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U.S. Army Private Returns to U.S.; Baltimore Police End Manhunt; Doug Jones is Interviewed about Sen. Bob Menendez; Abbott Defends Busing Migrants. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 28, 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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[09:32:13]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Travis King is back on U.S. soil just after being abruptly released by North Korea. The U.S. Army private crossed into that country in July.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann is with us.

Oren, why have we learned about why the North Koreans let him go and what happens now for Private Kim?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, the short answer to your first question is, not all that much. Senior administration officials insist the U.S. didn't give anything up to secure Private Travis King's release from North Korea. And North Korea didn't give a clear explanation as to their reasoning behind this. They simply said he was expelled and that an investigation into King had been completed.

But what that investigation was based on, what they were looking for or what they found, well, North Korean state media hasn't put that sort of information out there. We know that the U.S. worked with Sweden as sort of an intermediary between the U.S. and North Korea to get him out of there, bring him to the Friendship Bridge on the Chinese border. From there he went into U.S. military custody with the U.S. defense attache to China. Was then flown from China to South Korea and landed at Joint Base San Antonio just a few hours ago.

We had learned that he spoke with his family after he exited North Korea shortly after leaving the country there. And now he will go to Brook Army Medical Center, which is where detainees are taken to help them reacclimate to life outside of detention and in the United States. So, expect a medical evaluation. Perhaps a psychiatric evaluation.

One of the key questions now is, will he face charges under the uniform code of military justice? Remember, he was AWOL, absent without leave. And officials here said that he went willfully and purposefully into North Korea of his own choice there, into an adversary state. So he could face charges. When that will happen, what those charges will be or if the army wants to go down that road, at least as of right now, those answers aren't clear.

BERMAN: Not clear yet. Keep us posted, Oren. Obviously, they may want to give him a few days to recover inside this medical facility before they make decisions like that. Thanks so much for being with us, Oren.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, after a days' long manhunt, Baltimore Police say they have caught the man accused of brutally attacking and killing a young up and coming tech CEO. Convicted felon Jason Dean Billingsley was arrested just a few hours ago. He's suspected of killing 26-year-old Pava LaPere. The tech startup CEO was found dead at her apartment building on Monday.

And our CNN's Omar Jimenez is here with us now.

I understand there's a press conference that is supposed to happen sometime this morning. We will take it as soon as we get the victim. What are you learning about this case?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so that press conference is expected to happen in about an hour and a half at this point. But this is someone that Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called extremely dangerous as this manhunt began.

And it was in the overnight hours that Baltimore Police - that they announced that they had arrested Jason Billingsley.

[09:35:07]

As we understand, according to one of our affiliates, this was at a train station between Baltimore and D.C. But the important part for them is that he is in custody.

Now, he is accused, or he's suspected of killing the 26-year-old Baltimore-based tech CEO, Pava LaPere. As I mentioned before, she was initially reported missing Monday and then her body was found dead.

And while police were searching for Billingsley, her father was helping lead a vigil for people in that community who obviously loved LaPere. But also the way he described her, saying that she went from daddy's little girl into being a girl boss. And that she was an early riser, just like him, and that they would have conversations in the early morning hours. And he said that her presence will never leave the city. She, of course, was 26 years old, just named to Forbes' "30 under 30" for her social impact.

Now, as for this suspect, the person suspected of killing her, not only is -- has he been arrested in this case, but we learned from police that he was actually a suspect in a separate attempted murder and arson case from just last week, about a mile away from where this body was found. And we know he has a history, pleaded guilty to assaults in '09 and 2011. In 2015 he was sentenced to 30 years but then was released under mandatory supervision. At least that's what officials told "The New York Times." So, because of that, now police are looking over all the cases that they've had since October 2022, which was when he was released, to see if he may be connected to others as well. But, of course, that's likely all going to be part of what we learn in this press conference coming up in just about an hour and a half.

But, bottom line, he is in custody and a lot of people in that community can sleep a little bit easier tonight.

SIDNER: Yes, there's going to be a lot of controversy, I think, over that 30-year sentence and him getting out that early. We will have to keep watching this case to see what happens.

