Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Utah Police Release New Bodycam Footage of Petito; Officials See Possible Mexican Cartels' Role in Bloodshed; Japan's Princess Mako to Marry Long-Time Partner; Lewinsky Shares Mental Health Struggle Amid Clinton Scandal; U.S. Lawmakers Grill Facebook Over "Toxic" Effect on Teens; Dubai Opens World Expo, One Year After Pandemic Halt. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired October 01, 2021 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
PETITO: He like grabbed my face, like, like I guess. He didn't like hit me in the face. He didn't like punch me in the face.
OFFICER: Did he slap your face or what?
PETITO: Well, he like had grabbed me, like, with his nail, and I guess that's why it hurts. I definitely have a cut. Like, I can feel it.
OFFICER: Yeah.
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FBI agents were seen visiting the Laundrie's home again today. This time entering the house with two bags and leaving with one. Agents also were seen entering the camper in the driveway.
But Laundrie's attorney telling CNN the FBI is at the Laundrie home today to collect some personal items belonging to Brian that will assist the canines in their search for Brian. There was nothing more to this.
The family attorney confirms Laundrie went on a camping trip with his family at Fort De Soto Park, 75 miles away, just days after returning home without Petito from his trip out West. We are also learning tonight North Port police say that two calls came in on September 10th and 11th from Gabby Petito 's father in New York, who was trying to report her missing at the Laundrie family address in Florida.
On September 11th, North Port authorities went to the Laundrie's home to speak with Brian and his family. They were, quote, essentially handed the information for their attorney, according to a spokesperson for the North Port police. For 3 days after Petito was reported missing, there was no information coming from the Laundrie family about Gabby or Brian, only a statement from the family attorney.
Saying, quote, on behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful, and that Miss Petito is reunited with her family. Six days after Gabby was reported missing, the Laundries told police Brian was going missing, after saying he was headed to a nearby nature reserve three days prior. The mystery only deepening after new facts trickle out, with no clue yet as to Brian Laundrie's whereabouts.
SANTIAGO: Officers noted that both Brian and Gabby both had scratches on them. And remember that important question you just saw in the story when the officer asked Gabby, did he hit you? And she said, yes, but I hit him first. Also in that footage, very interesting conversation that the officer had when he called one of the witnesses. And he asked the witness the same question. Did you see him hit her? And the witness says, I saw him push or shove her, not necessarily hit her.
Leyla Santiago, CNN, North Port, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Police in London admit they could have realized the former officer who abused his power to rape and murder Sarah Everard was a threat sooner. On Thursday Wayne Couzens was handed a rare life sentence without the chance of parole. And now we're learning he's been linked to two allegations of indecent exposure. One incident happened just a few days before he abducted Everard, a 33-year-old marketing executive and dumped her body in the woods. Her killing captured global attention and prompted a loud outcry in Britain over violence against women. Many are also demanding police reforms.
Well, the British Prime Minister tweeted after the sentencing.
There are no words that adequately express the horror of Sarah's murder. Like the rest of the country, I've been sickened by what we've heard over the course of the sentencing and the pain and suffering endured by her family and friends is truly unimaginable.
That tweet from Boris Johnson.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones will be liable for compensation payments after losing two lawsuits related to his false claims about the Sandy Hook school shooting. He and his right-wing website InfoWars have been found legally responsible for damages caused by his allegations. A jury will later decide how much he'll have to pay the plaintiffs. Jones was sued by the parents of two victims over his claims the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, was a, quote, a giant hoax. 36 people were killed there in 2012.
Now, German police have located an elderly woman charged with abetting mass murder in a Nazi concentration camp. The 96-year-old was a no show a courtroom where she was set to face trial on Thursday. Court officials told CNN she had tracked down and will be brought before the court. The woman worked as a secretary at the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland. Court documents say she is suspected of aiding and abetting more than 11,000 murders there. According to investigators, more than 65,000 people perished in that area during the World War II. Now, hundreds of police have hammered their way into a prison in
Ecuador where a gang rivalry turned into a blood bath. At least 118 prisoners were killed after rival gangs clashed in the facility near Guayaquil on Tuesday. Investigators said they later seized guns, ammunition, knives and explosive devices in prison. And as Matt Rivers reports, investigators now believe Mexican drug cartels may have had a hand in that bloodshed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anxious families cry out for answers, praying their loved ones aren't among the more than 100 dead in the largest prison massacre in Ecuador's history.
