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Jesse Rizo is Interviewed about the Uvalde Report; Netanyahu Says Israel Must Control Security; Innocence Project Takes on Murder Case. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired January 19, 2024 - 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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[09:34:15]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: In a nearly 600-page scathing report, the DOJ laid out the cascading failures that led to the botched response to the Uvalde school massacre. Nineteen children were killed alongside two teachers.
The report named then School Police Chief Pete Arredondo and Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco. It blamed them for not taking courageous action to stop the shooter for over an hour.
While Arredondo was called the de facto on scene commander, the report said the sheriff failed to establish a command post and withheld vital information about the gunman.
This morning, the sheriff reacted to this report saying criticism against him is, quote, "all false," and that Arredondo was the person in charge that day.
[09:35:01]
Listen.
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SHERIFF RUBEN NOLASCO, UVALDE COUNTY, TEXAS: I got there 16 minutes later. I entrusted in the man with the gold badge. And we were --
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Which is who?
NOLASCO: Would be the chief of police that was there.
PEREZ: Which one though?
NOLASCO: (INAUDIBLE). He was in -
PEREZ: The school police?
NOLASCO: Yes. So -- and really -- that's really -- I mean, you entrust in somebody. And that's the information that you're receiving. It's a very caddied (ph) individual. PEREZ: (INAUDIBLE).
NOLASCO: And then that's it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Joining us now, Jesse Rizzo. He lost his nine-year-old daughter - niece Jackie Cazares. She was killed in the Robb Elementary School massacre.
Sir, thank you so much for joining us.
Your daughter - niece Jackie Cazares went through hell and now your family is going through hell as well. And that's such a beautiful picture of her.
Jesse, I just want to ask you, as you're going through this nightmare, what did you see in this DOJ report? Was there anything, any detail that you really didn't know that fired your anger up again about how police handled this?
JESSE RIZO, UNCLE OF UVALDE VICTIM JACKIE CAZARES: Hearing the details, you know, hearing somebody like at his level explain that every second counts, that it doesn't matter what you have with your position, you have to go in no matter what, details like that. The other detail that I found that really angered me was hearing the -- you know, that the parents were being misled and being told that there's another bus coming that has children in there, and giving them a false pretense that their child is still alive and that could be exiting the bus. I cannot imagine the pain someone's parent, you know, a mom or a father, you know, hoping that there's a bus that arrive - is going to arrive, but that bus never arrived. You know, when you hear those details, it just - it breaks your heart, you know. And then - and you look over to your left, to your right, and you see the parents, and you just - you just want to hug them. You want to hold them and tell them that it's going to be OK.
But it also -- what it does, when you hear these details, things that you've never heard of before, it - it will push you to the next level to where you demand justice.
SIDNER: I do want to ask you, and I'm sorry I said your daughter and I meant to say your niece.
RIZO: Yes.
SIDNER: You've had to bury your niece. And this report said that there's no other way around it, police failed you and the other 21 families inside the school as they waited for help for 77 minutes. What kind of accountability are you looking for as the uncle of someone, of a child who was killed?
RIZO: I take, you know, that if they would have entered within the, you know, seconds or minutes afterwards, that maybe my niece or a lot of other children would have been saved, the teacher would have been saved. And so the accountability, the justice of it is basically to put pressure on the DA to let the DA know that we're not going to go anywhere. We're going to stay here until charges are filed, that they get indicted, and that we hold them accountable for that because their failure led to somebody else's death. So, it encourages us to continue fighting for the truth, continue fighting for transparency, and continue fighting for justice.
SIDNER: Can you tell us just lastly, as we look at these pictures of parents comforting each other. I know you all have come together in this really loving, supportive way. But also in a way to push forward the justice that you really are demanding. And that I'm hearing you say is that you want to see charges from the DA's office. But I do want to ask you lastly about your niece. Can you tell me a little bit about her? No one should ever forget who these children and teachers were. Their lives taken for absolutely no reason at all.
