Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Arrest Made In Connection With 1996 Murder Of Tupac Shakur; Heavy Rains Flood NYC's Roads And Subways; 4 Baton Rouge Officers Arrested On Felony Charges; House Voting On Final Passage Of GOP's Short-Term Funding Bill; Key Vote Fails, House Heading For Shutdown. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 29, 2023 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:32:30]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Breaking news just into CNN. Las Vegas police have arrested a suspect in connection with the 1996 drive-by shooting death of legendary rapper, Tupac Shakur.

CNN's Camila Bernal joins live now along with CNN legal analyst, Joey Jackson.

So, first, to you, Camila.

What are we learning about this arrest?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Boris. Sources telling CNN that they have arrested Duane Keith Davis, also known as "Keefe D." He was arrested this morning, according to sources, in connection with the killing of Tupac Shakur.

We do know, in July, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department served a search warrant on Davis' wife's home. What they were looking for with any evidence linking to this crime. They were looking for anything that could show motive as to the killing of Tupac Shakur.

And specifically, we know that in this search warrant, police were able to obtain multiple tablets, an iPhone. They took five computers, USB drive, photographs. We know they have been looking into this case and have been investigating this case since it happened in 1996.

At the moment, we do not know what Davis has been charged with. We are expecting a press conference later on today to get details from authorities.

But again, this is something that happened in 1996 and police have been looking into for years now.

Duane Keith Davis, he described himself as one of the only witnesses to this shooting. If you recall, Tupac Shakur was in a car. They were at a boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

They were in a car and, all of a sudden, there was another car that pulled next to them and the shooting began. It is unclear exactly who shot Tupac.

But again, this is a huge development in this case years later, as we now know that there is someone arrested in connection to this case -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Joey, to you, it's been nearly three decades since Tupac was shot and killed. This is a surprising development, to say the least. What is your reaction?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, it is a significant and surprising development, without question.

But I think that what we have to understand, in murder cases, there is no statute of limitations.

[13:34:58]

It is quite common that you have law enforcement throughout this country that continue to operate in a cold-case capacity, continue to follow leads, and decades later, sometimes they come to a collusion.

Obviously, in any arrest here, anyone is assumed innocent until proven guilty. But police have been working this case. And in fact, they are giving the indication, that is police, that potentially this person was quite involved.

Now, remember, in the event that there's a pull-up shooting and indications are it happened from the back seat of that white Cadillac 27 years ago in September.

But you know, in the event that you aided, abetted, assisted or acted in concert, you need not be the person who pulled the trigger.

There is some indications from the person they have in custody that it was his nephew who was in the back seat. Again, all allegations. His nephew, who is now dead. But his nephew denied that he was involved at all.

And of course, the giving up of his nephew, the person in custody, now is in connection with another case where he was questioned.

There's certainly reports from his own book that he was present, that he was there, that he was in that vehicle.

Mere presence, to be clear, is never enough. You have to establish that you had knowledge of it, were in on it, and acted in accord with whatever was occurring.

Certainly, after all this time, yes, there are challenges, Boris, in moving forward.

But you have to believe that based on the search warrant they conducted in July of the suspect's wife's home, based upon the information they gathered, based upon street intelligence and other information, that they have probable cause to believe that he's involved. And will see how the prosecution moves forward after today.

SANCHEZ: Joey, to me, just the fact that this was a cold case for so long is significant because this was a very public shooting on the Las Vegas strip. You imagine, there are many witnesses there.

And it came after a fight at the MGM Grand that was caught on a security camera in which there was always suspicious that some of the folks involved in that fight may have been involved in Tupac's shooting.

Talk to us about the challenges of looking into a case like this with nearly 30 years of cold evidence.

JACKSON: Boris, that's a great question. Certainly, you want to have arrests closer in time to when an incident occurred for a variety of reasons.

The name of the evidence presented. The memories of the witnesses. The value, whether people's memories have gone stale or cold. But you don't now know, right?

The reality is that you're investigating a case for longstanding, presumably, police have done a very diligent job, have information not just based on the arrest today, but information they've gleaned over the course of a number of years and connecting the dots.

