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Laken Riley's Killer Sentenced to Life Without Parole; House Ethics Chief: No Agreement to Release Report on Matt Gaetz; Texas Offers 1,400-Acre Ranch to Trump for Mass Deportation Hub; Walmart Warns Trump Tariffs Would Mean Higher Prices. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired November 20, 2024 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Major news out of a Georgia courtroom this afternoon where a judge sentenced Jose Ibarra to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing Laken Riley. Ahead of the judge's decision, her loved ones addressed the court giving emotional, heart-wrenching victim impact statements. Listen.
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ALLYSON PHILLIPS, LAKEN RILEY'S MOTHER: This monster took away our chances to see Laken graduate from nursing school. He took away our ability to meet our future son-in-law. He destroyed our chances of meeting our grandchildren. And he took my best friend. He ripped away every beautiful memory we will ever be able to make with her again.
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SANCHEZ: Laken Riley was a nursing student in Athens, and she was killed in February as she jogged through the woods at UGA. Let's go live outside the courthouse now with CNN's Rafael Romo, who's been following the trial closely. Rafael, take us through what happened today.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Boris. It was not a big surprise when Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard sentenced Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But we heard a collective sigh of relief inside the courtroom when he made the announcement. The judge had earlier issued a guilty verdict on all 10 counts the defendant was facing, including malice, murder, felony murder, and kidnapping with bodily injury. The verdict was announced in a completely packed courtroom.
The family and friends of Laken Riley filled four of the eight rows available inside. Before reading the verdict, Judge Haggard made two observations. One, the closing statement by Special Prosecutor Ross was very powerful, he said, and two, he took into account the defense's request that he set aside his emotions before issuing a verdict. The Special Prosecutor said in fighting her attacker the victim left more than enough evidence to convict him. Ross also had a very compelling argument when she asked Judge Haggard to sentence the defendant of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the sake of Lauren Phillips, Laken Riley's younger sister. This is what she had to say.
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SHEILA ROSS, PROSECUTOR: She's growing up without her sister. She's going to have to deal with elderly parents alone. Her children won't have an aunt. She is an only child. And she should not have to worry 30 years from now, 40 years from now, if he comes up for parole, should he make it out.
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ROMO: And, Boris, the prosecution rested its case this morning after calling 25 witnesses over three days. The evidence against Ibarra included DNA of the suspect linking him to the victim, video showing the suspect near the wooded area where Laken Riley was killed, physical evidence in the form of a Styrofoam cup found near the trail and a hat the suspect wore, as well as digital evidence collected from phone records. On the other hand, the defense only called three witnesses to the stand and argued the evidence against Ibarra is circumstantial. Now back to you.
SANCHEZ: Rafael Romo live for us outside the courthouse in Athens, Georgia. Thank you so much, Rafael -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We have some breaking news from Capitol Hill. Let's get right to CNN's Manu Raju, who has been (INAUDIBLE), ethics Committee meeting just wrapped up. Manu, what can you tell us?
MANU RAJU, CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael Guest, the chairman of the House Ethics Committee, the Republican emerging from this closed door meeting, not saying a whole lot to reporters, but saying this very significant statement, saying there was not an agreement by the committee to release the report. Of course, that report referring to Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump's pick to be the next attorney general of the United States. This report detailing going into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use by the former congressman.
That report, of course, has been part of a bipartisan probe for the past two years. It's in its final stages, but it has not been released to the public yet. Why? Because Gaetz abruptly resigned as a house member last week in the aftermath of his selection as attorney general.
Now Republicans, including the speaker of the house, say that should not be a public report because he's a former member, even though there's precedent for doing so. After two hours of debate behind closed doors, and as Democrats are demanding this report, what Guest is saying is that there was not an agreement from the two sides to put this out publicly. Now he would not say, Brianna, whether or not there was actually a vote by the committee. I asked him that several times. He would not say what the nature of the debate was or if they're going to revisit this in any way.
But he did tell me on the way in that he views this report as not finished, still in the final review stages, he said, which is why he had some reservations going forward. But Democrats are not going to be satisfied by this answer. So expect this to be a big fight, especially as Senate Republicans themselves want to see the allegations here as they consider this hugely significant nomination -- Brianna, Boris.
KEILAR: All right, Manu Raju, on the Hill, thank you for the update there. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.
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KEILAR: A proposal from Texas to help Donald Trump execute his mass deportation promise. The state is offering the incoming administration 1,400 acres of border land to build a deportation hub. The land's previous owner had refused border wall construction and blocked law enforcement from accessing the property, but the state recently bought the ranch.
CNN national correspondent Gloria Pazmino is here with us on this story. Gloria, give us some details on this.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, we finally heard from the Trump's transition, and while they did not specifically tell us whether or not they plan to accept this offer, they did say that Trump plans to use every level of power to execute his promise of mass deportations. And we heard a lot about this on the campaign, right? He said that he would use emergency powers to make this happen.
And now you have Texas essentially saying, here's some land where you can get started. This is coming from the Texas General Land Office. And as you said, they are pointing to this area, not far from the southern border in the Rio Grande City, where you could potentially, according to them, put up this sort of facility that would help deport and process people.
Now, usually you'd have to go through a whole process with federal agencies.
[15:45:00]
You'd have to take the time to put up the facility, and you'd have to go to contracting, which usually takes time.
