrong collaborations ever. Skittles and French's mustard gave the world something that no one asked for. Mustard skittles -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, I mean, I like mustard. I like Skittles, but mustard Skittles. French's says this marriage is to honor National Mustard Day. I did not know there was one of those. Boris celebrates it every year. It falls on August 5th. The limited-edition Skittles are not for sale, have no fear. French's is going to be handing them out for free this in mustard-mobile -- in a mustard-mobile in three cities, Atlanta, New York and right here in D.C.

SANCHEZ: I'm excited to try them. Maybe. You can also go to French's website to enter your information for a chance to win some of the mustard Skittles. Jim, I entered your information.

SCIUTTO: It's so kind of you.

SANCHEZ: Many times.

SCIUTTO: I'm going to do the same for you right after the show. I mean, you've got red hots. Right?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Red Hots or spicy.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Not really pepper spicy but it's spicy.

SANCHEZ: It's got a kick to it.

SCIUTTO: Is there anything else like that? Have you tried it in muffins?

SANCHEZ: Mustard, I don't think -- maybe in a sandwich for the individual taste of mustard.

SCIUTTO: I mean, they do advertise like putting the skittles on your hot dog. I'm not sure I would do that.

SANCHEZ: That looks terrible.

I should say there is a CNN employee that loves mustard so much, a photojournalist, he keeps it in his glove compartment. It stays there for month and months in the little packets but he cannot go anywhere without mustard.

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SCIUTTO: So, I've done that with tabasco sauce.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Is that still good keeping it in the glove compartment?

SCIUTTO: Tabasco would probably kill most things.

SANCHEZ: Thanks for being with us this afternoon. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.