They have information that this particular suspect, verbal statements he's given, the memoirs of his own that have been out there.

We don't know, Boris, who police have spoken to in the course of getting to today. How they have connected to this person here. How other information may have been preserved that police have.

Remember, we have the public reports but we don't know the in-depth information that police have gleaned.

So, yes, in any prosecution, even if you have a murder that occurred yesterday, there are challenges.

However, they're pretty good at putting together cold cases and a there's been a significant amount of convictions predicated upon cases that are decades old.

We'll see what the nature of the evidence is or at least get a look into that when there is a press conference that is held that announces more with respect to what that evidence could be.

SANCHEZ: We'll be watching that press conference very closely.

Again, if you're just joining us, major breaking news in the murder of legendary rapper, Tupac Shakur. There has been an arrest in Las Vegas in that case.

Joey Jackson, Camila Bernal, thank you so much for that.

Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The governor of New York declaring a state of emergency after excessive rain brings severe flooding to New York City roads and also subways.

Central Park saw nearly two inches of rain in just one hour. And a month's worth of rain -- that is more than four inches -- fell over parts of Brooklyn in just three hours.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is here with a closer look at some of the areas impacted.

We're seeing the water flowing behind you there, Polo. Tell us what you're seeing.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Brianna, it has been a hellish morning, to say the least, in America's largest city. This rain, this storm really affecting millions of people.

When you get a month's worth of rain in only a few hours, this is the result. We're looking at the southside of Brooklyn's Prospect Park, one of the many high points in Brooklyn.

This is all water run-off coming out of the park. As you're able to see here, it is spilling on to the roadway.

I show you this because it offers a small snapshot of the level of treacherous travel that New Yorkers have been dealing with since early this morning when rain started to fall.

[13:39:56]

The biggest -- as inconvenient as this is, fortunately, this has not been a deadly storm. That's, as of the last update offered by New York City authorities not long ago.

Saying they have had to rescue folks from some of those low-lying areas. But so far, they haven't received any sort of reports of any fatalities. Not like what we saw two years ago when the region was saturated with rain because of a tropical event.

Look, it is certainly inconvenient right now. The biggest concern right now especially is for Brooklyn and Queens, but specifically people living in basement apartments. That's something that's proved deadly in the past.

We heard from officials this morning, given this level of rainfall, folks who live in those situations, they're being urged to potentially seek higher ground because this event is far from over, as we heard from officials.

Already some questions being raised about whether or not the city took the right steps leading up to this event, as we heard from Mayor Eric Adams pretty much defending the city's actions.

Saying they did not call off school because they were prepared. Saying there were travel advisories issued yesterday. That the emergency declaration, Brianna, as we send things back to you, that is in place not just for New York City but also the Hudson Valley.

Today, this event is far from over.

Back to you.

KEILAR: Wow, it is extraordinary there. Polo, we know you'll keep an eye on things.

Thank you.

The Louisiana police chief faces the cameras as his department comes under scrutiny in the wake of allegations that some of his officers used an alleged torture warehouse. Hear what he had to say about the investigation, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:45:54]

SANCHEZ: The Baton Rouge Police Department facing more fallout after several of its officers were sued for allegedly abusing detainees at a warehouse used as a torture chamber.

Four officers, including one high-ranking official, have now been arrested on felony charges.

Now, Baton Rouge officials held a briefing about today's arrests.

And CNN national correspondent, Ryan Young, has been following all the latest developments.

Ryan, what can you tell us?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This fallout is growing. And people in this community are concerned.

There were three concurrent investigations and an FBI investigation all involving the police department. But now we're told by the police chief in this news conference today that there are nine administrative investigations going on right now.

Four officers have been arrested. But that's involving something besides the Brave Cave. In September 2020, a man was arrested and brought to the police department building where officers wanted to conduct a search. They believed he had some drugs on him.

When the man started struggling, they brought out tasers. They started to tase the man over and over, according to the police chief. That actually activated the body cameras the men were wearing.

