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Possible Shutdown Comes At A Delicate Time For The U.S. Economy; Soldier Who Crossed Into N. Korea Returns To U.S.; Baltimore PD Reveals New Details About Tech CEO Murder. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 28, 2023 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMY REPORTER: Definitely not now. I mean, listen. A shutdown is probably not going to wreck the economy, especially if it's short. But it's definitely not going to help. And if it lasts long enough, it could do some real damage.

I talked to Policy Strategist Greg Valliere earlier. He said it was "already a perfect storm." And now, there's a potential government shutdown.

And listen, we know confidence is a fragile thing. It's already been shaken by inflation -- by the Fed's war on inflation. It's easy to see how chaos in Washington could make things even worse. And just to remind people what kind of chaos we're talking about. For as long as the government is shut down, you're talking about nearly four million federal workers who just are not going to get paid.

And let me remind you. A lot of them live paycheck to paycheck, 1.3 million active-duty troops. They're not going to be paying the troops for as long as the government is shut down.

You can see food assistance programs get disrupted. We also are talking about maybe TSA workers and air traffic control workers. Some of them may not show up to work because they're also not going to be getting paid. So, you could be looking at chaos in the airports.

And by the way, you know, those inflation and unemployment numbers that as business reporters like to obsess over, they're not going to get released for as long as the government is shut down. So, you could have a situation where the Fed has to make major decisions on the economy without actually knowing what's going on in the real economy. What could go wrong? Listen, never a good time to shut down the government but it's easy to see how this is the last thing the economy needs.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The last thing it needs. And remember a short economy, bad. But a long shutdown, very potentially -- (INAUDIBLE)

EGAN: Absolutely. The longer it goes on, the bigger the impact, John.

BERMAN: All right. Matt Egan, great to see you.

EGAN: Thanks. BERMAN: Thank you very much. Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up for us. After sending busloads of migrants to New York, the Texas governor himself is in New York and saying he's not to blame. Plus, arrested overnight. The man suspected of killing a young tech CEO, police -- he is now -- he is now in custody and police are giving new details right now about his arrest. We'll be back.

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[11:36:37]

BOLDUAN: Intense diplomacy. That is what U.S. officials are saying led to Army Private Travis King getting out of North Korea and back into U.S. custody. We have video in from just overnight early this morning that shows King arriving back on American soil weeks after he seemingly voluntarily crossed into North Korea. Now that he is safe, a very big question is what happens to him now considering how extraordinary the circumstances were that he ended up in North Korea in the first place.

Let's go over to CNN's Oren Liebermann. He has much more on this. Oren, are you hearing anything about what kind of trouble King could be in now and also what is happening with him right now?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, right now, he's at Brooke Army Medical Center after landing at Joint Base San Antonio early, early this morning. Worth noting the Brooke Army Medical Center is where you're taken if you've been detained overseas.

It's where you re-acclimate, where you get a medical evaluation, perhaps a psychiatric evaluation as well. It is for example, where Brittney Griner and Trevor Reed were taken after they were detained in Russia. So, that's where he is now and where he'll stay for at least some time but how long exactly, is unclear.

As you point out, the big question is what happens next? Officials had raised the possibility that he fought -- could face further disciplinary action after returning to the U.S. right? He was absent without leave after the officials here at the Pentagon said he willfully and intentionally crossed into North Korea, an adversary state. But the army pushing off that question right now saying, look, we're going to deal with administrative actions later. Right now, it's a focus on making sure he recovers.

But it's a difficult situation either way. He has just spent some 70 days in North Korean detention. And the question of whether to bring charges against him under the Uniform Code of Military Justice is not a simple one. At the same time, Kate, you certainly don't want to tell the president that there is no consequence for going absent without leave. But this is a decision the army has to make and probably has to make soon.

BOLDUAN: It's a great point. Oren, thank you so much for the update. Sara? SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is in New York right now defending his controversial program that busses migrants -- desperate migrants from his state to city led by Democrats. New York's mayor says Abbott is playing politics with people's lives but Abbott has shot back saying New York's only dealing with just a fraction of the people that are coming into his state of Texas. Polo Sandoval is here now with me.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sara.

SIDNER: Polo, tell me a little bit about this. It appears that Governor Abbott is thumbing his nose at the New York mayor.

SANDOVAL: Bringing his message to the mayor's doorstep --

SIDNER: Yes.

SANDOVAL: -- by visiting New York City not just yesterday, but also some events that are scheduled today. What's important here though, is he is repeating this message that we've heard from Greg Abbott time and time again, which is what he is seeing -- what we're seeing in New York City is in terms of asylum seeker arrivals are just a "fraction of what's happening and -- where communities from Brownsville all the way to El Paso."

And to make clear, these border communities are experiencing yet another breaking point right now. But it really is kind of an apples- to-oranges situation here because each situation is unique to the region, right? So, for these border regions, the biggest challenge right now is to have a system of these asylum seekers after they're processed and released by Customs and Border Protection, which is usually just a couple of days. Recently, though it has extended a little bit beyond that in terms of the stay for many of these migrants in border communities.

[11:40:01]

But then when you travel to some of the cities that they often select as their destinations like Denver, Washington, Chicago, certainly here in New York City, then those are the challenges that are really more long-term. And that is why these cities are overwhelmed. When you look at these numbers, Sara, about 15,000 that have arrived here in New York City through some of these Texas charter buses. That's really just a fraction of the close to 120,000, almost that have arrived here in the last year and a half.

So, I think that's an important nuance here, as we look at the latest situation here. Now, in terms of the opportunities that may be extended to some of these asylum seekers. Initially, the mayor said that after the White House announced the expansion of their TPS to include Venezuelans.

SIDNER: Yes.

