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Retired NFL Player Hired Ex-Convicts For Delivery Business; Top-10 Crime Stories Of 2021; Gov. Pedro Pierluisi (D-Puerto Rico) Discusses Ringing In New Year With COVID Safety Restrictions & 500th Birthday Of San Juan. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired December 31, 2021 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
JASON MURPHY, CEO, DELIVERY 101 LOGISTICS & RETIRED NFL PLAYER: And I think moving forward, we want to maybe open it up for opportunities for other businesses to give them the resources to do the same thing.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Craig, I don't think necessarily people always grasp the difficulties you run into when you have the record, even when you're off probation.
Can you outline kind of some of the hurdles that you were running into or brick walls before this opportunity?
CRAIG SMOOT, DRIVER, DELIVERY 101 LOGISTICS: Well, before this opportunity, I would still have occasioned -- would know I would have the job and, lo and behold, here comes my background.
And I'm talking about jobs, you know, that -- that was years ago when I was in my 20s, in my late 20s. And here it is, I'm still being judged for my -- for my past.
And then, you know, I can't -- just couldn't move on. And it's just like, you know? I go to a job interview, hey, you know, you fit the qualifications, but you've got a -- a background. Your background check didn't come out.
And I'm like, you know, that -- that was then, this is now. And -- and right then and there, I would be cut off. I would be cut straight off, you know? Hey, we'll call you. Don't call us.
And it gets frustrating. It gets frustrating.
MATTINGLY: Yes. I can't imagine.
Guys, thanks so much for taking the time.
Jason, I knew what you were doing mattered when my sister went to the University of Virginia and sent me a story about a Virginia Tech Grad.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTINGLY: That's when I knew you were doing real things.
(LAUGHTER)
MATTINGLY: Guys, thanks so much. I appreciate it. Have a wonderful new year.
MURPHY: Well, we appreciate your time. And have a great year.
MATTINGLY: All right. Coming up ahead, New Year's Eve celebrations are already under way across the world. We're live in Puerto Rico.
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[13:36:25]
MATTINGLY: It's been a long, emotional year, but it's also been one fueled by shocking crime and divisive verdicts.
CNN's Jean Casarez has a look at the most impactful crime and court moments in 2021.
We want to warn you, some of the video you're about to see is disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A musician behind bars, a manhunt that gripped the nation, a call for social justice finally answered all part of some of the most gripping crime and justice stories in 2021.
(voice-over): Number 10, in June prominent South Carolina Attorney Alex Murdaugh says he discovered the bodies of his wife and son shot dead outside the family's home. Three months later, Murdaugh told police he had been shot in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED CNN ANCHOR: A prominent attorney in South Carolina has resigned from his law firm and entered rehab.
Police say Murdaugh admitted to arranging for a hitman to kill him so that his son could collect millions in life insurance.
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Deaths, murders, and allegations of thefts of millions of dollars from his former law firm and clients.
CASAREZ: Murdaugh is now facing criminal charges and more than two dozen financial crimes. But the murders of his wife and son remain unsolved. He denies any involvement.
Next, at number nine --
UNIDENTIFIED NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Bill Cosby is a free man this morning.
CASAREZ: In June, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Bill Cosby's 2018 conviction of aggravated indecent assault, charges he repeatedly denied. The case marked the first high-profile celebrity criminal trial of the "Me Too" era. UNIDENTIFIED NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Justices explaining their decision saying Cosby was originally promised immunity in exchange for testimony in a civil case. A decade later, a different prosecutor used his testimony against him in a criminal trial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'm sad and I'm feeling like this is a loss for me and for the other women who came forward.
CASAREZ: In a rare move, prosecutors are now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the overturned conviction.
Number eight, R. Kelly convicted.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news in our national lead. Disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly was found guilty late this afternoon.
CASAREZ: Jurors found R. Kelly guilty of racketeering, including acts of bribery and sexual exploitation of a child, along with separate charges of sex trafficking.
Kelly has been defending his innocence for years, but now faces up to life in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled for next year.
(SHOUTING)
CASAREZ: Number seven, the rise of shocking incidents involving airline passengers becoming violent, some over refusing to wear masks.
(SHOUTING)
CASAREZ: And attacking flight attendants.
(SHOUTING)
CASAREZ: This man even needing to be duct taped to his seat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit down now.
CASAREZ: The FAA has now announced that abusive and unruly passengers can face federal penalties as high as $45,000.
