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Brian Laundrie's Parents Sued Again By Gabby Petito's Parents; Prosecutors: Sen. Menendez Took Bribes In Exchange For Influence Benefitting Co-Defendants, Egypt & Wife Received Diamond Ring; U.S. Marshals Service Officials Seeing Rise In Threats Against Judges, Prosecutors; In-Person Dating Events See Boost In Popularity. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired February 14, 2024 - 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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[14:33:06]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We're learning some new details about what happened the day that Brian Laundrie's parents learned something had gone terribly wrong between their son and his fiance, Gabby Petito.

Laundrie is the young Florida man who took his own life in 2021 after authorities discovered that he had strangled Petito to death then abandoned her lifeless body in a Wyoming forest.

The details are outlined in court documents in a lawsuit filed against the Laundrie's by Petito's parents. They're suing for pain and emotional distress, claiming that the Laundrie's knew about their daughter's murder, but kept it a secret.

CNN's Jean Casarez has reviewed the filings.

Jean, what did they reveal?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's very interesting to look at the facts, what they are alleging under oath, and also their state of mind.

This is a civil case, is going to trial in May. And as part of that civil case, they take depositions of the parties. And they have been released now publicly.

These are the depositions that I'm going to read from, from Christopher Laundrie, Roberta Laundrie.

So it's August 29th. And conceivably, the couple is still in the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. Gabby's mother had heard from her a couple of days before. Didn't hear from her right at that time period.

One more text the following day, but they think it was false, that they don't think it was Gabby.

But there's was a phone call from Brian to his mother that day. They talked for almost an hour. At the very end, he just sounded frantic. So they hung up the phone and she told her husband, "Christopher, call him up. See what's going on."

And here's Christopher Laundrie under oath. He says, quote" I asked him, you know, how is he doing? And he -- you know, he was not calm. And he got very excited and told me things have -- you know, Gabby's gone. And he got very frantic. Everything was frantic and quick."

Another part of the deposition, he said he didn't know what to do. He said, "You know, can you help me?" You know, and might need a lawyer.

[14:35:02]

And then finally, quote, "I asked him again and he just said just help me."

And then Roberta Laundrie, in her deposition, was asked, once she had heard this, knew about this, what were her thoughts?

Here's what she said under oath. Quote, "A lot of things cross my mind. And one of them was that maybe they got in a fight and maybe she's going to press charges against him but maybe he hit her or something."

The attorney then asked, "but the fact that maybe he murdered her went through your mind, didn't it?" Roberta Laundrie responds, "I don't know if I even wanted to. I think I was panicky. It might have gone through my mind. II can't recall what I was thinking at the time."

Now, here's what is interesting. On September 1st -- so you're talking two days later -- Brian Laundrie returned home in the van. No Gabby. It was Gabby's van.

And the parents say under oath, they never asked him what he was talking about. What it meant that Gabby was gone, why he needed a lawyer. They called and they retained a lawyer. But no questions at all.

Meanwhile, the Petitos are constantly saying, do you know anything, have you heard anything?

And their response in the deposition, why they never returned any call, any text, any email, blocking them even on Facebook, is that their attorney told them don't talk to them -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Ah. So, Jean, at this point in time, what comes next in all of this?

CASAREZ: Well, this is a civil case. And a couple of things. The Laundrie's have just filed motions for summary judgments. They want to get rid of this case.

There were some settlement -- notice of a settlement proposal from the Laundrie's, didn't go anywhere last fall. So now they want to have a summary judgment, case over, done.

And then there's a mediation conference in a couple of weeks, which will be interesting. But the Petitos have filed this. They have remained strong, steadfast because they want answers. And I think, in their mind, they believe this civil case is what can bring them justice.

KEILAR: So awful the details in there.

Jean, thank you for taking us through that. We do appreciate it for us.

Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: In a new court filing, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez's wife, Nadine, was allegedly given a diamond engagement ring. That's part of what prosecutors claim is an extensive list of bribes the couple received in exchange for the Senators influence.

Menendez, his wife, and three co-defendants have all pleaded not guilty.

CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now, live.

