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Flood Of Support On Social Media For Suspected Killer; Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) Leads Effort To Ban Congress From Trading Stocks; Inside Assad Family's Palatial Mansion. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 11, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:20]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Right now the NYPD is warning executives they need to be aware of an elevated threat in the wake of the brazen murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. The killing has shaken C-suites across the country forcing corporations and their leaders to elevate their security measures.

CNN's Matt Egan has more. What's the -- what are some of the steps that these companies are taking and obviously, their CEOs and leadership as well?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Sara. The level of fear in C-suites right now is palpable. This shooting in midtown Manhattan, not far from where we are right now, has been real wakeup call. Security firms that are paid top dollar to protect these CEOs -- they told me that their phones are ringing off the hook right now from worried corporate executives.

And one official -- one security official told me corporate America is nervous. He said, "Health care is the target now but who's next?"

And so companies -- yes, they are considering a range of steps to ramp up security. I mean, first, they are reevaluating their existing security protocol. They're considering increasing the number of security personnel and the amount of technology in offices and at the residences of executives. They're also urging CEOs to delete their digital footprints, including things like the floor plan to their residences or information on where their kids go to school. They're enhancing mail screening.

And there's also this sense that this murder really showed that the security blanket that exists around the top security -- the top executives needs to be extended to their lieutenants because there's a lot of corporations that have division CEOs, like Brian Thompson was, who may not get that topnotch security that the big boss gets but perhaps they need to.

And so the level of concern is high for a number of reasons. It's not just where this happened.

SIDNER: Right. EGAN: It's who the alleged shooter is, right? One security official told me that this isn't a guy -- this isn't Ted Kaczynski living in a cabin somewhere, right? This is someone who actually has a similar background in terms of schooling to some of the corporate executives.

But it's also the reaction that this shooting has gotten in terms of positive reaction online. And there's a concern that plus some of the attention that the alleged shooter is getting could trigger copycats.

And we had this NYPD intel report that was obtained by CNN's John Miller, and it did say that this shooting appeared to be driven by 1) anger against the health industry, but 2) corporate greed as a whole. And this reported cautioned that the positive online reaction may signal an elevated threat facing executives in the near term with the shooting itself having the capability to inspire a variety of extremists and grievance-driven malicious actors to violence.

And so it's that environment now that companies are reassessing the security that they have to try to protect their executives.

SIDNER: Yeah. I mean, the online sort of atmosphere is very interesting, and you can understand when you look at it people are very upset about what's happened with health care --

EGAN: Right.

SIDNER: -- lashing out during all of this. And, of course, the fear of a copycat is a real one.

EGAN: It is a real one. Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: Matt Egan, thank you so much for that reporting. It was great -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And balancing off that -- the way that intel report put it -- that positive online reaction -- there is real new concern over the morbid glee that has flooded the internet over the CEO's killing and the glorification of his accused killer.

From eBay to Amazon, TikTok to Instagram, people and products cheering on Luigi Mangione while showing little sympathy for the father of two who was murdered is really everywhere. Several companies now trying to stop sales on disturbing merchandise capitalizing on the murder.

[07:35:00]

Separately, but interesting, a book written about the health care industry published in 2010 called "Delay Deny Defend" has now jumped to Amazon's number two spot in the nonfiction section. Those words, we know, were found on shell casings at the murder scene.

And officials are now speaking out alarmed by social media posts like these.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This Ivy League hottie named Luigi is the Robinhood that we never knew that we needed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I listened to Luigi's manifesto this morning three times, and I cried. Honestly, it's beautiful and I agree with him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least he left a very powerful message, and he highlighted how terrible the health care system is in America. I think he'll go down as a hero in history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is David Gilbert, a reporter at WIRED covering -- who covers disinformation and online extremism. David, thanks for coming in.

For -- I was reading through some of what you had picked up on in your reporting, looking at online stores selling t-shirts, and hoodies, and mugs, and more applauding Mangione with lines like "In this house Luigi Mangione is a hero, end of story." Products of his -- with his picture and the phrase "Mama, I'm in love with a criminal." Just this morning we found t-shirts being sold saying "Health care reform Luigi style."

What are you finding with all this?

DAVID GILBERT, REPORTER, WIRED: Yeah, thanks for having me, Kate.

It's really interesting. It's something that we haven't really seen at this scale or on mainstream platforms before where people are lionizing or glorifying the shooter and pretty much ignoring the victim in this case.

And it once -- for the first five or six days when Mangione's identity wasn't known this online community -- millions of people who as Matt mentioned previously were really angry about the health care industry and what happened to them. They kind of created this fantasy if you will of a left-wing kind of hero, or Robinhood, as we heard in that clip, who they wanted to be their hero and who was doing more for them than anyone else had done.