Number six, another alarming trend, 2021 is on pace to be one of the worst years for deadly gun violence in decades.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: At least 150 Americans are dead and more than 380 wounded after an outburst of gun violence over the weekend.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Really tragic milestone for the city of Philadelphia, 500 homicides so far this year.
[13:40:04]
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: CNN analysis of more than 40 of the most populous cities in the U.S. shows nine they have already said homicide records before year's end. CASAREZ: Law enforcement experts point to a mix of factors behind the rise including high gun sales, fewer cops, and shifting police resources, changes in the court system and the pandemic.
It was a mystery and a manhunt that gripped the nation. Number five --
GABBY PETITO, MURDERED IN UTAH: Hello, hello. Good morning.
CASAREZ: In June, 22-year-old Gabby Petito and her fiance, Brian Laundrie, set out on a cross country road trip. The couple documenting their summer adventures on social media.
UNIDENTIFIED NEWS CORRESPONDENT: But Petito's texts to her family and her social media posts stopped abruptly in late August, about two weeks after this incident in Moab, Utah, on August 12, where police pulled the couple over after receiving a 911 call about a possible domestic dispute.
CASAREZ: Vloggers travelling through the Tetons discovered they had a clip of Petito's van in a camping area, where authorities later found her remains.
Laundrie had returned home to his parents' house in Florida while Petito was missing. Then he vanished.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: The FBI just confirming the human remains found in that Florida nature reserve are indeed those of 23-year-old, Brian Laundrie.
CASAREZ: The story ignited calls for other missing persons, especially indigenous and African-American victims to go into the same attention.
Number four a killing spree in Georgia that rattled the Asian-American community. And 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long allegedly open fire on three Asian spas, leaving eight dead, six were Asian women.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the moment, you can just see the palpable, you know, anxiety of this community.
CASAREZ: Investigators say Long had been a customer at two of the locations before the shootings.
He was charged in two counties. In one, Long has already pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and was sentenced to over four life sentences. But in another, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
(on camera): Our next two stories, high-profile trials that put race and justice, self-defense and vigilantism in the spotlight.
(voice-over): Number three --
UNIDENTIFIED CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news in our national leaders, the jury finding Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he fatally shot two men and wounded a third with an AR-15-style rifle that he brought to racial justice protests in August of 2020.
CASAREZ: Dozens of witnesses came to the stand over the course of six days.
KYLE RITTENHOUSE, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: There was not a crowd a mob was chasing me. I continued to run after hearing people say -- people were saying cranium him, and get him, kill him.
So, I didn't do anything wrong. I defended myself.
CASAREZ: After 25 hours of deliberations --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury find the defendant, Kyle H. Rittenhouse, not guilty.
CASAREZ: The jury acquitted Rittenhouse of all charges.
Number two, it was a trial that nearly never happened, but a mother and a movement made sure it did.
Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was shot and killed while out for a jog near Brunswick, Georgia. At the time, no charges were filed.
WANDA COOPER JONES, MOTHER OF AHMAUD ARBERY: It took 74 days, 74 days to get an arrest.
CASAREZ: The three men who chased and shot Arbery claiming self- defense.
UNIDENTIFIED ATTORNEY: You can't force someone to defend themselves against you. So, you get to claim self-defense. This isn't the Wild West.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: We, the jury find the defendant, Greg McMichael, guilty.
CASAREZ: The day before Thanksgiving, those three men were convicted of murder, their claim of self-defense rejected by a nearly all white jury.
And number one --
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: -- find the defendant guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This feels like we can breathe, this feels like something new. It's hopefully a new day in America.
CASAREZ: The trial of Derek Chauvin. The former Minneapolis Police officer, found guilty of murdering George Floyd.
This spring, the trial. Video of Chauvin with his knee on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while he cried "mama," played over and over for jurors.
CHARLES MCMILLIAN, TRIAL WITNESS: I don't have a moment either. I can't just. VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If a police officer can do this, what can they do to us? What can't they do to our children? So that is what's at stake here.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR & HOST: The former police officer, Derek Chauvin, guilty on all three counts.
CASAREZ: Chauvin never took the stand in his own defense. But jurors would go on to tell CNN it would not have made a difference.
[13:45:01]
PHILONISE FLOYD, BROTHER OF GEORGE FLOYD: George had no choice but to give up, because he shut off all the oxygen off in his body. My brother, he did not deserve it, but he has changed the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: We've got much more news still to come right after the break.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And 2022 is just hours away in the U.S. but half of the world is already in the new year.
