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Accused CEO Killer Luigi Mangione Pleads Not Guilty; House Ethics Committee Releases Bombshell Gaetz Report; Biden Takes All But Three Federal Inmates Off Death Row; Just Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 23, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:01:22]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN HOST: Luigi Mangione's attorney accuses New York officials of turning her clients into a spectacle as he's marched shackled and surrounded by officers to another court appearance.

And the House Ethics Committee confirms it found evidence former Congressman Matt Gaetz may have committed statutory rape, as the final draft of its bombshell report is finally made public.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Plus, has one of his final moves in office President Biden commutes the sentences for all but three federal death row inmates. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

FREEMAN: We begin this hour here. The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson pleaded not guilty today to state murder and terror charges in New York. Luigi Mangione was escorted into a New York courtroom this morning where he was arraigned on those 11 state charges, including first degree murder and terrorism.

If found guilty of the top charge, the 26-year-old could spend the rest of his life in prison without parole. His attorney expressing concerns though in court today that New York City Mayor Eric Adams and law enforcement were politicizing her client's arrest and making it difficult for Mangione to get a fair trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, LUIGI MANGIONE'S ATTORNEY: He's a young man and he is being treated like a human ping pong ball between two warring jurisdictions here. These federal and state prosecutors are coordinating with one another, but at the expense of him they have conflicting theories in their indictments and they are literally treating him like he is like some sort of political fodder, like some sort of spectacle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Mangione's attorney specifically calling out officials for that huge show of force last week during Mangione's extradition from Pennsylvania, calling it, quote, "The biggest staged perp walk she's ever seen."

CNN's John Miller is joining us now. John, today Mangione again walked before the cameras on his way to the courtroom. This comes after that high profile perk walk last week that we just showed under high security, which included then New York Mayor Eric Adams walking behind him. Now, his attorney, John, you know, claims his right to a fair trial is being harmed. But I want your perspective, is all of this standard procedure?

JOHN MILLER, CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: No, it's quite different. The perp walk, of course, was just simply an effect of they had to fly him in from Pennsylvania. And the press knew he was coming into the heliport because when they asked, they were told. The NYPD policy is you neither encourage nor discourage the photographing of defendants in public areas.

As for today's perp walk, so to speak, that was because they had to go get him from federal courthouse and bring him into the courthouse, into the courtroom. Normally, if he had been in state custody, they would have had him in the cell block. He would have come in from the side door. You wouldn't have seen any of that outside the courtroom. So today was much more about logistics than last week's.

And last week's did have a purpose. And it was to show if you commit allegedly an assassination on the streets of New York City, you will be found and you will be brought to justice. And I think that's why the mayor and so many others were there, to show that this case was being brought to justice.

FREEMAN: All right, John, thank you very much for that. For more on this, let's bring in Felipe Rodriguez, a former NYPD Detective Sergeant, and Jennifer Rodgers, a CNN Legal Analyst and a former Federal Prosecutor. Jennifer, let's start with you and let's talk about what happened today. Mangione officially pleaded not guilty. Just for the record, that was expected, right?

[14:05:02]

There's not really a surprise there.

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, for sure. I mean, even if they are working on a guilty plea as we speak, he would plead not guilty at this initial appearance, but there's no indication that they're anywhere close to talking the police. So, yes, for sure. You plead not guilty, you get discovery, and then his lawyers will go to work trying to figure out what their defense is going to be ultimately.

FREEMAN: All right, Felipe, so we heard Mangione's attorney take issue with this now infamous New York perp walk from the other week. We'll get to her larger arguments in a moment, but I just wanted to get your perspective. What did you make of that huge show of force from the NYPD and the city? And are you concerned that could jeopardize this case at all?

FELIPE RODRIGUEZ, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE SERGEANT: That is a big concern. One of the main things that I've been talking about from the beginning is we have to give, you know, fairness when fairness is due.

