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Suspect Arrested In Murder Of Los Angeles Deputy; Why Some At- Home COVID Tests Don't Reveal Infection; "Champion For Change": Immigration Advocate Murel Saenz. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired September 18, 2023 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:32:56]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Now to breaking news we brought you in the last hour. A suspect has now been arrested in connection with the weekend killing of a Los Angeles County deputy.
And 30-year-old Ryan Clinkunbroomer was shot and killed as he sat inside his patrol car on Saturday.
Earlier today, a 29-year-old man was taken into police custody following a standoff after detectives had served a search warrant at a house where they found the suspect located.
CNN's Camila Bernal joins us from Palmdale.
Camila, what more do we know about the suspect and the conditions of his arrest?
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the sheriff, Robert Luna, describing it as a peaceful arrest. He said, after 36 hours, he is confident that they have the right person. He says he doesn't believe there are any other suspects in this case.
He said, he's proud of the men and women of this department who put the person -- or is putting the person behind bars who killed deputy Clinkunbroomer.
What the sheriff said here is that it is thanks to a community member who called and identified the car that he was driving, that gray Toyota Corolla, and also identified the suspect.
As you mentioned, they served the search warrant. He barricaded himself for several hours.
And the sheriff here saying that they essentially waited for hours and brought in hostage negotiators and eventually had to use chemical agent. That's when that suspect surrendered. Again, he called it peaceful.
I want you to listen to how the sheriff described it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBERT LUNA, SHERIFF, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Those Special Enforcement deputies took the time to try to de-escalate this and take this individual peacefully into custody.
When they knew that our deputy was not afforded the same opportunity. He never gave our deputy a chance.
The arrest is only one part of this. We have to get this individual prosecuted now to the full extent of the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:35:09]
BERNAL: And the sheriff also set that the D.A. promised an aggressive prosecution in this case. They also said they found several firearms when they arrested the shooter. And they say that motive is unknown at the time.
They did not want to answer a lot of questions on whether or not the two knew each other or had any interactions before the shooting. They say all of this will likely be revealed in court.
But, of course, this is a community in grieving. This was a deputy only 30 years old and had just gotten engaged. It's a family of service, father and grandfather served in this department in the community.
So everybody here is thankful that they caught the right person -- Jim?
SCIUTTO: Yes, this killing is so alarming as well.
Camila Bernal, in Palmdale, California, thanks so much.
Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Still ahead, that awkward moment when you know you have Covid but your Covid test doesn't. We're going to talk about why at-home tests sometimes show a negative result, next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
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[14:40:24]
KEILAR: Some of the headlines we're watching this hour.
In New York, the owner of an at-home day care center and one of her tenants have been charged in the death of a 1-year-old boy.
Police say the baby died after being exposed to fentanyl at the facility. And they say that three other children showed signs of fentanyl exposure.
The prosecutor said a kilo of the drug was found in a hallway closet. The day care's operator and her tenant were arraigned on Sunday night.
Illinois becomes the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail. A new law going into effect today, after being held up by the courts. Critics of the cash bail system say it unfairly targets low-income minorities.
Decisions about whether or not to release someone will be focused on the seriousness of the charges and whether or not they're considered a danger to the public or a flight risk.
And in Florida, an injured alligator has found a new home at Gatorland in Orlando. The as yet unnamed reptile was missing the top part of his jaw when it was rescued by a trapper in central Florida. It's an injury the trapper believes may have been caused by a boat propeller.
If you want to offer up a name for the rescued gator, head on over to Gatorland's Facebook page.
My contribution, Jim, would be "Jawbone," singular.
SCIUTTO: I'm going to give you the prize then.
(LAUGHTER)
SCIUTTO: She wins.
Well, this is an experience you've likely heard from friends. They feel sick, absolutely positive they have Covid but their home tests come back negative. It has some people wondering, are the tests still effective, particularly with new variants?
CNN medical correspondent, Meg Tirrell, is here.
Meg, we've had vaccines updated, of course, for the many new variants of Covid. Are the tests updated? Do they need to be?
