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Southern Baptist Leaders Accused Of Covering Up Sex Abuse; Explosive Testimony Expected In Final Week Of Depp-Heard Trail, Kate Moss Expected To Testify; Trump-Backed Perdue Loses Steam In Home Stretch Of GA Primary; Abrams: Voter Suppression Is Alive And Well In Georgia; Woman Accused In Texas Love Triangle Killing At Large. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 23, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:08]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: A new and explosive report detailing how leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention covered up allegations of rampant sex abuse for two decades. For perspective, this is the largest protestant denomination in the U.S.

And investigation conducted by a third-party firm found that, quote, "Survivors and others who reported abuse were ignored or disbelieved or met with the constant refrain that the SBC could take no action, even if it meant that convicted molesters continued in minister with no notice or warning to their current church or congregation."

Let's bring in CNN reporter, Carlos Suarez.

Carlos, tell us more about these findings. How widespread was the alleged abuse?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Ana, members, last year, they called for an investigation after victims came forward with their stories of abuse.

The report uncovered a list that staffers kept of ministers accused of abuse. And they detailed how victims were, quote, "ignored and disbelieved."

The investigation covers a period from 2000 to 2001 with documentation of abuses as early as 2007. The most recent list contained the names of 703 abusers and no indication that officials removed ministers from their positions.

Nine people accused of abuses remain in active ministry.

Now, the 288-page investigation found internal emails showing that leadership tried to minimize or ignore the allegations. The victims were considered, quote, "opportunistic or having a hidden agenda."

The report went onto say that the SBC communications team portrayed survivors in an unflattering light. And former SBC President Johnny Hunt is named in the report.

Investigators said a 2010 allegation that he sexually assaulted a fellow pastor's wife was found credible. Hunt has denied abusing anybody -- Ana?

CABRERA: And what are we hearing from leaders of SBC? Are they responding?

SUAREZ: They have put out a statement that read in part, quote, that "To the members of the survivor community, we are grieved by the findings of this investigation."

"We are committed to doing all we can to prevent future instances of sexual abuse in churches, to improve our response and our care, and to remove reporting roadblocks, and to respond to the will of the messengers in Anaheim next month."

Ana, that's where the meeting is scheduled to take place. And it is unclear this afternoon whether or not they may end up adopting any of the recommendations that are listed in the report, including the creation of a database to keep track of offenders.

CABRERA: Carlos Suarez, we'll stay on this. Thank you.

Turning now to the dramatic trial that's gripping people around the world. Johnny Depp could testify today in his defamation suit against ex-wife, Amber Heard. This is expected to be the final week of a trial that has been full of explosive testimony.

We've just learned Depp's legal team is expected to call super model, Kate Moss, as a witness.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following this case.

Let's just first talk about what's new today.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot. First of all, you know, there's a big issue in the trial: What caused Johnny Depp's fingertip to be severed, completely cut off?

Depp testified, when they were in Australia, he was shooting "Pirates 5." They were at the home they were staying at. He was sitting at the bar and Amber Heard threw two vodka bottles at him. One bashed and cracked right on the edge of the bar and, in so doing, it severed his fingertip.

Well, today, Heard's team put on an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in lower extremities. He looked at the x-rays. He said, I don't think so.

Listen to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RICHARD MOORE, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON & EXPERT WITNESS FOR DEFENSE: It's not consistent with what we see in the described injury pattern or in the clinical photographs.

[13:35:02]

And there are several elements. There's the description was a hand being flat on a bar and the bottle crushing the finger from the top. But looking at the images, there's really no significant injury to the dorsal of the finger.

And to create the type of injury with that type of a crush injury, we would anticipate both injury to the fingernail and other parts of the finger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So on cross-examination, the defense went through pictures of the scene that the butler had taken. This is important forensic evidence right here.

And the witness said that he had not seen those pictures. And it shows broken glass, broken vodka bottles, even the fingertip of Depp is underneath the bar, actually wrapped around some paper towel.

Now, Amber Heard testified that she doesn't know how the tip of the finger was severed off. But she saw Depp take a phone in his rage out of the wall that was in the wall at the bar area.

But there are no pictures of that phone. The jury has not seen pictures of a phone that was just taken out of the wall or the dry wall that had the phone in place on the wall.