But we know that Trump has said he wants to move quickly. And we also know that these mass deportations are expected to cost an incredible amount of money and require a large amount of resources. So Texas making this offer could potentially help the Trump administration move faster as they try to put these mass deportation plans in place. It remains to be seen if they will actually take up the offer.
KEILAR: All right, we'll wait and see. Gloria Pazmino, thank you for the report -- Boris.
SANCHEZ: It's not just Texas getting ready for mass deportations under Donald Trump. The city of Los Angeles is also preparing, except officials there want to protect undocumented immigrants. CNN's Veronica Miracle is live in L.A. with the details. Veronica, what's the latest there?
VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, the city of Los Angeles is really kind of setting themselves up for a fight with the Trump administration, potentially very much making their stance on immigration known ahead of him taking office. The city council unanimously voted for this ordinance, and it essentially prohibits city resources from being used in immigration enforcement. It also prohibits city employees from cooperating with immigration agents.
That includes the LAPD, the Los Angeles Police Department, which actually has their own set of policies that prohibits officers from assisting ICE anyway. City officials actually sped this process up because they wanted to make sure that measures are in place ahead of President-elect Trump taking office -- Boris.
SANCHEZ: And Veronica, L.A. County schools are also making some changes. Tell us about those.
MIRACLE: Yes, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board, they voted to reaffirm their position as a sanctuary district just about an hour after the L.A. City Council voted for a sanctuary city ordinance. And for the school district, that means that school personnel are not allowed to assist immigration enforcement. They're not allowed to share the immigration status of students, staff members or their families if ICE were to potentially show up to any schools.
Here's what the board president had to say.
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JACKIE GOLDBERG, PRESIDENT, LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: We know what's coming. They've said what's coming. And we want to tell our students and their families and all of our personnel that you are welcome here.
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MIRACLE: And this was one of a handful of motions that the board passed, including to create extra protections for LGBTQ students -- Boris.
SANCHEZ: Veronica Miracle, live from Los Angeles, thank you so much.
Still ahead, Walmart warning that higher prices could be ahead for shoppers if Donald Trump gets his way. We'll explain in just a few minutes.
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KEILAR: A new warning from America's largest store. Walmart says if President-elect Trump follows through on his promise for tariffs, you are likely to see higher prices on store shelves. And Walmart's not the only one that's worried.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is with us on this story. Vanessa, tell us what Walmart is saying, and tell us how this is going to cost consumers.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the store known for everyday low prices is saying they're going to have to raise their prices if President Trump goes ahead with his tariff proposals. And just to remind viewers, that's 60 percent tariffs on Chinese imports and up to 20 percent on imports coming in from other countries because much of what you see on Walmart's store shelves come from other countries.
And the CFO of Walmart just yesterday telling CNBC that, quote: Our model is everyday low prices, but there will probably be cases where prices will go up for consumers.
And Walmart is not the only company sounding the alarm here. A host of other companies and retailers are saying that they, too, will have to raise prices. Steve Madden saying they're going to move 45 percent of their business out of China to try to beat these tariffs, and they will probably have to raise prices.
Black & Decker, the power tools company, saying they could see a hit of $200 million if these tariffs go into effect. Columbia Sportswear saying that they are ordering merchandise now for next fall just to beat these proposed tariffs. And, of course, Brianna, who ends up paying for all this? Ultimately, the U.S. consumer. One estimate says that we could end up spending $2,600 more each year if these tariffs take effect -- Brianna.
KEILAR: And Vanessa, Target says that it is bracing for a sluggish holiday season. It's lowering its sales and profit forecasts, which is a bit of a change for it. Is that a Target problem, or is that a sign of a bigger issue?
YURKEVICH: It could be a Target problem, and that is because Target is saying, essentially, that their customer base is being more discretionary with their spending. And they reported just this morning in their third quarter earnings call that in the fourth quarter, during the holiday shopping season, when they really expect to bring in a lot of cash, customers are just watching what they're spending. And you can see Target's stock right there just really, really tanking, down 22 percent on this news.
Part of this, though, Brianna, could be that Target is losing some of their upper-income customers to brands like Walmart, where they have more essentials, like groceries, customers we know are spending more on everyday items versus candles and home decor. And also worth noting that Walmart is doing very well in their third quarter, and they are projecting strong holiday sales.
[15:55:00]
So a tale of two retailers, Target really struggling with holiday shopping, but Walmart saying that they have a lot of customers coming in, taking advantage of their everyday low prices -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Really interesting. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much for the report.
And this just in, we told you moments ago the House Ethics Committee chair told reporters as he left this meeting that was happening today there was not an agreement by the panel to release the report on Matt Gaetz.
But now we've learned that the committee voted on whether to release the report, and Republicans voted to protect Gaetz. This is a developing story. Stay with CNN for more.
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KEILAR: A suspected smuggler in Peru allegedly tried to sneak through some pretty creepy contraband at the Lima airport. Authorities say he had not only 320 tarantulas, but 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants all strapped to his body in Ziploc bags.
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SANCHEZ: The 28-year-old suspect from South Korea was initially stopped because of his, quote, bulky appearance. The Forestry Service thinks the creatures came from the Amazon and were going to be sold on the black market. Fortunately, these critters are in the care of authorities now.
Tarantulas, as you may or may not know, are a threatened species. You'd be surprised how often this happens. Glad the furry animals are OK.
KEILAR: Yes. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.
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