RIZO: Yes, ma'am. Every - every child, every teacher was a special person. And everybody brought love. Everybody brought something to the table.
As far as my niece is concerned, you know, the smile, the hugs, the greeting, the way she took pictures, the love for animals, the love for really anything and anybody. You know, it just - it was so warm. So, you know, and to think that her life was cut short like that. You know, in the short period of time that she was here with us, you know, she gave us so much. And to think that how much more she could have given us, it just tears us up, you know. It's just - it's hurtful and painful.
SIDNER: And it's even hard, I'm sure, to look at the pictures, but she is there smiling. And I know she did have a wonderful life while she was with us. And so I thank you. I thank her parents as well for doing that for her. And I'm so sorry for your loss and having to go through this over and over and over again, as you demand some accountability here.
Jesse Rizo, thank you so much for joining us today.
[09:40:03]
RIZO: You're welcome.
SIDNER: Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, great point, over and over and over again. The pain and trauma that they have to endure again and again.
Coming up still for us, a new statement from the Israeli prime minister and how it's putting him in direct odds now once again really with President Biden.
And an historic donation to a historically black college. What $100 million is going to mean.
We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New, pretty harsh pushback in Israel this morning after Secretary of State Antony Blinken's call for a separate Palestinian state.
[09:45:01]
Blinken explained this was key to insuring regional support for Israel's security and Iran's isolation. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pretty much flat out rejected that idea.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The state of Israel must control the security of all the land which is west of the Jordan River. That is a truth that I'm saying to our friends, the Americans, and have also blocked an attempt to force upon us a reality which will hurt the security of Israel. The prime minister in Israel must be able to say no, even to the closest of our friends.
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BERMAN: CNN's Natasha Bertrand live at the Pentagon.
Israel must be able to say no. Saying no to the United States after all the support the United States has given.
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, it's a really stark departure, of course, from the stated position of President Biden, which has been for a long time now that the creation of a Palestinian state is really the only solution to the conflict that we have been seeing. And speaking of security matters, Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, he emphasized at Davos just the other day that the only path for regional security for Israel's security is to have this two-state solution.
Now, U.S. officials are saying that Netanyahu's comments there are not the final word on the issue. And a senior administration official actually told my colleagues just yesterday that "if we took such statements as the final word, then there would be no humanitarian assistant going into Gaza and no hostages released." Essentially saying that they have been able to change Netanyahu's position on things that he was previously a hard liner on in the last few months, over the course of this war. They have managed to change Israel's behavior and posture successfully.
But this is clearly a pretty stark departure from the stated U.S. position. And it comes as President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu have not actually spoken, if White House read-outs are any indication, really since last month. They had previously been speaking much more regularly. So, a rift is clearly opening here.
And the administration is emphatic about the need for this two-state solution because they say that this is the only path towards Israel's normalization with its Arab and Muslim partners. Saudi Arabia, which the U.S. has been pushing to agree to a normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel for, they say very emphatically as well that they need to see progress being made towards the creation of a Palestinian state really before these normalization talks can continue in earnest.
Now, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, he spoke to this yesterday and he said, quote, "I will say that there is a historic opportunity that Israel has to deal with challenges that it has faced since its founding and we hope the country will take that opportunity."
So, the U.S. making clear here they do not think this is the final word, but clearly the relationship has gotten a lot more difficult.
John.
BERMAN: Whatever you think of Netanyahu, he's a shrewd politician who chooses his words carefully. Very interesting that he is leaning into this so hard.
Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, it was a crime that captivated the nation. Now a group of attorneys is taking on the Scott Peterson case, calling for another look at the evident, decades after he was convicted of killing his pregnant wife Laci.
We will be back.
