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Judge to Sentence Ex-Proud Boys Chairman; Elana Schor is Interviewed about the Debt Race; More Possible BTK Victims Identified; NYC Restrictions on Rentals. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 05, 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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[09:31:04]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hours from now the longest sentence yet could be handed down against a former Proud Boys leader for his role in helping to plan the January 6th riot at U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors have asked that Enrique Tarrio be sentenced to 33 years behind bars for seditious conspiracy.

Let's get over to CNN's Sara Murray. She's watching this one for us and she has more details.

What can we expect to happen from -- with the judge today?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I think if you look at what happened to the other Proud Boys who have already been sentenced, Enrique Tarrio faces potentially a very stiff sentence for, as you pointed out, this seditious conspiracy conviction. If you look at, again, some of the Proud Boys who have already been sentenced, people like Dominic Pezzola, he faced 10 years behind bars, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, all of these folks have faced upwards of 15 years behind bars for their conviction.

Again, prosecutors have asked for 33 years in this case. So far the judge has been hesitant to go that far. But Enrique Tarrio is someone who served as the long-time chairman of the Proud Boys. He actually wasn't in Washington, D.C., on January 6th. He had already been arrested on a different issue and told to leave the city. But prosecutors in the indictment and in the trial against him painted a picture of how the Proud Boys sort of played an organizational role behind the attack on January 6th. They pointed out these messages where Tarrio suggests he's preparing for a revolution in the run-up to January 6th. So, we will see what the judge has to say about his sentence today, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

It's great to see you, Sara. Thank you so much. We'll be tracking that closely today.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate is back at work today. At the top of the to-do list, keeping the government up and running. A shutdown could be less than four weeks away. The health of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also in question after the Republican senator has frozen twice in front of reporters this summer.

With us now is Elana Schor, deputy managing editor for Congress at "Politico."

So nice to see you.

We talk about the possibility of a shutdown. And I know the Senate's not actually one of the primary actors here. It's more of a House thing. But what are the ingredients that could lead the government to shut down?

ELANA SCHOR, DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR FOR CONGRESS, "POLITICO": Well, actually, John, the Senate is an increasingly big player here because Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is preparing to bring up his own spending bills to try to essentially get a leg up on the House in this fight to position. Essentially, both chambers are wanting to project the image of having the spending process under control. But conservatives are all the way to the right. The Senate is more where the debt deal was struck in the spring with President Joe Biden. And it really remains to be seen who will have that proverbial leg up as we head towards September 30th.

BERMAN: House Republicans, what are they pushing for? Not necessarily the House Republican leadership, but some of the back benchers. What is it that they want that could lead to the shutdown?

SCHOR: A lot of things, John. First of all, they want cuts -- significantly hundreds of billions of dollars below those levels agreed to in the debt deal, pairing things much further back than even the Republican establishment in the House wants to go. They also want a series of what we call policy writers. Essentially specific restrictions on government agencies that are baked into these spending bills, cutting back diversity programs at the Pentagon, other kind of social, more culture war focused issues they also want to stick in these bills. And, frankly, there's -- it's just a nonstarter with the Senate. So, here we are.

BERMAN: Politically speaking, who's got the most at stake here?

SCHOR: Absolutely Kevin McCarthy. I mean he is hanging by a thread in terms of his control over his majority given that he only has a five- seat advantage and he has a bloc of upwards of a dozen conservatives who want to extract things. So, he's going to needs to keep his right flank on side. And even though he might be able to get some Democratic help to pass more establishment-looking spending bills, he can't really afford to do that because at any point his conservatives could rebel and force a vote to oust him.

[09:35:10]

So, he's really in a tough spot here.

BERMAN: So, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has now frozen twice, both times in front of reporters. This is something that many people have seen. Back at work today with his fellow Republicans, who elected him to be the minority leader overwhelmingly. And he's been on the phone with many of them over the last several days.

But what to watch for there in terms of Mitch McConnell?

SCHOR: Well, he's already projected and told us, I'm going to stick to my routine schedule, which involves a fair amount of in-person meetings with the press. But, of course, John, this creates the risk of another public freeze up. So, what everyone will be watching for is how lucid, how eloquent does he appear in front of the cameras this week when senators are back because even the slightest sign of another slip-up could make this talk even louder. And even though he's in a relatively strong position now, sometimes it just takes, you know, a third episode, which makes it feel more like a pattern.

BERMAN: Do we know for certain that we will see him as much as we normally do in the run of business?

SCHOR: You know, he says we will, but we'll have to see, right? It's important, I think, for him to, again, project strength starting into this work period, saying I'm going to be out there being my normal self, but we'll honestly just have to see.