And so why do we care about this? It's all about credibility. Because this is a defamation case. And if you're defamed, then the person that defamed you is not telling the truth.

And that is what Johnny Depp is saying, that Amber Heard, what that op-ed in "The Washington Post, was not telling the truth.

CABRERA: And it is his burden to prove --

CASAREZ: Exactly.

CABRERA: -- that she was lying, in his words.

But tell us about Kate Moss. How did that come about that she's going to be called as a witness for Johnny Depp?

CASAREZ: She wasn't supposed to be called. But here's what happened. When Amber Heard was testifying, she testified that she hit Johnny Depp simply because she thought he was about to hit her sister, and she remembers when he threw Kate Moss down the stairs.

Well, that opened the door right there. And what it means, Ana, is that when you open the door, then you can go into it.

So Kate Moss is going to take the stand for Johnny Depp, we believe, to testify he did not throw me down the stairs? CABRERA: OK. Jean, another twist and turn.

Thank you.

Well, this is awkward. Former President Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, are backing two different candidates in tomorrow's Georgia primaries. More on what is shaping up to be a big test, the biggest one yet for Trump, perhaps.

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[13:42:27]

CABRERA: It's the final day of the heated primary campaign in Georgia. Tomorrow's vote could say a lot about the value of the Trump endorsement in the months ahead.

That's because, in the governor's race, one of Trump's 2020 scapegoats, Incumbent Brian Kemp, is pulling way ahead of Trump- endorsed David Perdue.

CNN's Eva McKend is on the ground there in Atlanta. And CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten, is here in New York with me.

Before we talk big picture, let's go to Eva on the ground, talking to voters, listening to the candidates.

What are voters hearing as the closing election comes in less than 24 hours now?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Ana, Governor Kemp is still leaning on Republicans to support him in a big way on Tuesday.

Essentially telling them don't take their foot off the gas or take these polls like a grain of salt. He wants a big showing, even though he is feeling confident.

David Perdue, the Trump-endorsed, really Trump-recruited candidate in this race, he hasn't been able to gain enough momentum it seems.

He centered his campaign on the election lie, erroneously arguing that Governor Kemp could have done more to help the former president cheat in 2020.

And it's just that Republican voters, while they have a lot of affection for Trump, that argument isn't doing enough to sway them. There are other issues on their mind.

CABRERA: And on the other side, I know you are also speaking with Democratic candidate, Stacey Abrams, who is running unopposed in the race for governor. How is she looking ahead to the general election?

MCKEND: So although Abrams is running unopposed, Democratic voters we speak to are still very excited. And really anticipating this I guess matchup again between Kemp and Abrams, a sequel of sorts. What's also remarkable happening here on the ground is more than

800,000 voters have participated in early voting.

And Republicans are seizing on this, arguing that this is evidence that Democrats' claims that the voting law that Governor Kemp signed was not actually restrictive or racist.

Well, I asked Stacey Abrams about this issue. Take a listen.

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STACEY ABRAMS, (D), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We have to remember that voter suppression isn't about stopping every voter. It's about blocking and impeding the voters that are inconvenient.

The moral equivalent of saying that voter turnout defuses or disproves voter suppression is like saying that more people getting in the wait means there's no longer any sharks.

[13:45:00]

Those two things are not true. We know voter suppression is alive in Georgia and we're going to continue to fight back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So Governor Kemp describing Stacey Abrams as a great unifier of the Republican Party as he pivots, looking toward the general election. Abrams telling me that she's glad Kemp said such and she is looking to unify all of Georgia -- Ana?

CABRERA: OK. Eva, stand by. A very windy Atlanta right now.

Let me break in.

Harry, for those who are watching this from afar, who aren't there in Georgia, I want you to see a clip of the messaging that voters in Georgia are seeing right now.

Here's a pro-Perdue ad, voiced by former President Trump, that's been running in Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): Sorry about that. But I just stole your TV signal. Why? To make a point.

Every fraudulent 2020 vote stole something from someone just like you. They stole your voice. And they stole your freedom. Worse yet, Governor Kemp could have prevented this, but he failed you.

Please join me in supporting Senator David Perdue for governor.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: I mean, they are all in on the election fraud lie, which, arguably, may have lost Republicans the two Senate seats in the special election last year.