A supervisor realized that this incident happened. Opened an app, and did realize that that did not follow department policy. Had that body camera destroyed in an effort to avoid the video being logged into the server. The mayor says they're now taking a hard look at the entire police

department because they're concerned, just like the community is, about what's going on at the police department.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARON WESTON, MAYOR-PRESIDENT, BATON ROUGE: We know that we must eradicate any remnants of injustice or improper actions to clean up a culture that has been around for 150 years.

To put it in terms that you can relate to, this is not a time for just an annual check-up. This is time for a full-body MRI to diagnose and reveal any dysfunctions or wrongdoing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, Boris, in another incident, a man claims he was beaten by officers. A grandmother says she was forced into a body cavity search after they believed she had drugs. So you can understand.

This incident where the officers were arrested is separate from the Brave Cave.

But there are so many in this community who want something done, especially with this police department.

And the chief has already said he is stepping down. That will be effective in November.

But questions from this community about how they move forward, especially with all these claims. And more people continue to come forward. These four arrests could be the beginning, especially with other investigations ongoing -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes. Some folks on the city council want the chief to step down right now and not wait until November.

Ryan Young --

YOUNG: Especially after that big explosion the other day.

SANCHEZ: Right.

YOUNG: Yes, exactly.

SANCHEZ: Ryan Young, thank you so much.

Brianna?

KEILAR: We have some breaking news on a major House vote on Capitol Hill.

We have Manu Raju with us.

Tell us about this, Manu, because it is looking like there are not enough Republican votes on this stop-gap funding measure.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Speaker McCarthy about to be dealt a blow here on the House floor. Already 15 Republican no votes and counting. All Democrats voting against it.

Remember, on a party line vote in the narrowly-divided House, Kevin McCarthy can only afford to lose four Republican votes. Already, 15 of his own members voting "no," which means this measure is going down.

This bill would keep the government open for about a month past the Saturday deadline. It would include spending cuts and border security measures, things that many Democrats oppose, which is why they're voting against it.

But some of the members on the hard right don't believe it goes far enough in cutting spending, and also object to the way that McCarthy has run the floor so far, believing he should have moved on a more longer-term spending bill.

Where does this leave everything? The very likely government shutdown could happen because of this stalemate and divisions within the GOP ranks about how to move forward.

Now McCarthy has refused to say exactly what his next steps would be once this would fall, would collapse.

[13:50:02]

I've asked him time and again, is it time to cut a deal with Democrats, trying to come up with any short-term spending to avoid the government shutdown and the damaging consequences of a shutdown? The speaker has not yet said that is his plan.

Perhaps one reason why? Threats from his far right, from the same members who are blocking this bill from going ahead, saying if he does cut a deal with Democrats, that could be enough for them to force a vote, pushing him out of the speakership.

The question now is, what will Speaker McCarthy do next? He walked into the chamber just moments ago. Did not answer questions.

But he is meeting behind closed doors with his entire conference, this afternoon, presumably to detail the next steps.

But all eyes on the speaker after this vote expected to go down. Now 21 Republican "no" votes and counting. This is going to lose on a bipartisan vote.

Now the speaker has to decide what is next. And the Senate, across the capital, is moving on a bipartisan track, trying to finish its own bill over the next few days.

But now the House, divided Republican conference, can't get a bill through to keep the government open. The speaker has to decide what is next -- Brianna? KEILAR: What is the calculus? Clearly, he is being mum on what is

next. Manu, we know you have asked him and you were quite persistent in your questions. We know that about you.

But what is the calculus on putting this bill on the floor, if he knows it's going to fail? It is selling pretty badly here.

RAJU: It is. And it looks like the vote was just called here. They just gavel the vote close. It looks like, I believe, from what I've seen, 198-232 was the final vote here as the vote was closed.

So that was a pretty resounding rejection for the speaker. You saw a number of those members, roughly more than 20, it appeared. We'll see what the final number actually was here.

But the speaker wanted to demonstrate to his members that he tried to do what these members of the hard right wanted. He tried to move on some of these individual long-term bills first before going along with spending cuts.

And trying to paint them as the ones that are being unreasonable here within his conference. And he tried to pressure them to back down. Ultimately, he agreed to move forward on the plan.