SANDOVAL: That number was estimated to be about 15,000 last week. Yesterday, we heard from city officials here in New York saying that that number is now closer to 22,000. So, that's certainly a positive update, which means that that presumably, could be about 22,000 Venezuelan asylum seekers here in New York City that could potentially apply for TPS and the work authorization.

SIDNER: And that means they can get jobs, correct? Yes. They're not --

SANDOVAL: That is the way it's supposed to work, yes.

SIDNER: Yes. And that was the big thing. And it's extremely expensive to live here as well.

SANDOVAL: Right.

SIDNER: Polo Sandoval, thank you for breaking all that down for me.

SANDOVAL: Exactly, yes.

SIDNER: All right, John.

BERMAN: All right. The suspect accused of killing a tech CEO was arrested overnight. We have new details about how this went down. Stay with us.

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[11:45:43]

BERMAN: All right. This morning, Baltimore police revealing new details about the murder of a young tech CEO. Officer announced this morning that they caught the suspected killer. And we're learning this is not the first time the suspect has been behind bars.

Omar Jimenez has been following this from the beginning. Omar, brings us up to speed.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, right now, they're in the middle of a press conference giving some new details. One, about his capture. So, this was a days-long manhunt and we understand that he was captured overnight in Bowie, Maryland, which is essentially between Baltimore and Washington, DC.

He was taken into custody without incident, as we understand. But of course, him being on the loose given what he was accused of doing scared this community for four days at this point. Of course, he's suspected of killing 26-year-old Baltimore tech CEO Pava LaPere. And in that particular case, he was reported missing early Monday, and then her body was found later on after that.

Now, you mentioned he is no stranger to law enforcement essentially at this point. Not only when you look back years, but just last week, he was a suspect in an attempted murder and arson case.

BERMAN: Last week?

JIMENEZ: Last week, as we understand from police, about a mile away from where LaPere's body was found. Now, police as we just learned, said that that was a more targeted incident that this suspect they believe knew some of the people affected there. And this one, we're still waiting to hear from the police how he may have or may have not known his particular -- this particular victim as well.

But obviously, a lot of details. And as police were looking for LaPere -- for excuse me, Billingsley -- Jason Billingsley is the suspect here, there's also a vigil being held for the 26-year-old LaPere where her father was leading people in who she was. Someone who he said her presence will never leave the city of Baltimore and someone who transitioned from being basically going to -- transitioning him from being someone who's just a father to essentially being the father of a girl boss because of how much she was able to achieve.

But at the end of the day, while we're still learning new details, this suspect is behind bars. And the last thing I'll say is he was sentenced to 30 years in prison back in 2015. But as we just learned, the -- about a lot of the sentence was taken out or suspended based on what was handed down at sentencing. So, he really only got 14 years.

And then based on the sentencing guidelines and the law in Maryland, he was able to get out on some good behavior. But it is something that Baltimore officials are clearly upset about that he was able to be back out on the street.

BERMAN: And they're actually answering questions about that right now.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

BERMAN: We'll get much more information as soon as it comes in. Omar, thank you very much.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: Up next. The Boss is taking a break. We'll explain why rock icon Bruce Springsteen is calling off his shows for the rest of the year. That's ahead.

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[11:53:06]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: On our radar this hour, Michigan State has now fired the head coach of their football team Mel Tucker. The school had previously suspended him after USA Today first reported that he was under investigation for alleged sexual harassment. Now, Tucker has said being the -- any firing -- any termination would be "unjustified," and also says the allegations and the investigation came "without any meaningful review of the facts." In part, the university said this about the termination that the university terminated Tucker's contract for his admitted and undisputed behaviors which have brought public disrespect, contempt, and ridicule upon the university.

There are new details now are coming out about the investigation into the University of Idaho murders. Court documents have now been unsealed to show prosecutors trying to dig deep into the online history of murder suspect, Bryan Kohberger. Prosecutors are asking -- have been asking for customer information and search details from several major tech companies including "all detailed customer click activity pertaining to knives and accessories from Amazon." Kohberger was charged with killing four University of Idaho students last year. Previous court documents had shown that Kohberger's DNA was found on a knife sheath at the murder scene but no murder weapon has been recovered.

Now, Bruce Springsteen has announced that he is pushing off the rest of his tour this year as he continues to recover from peptic ulcer disease. The rock star icon, The Boss, had already postponed two of his scheduled shows before making this clearly much bigger decision. Spring team -- Springsteen said in a statement he will continue to follow his doctor's orders, which means rest. The rescheduled tour dates for 2024 have not yet been announced.

This morning, the Powerball jackpot has grown once again, $925 million after there was no big winner last night. There were at least four tickets though that matched all five of the white balls in this, winning a million dollars each. The next drawing is on Saturday. If you could only see John Berman's face right now.

[11:55:19]

Moving on. The wonderful Irish actor Michael Gambon. He has passed away. He is known for so many great roles from Gosford Park to playing Lyndon Johnson. And he's also of course famous for his role as Professor Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films. According to a statement from his family, he passed away after a bout of pneumonia. He was 82 years old.

BERMAN: Such a loss. Are you going to read more stories? Because you just had like 12 stories right there. Can you do more?

BOLDUAN: I'm exhausted. And I even did it walking --

SIDNER: Well, lie down.

BOLDUAN: -- while Mike was walking backward. (INAUDIBLE)

BERMAN: 14 stories there.

BOLDUAN: This is called varsity anchoring, people. You know it's hard.

SIDNER: You can our Dumbledore by sitting down and watching with your kids. No?

BOLDUAN: We're still finishing the last book, so we will --

SIDNER: Oh. We will. So, so good.

BOLDUAN: Yes, all so good.

SIDNER: And so good. All right. Thank you so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS." It is up next.

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