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[09:52:18]
BERMAN: New this morning, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been called to testify before Congress about his recent hospital stay, specifically his apparent failure to immediately notify President Biden or lawmakers about it. House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers sent Austin a letter requesting him to testify before the panel on February 14th. The defense secretary was hospitalized on New Year's Day and was released two weeks later, but the White House, lawmakers, and the public did not find out about that until several days. And it took even longer for Austin to disclose that he is being treated for prostate cancer.
Sparks seen flying from a cargo plane in Miami. The engine malfunctioned about three minutes into the Atlas Air flight last night. You can hear a bystander watching this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God!
Sorry.
It's on fire! Mom! (END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: We're told all - that the crew followed all standard safety procedures and landed at Miami International Airport. Atlas Air plans to conduct an inspection to figure out what caused all this.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: That's wild video. Thank God.
So, we're also watching this, a murder conviction decades ago and a case that captivated the country now getting a new look. The Los Angeles Innocence Project is taking on the conviction of Scott Peterson. Remember that notorious case. He was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn son. Sentenced to death in 2004. The sentence was overturned by the California Supreme Court in 2020. Now the L.A. Innocence Project says key evidence was missing from trial.
CNN's Jean Casarez is here with me. She has much more on this. Bringing us up to speed. Wow.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this was a shocker. This is amazing. You know, when you're a capital defendant, everything's paid for. But once the death penalty was overturned, he's indigent. He's not a capital defendant anymore. Innocence Project, our government dollars from the Department of Justice, will pay for this. He is claiming actual innocence.
Now, here are just some basic facts. It was December of 2002. Laci Peterson, she was eight months pregnant with their unborn child -- that's terminology from the California court -- Conner. She, on December 24th, Scott Peterson said he left the house about 9:30. She was going to walk the dog. Never any witnesses saw her walk the dog. But he decided to go fishing. Took the fishing boat. He went out. Came back to the house. She's gone. She was reported missing.
Several months later, that's when her body washed up on shore along with that unborn son, Conner. Obviously, animals are out in the sea, but they - they washed up separately, close together, but two miles away from where Scott had gone fishing.
Now, Amber Fry.
[09:55:01]
I've got to mention Amber Fry. She was a star witness for the prosecution. She started dating him in November of 2002. She asked him, are you married? He said, no, I'm not married. My wife died. One month later is when Laci went missing.
She immediately went to the police when she heard this. They recorded her. Those tapes were part of the criminal trial. But now they're saying there is DNA testing that was never done on this case. It has to be done now. This is new evidence. This could show his actual innocence. Let's show everybody. They are asking for a 15.5 inch length of duct tape that was recovered from Laci Peterson's pants when her remains washed up on shore. A 50- inch long tape, twine or tape, tied in a bow around the neck of Conner Peterson's remains, which is curious because she was eight months pregnant when she went missing. A Target bag from the area where her remains were found. Duct tape from the Target bag. A black tarp that was discovered along the shoreline. And items from a van that was burned in close proximity of time to when she went missing.
Now, they're saying some of these items were never tested. Some did not have sophisticated DNA testing. So, this is new evidence. Couldn't come into the trial back in 2004. We want to test it now to show his innocence.
BOLDUAN: Wow. We'll see what happens.
CASAREZ: Yes.
BOLDUAN: I mean this was a case - I mean you say Scott Peterson, everyone remembers at least that face and that conviction.
CASAREZ: Yes.
BOLDUAN: And now this.
CASAREZ: I was - I was at the courthouse. There were hundreds -- hundreds of people that went to California just to stand outside of the courthouse because they cared so much.
BOLDUAN: Yes, I remember this too. Yes. Let's see.
Great to see you, Jean. Thank you so much.
CASAREZ: Thank you.
BOLDUAN: Sara.
SIDNER: Still ahead, our Evan Perez getting an exclusive sit-down with Attorney General Merrick Garland. Why he's agreeing with calls for a, quote, speedy Trump election subversion trial. We'll have that and more from their conversation ahead.
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