Omar Jimenez, thank you so much.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

SIDNER: John. Or Kate. Sorry, Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Some interesting new details are coming out about the investigation into the University of Idaho murders. Unsealed court documents revealing how much information prosecutors are trying to get as they build their case against murder suspect Brian Kohberger, including customer information and search details from several major tech companies. As you can see, according to the filing, prosecutors wanted, quote, "all detailed customer click activity pertaining to knives and accessories from Amazon." Kohberger is charged with killing four University of Idaho students back in November of last year. Previous court records have shown, and this is why this is all starting to be relevant and fit together, that Kohberger's DNA was found on a knife sheathe at the murder scene, but no murder weapon has been recovered.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with more and more Democratic senators calling for his resignation, Senator Bob Menendez will address his caucus behind closed doors today. We've got new information on what he plans to say and who is saying nice things about him.

Minutes from now, the first official hearing of the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. So far there's been no direct evidence the president profited off of his son's business dealings. Will today be any different?

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[09:42:39]

BOLDUAN: Today, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, he's back on Capitol Hill, where he will soon be addressing his fellow Democrats behind closed doors. Now, these are the same Democrats that a majority of them have now publicly called on Menendez to resign from the Senate, to resign his seat. He pleaded not guilty yesterday in federal court. Federal investigators say that he and his wife took hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars and bribes from three businessmen to help them and also to help the Egyptian government. Remember, Menendez has been the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Menendez has said he will be fully exonerated. He has said he is innocent of these serious charges against him. But that has not stopped, as I mentioned, his colleagues, some of whom have served with him for decades, from saying that it's time for him to go. At least 30 of them so far.

Joining us now for more on this is one of his former Democratic colleagues, former Democratic senator from Alabama, Doug Jones.

Senator, thank you for coming in.

You have said that you believe that Menendez should resign now. He was asked this week why he has not resigned. And he bristled at that. He said, because I'm innocent. Do you think it hurts Democrats in the Senate, in Congress, writ large, if he continues to hold out?

DOUG JONES (D), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: I think it hurts the Senate. I don't necessarily think it hurts Democrats. I think it hurts the institution of the Senate and I do think it hurts Congress. I mean right now, you know, Congress, the Senate, the House are in low esteem in the American public's eye. They have been for some time. And it's because of so much of the dysfunction and there are a lot of reasons for that.

But I think that, you know, there is an element of public trust here, which is different than, I think, than whether or not someone is guilty or not guilty of a criminal violation. And so I think it hurts the institution. I don't think it will hurt Democrats electorally, but I do think it hurts the institution of the Senate.

BOLDUAN: And we have now, you know, 30 Democratic senators, majority now, calling on him to step aside. And he's going to go and speak with the group, the caucus, behind closed doors today in this -- in this meeting.

You've been in these gatherings, of course, these caucus meetings before. And there have been times of very tough conversations amongst the senators.

[09:45:02]

What's it going to be like in that room?

JONES: Well, I think it's going to be both tense, but I also think it's going to be somewhat emotional. And, you know, the way the Senate is set these days, you know, Democrats spend more time with other Democrats than they do Republicans. And you've got caucus luncheons and you've got other policy meetings and there's about three days where you really meet and you confer at committees. You do all of those things mainly with your colleagues on - in the Democratic caucus. And so you develop these friendships, you develop the respect, you develop things that I think are -- make it very difficult for those 30-some senators to come forward this weekend to say, I think there's a violation of the public trust here. I don't expect there to be a lot of minds changed on this. But I think

it's good that they can do this. I don't expect Senator Menendez to really outline a defense. I think that that would be a mistake for his criminal case to do that. But I think he will outline why he believes he can and should continue to serve. We'll see if it changes anybody's minds one way or another, including whether or not the reactions from his colleagues change his mind.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's a good -- that's an interesting point.

Changing gears a little bit, I did want to get just your take on what we saw last night from the Republican presidential primary debate. What did you learn? I mean it's two hours. It's a long format. What did you learn?

JONES: Nothing. I mean I -

BOLDUAN: Really?

JONES: There was -- there was very little that you learned. There were virtually no policy discussions. I mean, you know, candidly, Kate, this was like watching a junior high school lunchroom on a Monday where everyone was trying to one up each other about the weekend and how much fun they had. This was - it really was I don't think becoming of the Republican Party. I don't think it was becoming of the presidency.