But even when his identity was revealed and we saw that he had gone to prestigious schools, and worked in Silicon Valley, and followed right- wing people, this community still embraced him. And as we said, we saw t-shirts with "I love Mangione" with his picture on this, and tote bags, and mugs. And there's fundraisers happening for him online.

It's something we haven't seen at this scale before, although we have seen mass shooters or school shooters embraced in this way by online communities. It's never been as mainstream as this.

BOLDUAN: And that's the difference, I think.

And that's what -- you know, I think you had seen this too but Alex Goldenberg with Network Contagion Research Institute, which tracks online threats, talked to The New York Times about this and saying that this internet rhetoric has left experts pretty disturbed by the glorification of the murder.

And it's not just the internet. There's always been a corner of the internet where cruel, disgusting things flourish, but it's this big jump in a quick way to mainstream. I mean, these -- no one -- none of these -- those people that we just played were hiding their faces. They were just on mainstream social media saying this type of stuff.

Is it -- what is driving not just the level of cruelty and lack of empathy, I think, of this -- as you said, just ignoring the victim here -- it's the comfort level with which people are doing it that is -- that's striking to me.

GILBERT: Yeah, that's definitely what's new here.

I think there's two things happening. I think the idea that people are glorifying the shooter is one thing, but it's also that not exactly the vast majority, at least, are not calling for more murders for CEOs to murder -- to be murdered.

I think people are just so angry at the health care system in the U.S. that they see this as an opportunity to lash out to kind of vent all that anger that has been pent up for so long. And this is an opportunity for them to join in with millions of other people because you have that sense of community online for people to really say things that maybe normally, they wouldn't say.

And there's this sense where people are getting caught up in the moment and they are, as you said, posting videos with their face open glorifying a man who shot someone in Midtown Manhattan.

It's a really stark thing to see given that for years I've been tracking kind of the reaction to mass shootings online. And what we see there is typically anonymous accounts glorifying these people and then maybe years later other mass shooters referencing them in their manifestos. So that's how that kind of network works on the fringe.

[07:40:12]

What we don't know is whether it going mainstream like this is going to have a similar radicalizing or inspirational effect and whether other people will then take up the mantle and do something similar. That's just conjecture at the moment, I think.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. And also, definitely the fear and concern. Your reporting is always so important. David, thank you so much for coming on -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning, President Biden is facing increasing pressure from within his own party to take action on immigration before leaving office and before President-elect Trump's promised mass deportations.

Let's get right to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez for the latest on this. What are they calling for, and what power does President Biden have here? PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Democrats essentially want the president and his administration to extend protections to immigrants already in the United States for fear of what President-elect Donald Trump's mass deportation plans may look like and who they may target because so far, the president-elect's team has been quite vague.

But the conversations within the administration and within the White House, according to the sources that I have been speaking to, are quite complicated. They're wrestling with these demands from Democrats and their allies. But at the same time they're trying to avoid overreaching on an issue that strategists argue cost Democrats the White House.

And on that front, a senior administration official telling me, "The paradigm has shifted." Really, the reality of the electoral results is, in part, playing into these conversations.

Now, all of this, John, is a reflection of the state of immigration policy. It has been made through the Executive Branch. So, yes, with a stroke of a pen Donald Trump can get rid of most of what the Biden administration has done. But what Democrats are urging the administration to do is at the very least try to extend protections. Just make it a little harder for Donald Trump to target some of these communities.

Now, the Senators that are publicly calling for the White House and privately calling the White House on this include, for example, Sens. Alex Padilla, Dick Durbin, Catherine Cortez Masto, Tammy Duckworth, among others.

And in a letter to the president this week they said the following. I'll read just part of it. "We urge you to act decisively between now and the inauguration of the president-elect to complete the important work of the past four years and protect immigrant families." That could include, for example, extending a form of humanitarian relief known as temporary protected status for certain countries, expediting DACA renewals, and processing pending asylum claims.

Now, John, the administration is still doing some work. Just yesterday they announced that they were going to -- they finalized an automatic extension for certain people with work permits. But the argument here among Democrats and immigrant advocates is that there's so much more to be done. The challenge within the administration is what they can do, also taking into consideration that the American people have largely spoken on this issue and many of them disapproved of what the White House did on border security.

BERMAN: All right, Priscilla Alvarez all over this. Thanks so much for being with us this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: There is an investigation underway in Ohio after Cincinnati Bengals quarter Joe Burrow's home was robbed while he was on the field playing on Monday. According to the Hamilton County sheriff, someone called 911 when they found shattered windows and a bedroom ransacked there. The wild thing about this is this is not the first time that we have

been talking about something very similar. There have been a string of high-profile home break-ins against professional athletes starting back in September -- so much so that the FBI has said that it's investigating whether the burglaries are actually linked and connected to a transnational crime ring.

