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Second Day of Jury Selection in Trial for Killing of Ahmaud Arbery; Haitian Gang Demands $17 Million Ransom for Missionaries; Washington State Fires Coach Over Vaccine Mandate. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 19, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: The second day of jury selection in the murder trial over the death of Ahmaud Arbery is now under way in Georgia. This is a live look inside the courtroom where, we'll remind you, three white men are accused of chasing down and killing Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, while he was just out for a jog last February. We'll get you those live pictures when we have them. They've all pleaded not guilty.

ERICA HILL, CNN NEWSROOM: CNN's Martin Savidge has been following this story from the beginning, joining us now from Atlanta.

So, where do we stand this morning?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just on that issue of video, by the way, we should point out there are times that we are allowed to watch the process. That's when general questions are being put to a group of jurors. Where the judge suddenly cuts it off is when they get down to specific questions to specific jurors. The judge won't allow the video to broadcast, but they do allow reporters and then we get notes later.

So, jury selection, let's just break it down by the numbers. And if you look at those, obviously, they need 12 jurors. They need four alternates. Glynn County, normally in a trial, would ask for about 150 people to show up to be possible jurors. In this case, they send out 1,000 jury summons. The first 600 had to show up as of yesterday. So far, eight potential jurors have been dismissed, zero jurors have been selected so far. And they're interviewing these jurors in groups of 20 at a time, the reason being to allow social distancing for coronavirus concerns.

Okay. So what are the kind of questions that they're being asked? Well, anybody who's been on a jury or maybe in a potential jury pool knows that they ask you things like do you know the defendants here, do you know the victim in this case, do you know any of the major players. But they're also getting to very specific questions and issues they're asking, such as do they have a negative feeling towards the defendants? Do they consider the confederate flag to be a racist symbol? Do they want to partake in the jury? A lot of questions being asked about race and about whether they consider racism is at play here, do you own a gun or do you not have a gun in your own home?

Another question that comes up regularly is this one, do you have a concern about serving as a juror in this trial? And it turns out a lot of people do. And what that gets at is, is there a certain fear you have that by participating as juror, you could suffer some kind of retribution. And, again, many jurors so far have said, yes, that is a concern.

SCIUTTO: Wow. That is deeply concerning among all the issues there, worries about their own safety. Martin Savidge, thanks so much for keeping us updated.

SAVIDGE: You're welcome.

HILL: Alex Murdaugh though, a once prominent South Carolina attorney, who is now involved in multiple scandals, is back in court this morning, he's in for a bond hearing. The charges are related to accusations that he kept millions of dollars in insurance settlement funds in connection with the 2018 death of his family's longtime housekeeper.

SCIUTTO: CNN National Correspondent Dianne Gallagher is outside the courthouse in Columbia, South Carolina. Murdaugh accused of coordinating, we should note, with the housekeeper's family to sue himself for insurance money, then pocketing the money. Dianne, tell us what the latest is.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and right now, it appears that the attorneys are kind of in their closing arguments in this bond hearing. The state is asking for a bond in a high amount earlier this morning, saying at least $200,000 for those charges of obtaining property under false pretenses related to the 2018 death of the Murdaugh family housekeeper Gloria Satterfield.

Now, look, according to the state, Murdaugh actually approached the Satterfield family at Gloria's funeral, saying that her death, which happened after a fall in the Murdaugh home, was, in their words, because of the dogs, that she had tripped and that he was going to work with them, set them up so they could sue him.

[10:35:07]

Now, he did hook them up with an attorney. Apparently, he did not disclose that he was close friends with this attorney. And that attorney brokered a $4.3 million death settlement agreement, around $3 million of which was supposed to go to the Satterfield family.

They didn't get any of it. Instead, according to the state, it went into an account that had a name that was very similar to a reputable firm in the state of South Carolina that handles death settlements agreement, but it was actually a bank account run by Alex Murdaugh. They say that money then began going into his personal accounts and, well, he began spending it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CREIGHTON WATERS, SOUTH CAROLINA ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: He had been carrying $100,000 credit card balance for months. That gets paid off. He writes $300,000 to his father, he writes a check $610,000 to himself. He writes a check for $135,000 to himself. Not a dime goes to this family back here.