At this point, my biggest concern is the concept of jury nullification, which is it doesn't matter what kind of evidence we have. The jury doing the way that everything is being done at this moment, you know, feels that, guess what, I don't care about the evidence. I feel that this gentleman is innocent, and we have to be very careful the way we're balancing and presenting him in front of prospective jurors.

FREEMAN: All right, Jennifer. So in addition to the arguments specifically about the perp walk, we heard from Mangione's attorney today requesting immediate discovery. She talked about prejudicial statements and Mangione being treated like a human ping pong ball between these two warring jurisdictions. Do you think that could help the defense's case or the reality of, again, multiple law enforcement apparatuses wanting a piece of him? Does that just make it more complicated for his case?

RODGERS: It's certainly more complicated for him. And his lawyers are having to defend in two different places on two different theories at the same time. So it's going to be much more (inaudible). And, you know, ultimately, if he goes to trial in both (inaudible) so he can't really help himself in any strategic way. It's really just more of a hassle for them to try to face both of these cases at the same time.

And remember, the federal charges potentially carry the death penalty, so that will slow everything down. And it's not at all clear that ultimately death will be sought here, but that makes it obviously a much more difficult case to defend as well.

FREEMAN: Felipe, I want to get your perspective on one of the more wild moments that was referring to something that happened last week. The defense is -- one of the defense's first arguments was that New York Mayor Eric Adams appeared at that perp walk and press conference was about distracting from his own criminal challenges. What was your take? I mean, you know, when you're arguing that this is a politicized circus, is that argument in court going to help Mangione?

RODRIGUEZ: At this point, we have so much speculation when it comes to stuff like that. You know, we really -- we see the mayor is having a very difficult time. It was unprecedented for a mayor to be, you know, present at a perp walk that think that's something that should have been handled by the police commissioner. So I really don't know what angle he's trying to get at, but it is becoming very distracted -- distracting at this time.

And you know what? Let the police commissioner do her job. She's very competent at it, right? She's very well spoken. You know, let the police commissioner basically do what you got hired her for.

FREEMAN: Jennifer, we heard the prosecution talk about troves of evidence that it has documents, thousands of hours of video. What is most concerning to you about that if you are Mangione's defense attorney?

RODGERS: Wow. All of it. I mean, we've kind of seen in the public eye how this has unfolded in terms of them seeing the videos identifying him, his capture, the things that he had on him at the time, the gun, the silencer, the writings. I mean, it's an overwhelming case, at least it seems to be on the fact of did he commit this crime? I mean, the crime itself is on video. So, you know, I think you're concerned about all of that.

And really, if you're the defense, you're having to shift course a little bit and think about, okay, we're probably not going to be able to prove that he didn't do this. We're going to have to think about was he mentally incapacitated? You know, can we go for nullification here? Is there some other way to get out from under this other than you've got the wrong guy? Because that seems to be not a very fruitful course given the evidence that we've seen so far.

FREEMAN: Yeah, and it doesn't seem that that is anything they're presenting, at least at the moment. But again, we're in early stages right now. There's going to be a lot more to talk about. Felipe Rodriguez, Jennifer Rodgers, thank you both for your time. Erica.

RODRIGUEZ: Thanks --

HILL: Danny, thanks. New today, the House Ethics Committee releasing a final draft copy of its report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz finding, quote, "Substantial evidence Gaetz paid thousands of dollars for sex and drugs on multiple occasions, including allegedly paying a 17-year-old for sex in 2017.

[14:10:01]

The bipartisan panel concluded Gaetz violated Florida state laws, including the state statutory rape law. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Katelyn Polantz is following all of these developments for us. There is a lot in this report. Walk us through what else -- what else we learn from this.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Erica, the big picture here that the House committee is finding Matt Gaetz was paying at least 20 times for women to have sex with him or for drugs. That is the bottom line where they are able to say then they believe through witness testimony that they've taken, through text messages, through tracing payments that they believe Matt Gaetz engaged in commercial sex.