It definitely seems it's not ending -- at least yet.

CNN's Andy Scholes has much more on this. This is wild that it continues, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It certainly is, Kate, especially with the security that all of these athletes probably have in their homes. And Burrow is just the latest high-profile athlete to be a victim of a break-in.

So while he was playing in Texas influencer and swimsuit model Olivia Ponton arrived at Burrow's house in Cincinnati to find a shattered bedroom window and a room ransacked. Ponton, who has 7.6 million followers on TikTok, originally called her mom who then called 911. Ponton then called 911 herself saying, "Someone broke into my house. It's, like, completely messed up." Now, in the police report Ponton was described as an employee of Burrow.

And CNN affiliate WLWT reports, citing radio traffic, that there was an officer on detail at Burrow's house that night.

Now, back in October the homes of Chiefs' stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce -- they were broken into. And NBA players Bobby Portis and Mike Conley Jr.'s homes -- they were also burglarized.

[07:45:00]

Now, both the NFL and NBA have sent out memos to all of their players. The NBA said the FBI has connected some of the burglaries to transnational South American theft groups that run highly sophisticated operations. The leagues also, Kate, urged players to take additional precautions to secure their homes, especially when they're out on the road playing in other cities.

BOLDUAN: It is really wild.

Andy, thank you so much for putting it together for us. I really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: Everyone knows the schedules.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, thanks.

BERMAN: All right, this morning a man is in custody after allegedly assaulting Congresswoman Nancy Mace on Capitol Hill.

And drones the size of an SUV flying over sensitive military infrastructure. New details as the FBI joins the investigation into these mysterious sightings. (COMMERCIAL)

[07:50:25]

SIDNER: A New Jersey state senator is calling for a limited state of emergency over dozens of mysterious drone sightings. The FBI is looking into the mysterious activity of the drones that are said to be the size of an SUV and have been seen flying near at least one military base.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said his office has been briefed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PHIL MURPHY, (D) NEW JERSEY: I was on with the White House and Homeland Security leadership literally at the very top yesterday pretty much all day. I'm hoping we'll get answers sooner than later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The governor also saying the drones do not pose a threat to the public.

Joining me now, ranking member for the House Homeland Security subcommittee, Democratic Congressman Seth Magaziner. Thank you so much for joining us early this morning.

We heard from the governor, and he said that he doesn't believe that the drones pose a threat to the public. Can you say with certainty that the drones do not pose a threat to the public?

REP. SETH MAGAZINER (D-RI): Well, I think as of right now we don't know very much.

We had a hearing on the committee of Homeland Security yesterday on this issue with leadership from the FBI and Customs and Border Protection and they did not know what these drones were. We were frustrated that they didn't know more, and I think they were frustrated that they didn't know more as well.

We've seen no evidence that these drones are carrying weapons, payloads, or anything like that. But at this point we still have more questions than answers and it's a concerning situation.

SIDNER: The governor also said, as he had also been briefed, that these seem to be highly sophisticated -- these drones.

What are the chances, in your mind, that these drones are being used by a foreign government trying to get intel or surveillance similar to what we saw but more bold than the Chinese weather balloon?

MAGAZINER: Well, I think we can't rule anything out at this point. Based on eyewitness accounts at least some of these drones do appear to be larger and more sophisticated than what you or I could go and buy at retail at the store. And so these seem to be sophisticated devices. But we don't know exactly what the nature of them are and we don't know who is operating them.

And I, along with my colleagues on the Homeland Security Committee from both parties, really impressed upon the leadership at Homeland Security and the FBI that they need to prioritize this.

SIDNER: Yeah.

MAGAZINER: We are living in a world now where we've seen the Chinese spy balloon, we've seen drones being flown over other sensitive areas, including military bases, and we've got to get a handle on this.

SIDNER: I do -- I mean, I think everybody has a question, especially those who have seen these things flying over New Jersey, how is it possible that government officials don't know anything about where these drones are from and what they've been doing after all these days of sightings over New Jersey?

MAGAZINER: Yeah. I mean, we're in a technological arms race with uncrewed vehicles now with drones and with uncrewed sea vehicles, et cetera, and so the technology is developing very rapidly. And with the newest generation of drones it's very difficult to track where their operators are. It's very difficult to track their flight paths. And at the same time, we are also working on improved signal jamming technology and tracking technology.

So again, there's an arms race going on right now and that's one of the factors that makes it very difficult to understand who is flying what appear to be sophisticated drones like these.