[04:35:00]
Detailing harrowing accounts from those inside the Guayaquil prison complex after deadly attacks that authorities believe are essentially proxy battles with people inside of the prisons belonging to gangs with potential links to two Mexican organized crime groups, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The inmates call us. Sister, they are killing me. Call the police.
RIVERS (voice-over): Ecuador has increasingly become an important transit hub for Colombian cocaine and other drugs bound for the U.S. and Europe, according to the U.S. government and a former Ecuadorian military official that spoke to CNN.
These are routes that the Sinaloa Cartel has largely controlled. But now, authorities say the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is making a play for dominance. Leading to a proxy war inside Ecuador's prison system with five major prison battles in 2021 alone resulting in more than 200 dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Because of the more dangerous inmates, there are deaths. You need to grab and remove the rotten ones. Those are the ones you need to take out.
RIVERS (voice-over): The mood outside the prison complex in Guayaquil, one of anger and despair. Loved ones unhappy with what they see as a slow response by police to the attack that began on Tuesday in one of the country's most overcrowded and understaffed prisons.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Look at where the police are. They are out here. It is my brother, not a dog.
RIVERS (voice-over): Authorities initially reported only five dead, moving into the courtyard, attempting to secure the facility, recovering explosives, grenades, guns, and other weapons as they struggle to regain control of the prison.
Overnight, Wednesday into Thursday, with the attack still unfolding, more than 400 police in riot gears swarmed the facility, discovering beheaded bodies and carnage on a much more massive scale. Family members questioning how such a huge security failure could have happened in the first place.
JUANA PINTO, MOTHER OF INMATE (through translator): When they go to visit, they search every single thing. They even make us undress. I don't know how all of the weapons get in. Everyone inside is armed, everyone.
RIVERS (voice-over): Ecuador's president declaring a state of emergency, trying to quell panic, vowing to get the situation under control.
GUILLERMO LASSO, PRESIDENT OF ECUADOR (through translator): It is sad to see the jails become a territory fought over by criminal groups. The state is going to act and the first decision we took is to declare a state of emergency over the prison system across the nation.
RIVERS (voice-over): President Guillermo Lasso also announcing 24 million in state funds to improving Ecuador's prisons, long reported by human rights groups as unsanitary and overcrowded with inadequate health care and weak security, making them an easy target for gang control.
For those outside waiting to hear their family member's fate, that presidential commitment to change may prove too little too late.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We want justice, Mr. President, for all the mothers who suffer here for our children.
RIVERS (voice-over): Authorities say they haven't begun the process of identifying the dead but cautioned the severity of the injuries is making that process incredibly difficult.
Matt Rivers, CNN.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SOARES: Now, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has once again received a one-year sentence just months after another trial ended for the one year long custodial sentence on corruption charges. In the latest court case Sarkozy and 13 others were found guilty of violating campaign finance laws during the 2012 presidential election, which he lost to Francois Hollande. Sarkozy's lawyer has appealed is the first sentence. Says an appeal is planned for the second. He is first French head of state to be sentenced to jail time in post-war France, although he is expected to serve his time under house arrest.
Now, nearly 14,000 Afghan refugees are waiting to get to the United States. They are currently at U.S. military bases in Europe and the Middle East. Pentagon officials say there are about 53,000 Afghan refugees in the United States right now. Many are awaiting a permanent and safe place to live. But refugee groups are struggling to find housing. One tells CNN they are hoping to do the next few months what they would usually do over the course of four years.
Now, Japan's Princess Mako and her long-time partner may finally be getting the happily ever after they've been waiting for. That story coming up next.