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, experts say they don't need to be updated specifically because the proteins targeted by that home test, typically antigen tests, so actually a different protein than the ones targeted by the vaccine.
We know the spike protein of the coronavirus, that's what the vaccines tend to recognize. Whereas the antigen tests actually go after something called the nucleocapsid proteins. So those are different. So typically, don't tend to change as much as the spike proteins.
Although our reporter, Brenda Goodwin, talked to the folks who are studying all the potential changes that they're aware and could potentially update the tests if needed.
But experts do say it's possible to test too early or that the tests may not work as well if you don't have symptoms.
So the CDC recommends, if you have symptoms, test right away, but if you're negative, test again 48 hours later. Because that will give you a more confident result, essentially, that you really are negative. They say if you've been exposed, you should wait five days to test. If
you're negative then, wait another 48 hours. If you're still negative, wait another 48 hours and test a third time.
And that's because they have data showing that you really do get best results and more detection if you test repeatedly over a few days.
They looked at a study both with people with symptoms and without. With symptoms, testing on day one, you get about 60 percent detection. If you test a few days later, that goes up to 90 percent.
If you look at people without symptoms, it's 9 percent on day one. And on the third day, up to 75 percent. That's why you keep testing.
SCIUTTO: Just quickly, that's a lot of tests. Some of these tests are not cheap if you buy them at your local pharmacy. Are they still available for free somewhere?
TIRRELL: They're still available. They're not as easy to get for free. They start at $8 if you get the overly-the-counter antigen test.
Some insurance still covers them but since the end of the health emergency, that really has changed. You have to check with your insurance provider. If you're uninsured, you can still get free tests.
SCIUTTO: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much.
Boris?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: So this week on CNN, we're showing stories of amazing people we call "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE." For my champion, she's making an impact on an issue that's personal for me. That story's next.
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[14:48:53]
SANCHEZ: All this week on CNN, we are bringing you stories about everyday people who are making a big difference in the world. We call them "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE."
My champion and I have a very similar background. See, I became a journalist, in large part, because of my grandfather. He was a revolutionary in Cuba, a bearded guerilla fighter seeking to bring democracy to the island.
Ultimately, his desire for freedom and free expression led him to a sentence of 20 years in prison. His story inspired me as a kid to do what I'm doing right now, to work in a free press.
Just like my family, people all over the world are fleeing repressive regimes, seeking asylum in the United States for the same reason.
That why my "CHAMPION FOR CHANGE" is Muriel Saenz, who is doing everything she can to help. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: I was three years old when my family came to the United States from Cuba. We landed in Miami actually on my birthday.
What brought my family to the United States was a desire for freedom.
JOSE SANCHEZ, FATHER OF BORIS SANCHEZ (through translation): There's something very basic, very important that the human being needs. That is freedom.
[14:50:02]
SANCHEZ: My grandfather watched many of his friends either get beat up in the streets, incarcerated or disappear, simply for wanting to bring democracy to Cuba. So he took up arms and went into the mountains and became a guerilla fighter.
J. SANCHEZ: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SANCHEZ: Soon after the revolution, he realized that it wasn't headed in that direction.
J. SANCHEZ: (through translation): It was the complete opposite. A very repressive government. It is he is very painful.
SANCHEZ: So decided that he would speak out against it, and for that, he was punished. It led him to being sentenced to 20 years in prison.
J. SANCHEZ: (through translation): Many companions were put to death for the same.
SANCHEZ: Just like my grandfather, there are, to this day, so many people around the world that are seeking refuge, that are being persecuted and Muriel Saenz helping those folks.
MURIEL SAENZ, IMMIGRANT ADVOCATE & "CHAMPION FOR CHANGE": I have become a Texas fully. When I left Nicaragua, I was 14. I was adopted into this country. It has been a very good life here.
SANCHEZ: Until April 2018?
SAENZ: Yes, April 2018 changed my life completely.
(SHOUTING)
SANCHEZ: (voice-over): In 2018, the government in Nicaragua made a series of controversial decisions that led to an outpouring of protests and demonstrations in the streets. The government cracked down and hundreds were killed.