So he's trying to show he did everything he could to get Republican support for a Republican-led plan, to help them to leverage in negotiations with the Democratic-led Senate, which is moving along bipartisan lines here.

So he was unable to get this across the finish line. And that is what has been a lot of concern among McCarthy allies, that they won't have a negotiating position with the Senate.

They don't have a card to play in these talks to keep the government open. Now there's not a House bill that they get approved.

So that leaves the speaker to decide, pretty much continue to fight, continue to dig in, try to get the White Houses to somehow agree to their demands. If not, how to deal with Democrats and potentially risk his speakership.

KEILAR: So does he necessarily =- is he a goner if he cuts that deal with Democrats? And what happens if he doesn't cut the deal with Democrats?

RAJU: If he doesn't cut a deal with Democrats, this could be a prolonged shutdown.

This morning, I asked him, will you do that, is this the time to do that? He said, "I'm not going to surrender to liberal policies, I will not surrender."

So he sounded like someone who wanted to dig in, wants to get some kind of concession with the White House on, perhaps, border security, immigration issues. That is what the speaker himself has been talking about over the last several days here. But if there is a vote that could push him out - remember, one member could call for a vote seeking his ouster. Matt Gaetz has been threatening to do this for weeks.

A number of members who are aligned with him say, if McCarthy cut the deal with Democrats, they will vote to oust him. So that remains a threat.

Now if the vote happens, they will require all Democrats and just five Republicans to vote to kick him out of the speakership.

Democrats are still uncertain about how they will deal with it. They're wondering if they can wheel and deal with the speaker, extracting concessions, perhaps save him in the speakership.

That is the situation that they are still grappling with, and thinking about, internally, if this plays out.

But if he does lose the vote, then they'll go to another speaker's race. They'll keep voting until they get someone who gets 218 votes in the House, to find a new speaker of the House.

Until that point, the House would be paralyzed, unable to act, in a complete apostate hostage situation on the floor at this critical time, potentially a time when the government is shutdown as well.

So just a lot of questions because that has never happened before in American history, but something that continues to be a threat over the speaker at this key moment here.

Which is why this is -- why McCarthy's next steps, of course, are being watched very closely in these halls, not just around the country, around the world, about whether the United States government will remain open.

And whether he'll be able to keep his job and keep the far-right members from pushing him out.

[13:55:00]

KEILAR: In this final vote now, we learned, Manu, 21 Republicans, that was the final count of how many he lost. He could only lose four and he lost 21.

As we talk about -- and we are headed for this government shutdown. And we talked about this possibility of Kevin McCarthy, one of his options trying to cut a deal with the Democrats.

Are they even inclined to do that, Manu? They have just this week sat through this impeachment inquiry hearing that was a bit of a political circus.

And will their constituents understand, even if they make the case, why they would be trying to save the hide of Speaker McCarthy?

RAJU: Yes, and that is really a key question that Democrats are themselves grappling with. They don't know if McCarthy can give them what they want.

Some say get rid of the impeachment inquiry altogether, perhaps then we can save you from the speakership. That is something that seems unlikely that the speaker would do, given were his conferences of the moment.

The position of the Democratic leaders on that is simply noncommittal. That's what Hakeem Jeffries, a Democratic leader, just told me earlier today.

But also this, Brianna. Hakeem Jeffries said that Speaker McCarthy needs to put the Senate plan on the floor of the House. That's what the Democrats are positioning this moment right now. Put the Senate plan on the floor.

But McCarthy opposes it that Senate plan to keep the government open because it funds money Ukraine. It does not cut spending as he wants. It doesn't have border security measures, which is why people are concerned that it -- about a prolonged shutdown could happen here if this deal - if there's no movement from the speaker.

KEILAR: Yes. It would very likely pass the House. Of course, it would certainly seal the fate of Kevin McCarthy. We know that.

Manu Raju, thank you so much for taking us through that.

The key vote in Congress failing on a stop-gap measure to keep the government open for 30 more days. So right now, the House of Representatives on cruise control toward a government shutdown this weekend, without a plan to avert it.

We have more on this breaking news ahead. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)