[04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Now, after a three-year delay, Japan's Princess Mako is finally set to marry her longtime partner later this month. After century's old rule Japanese law, she must give up her royal status and in order to wed a commoner. Let's get the latest from CNN's Selina Wang in Tokyo. And Selina, this has been a highly anticipated wedding, but also quite controversial one. Explain why.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Isa. For Princess Mako and her fiancee Kei Komuro, it's been three long years of intense scrutiny. When their engagement was announced in 2017, at first it sounded like a fairytale love story, a princess marrying her college sweetheart. Giving up her royal title to marry a commoner.
But from then things got very difficult. The wedding was supposed to happen in 2018. It got pushed back after reports emerged that Kei Komuro's mother had failed to repay about $36,000 to her ex-fiancee. That controversy spiraled. The public turned against the couple. In fact, according to Japan's public broadcaster, the princess has been diagnosed with complex PTSD because of the intense negative coverage.
The controversy around Komuro's family was important in Japan and carried weight because this society really cares about family background and values. And we spoke to residents in Tokyo today who were split on their opinion of this marriage. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don't think he is good enough to marry an imperial person. I think that the way of thinking about the imperial family will change because of her marriage. Japanese people's affection toward the imperial family will be gone. It is sad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): She has been waiting for years and it must be painful. She hasn't been able to see him for years. But I think it's amazing to see the two have kept their love.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WANG (on camera): After the wedding, the couple is set to move to New York where Komuro works at a law firm. And Komuro arrived here in Tokyo earlier this week sporting this ponytail hairdo that caused an absolute media frenzy, Isa, with many people seeing this as yet another sign that he is improper and unfit to marry the princess.
But this marriage has also renewed concerns and discussion around Japan's imperial law, which bars women from the throne. Women have no right -- female royals have no right to the throne. And right now, there's only one young potential successor to the throne. It has again raised discussions about why women cannot be reigning female empresses -- Isa. SOARES: Thanks very much, Selina Wang there for us in Tokyo.
[04:45:00]
Now Monica Lewinsky is opening up about her mental health struggles during the Clinton impeachment scandal. It's been more than two decades since her affair with the then U.S. President Bill Clinton came to light. And in a new interview with CNN's David Axelrod, she says the anguish she experienced during the investigation led her to contemplate taking her own life. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MONICA LEWINSKY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN: I just couldn't see a way out. And I thought -- that maybe -- maybe that was the solution. And had even asked -- you know, which this is also an interesting point of just -- I had asked the OIC lawyers about what happens if I die? You know and --
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, my goodness.
LEWINSKY: Yeah. As more of an adult now I think back, how is there not a protocol, like, that's a point where you're supposed to bring a psychologist in, or something? How is that not a breaking point?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Lewinsky says she has fought for years to reclaim the narrative and not let the scandal forever define her. You can hear more from Lewinsky on CNN's podcast, the "AXE FILES."
Now, Facebook gets a grilling on Capitol Hill. Why some U.S. lawmakers are saying the app is so harmful to teens. We'll explain after a very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:50:00]
SOARES: Well, take a look at the White House this Friday morning. It's now glowing pink to mark the start of national breast cancer awareness month. President Joe Biden said it's to stand with those battling the disease and to honor those who have lost the fight. The White House says nearly 300,000 women in the U.S. will likely be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
Now, Facebook is once again under -- coming under fire. U.S. lawmakers grilled a top executive on Thursday about the impact its photo sharing app Instagram has on children. And to prove a point, one Senator Richard Blumenthal's office created in Instagram account identifying as a 13-year-old girl. They followed a few accounts associated with extreme dieting and eating. And said within a day, the apps recommendations were exclusively related to self-injury and eating disorders. CNN's Clare Sebastian has more on the combative hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: In defensively delinquent in protecting children is how one Senator described Facebook today. The company's global head of safety facing intense and bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill. Not only over the potential risks to teenagers mental health from using Instagram, but because of recently reporting in the "Wall Street Journal" that suggests that Facebook knew about the risks from its own internal research and did not disclose or act on them. Several Senators describing this as Facebook's tobacco moment.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Facebook has taken big tobacco's playbook. It has hidden its own research on addiction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instagram is that first childhood cigarette.