SAENZ: All of these flashbacks of what happened when I was little started coming to me and they diagnosed me with moderate to severe PTSD.
I did live through the revolution in Nicaragua in 1979. I was 10 years old. It was just very scary.
I went to therapy but the therapy wasn't helping me. I started helping other people. And I got very active on Twitter and Facebook. And I started receiving pictures of people that had been tortured or shot, people asking for me for help.
SANCHEZ: Muriel quit her job as an OK Pages occupational therapist to focus on this full time.
SAENZ: I help them feel out their application for asylum. When I take down their testimony and the reasons for asylum, it is very hard on them, having for them to say how they were attacked or brutalized.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SANCHEZ: It was call after call after call, all while sitting there in front of her through the span of 10 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SAENZ: (through translation): Lawyers are really expensive. And these people have fled their countries with the clothes they have. They have no money, so that's where I come in, translating their documents and then later on helping them with the work permit.
SANCHEZ: She tells them where food pantries are, where they can find medical services, where their kids can get medical supplies. She has given assistance to over 1,000 asylum seekers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translation): Never in my life, never, ever have I thought of leaving Nicaragua and living in another country.
We went out to protest and there were kilometers of people. We thought by protesting we would be able to solve it.
They ambushed me, shot at me, stoned me. I made 60, 70, 80 calls every day looking for an organization that would help me.
They gave me Muriel's contact number and Muriel helped me.
Muriel was an angel. I am here. I have been here for years. I have a work permit. She did everything I needed to take my case to immigration.
(LAUGHTER)
SAENZ: If I can make it a little better and have that pain not be there, then I want to be part of that.
SANCHEZ: Muriel Saenz is a "CHAMPION FOR CHANGE" because she is changing lives. She is opening a door for people that are incredibly desperate for freedom and giving them an opportunity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: So Muriel says the panic attacks tied to her PTSD are now a thing of her past.
And she's really incredible. She went back to school to become a court representative so she can open an immigration clinic and help some of the asylum seekers in court.
What strikes me are the similarities between her story, the local story and my own family's story. It is one story.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
SANCHEZ: It is the story of this country since its birth. And it is a story I hope we never stop telling.
SCIUTTO: And it is also a story, the challenge that your grandfather faced and your father fleeing the country that's still very present, certainly if Cuba to this day.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SCIUTTO: But certainly, like Nicaragua, this is a struggle for so many people. Why do they want to come to the states? Perhaps to get the freedom you have been able to enjoy.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: In the case of Muriel, so many times, she is never meeting the people she is helping, right?
SANCHEZ: Yes. But she has helped about 1,000 or so. She's never met many of them. We were fortunate to have her come to Miami and meet locals for the first time.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And it was funny because he didn't know that she had that background, that her father was actually a political prisoner in Nicaragua and was tortured.
[14:55:03]
When he found out all of that, it kind of hit him that there's this person out there who has been through it and is helping others to do the same.
SCIUTTO: Well, you got to interview your dad, too.
(CROSSTALK)
SCIUTTO: That was pretty cool.
KEILAR: Yes. How was that?
SANCHEZ: It was intense. I'm not going to lie. By the end of it, we were both crying. I'm not sure he wanted me to say it on TV.
(CROSSTALK) KEILAR: You didn't put that in the piece.
SANCHEZ: We didn't put that in the piece. We didn't have time. By the end of --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: -- something really special. It's the story of the American dream. And it's worth --
(CROSSTALK)
SCIUTTO: I will just throw out he is probably proud of you.
SANCHEZ: I hope so.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
SANCHEZ: I hope so.
Even though he was in the studio early on when we launched and holding his camera with the light on, he was flashing it in Brianna's face.
KEILAR: Because he was so --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So I apologize for that.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Shout-out to my dad and also to the Cuban Museum who let us shoot there.
So CNN will be sharing stories from our "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE" series all week long. Be sure to tune in this Saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern for the "CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE" one-hour special. It features all of this year's CNN champions.
Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We are back in just a few minutes.
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