So, Kara, walk us through what's in these filings.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris. So a new detail here, a new element of this bribery scheme and that Menendez, his wife, had received a diamond engagement ring.

So prosecutors are saying that this was a part of the bribe where, if Menendez, his wife would have received this diamond ring and the luxury Mercedes-Benzes convertible, Menendez was going to help in a criminal case involving car insurance fraud of somebody who is not even attached to the scheme, as we currently know it.

According to prosecutors, though, Menendez was swindled as part of this because he was supposed to -- the businessman was supposed to buy a diamond engagement ring worth $35,000. Instead, bought a diamond ring worth $12,000.

And Nadine Menendez later found out about that when she brought the ring to a jeweler.

Now, this is all coming out because Menendez is trying to suppress the evidence that was -- that was obtained through search warrant of Menendez's homes in D.C. and New Jersey.

That was the gold bars, the cash stuffed in Menendez's jacket, and other materials that they found. They're trying to suppress that, saying that prosecutors hid information from the judges who signed off on the search warrants.

Why we're seeing this material now is that prosecutors are saying, no, this is what the judges were told. There was probable cause to search these houses.

This is all part of an aggressive defense being mounted by Menendez. He has pleaded not guilty to these charges, as is everyone else in the case.

Now he's also trying to sever his case from any of the other defendants, in particular his wife, because he is trying to say that, in order for him to testify in his own defense at the trial, he can't reveal marital communications that are usually protected. And prosecutors are opposing that.

Menendez also wants to have this case moved to New Jersey, saying it should be New Jersey residents who decide the fate of their senior Senator, not New York City residents -- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Kara Scannell, an important update. Thank you so much.

So we're getting new video of the woman who opened fire inside a Texas megachurch over the weekend. We'll break down what she was doing in the hours before the attack.

Plus, a new warning from the U.S. Marshals Service, threats against federal judges are rising fast. We'll explain in just moments.

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[14:44:13]

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Here's some of the other headlines were watching this hour.

New surveillance video appears to show a shooting suspect just hours before walking into a Houston megachurch and opening fire. This chilling video shows a woman backing an SUV into her garage and then using a tarp to cover the vehicle while loading stuff into it.

Authorities say Genesee Moreno entered the church on Sunday with her son, carrying a semiautomatic rifle. The child was struck along with another person and they're now in critical condition.

Officials say the suspect had a history of mental illness, but owned that gun legally.

Meantime, here in Washington, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made his first appearance since being released from the hospital on Tuesday over a bladder issue. Austin led a virtual meeting with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

[14:45:04]

The secretary was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, but he says he's in good condition and his prognosis remains excellent.

And looking overseas, a former army general with a controversial past has claimed victory in Indonesia's presidential election. Unofficial results show Prabowo Subianto winning nearly city 60 percent of the vote, according to CNN affiliate CNN Indonesia and Reuters.

Prabowo has long been accused of human rights violations during his time in the military, including allegations of kidnapping. He says he is going to govern for all the people of Indonesia.

Brianna?

KEILAR: As we are heading into a highly polarizing election season, the U.S. Marshals Service is warning that there has been a surge in threats against federal judges and prosecutors. Authorities say the rate of threats has more than doubled in just the last three years.

CNN justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider, is joining us now with more details on this.

You hear the director of the U.S. Marshals Service testifying on Capitol Hill today. And this was pretty alarming what we heard.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, he really spelled it out saying that we're seeing this rapid rise in threats. This came from the Marshal's Director Ronald Davis.

And he put the numbers out there. I mean, you can see them. It was 224 threats in 2021, then more than doubling over the past three years to 457 threats.

Members of Congress really spelled out the details, the specifics of these threats. It was just in July that the chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, he received a threatening voice message. The man responsible for that has since pleaded guilty.

And then there's been a number of threats related to judges that are overseeing some of the former President Donald Trump, his criminal and civil cases.

We saw a Texas woman who left three threatening voicemail messages for the federal judge overseeing the classified documents case down in Florida. She recently got three years in prison.

And then other judges who are overseeing various cases involving the former president, they have also received threats.