So paying for sex, engaged in statutory rape, having sex with a then girl, a 17-year-old heading into her senior year of high school, having sex with her twice at a party in July of 2017 and then her receiving $400 in cash. They believe that that's statutory rape under Florida law. And then also that Matt Gaetz, while he was a sitting member of Congress, was taking illicit drugs.

One of the things that the Committee writes is they document how many women spoke to them, how many people testified, including that alleged 17-year-old victim, quote, "Many of the women interviewed by the Committee were clear that there was a general expectation of sex. One woman who was paid more than $5,000 by Representative Gaetz between 2018 and 2019 told the Committee that 99% of the time that they were hanging out there was sex involved.

So all of this is being put together. The details here are quite specific. Not just about that party in July of 2017 where Gaetz was having sex with the 17-year-old, but also a trip to the Bahamas he was taking with adult women who were being reimbursed for traveling with him. So all of this is being put together.

And Gaetz in response has went to court this morning. His lawyers and he had been denying the allegations against him that the Committee was finding. He tried to stop the release of the report that was unsuccessful. And we're waiting to hear if he has anything else to say in court to a judge who is now looking at this as well.

HILL: There's also, you know, and a little bit of that was up in part of what you just pulled there, Katelyn, but there were all of these reports of the sexual encounters. There's also the drugs that were reportedly involved here.

POLANTZ: Yeah, Erica, one of the things that the investigation was able to do is give us much more of an idea of how the sex and drugs that those were going hand in hand in these rendezvous that Matt Gaetz was having with women.

One of the things that the Committee writes deep in this report is, quote, "While all the women that the Committee interviewed stated their sexual activity with Representative Gaetz was consensual, at least one woman felt that the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended may have impaired their ability to really know what was going on or fully consent.

Indeed, nearly every woman that the Committee spoke with could not remember the details of at least one or more of the events they attended with Representative Gaetz and attributed that to drug or alcohol consumption.

Now, a very important reminder here. Gaetz was investigated by the Justice Department for sex trafficking. He was not charged. The Justice Department did not charge him with any crime. He has not been charged with any crime in the state of Florida. What is being found here are violations of House Ethics for the time when he was a member of Congress, which of course, he no longer is.

HILL: Katelyn, appreciate it. Thank you. Also with us, CNN Legal Analyst Jennifer Rodgers. So I mean, picking up on that, I think there is so much in here, I have to say, reading through it and the fact that in the report they say there is substantial evidence here for all of the things that they -- that they allege happen.

And yet the Department of Justice declined to bring charges. You're a former federal prosecutor. So is it clear to you based on what we do know, as to why the DOJ would choose not to charge?

RODGERS: Well, Erica, interestingly, the report says that they did not find substantial evidence to prove the federal charge which was sex trafficking. So what the Committee ultimately found is consistent with what DOJ presumably found, which is didn't have enough to bring the federal charges, the sex trafficking, the bringing of a 17-year-old across state lines for the purpose of having sex.

What they did say was substantially proven was a whole flurry of state level offenses. So DOJ is not able to charge state level offenses. That would be up to Florida authorities who apparently decided not to investigate or not to charge. It's not at all clear whether they could do that.

Now, there may be statute of limitations problems with that if they were interested. But in any case, they didn't charge. So it's actually consistent, the report is consistent with what federal authorities apparently decided to do with this case.

[14:15:01]

It still of course, is pretty damaging and damning of former Representative Gaetz given that they do find that crimes were committed and House rules were also violated.

HILL: As you noted, it's potential there could be charges in Florida depending on the statute of limitations there as we wait to see what happens there when it comes to Florida statutory rape laws.

We're just getting a statement actually from an attorney who represents two of the women who testified in that House Ethics Committee's probe saying that this investigation and the detailed findings, quote, "vindicate my clients accounts and demonstrate their credibility going on to say how they appreciate the Committee's commitment to transparency in releasing the comprehensive report so the truth can be known".