SEBASTIAN: And Facebook's Antigone Davis played down those allegations saying actually showed there were benefits to teenagers mental health from Instagram. And talking about new features, the company could introduce like what she called nudges. Where people who might be going down rabbit holes of potentially harmful content could be nudged toward something that she said could be more inspiring.
Now Facebook did release some of its own research ahead of this hearing, but she could not commit when pressed to full transparency.
ANTIGONE DAVIS, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL HEAD OF SAFETY, FACEBOOK: I know that we have released a number of the reports, and we are looking to find ways to release more of this research. I want to be clear that this research is not a bombshell.
SEBASTIAN: Now this is not the end of it for Facebook. The Senate committee has thousands of pages, it says, from a whistleblower who also provided evidence to the "Wall Street Journal." That whistleblower whose identity we don't yet know is set to testify next week.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Now, an American women's professional soccer team is dealing with a sexual misconduct scandal. And NBA players are gearing up for the new season by rolling up their sleeves. CNN's Don Riddell has our minute in sports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Another women's sport is dealing with scandal in the United States. On Thursday, the National Women's Soccer League team, North Carolina Courage, fired its head coach Paul Riley, following accusations of sexual coercion and misconduct by former players that he had coached. His dismissal comes after an investigative report by the Athletic which cites players on the record alleging that over a period of years, he used his power and influence to sexually harass players, and even coerce one of them into having sex with him. Riley has denied the allegations.
Ahead of the new NBA season next month, the league says there has been an uptick in vaccination rates among the players in recent days. A league source told CNN that 95 percent of the players have now received at least one shot of the coronavirus vaccine.
And the Cincinnati Bengal's are 3-1 now in the NFL season after a nail-biting win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. On Thursday night it came down to the last gasp field goal. Evan McPherson edging it for the Bengals by 24-21. That, by the way, is the fourth defeat for the Jaguars out of four games this season. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Thanks very much, Don.
Now Expo 2020 is finally here. Grand ceremony on Thursday kicked off, the world expo in Dubai a year after the pandemic brought their original plans to halt. Joining me from Dubai, CNN's Scott McLean. And Scott, I know a lot of money has been spent on the expo and elaborate pavilions. And what is going on? This is a most astounding live shot. Tell me about it.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, the Expo I hear, Isa, is absolutely massive. So much money has been spent on these elaborate pavilions. And we grabbed a couple rickshaws to show you more than we otherwise could. So, you can see this park, the Italian pavilion, the huge tent. You could see the India pavilion, a sort of a wacky looking structure over there as well.
[04:55:00]
192 countries are represented in these pavilions. And truth be told, Emirate money funded a lot of them. Some you might expect a lot of African countries. The Lebanese pavilion, for instance, was also funded with Emirate money. And it was the private sector that outfitted the inside of it.
But one you might not expect is actually this one here. It's the American pavilion. The emirates built this building. The Americans did the inside of it. We got to go in it a couple days ago. It's a really, really impressive place. They have a replica of a SpaceX rocket. They have moon rocks and Martian media rights in there as well. And -- but a lot of, a lot of money and sort of last-minute planning went into it. The U.S. only confirmed their participation in this Expo in January of last year, and so they really had to get a move on things quite quickly.
I just want to show you also quickly this is the Kazakhstan pavilion. And these are the types of sort of whacky designs the Emirates are trying to -- are hoping well really entice people to come here despite the stifling heat. It is in the high 90s right now, Isa. That's high 30s Celsius. Also, the coronavirus pandemic is making things difficult as well. With some exceptions, like broadcasters broadcasting, you have to wear a mask even outside. And so that may put a lot of people off. SOARES: Yes, they're still quite busy behind you. You know what,
Scott, this is how I expect all your live shots to be, OK? Expectations. This is what you need to aim for. Scott McLean, great to see you. Thanks very much.
That's it for us. Thanks very much for joining us. I'm Isa Soares. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett is up next. Have a wonderful weekend. Do stay right here with CNN. Bye-bye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