BERMAN: Elana Schor, great talking to you. Thank you so much for coming on.

SCHOR: Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, law enforcement officials say that these drawings from the BTK serial killer may unlock some crucial information in several cold case investigations. An Oklahoma sheriff now saying that they may have already identified another possible victim.

And also this just in to CNN, lawyers for Alec Murdaugh, the man convicted of murdering his wife and son, his attorneys for him are now asking for new trial. The new allegations of jury tampering.

We'll be back.

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[09:41:25]

BERMAN: This morning, a major, new development following a CNN exclusive on one of the country's most notorious serial killers. Investigators say they've identified a female depicted in drawings made by the convicted BTK killer. BTK, that was the name that Dennis Rader gave himself. It means, bind, torture and kill. Rader pleaded guilty to ten murders that took place from the 1970s to the 1990s in Wichita, Kansas. He is serving ten consecutive life sentences in a state prison. But authorities believe Rader may be linked to cold cases in Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. CNN's Jean Casarez exclusively obtained a journal and drawings kept by

Rader. And now one of those drawings might have led to this breakthrough. And Jean joins us now.

This was your exclusive reporting. And now there might be a major development based on that.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's fascinating because once Rader confessed to ten in the Wichita area, he lawyered up and he never talked again. So, everything just sort of stopped then and there. They did (ph) the research but they didn't find anything.

An Oklahoma sheriff in Osage County decided in January, I've got unsolved females that went missing during the time Rader was murdering. And I'm going to look into these. And he gave us these drawings exclusively to CNN of females in barns. And I think we have them to show people. These are drawings that were from Rader's journal that we have received.

And what the sheriff is saying, and his Osage County Sheriff's Department, is that the detail with the females in their faces, what they are wearing, the detail in the barns, and in a digital piece on CNN, we explain the aspects of this barn that could give people clues of barns that are currently standing or not standing because they believe that victims are in barns.

Now, listen to this, John. Over the weekend, they got so many tips and so many calls, and they do believe that the female that is in the green, they believe they have identified her. They are not saying anymore than that. They are conducting a lot of interviews. But there is more to come on this. And so that would mean, if they do identify her, as they think they have, these are real victims that are unaccounted for. That would be part of the killing spree of Dennis Rader.

Dennis Rader's public defender has no comment at this point. But Kerri Rawson, who is the daughter of Dennis Rader, has gone to prison a couple of times, working with law enforcement, trying to get him to talk.

I have been speaking with her. I interviewed her. I want you to listen to what Kerri Rawson told me.

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KERRI RAWSON, DENNIS RADER'S DAUGHTER: He's in a wheelchair. He has no teeth left. And he went from this like vivacious man that was hiking with me right before he was arrested, to like an elderly man. If he's innocent on these, I will defend him. If he is guilty, I will nail him to the wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now, separate and distinct from that, is Cynthia Dawn Kinney. She went missing in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, 1976, from a laundromat. She was a high school girl. She was a cheerleader. She was never seen again. That's her right there. Her family is still alive. John, they got a phone call in 1976, after she went missing, and a male voice said, you're going to find her in a barn.

BERMAN: Oh.

CASAREZ: Law enforcement went to one barn, we understand. They didn't find anything. And that was it. But we know Dennis Rader had a modus operandi that he would call law enforcement, television stations, newspapers, and in his own voice tell them where to find victims.

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BERMAN: Jean, first of all, these drawings are so chilling and so disturbing. I want to acknowledge that as we put them on the screen here. But also by showing them, it may have already made this difference. We're talking about murders decades old now. And now the possibility of closure for some of these families.

CASAREZ: Absolutely, closure for families, family members that never knew what happened. And Dennis Rader, sitting in El Dorado Correctional Facility there continuing this. They hope that he will, at this point, admit to anything he was involved in. And if he didn't, once again, you are innocent until proven guilty.

BERMAN: Remarkable reporting, Jean, again, on a disturbing subject. But thank you for your work on this.

CASAREZ: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and you're so right, these are drawings of real women that have been bound and are being held, how terrifyingly chilling those are. It's important to point that out, John.

Coming up for us, today is the day that thousands of Airbnb rentals are about to be locked out in New York City. What's forcing them to disappear and why now?

Also, a wild moment. A peer packed with people in Wisconsin just collapses. What happened and how they're all doing now.

We'll be back.

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[09:50:20]

BERMAN: Six people were injured after a pier collapsed on the University of Wisconsin's campus. You can see the thing just give way. The pier was holding 60 to 80 people. Police arrived on the scene when they found dozens of people swimming back to shore. One person was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The other five were treated at released at the scene.