There's been a lot of back and forth about, of course, whether this should or should not be released and what that could mean. Where do you see this going?

RODGERS: Well, it's interesting because sometimes when you see statements like that from lawyers who are representing people involved, witnesses, potential victims, it's really the precursor to a lawsuit. Now, I don't know whether there would be grounds for a lawsuit here if this was consensual sex in exchange for money. There was a suggestion, maybe it wasn't always completely consensual. So I'm not sure.

You may be seeing some sort of lawsuits coming after this report and all the evidence comes out. Some enterprising lawyers might be collecting clients in anticipation of some sort of action of that sort. So we don't know.

We don't know also what Matt Gaetz has in his future as far as elected office and whether it will be impacted by what's been learned today or what he will try to do about this report that's now out there. But I'd watch the courts. We may see some action there down the road.

HILL: Yeah. Well, to that point, Matt Gaetz had been fighting the release of this report, frankly, up until the second it was posted online earlier today. Is there any legal recourse that you see for him?

RODGERS: I don't know of any. I mean, he could try to sue, I suppose, but the release of the report was by vote of the Committee and the usual course of not releasing once someone has resigned, you know, it's not a law. There's no legal basis to say that they couldn't release it that I know of.

So I suspect he wouldn't be able to succeed in an action against the House or the Ethics Committee or any individual members if he tried to follow that. I think this was about trying to stop it from coming out. And since he lost that battle. I suspect he'll drop the suit, but I guess we'll see.

HILL: We certainly will. Jennifer Rodgers, good to see you. Thank you.

Still ahead here this hour on CNN News Central, President Biden commutes the sentences of nearly every federal inmate on death row. We'll take a closer look at the three prisoners he very intentionally left out.

Plus, Syria's new de facto leader announcing all weapons will now be under government control. Just the latest development as some Syrians tell CNN they are wary of returning home even after the fall of the Assad regime.

And one in three Americans say they will travel for the Christmas holiday. So will the weather cooperate with their plans? We're going to take a closer look at those stories and much more just ahead in the next hour of CNN News Central. Stay with us.

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[14:22:24]

HILL: Another major announcement by the Biden administration as the President winds down his time in the Oval Office, commuting today the sentences of nearly all federal death row inmates, 37 in total. That means they will now spend the rest of their lives in prison without the possibility of parole.

Notably, however, President Biden did not commute sentences for three men convicted of carrying out some of the country's most notorious mass murders. CNN's Kayla Tausche is live at the White House with more on that and what more is President Biden saying about this decision? Kayla.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITW HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Erica, the President says that he made this decision based on his conscience and his political experience, writing in a statement, make no mistake, I condemn these murderers, grief for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss.

But, he says, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.

The three inmates who will remain on death row are Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Dylann Roof and Robert Bowers, the men who are respectively behind the Boston Marathon bombing, the shooting at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston and also the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Now Biden, in the first year of his term, suspended federal executions. And activists have been warning the White House of a potential spree of executions once President Elect Donald Trump retakes office. The move also, though, represents an evolution of Biden's own views on the death penalty as well as the party's more broadly.

Biden staunchly supported the death penalty at earlier points in his career. But the Democratic Party is not universally supportive of this move, some criticizing the President for appearing soft on crime and also appearing to challenge the authority of the judicial system. Here is one of those critics, House Democrat Mike Quigley earlier today on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY, (D) ILLINOIS: It's concerned with how presidents handle pardons and how they handle commutations for their own reasons, their own personal reasons. And back to the pardoning of his own son, I heard people say, well, it's the love of a father, I get that. But there's a lot of parents out there whose children are in harm's way in the justice system, and they don't have the ability to do what President Biden did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: The Biden administration has been reviewing thousands of clemency petitions and continues to do so. The White House has said that there will be more actions to come as the president winds down his time in office. And it continues to review the possibility of preemptive pardons for some of Trump's political opponents, remains to be seen how the president will make a decision on that one.