SIDNER: All right. I do want to switch gears real quickly here just because you are the lead sponsor of a bill that could ban members of Congress, their family members, and dependent children -- their spouses and dependent children from being able to trade individual stocks.

And I'm curious -- because it's been tried before -- why do you think this might have a chance of passing?

MAGAZINER: Well, I'm going to be the lead sponsor of this bill going into the next Congress starting in January.

And the time has come. I mean, trust in Congress is at an all-time low and members of the public need to know that when they send their representatives to Washington that their representatives are going to be making decisions based on the best interests of their constituents and not the best interests of their own bank accounts.

This is a bipartisan bill. I give great credit to Abigail Spanberger, the retiring member of Congress from Virginia who originally introduced this bill. She made it bipartisan and got, I believe, 80 co-sponsors, both Democrats and Republicans. I'm very excited and motivated to pick up this bill now that she is retiring and working with Chip Roy, the Republican lead from Texas.

[07:55:15] This is a bipartisan bill and my God; my people want it. You talk to the average member of the public and they think it is wild that members of Congress have access to all kinds of insider information. And then when they hear that information, can go and call their stockbrokers and trade off of it.

It's wrong. It creates perverse incentives. And come January when I'm the lead, I will be making a big push to try to get this bill over the finish line through whatever mechanism we're able to.

SIDNER: All right, Congressman Seth Magaziner. Thank you so much for coming on and discussing some of these important issues of the day. Appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning the CEO of The Onion is expressing deep disappointment after a bankruptcy judge in Texas blocked their purchase of Infowars. The platform of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The judge cited an issue with the auction process and ordered the court-appointed trustee to go back and work out what he wants to do next.

The Onion made the winning bid last month with the help of the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre. They won a huge defamation suit against Jones tallying more than $1 billion.

This morning Capitol Police say they have arrested a man accused of assaulting Rep. Nancy Mace. The South Carolina congresswoman said she was "physically accosted" on Capitol grounds yesterday. She said on social media her wrist and arm were injured and needed a brace.

She also suggested the attack was in response to her calling for transgender bathroom bans. Last month Mace introduced a resolution to ban transgender women from using women's bathrooms on Capitol Hill.

This morning a Wisconsin man is in police custody after faking his own drowning and abandoning his wife and three children and fleeing to Europe. Investigators say Ryan Borgwardt staged his disappearance in August by overturning a kayak, which triggered a $35,000 search operation. He told authorities he faked the entire ordeal because of "personal matters." Police say he could be charged with obstructing the investigation into his disappearance -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And yet there still will be more on that story.

Now to a CNN exclusive. Clarissa Ward goes inside the presidential palace in Syria now taken over by rebel forces. And this is just days after dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country. The Assad family lived here for more than 50 years ruling Syria and the palace is one of, you could say -- describe it as one of the lasting symbols of that brutal regime.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Outside the palace of Bashar al-Assad Syrians gather to pose for photographs and celebrate the removal of its despised former owner. The public is not allowed inside the sprawling compound yet where the courtyards stretch longer than a city block.

WARD: This is the driveway into Bashar al-Assad's palace, and you can see how enormous it is. There are still casings all over the ground from rebel's celebratory gunfire as they swept in here and took control.

WARD (voiceover): At the entrance, an Iranian flag unceremoniously laid out for people to step on. Iran, one of the regime's staunchest allies.

Where once foreign dignitaries roamed the halls, now rebel fighters have the run of the place.

WARD: You can see blankets on the sofas in here. It looks like this is where the rebels are sleeping. And, in fact, over here you can see they've got some kind of a makeshift dining area going. Some of their weapons here -- a couple of rifles on this sofa.

So this gentleman here who is with the rebels has just asked that I put on my scarf. It's the first time since we've been here that anyone has asked me to cover my hair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

WARD: (Speaking foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

WARD: (Speaking foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

WARD: He says that he's from Idlib and that this is the first time he's seeing the palace.

WARD: (Speaking foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).

WARD (voiceover): "We feel that the injustice will break down one day and justice must win. This is the idea of justice in our religion," he says. "In Islam, it is a must and a promise of Allah that Islam is victorious."

After nearly 14 years of a vicious civil war to stand in this palace is a proud moment capping off a seismic victory.

WARD: So the rebels here want to stress, they tell us, that it was not their group that ransacked this office when they first swept in. You can see actually some of the graffiti here that those first rebels wrote on the window. It says, "Allah curse Hafez (INAUDIBLE), Hafez al-Assad," being the father of Bashar.

When you look at these ceilings and these chandeliers, the marble, the detail -- this is the kind of opulence -- this lavish lifestyle that engendered so much resentment from so many Syrians who have been struggling to survive for decades while the Assad family lived like this.