Attorneys for former South Carolina lawyer Alec Murdaugh say they are filing a motion for a new trial based on what they're calling discovered evidence. Murdaugh was convicted for murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, back in March. He is currently serving two life sentences for those crimes. Murdaugh's team says they plan to appeal his conviction shortly after the sentencing and now they will hold a press conference later today.

So, an incredible season opener for the Duke Blue Devils. They beat the number nine ranked Clemson Tigers 28-7. Duke dominated in front of a roaring home crowd at Wallace Wade Stadium. In the game, Duke was down 7-6 at half time. But in the third quarter, quarterback Riley Leonard broke out for an amazing 44-yard touchdown run. It was all the momentum the Blue Devils needed to take down Clemson and seal the huge week one upset.

I'm not exactly clear what made this upset worthy of our news this morning, Kate. The number nine going down. I feel like maybe Duke paid for that reader right there, or we have someone from Duke in the control run. But congratulations to the Blue Devils nevertheless. We will keep you posted if any of the top 20 fall in the next few weeks.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Can't you just be excited that college football season is upon us once again. I mean that's - that's the headline, college football season is upon us and I get to go see a Michigan game this weekend.

BERMAN: Nice.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, John Berman.

All right, let's turn to this.

If you were looking to make a quick trip to New York City, you might find it even harder to book a place to stay right now. Strict new regulations on short-term rentals are kicking in today. And they are going to have a real impact on popular sites like Airbnb, if you can't tell, over my shoulder.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has the details on this. She's joining us now.

So, Vanessa, what is going on here?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of rentals on Airbnb today, gone, because of this new local law 18 here in New York City, which basically says if you want to rent on Airbnb sites like Airbnb, you have to register with the city of New York.

So, here's what we're looking at. We're looking at possibly 70 percent of the 23,000 active listings on Airbnb gone starting today.

BOLDUAN: Wow! That's a lot.

YURKEVICH: Significant. And here's what this new law says. if you want to be a short-term renter, you must register with the city. And if you do not, you can only rent for 30 days or more. If you become a short- term renter, according to the city, you have to be present in the apartment as you're renting to folks, and you can only have two people in the apartment renting through Airbnb. This is going to displace a lot of families, obviously, who come to the city and who want to experience New York City and stay in Airbnbs.

Now, of course, Airbnb, not happy with this at all. They say that in 2022 they made $85 million off rentals, many of them short-term, probably most of them short-term, here in the city of New York.

And they're saying, listen, OK, this goes into effect today for our renters. Here's what's going to happen. If you've made a - if you made a rental before today, and that rental is before December 1st, you're good. You can still stay in that rental in New York City. If that rental, however, is scheduled to be after December 2nd, you're going to get a refund and you have to start all over again and look again.

If you're a host who did not receive that city ID number, you can only rent for 30 days or more. That's going to be an automatic on Airbnb. However, a lot of renters on Airbnb only have it set up so you can do a weekend stay, you know, while you're out of town.

BOLDUAN: Of course.

YURKEVICH: Now, here's the thing though, this policy is slow. A lot of people, thousands of people, have applied. About 3,200 people have applied for this program to become a short-term renter. According to the city, just 260 applications have been approved.

So, that is a very slow pace getting people into these short-term rental programs. This will also impact VRBO, Booking.com.

BOLDUAN: All of them. Yes.

YURKEVICH: Not just Airbnb.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

YURKEVICH: The reason why we're talking about Airbnb is because they did sue the city over this, but a judge dismissed the case.

BOLDUAN: So, what is the city saying about this? Why is the city doing this?

YURKEVICH: It's about affordability. When you have short-term rental, you take the opportunity away from long-term renters. So, people who want to live in the city long-term cannot do that because those apartments are off the market.

[09:55:02]

So, it's supply and demand. If you have a greater supply of apartments available for people who want to live here longer, the price goes down on those apartments. The city is saying that this is a crackdown on making it more affordable to live here in New York City.

BOLDUAN: It's definitely a crackdown on something. I mean this is going to have a real impact starting very, very shortly for a lot of people.

YURKEVICH: Huge. Huge.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for bringing that to us, Vanessa. Really appreciate it.

YURKEVICH: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right, just in, authorities expanding the search for an escaped killer. There are new pictures, new clues, a new search area. Schools closing in the region. We'll have a live update straight ahead.

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BOLDUAN: The search area for an escaped killer is expanding this morning.

[10:00:02]

Police just announced that he's been spotted on a surveillance camera in a botanical garden. So, why authorities are hopeful they are now