Some of the just silly lines, I think, that came out of this, and what folks are focused on. It's time that the people just start looking at all of the policies that folks are going to do and compare that with what Joe Biden's done on this economy and how we've improved this economy over the years, and focus on how, you know, the - Joe Biden has brought the world back together to fight for democracy. You don't hear any of that, and you don't hear any criticism of the real problems that Donald Trump presents to this country, calling for the potential execution of Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, calling for violence, calling for, you know, political persecution of enemies. Nobody talks about those things. Nobody talked about Tommy Tuberville's hold on the military promotions last night. It - so, we really didn't learn very much except they like to quibble.

BOLDUAN: Biden is jumping on the heels of this debate with a speech of his own today, this afternoon, a big speech it's being billed as, about protecting democracy and protecting against the current threats against democracy today. He also - he's going to take on Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans, which he believes is the threat to democracy today. This is his first big speech about -- like this in - in about a year. And in thinking about it I'm wondering, does that mean the other things that Joe Biden has been leaning into, to connect with voters, like on the economy, like Bidenomics, that it is not working?

JONES: No, I don't think it means that at all. I just think that it means that there is also an existential threat to this country right now and it is Donald Trump's threat to democracy. And he needs to talk about that. He needs to talk about the fact of what Donald Trump is saying. And people need to believe Donald Trump when he says he will do these things to strip -- to give the federal government more power with people that believe in persecuting political rivals, those kinds of things. He needs to -- I think it's a very appropriate thing.

You know, Look, Joe Biden, for years, this is - this is a theme he has come back to his entire career. So, I think it complements what he's done for the American people, what he's doing for American labor and the working men and women of this country. It is not a substitute, it is just a compliment. And I think you're going to see that compliment going forward an awful lot. He is laying out the beginning of his campaign pitch to the American people.

BOLDUAN: And we'll see that this afternoon.

Doug Jones, it's good to see you. Thank you.

SIDNER: As buses of thousands of migrants continue to come to New York from Texas, Governor Greg Abbott is calling out New York, saying the city is only dealing with a fraction of the migrant crisis that his state is dealing with. That's ahead.

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[09:53:27]

SIDNER: Texas Governor Greg Abbott is in New York, thumbing his nose at the mayor of New York as he defends his program of bussing migrants to cities run by Democrats. So far he's sent almost 16,000 migrants to New York. He says the recent migrant influx has created chaos in Texas, and the situation is far worse than what New York is having to deal with now.

This comes as El Paso resumes offering migrant bus rides to other cities.

Polo Sandoval is here with us now.

Obviously, Greg Abbott is here and not backing down at all.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

SIDNER: True, the crisis is really extreme in places like El Paso, but it is also a big issue for cities like New York.

SANDOVAL: From El Paso, all the way down to Brownsville, Texas, Sara, no mistake that they are certainly in a crisis situation. But then, you know, what we heard from Texas Governor Greg Abbott during his visit to New York City is something that we often here, which is basically, you think that 116,000 asylum seekers arriving in New York City for the last year and half is bad, you should go down to the lone star state. We hear this a lot from him, but there is an important kind of apples to oranges distinction here. And here's why, Sara.

I have heard from asylum seekers repeatedly, as have my colleagues, who time and time again tell us that a vast majority of them are planning the go beyond Texas, to cities like Denver, right, Chicago, Washington, D.C., certainly New York City. Those are the cities that are faced with the challenges to support these asylum seekers long- term, during the duration of their proceedings.

[09:55:00]

For Texas, again, certainly not to make light of this crisis situation that's unfolding down there, the demands there are fairly short-term here for these asylum seekers who have just been processed and released by the Customs and Border Protections, and then many of them do manage to make their way on to a bus or an airplane as they legally do so to -- while their cases play out.

But I think that that's just an important distinction to draw here as we hear from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, as he visits New York City.

Something interestingly is he was - one of the events that he was - that he actually attended yesterday was practically next door to the Roosevelt Hotel, which is where the city is basically receiving all of these asylum seekers.

SIDNER: Right.

SANDOVAL: We don't have any indication that he actually saw it firsthand, but, look, he's still in the city today. Things could change. And we'll let you know if that changes.

SIDNER: Polo Sandoval, thank you so much for reporting on this.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: All right, with the government about to shut down, the first official hearing with the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. You can see it there. It is just minutes away. Do Republicans have actual evidence of the claims they have been making?

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