What is it looking like in terms of this play book this time around?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: It's not working for David Perdue. I mean, you were covering that a little bit earlier on.

Look, this is a FOX News poll from last week. Look at this match between Kemp and Perdue. Brian Kemp, look at that, a 32-point advantage, 32 points. Polling errors happen, but 32-point polling errors don't happen often.

There's a 50 percent-plus threshold for a runoff. Brian Kemp well above that. Look at the momentum. It went from an 11-point lead in March now up to a 32-point advantage.

You might be saying to yourself, OK, what's exactly going on because Trump is a pretty popular guy within the Republican Party?

This kind of gives you an idea. The importance of a candidate being very pro-Trump to your gubernatorial vote? And 43 percent say it's either extremely or very.

But that is, in fact, the minority position. And 55 percent of Georgia Republican primary voters say it's only somewhat or not at all.

So even if they like Trump, it's just simply put, Ana, not important to their vote.

CABRERA: And to be clear, we should note that just because Perdue is polling poorly in this one race, it's not necessarily an indication that Republican voters nationally are abandoning Trump on the whole election fraud angle, right?

ENTEN: No. No, no. You can believe something but not think it's necessarily important.

We've had a bunch of polls not for a little while, but this is earlier this year. This is from a national poll. How did the Biden win the election? This is among Republicans nationwide.

Just 30 percent say fair and square, which is a garbage belief. It's not true. Due to voter fraud, only 61 percent. Excuse me. All the way up to 61 percent.

That's a ridiculous number. Because obviously, we know all the foolproof indicates that Biden won that election legitimately, yet Trump's lies have managed to basically get their way into the Republican Party.

And they still believe this garbage. But it's not going to carry Perdue to victory in Georgia, at least this time around.

CABRERA: OK, we'll see. Thank you so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Harry Enter, thank you.

To Eva, as well.

It's election night in America. Tomorrow, in Georgia, a Trump-backed candidate versus a Pence backed incumbent. Which one will take on the Democrat in November?

Plus, could Herschel Walker be heading to Capitol Hill? It all starts tomorrow. Join me then for live coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

All right, police are searching for a Texas woman accused of murdering a woman who had a fling with her boyfriend. More on this apparent love triangle when we come back.

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[13:53:04]

CABRERA: Authorities in Texas are investigating an alleged love triangle murder that has rocked the professional cycling world.

The suspected killer is on the run and U.S. Marshals are searching for this woman, Kaitlin Marie Armstrong. Authorities allege that she shot and killed elite cyclist, Anna Moriah Wilson.

The victim, at one point, allegedly had a romantic relationship with Armstrong's boyfriend, Colin Strickland, who is also a pro cyclist.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is live for us in Dallas.

Ed, we're learning Armstrong was in custody at one point, but was then let go. What happened?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She was picked up on an unrelated arrest warrant and, because that had nothing to do with this case, she was questioned for some time.

Where police described her as being very still, very guarded as they presented the evidence that they had been able to uncover in less than 24 hours after the murder of Anna Moriah Wilson.

Mo Wilson, as she is known, is a premier gravel cyclist competing around the country and is an elite cyclist in this world. So her murder has shocked that small community of cyclists that she is a part of.

But this murder, according to Austin, Texas, police, happened on May 11th. In a police affidavit, police say that Armstrong -- they believe Armstrong showed up at a house where Wilson was staying with a friend and that she was shot multiple times. Police say they have surveillance video evidence that shows

Armstrong's car next to the home where Wilson was murdered. And that she also found a weapon in her residence that they believe is connected to this particular murder.

Colin Strickland, the boyfriend of Armstrong, and also apparently having an on-and-off again relationship with Mo Wilson, was also interviewed by police.

[13:54:59]

In a statement to "The Austin American Statesman," he says, "There's no way to adequately express the regret and torture I feel about my proximity to this horrible crime. I am sorry and I simply cannot make sense of this unfathomable tragedy."

So the search continues today, Ana, for Kaitlin Armstrong here in Texas.

CABRERA: Ed Lavandera, thank you for that.

That does it for us today. That hour flew by. I'll see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place. Until then, you can always join me on Twitter, @AnaCabrera.

The news continues right after this.

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