Judges in Colorado, who issued that decision out of the Colorado Supreme Court taking Donald Trump off the ballot there. Also threats to judges in New York and here in Washington, D.C.

So the director of the U.S. Marshals Service, he spelled it out a little bit more.

Here's what he was saying.

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RONALD DAVIS, DIRECTOR, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: I must state in stark terms that the current and evolving threat environment facing the judiciary constitutes a substantial risk to our democracy.

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SCHNEIDER: And you know, Brianna, as a result of this, many of these judges have been receiving increased security.

And another thing that the director said, he said it's not just these specific threats and voice messages or in writing or in phone calls. It's also just the general threats on social media. Those have increased.

So while they might not be targeting a specific judge, there's still alarm over that, too, because the rhetoric online has this become, in some senses, very violent as well?

KEILAR: Do they need more protection? We've seen certain efforts, but it seems to be more of a state-by-state basis to address this. But do they need more protection?

SCHNEIDER: Well, that might be an issue for Congress to take up. The last time we really saw a Congress act was in 2022 when they passed that bill restricting the information that the public can get online about various judges.

That was after that violent attack on the judge in New Jersey. It ended up killing her son.

So, yes, probably Congress needs to do more on that. That might've been part of the aim of having the director of the U.S. Marshals Service testify today.

KEILAR: All right. Jess, very alarming.

Thank you so much, Jessica Schneider. We appreciate it.

Thought speed-dating was a thing of the past? Well, think again. On this Valentines Day, why some singles are trying to find love in the fast lane?

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[14:53:12]

KEILAR: This Valentines Day, more people are falling out of love with dating apps and they're looking for other ways to make a connection.

CNN's Nathaniel Meyersohn has more on how speed dating is making a comeback.

Nathaniel, tell us about this. Tell us what you're learning here.

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN CONSUMER REPORTER: Can you believe it, Brianna? The singles they're going old school. They want to meet IRL. So we're seeing the rise of game nights, trivia nights, movie nights. That's becoming and really popular amongst signals -- among singles.

Also, the rise of athletic events like pickleball and fitness classes.

And so this is really a return to how parents are our parents dated. And so some interesting trends we're seeing in the dating world right now. KEILAR: OK, so what -- why are we seeing this trend? It seems like, judging by talking to some of the youngsters in my life, these apps kind of, for lack of a better word, can suck, Nathaniel.

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MEYERSOHN: They can. They're really exhausting. There's a lot of dating app fatigue among singles right now.

You look at some polling on the experiences with dating apps, 46 percent of people have a negative experience. And so they're looking for different ways to meet in person and get off the apps, and returning to some of the old-school dating forums.

KEILAR: Yes. I mean, listen, I've heard of people who, they find the love of their life on these apps too. But it's definitely a mixed bag here.

Tell us how inflation is changing dating because dating is not always a cheap activity.

[14:55:55]

MEYERSOHN: It's certainly is not, Brianna. You see, obviously, the rise in restaurant prices. Going out for meals getting really expensive, grabbing drinks is getting really expensive.

So singles are looking for cheaper first dates. That's what we're seeing from Tinder and Hinge, according to some polling. So going for a walk in the park, grabbing a cup of coffee, anything that is cheaper than spending a couple of hundred dollars on a meal.

We love free stuff. And certainly, we're seeing that in dating right now.

KEILAR: OK. Do we know if it's working at all or too soon to tell?

MEYERSON: Well, I think that -- you know, it is Valentines Day, so there are going to be a lot of singles events on this Valentines Day.

So we're going to wish for the best for folks who were doing game nights. Maybe they're playing some pickleball and that we will have to report back.

KEILAR: They're falling in love over pickleball.

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KEILAR: All right, Nathaniel --

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KEILAR: -- we know you're going to report back. We know that you're going to follow up on this and report all of the trends and how they develop.

Nathaniel Meyersohn, we appreciate the report.

All right, so there was no question that Travis Kelce was angry during this moment at the Super Bowl. We all saw it. But the Chiefs' tight end now says he immediately wished that he could have taken it back.

Former NFL wide receiver, Donte Stallworth is going to join us ahead to give us his take.

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