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GALLAGHER: Now, the Satterfield family is in that courtroom right now, their attorney saying they had the opportunity or the choice, they would have no bond set at this point. But Murdaugh's attorneys say that he is not a flight risk. They say that he has been in a drug rehabilitation center down in Florida and was actually arrested there and brought back up here. They claim that he has come each time willingly. They are asking for him to be able to continue that treatment right now. And we should be hearing shortly whether or not a bond amount will be set. Erica, Jim?

HILL: All right. We'll keep watching. Dianne, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead, $17 million, that's how much a Haitian gang is now demanding for hostages kidnapped over the weekend. How the U.S. government is approaching negotiations, that's next.

Meantime, there is a lot happening today. Here's a reminder of what to watch for.

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SCIUTTO: The Haitian gang that kidnapped 17 missionaries, 16 Americans and 1 Canadian, is now demanding $17 million for their release, $1 million per hostage.

HILL: Haitian officials tell CNN the group was kidnapped by members of the powerful 400 Mawozo gang on Saturday after visiting an orphanage north of the capital of Port-au-Prince.

CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood is at the U.S. State Department this morning. So, Kylie, what d we know about the hostages this morning and also what the U.S. government is saying about any sort negotiating that's happening?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. But what we're learning this morning is a little bit more from the Haitian side, right? The justice minister in Haiti is the one who told our colleagues on the ground in Haiti that it is $1 million per person in ransom that this gang is demanding for these kidnapped Americans, 16 of them, and 1 Canadian. So, in total, $17 million that they are demanding in ransom.

Now, the justice minister also told our colleagues that these gang members are keeping these hostages in a place that they are comfortable with. They have been warned that if they hurt them in any way, there could be consequences. But he said that there's no way to know if the gang is going to abide by those kinds of threats.

Now, from the State Department side, from the U.S. government side, we have heard the State Department saying that they are in constant contact with Haitian police. They are also in constant contact with Christian Aid Ministries. That is the Ohio-based group where these missionaries were part of. They're also in contact with the interagency, right? We know that there are FBI agents on the ground in Haiti. We know that the State Department is involved investigating, finding out where these folks are, how to get them home safely. And, of course, the White House has said that President Biden has been briefed and is consistently briefed on this matter.

The question, of course, is how to get these folks home, and it's unclear exactly where they're being held right now. I think it's clear that the Haitian side may have some sort of idea. They said the gang traditionally keeps them in specific places. But what we are trying to look for now is exactly how they're going to get these Americans, 16 of them, out of Haiti.

SCIUTTO: Let's hope they get out safely. Kylie Atwood, thanks so much.

HILL: Joining us now, the former prime minister of Haiti, Laurent Lamothe. Good to have you with us this morning.

As we look at what's going on here, as Kylie just said, the group, 400 Mawozo, has been warned that if any harm comes to the hostages, there will be consequences. This is not a group that's new to kidnappings or to demands for ransoms. Does that kind of warning hold sway with them?

LAURENT LAMOTHE, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF HAITI: Well, this particular group has been giving a lot of problems and have many kidnappings. This is not a new problem in the past few months. Several Haitians have been kidnapped, and today, it is 16 Americans and 1 Canadian. But this is not a situation that's not solvable in the sense that they're not as strong as everybody claims. I mean, this is a group with very few gang members, and it takes political will and putting them in front of the situation and getting rid of the gang.

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I mean, it's -- negotiating with them would certainly not be an option.

But, of course, they have to tread carefully and once the Americans are out, it would be good for the police and the Haitian security forces to finish with that particular gang and all the other gangs that are creating problems.

HILL: Do you think that this gets resolved without that $17 million in ransom being paid?

LAMOTHE: I think it's hard to say, but it would be very unfortunate for the $17 million to be paid because that would only reinforce the gang and that would only finance further kidnappings. And so the solution is to short-term send, you know, experts, security experts to help the police in this particular situation and midterm to get rid of the gang with a strong security presence around that area to finish with that gang situation.

HILL: So, you say strong security presence. I know you told my colleague, Kate Bolduan, yesterday that you believe this legitimacy issue that's been left behind by the assassination of the president needs to be resolved with an election. You also say the country needs to reestablish its military.