[14:25:08]

Erica?

HILL: Kayla, appreciate it. Thank you. Danny.

FREEMAN: For more on this, we're joined now by Democratic Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. Congresswoman, thank you so much for making time with us today. I really appreciate it. I want to start here because I know this is an issue you're passionate about. Why did you praise this decision by the President today?

REP. AYANNA PRESLEY, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: Well, mass incarceration is a crisis in this country. It has been for decades. Clemency -- our broken clemency process is one of the reasons why we have a mass incarceration crisis. We have in the office of the parting attorneys a backlog of some 10,000 individuals. That's 10,000 families.

And so I've commended the President for having the authority and using it, using it in the 39 pardons and the 1,500 commutations for those on home confinement. And today, this decision to commute the sentences of those on death row to life sentences without parole.

State sanctioned murder is not justice. It is not a deterrent for crime. It does not -- it is not support healing. It is not compassionate of our peer nations. We are an anomaly when it comes to the inhumane and barbaric practice of the death penalty.

And moreover, in Trump's first administration, he executed more people in the final days of his presidency than have been executed in the last six decades. So we have every reason to believe that that's what he would do for those that in an expedited way, those currently on death row.

So President Biden's action today is in keeping with the promise he made when he was pursuing the presidency. He's long been opposed to the federal death penalty. He gave me his word that he would not execute anyone on his watch. He honored that, and today he took it a step further.

FREEMAN: Congresswoman, a number of families of victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, they spoke out prior to this decision today, hoping that the murderer there, Robert Bowers, would not get his sentence commuted. Ultimately, the president agreed with that and did not commute that federal death penalty sentence. But I'm curious what you would say to members of victims of some of these inmates on death row whose sentences were commuted today.

PRESLEY: Well, first, you know, in my own family, I've had loved ones that have been murdered. And I still fundamentally hold this position. No community is a monolith. But I've worked very closely with the survivor community. Healing is a very nuanced issue and how people actualize that. Every victim that's been impacted by violence deserves a pathway to healing, to justice and to accountability.

And in fact, I have a bill that was signed into law by President Biden that supports survivors that have been impacted by domestic terrorism and other such crises to be able to access behavioral and mental health services. Again, the death penalty has been -- has not been proven to be a deterrent of crime. State sanctioned murder is not justice. And today what President Biden did demonstrated moral leadership, compassionate leadership informed by his own faith, and a position that held for a very long time.

And again, when it comes to our pure nations, we are an anomaly in this inhumane and barbaric practice which is fundamentally flawed. This broad and diverse coalition momentum has continued to grow to abolish the federal death penalty throughout this country. Interfaith groups, activists, advocates and survivors of families that have been impacted. I've also met many exonerees who are part of this movement. Death row exonerees, because one in 25 on death row are innocent. So wherever you fall on the issue of the death penalty, one thing is for sure is that whether or not people think it's fair or unfair, it has not been applied fairly. It has had a disparate impact on low income people, black people and other marginalized persons. Black people make up only 13% of our society and over 40% of those on death row.

FREEMAN: Congressman, I want to turn to some of the other news of the day, especially concerning the Hill right now. I want to talk about this newly released House -- House Ethics Committee report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz. Now, the investigation found that Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs, including paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017. Congressman, I just want to get your quick reaction to your former colleagues or the allegations against your former colleague.

PRESLEY: It's a damning report. I'm glad that it was released. And Matt Gaetz is clearly unfit for public office.

FREEMAN: Well, just going along those lines, several of these allegations would be a crime under Florida state laws. Do you think the former Congressman should be prosecuted?

PRESLEY: The legal process will play out as it should. Again, these are damning allegations. I'm glad the report was released and he's unfit to serve. And --

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