This is the celebration in Singapore. Australia said good-bye to 2021 with fireworks from the Sydney Harbor Bridge. And this is the scene from Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor. They're now a few hours into 2022.
[13:50:10]
In Puerto Rico, one most-vaccinated places in the U.S., New Year's Eve celebrations are about to get underway.
And that is where we find Gary Tuchman, the hardship assignment in sunny San Juan.
Gary, you're with the governor of Puerto Rico right now. How are people there getting ready to ring in the new year while also balancing safety?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, you were talking about the hardship. It is a beautiful place to be with wonderful people. And that why we're here.
But the main reason we're here is because of something quite astounding. The capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan, a district in San Juan, this is the 500th birthday of the city. So that is one of the main reasons that we're here. This is the grounds run. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) -- in English, it
means the for the fortress.
But now it is the governor's mansion. It's the oldest continuously used executive mansion in the Americas.
And right now, the man who resides here, the governor of Puerto Rico, this is Pedro Pierluisi.
Governor, thank you very much for talking to us.
GOV. PEDRO PIERLUISI (D-PUERTO RICO): Welcome to Puerto Rico.
TUCHMAN: Thank you very much.
I want to talk about COVID. First, I want to ask about the 500th birthday of this city. What are the big celebrations that are planned? The start and continue into next year. What are the celebrations?
PIERLUISI: We started earlier on this year. And we will continue doing so. We're in the middle this pandemic, so we're avoiding big crowds for the moment.
Hopefully, this will be in a better normality in a couple of months.
But one big thing we're going is a regatta where ships will cross the Atlantic Ocean from Europe and arriving here in San Juan. And that will be something.
TUCHMAN: That will be wonderful.
Now COVID, this is, as my colleague, Phil, just said, one of the highest vaccinated places in the United States.
Your death rate here is very low. Your hospitalization rate is very low. But the cases are going up very quickly.
We know the vaccine works because people aren't dying in large numbers and getting sick in large numbers but it is very alarming how the cases going up so much.
What are you done recently to keep the island safe?
PIERLUISI: As elsewhere in the states, we got hit by the variant in March, April and then the Delta variant and now this Omicron variant.
This one in particular, the problem it has, it is very transmissible. So that is why you have so many cases.
It is not yet reflecting itself in our hospitals in a concerning way, but we cannot underestimate the variant.
So what we're doing is, as usual, Puerto Rico has been quite restrictive when necessary.
We are, for example, now, starting on January 4th, for two weeks, I'll be requiring all bars and restaurants to close at midnight. And there will be a dry law in place from midnight until 5:00 a.m.
I do that reluctantly but I have to do it. Because I don't want crowds out there, particularly when they're not wearing masks because they're exposed.
TUCHMAN: As of this past Monday, tell me what you did about people coming here.
We're standing together without masks right now because you were fully vaccinated, tested every day.
And I to come to Puerto Rico, have to be fully vaccinated and tested also. Explain that.
PIERLUISI: We've been requiring passengers who come to Puerto Rico from the U.S. mainland to come both vaccinated and with a negative COVID test result.
We're also requiring that from cruise ships. They didn't like it but we have to do it. Because it is a way to continue being a safe destination for anybody who comes to Puerto Rico.
We've done very well. We're -- tourism is thriving in Puerto Rico year-round. And, in part, it is because we've been -- we're doing very well. Top in the nation in terms of vaccination.
Now we are including mandates for the booster or third dose. We started with the first responders, education and health personnel.
Now I'm expanding it to public safety personnel, corrections officers and employees from bars and restaurants.
TUCHMAN: Are you getting pushback from the businesspeople here?
PIERLUISI: Yes, I get some pushback every now and then. It is hard to balance this out. Health is the first concern.
But we've been able to grow. The economy of Puerto Rico grew this year because we use the funding we have from our funds strategically. And we've been taking care of our productive sectors.
[13:55:02]
TUCHMAN: I want to tell you -- (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) -- happy New Year to all of you.
PIERLUISI: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
TUCHMAN: Governor, happy New Year to all of you.
Phil?
MATTINGLY: Gary Tuchman, one of the best in the business. Thank you so much. And don't forget, join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen for "CNN NEW
YEAR'S EVE LIVE." The party starts at 8:00 Eastern tonight, right here on CNN.
That does it for me. Let's all be a little kinder and better to each other in 2022.
I'm Phil Mattingly in Washington, D.C.
My guy, Ryan Nobles, takes over next.
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