Looking at the state of affairs, do you see either one of those things happening in short order? And if so, how? I mean, this is one gang, but there are others.

LAMOTHE: There are several others. And why? Because in the past 30 years, Haiti has had an international military presence with the U.N. presence since 1993 after the military was disbanded. So, for the past 31 years, we had a U.N. military presence for 50 percent of the time. And today, there is no U.N. Military presence, nor has that presence been effective in the past.

So, the only way is to help Haiti strengthen its police and strengthen the military, because today's Haitian military budget is only $2 million a year. And there is no political support from the international community for that force. So, until people realize and the Haitian police alone cannot do the job, and has not been able to do the job for the past 30 years, we're going to see unfortunately this type of security breakdown.

HILL: I mean, look, let's hope this leads into something and sort of some immediate action. But it's also important to remember this is a terrible situation and it's happening for Haitians on a daily basis. And we certainly need to keep a focus on it. Laurent Lamothe, thank you for your time.

Still to come this morning, five college football coaches out of a job after refusing to get vaccinated. The latest from Washington State University, next.

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HILL: The head football coach at Washington State University now the former coach. He's out of a job after refusing to get vaccinated.

CNN's Andy Scholes joining me now. So, Andy, he's not the only one. And they knew that this was a possibility.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they knew this day was coming, Erica. The state of Washington has a vaccine mandate that went into effect yesterday for all state employees, including coaches at state universities. And Cougars Head Coach Nick Rolovich and four assistants are not vaccinated, so they were all let go.

Back in july, Rolovich was the only PAC-12 head coach not allowed to attend media day, and he posted on social media at that time that he elected not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine for reasons, which will remain private. Now, Athletic Director Pat Chun says he respects Rolovich's right to make a choice but the school did what they had to do.

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PAT CHUN, WASHINGTON STATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR: We've had conversations that date back months. So, I mean, he was resolute in his stance, and he's ready to make a choice. That choice did not put him in compliance with this proclamation from the governor, and that's why we sit here today.

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SCHOLES: He said the football team was hurting and the dismissal of the coaches would have a lasting impact on the team. Rolovich was making more than $3 million this season. His contract ran through 2025. He was the highest paid state employee in Washington. Rolovich had led the Cougars to a 4-3 record this season.

And, Erica, you really have to feel for those older players on that Washington State football team. Over the years, they've had to deal with the death of two of their teammates, of course, the pandemic and now they're dealing with their head coach and many of their other position coaches being let go from the team.

HILL: Yes, quite the change.

Really quickly, John Berman pretty happy this morning because the Red Sox took a 2-1 series lead over the Astros in the American League Championship Series last night. Things are pretty happening at Fenway.

SCHOLES: Yes. Good times there in Boston. And for Red Sox, it was another day, another grand slam for the Red Sox. Boston, three grand slams in the 162-game season, Erica, they've now hit three in three games against the Astros. The Red Sox the first team ever to have three grand slams in a postseason series, happened last night, bottom of the second. You see Kyle Schwarber just teed off on that one, made it 6-0 at that point.

The fans having a good time all night long as Boston rolled in game three 12-3 to make it a 2-1 lead in the series. Game four, that series at 8:00 Eastern. Game three of the NLCS between the Braves and Dodgers is at 5:00 eastern on TBS.

And the new NBA season tips off tonight with two incredible matchups.

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You've got Giannis versus Kevin Durant, LeBron versus Steph Curry. The Brooklyn Nets, the favorites to win the NBA championship, this despite the team telling Superstar Kyrie Irving to stay away while he's unvaccinated and local regulations in New York prevent him from playing home games. LeBron and the Lakers, the second favorites followed by Milwaukee and Golden State, the Bucks going to get things started tonight, unveiling their banner and getting those championship rings. That's followed by Lakers and Warriors. You can watch that action on TNT 7:30 Eastern.

Erica, it's one of those sports night you've got to get multiple screens going, lots going on.

HILL: Yes, be ready. Be ready with your remotes. Andy Scholes, thank you.

And thanks to all of you for joining us today. Stay tuned. At This Hour with Kate Bolduan is next.

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