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NYC Officials Grapple With Influx Of Migrants Arriving From Texas; Graham Ordered To Appear Before Grand Jury Investigating Trump; Graham Loses New Bid To Avoid Facing GA Grand Jury Next Week; Unsealed Document Gives New Details On Trump Probe, Including Willful Retention Of National Defense Info; Three Men Charged In Beating Death Of Gangster "Whitey" Bulger; Fatal Car Crashes Hit 20-Year High. Aired 1- 2p ET
Aired August 20, 2022 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right. We begin this hour with officials in New York City announcing plans to address the influx of asylum seekers arriving from Texas. New York expects at least 1000 children will enter the city school system this year. They are among the thousands sent there by bus from the Lone Star State at the direction of Governor Greg Abbott. But this week, the governor doubled down on his decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GREG ABOOTT (R-TX): Before we begin busing illegal immigrants up to New York, it was just Texas and Arizona that bore the brunt of all of the chaos and all the problems that come with it. Now the rest of America is understanding exactly what is going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN Jean Casarez is following this for us from New York. So Jean, how is New York responding? What is the plan?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a plan and it's called open arms. And it really facilitates I think what New Yorkers feel about having them come from Texas. Here's what happens. The bus as you see right there goes to the port authority in New York City, which is really the bus terminal of New York City. And they are greeted when they get off the bus, they are taken to get as much clothes as they want to right there in port authority.
They then get school supplies as many as they might need. They get toiletries. Next step is housing. And a bidding process is going on right here in New York City for hotels to actually house these people all over New York City. There are also some shelters, so they're facilitating the sheltering aspect and they want it close to schools so that there is close proximity as the children do go to school.
I want you to listen right now to the chancellor of the New York City Department of Education. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID BANKS, CHANCELLOR, NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: Already, our incredible public school staff are stepping up working tirelessly to ensure a smooth transition for these new students with minimal disruption in their education.
GARY JENKINS, COMMISSIONER, NYC DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES: As more families arrive, we will be prepared to support their needs, and quickly enrolled them in school so that we are doing everything we can to preserve stability for them as they focus on their education.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: Numbers, the reality here since May, there have been 6000 migrants that have come to New York City. 600 of them in the last three weeks. There are, as you said Fredricka, about 1000 children that will be entering the school at this point but we are just on August 20th right now. Kindergarten through eighth grade is what they're seeing. Now, here's a little bit more of the reality.
They do not have enough bilingual teachers in the area. And so, New York City is actually working with the government of the Dominican Republic to bring in Spanish speaking teachers to New York City. And they also are asking over and over again, the federal government, they want money because they believe that they should be compensated for doing all of this. And one last thing, you know, the migrants were processed through federal authorities in Texas.
And now they are allowed to move wherever they want to through the country as they are. But there will be federal immigration court dates that they will on their own go to conceivably, where they live and where their children are going to school.
WHITFIELD: All right. Our Jean Casarez there in New York painting a very detailed picture for us. Thank you.
CASAREZ: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: So we've also heard a lot from politicians about Texas governor Abbott's decision to bus asylum seekers out of state. We've heard much less from the migrants on board those buses. CNN's Gary Tuchman spoke with some of those families.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These migrants at the shelter in Eagle Pass, Texas most from Venezuela have just crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas. Surrender to the U.S. Border Patrol, receive future immigration court dates and some are about to board this bus for a 1700-mile trip to Washington, D.C.
[13:05:11]
TUCHMAN: A plan started by the Texas governor in April. Some people say it's cruel. But this story may not be what you expect. Listen to these migrants like 28-year-old Genesis Figueroa from Venezuela.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Are you taking the bus?
GENESIS FIGUEROA, MIGRANT FROM VENEZUELA: (Speaking in foreign language).
TUCHMAN: Are you happy?
FIGUEROA: (Speaking in foreign language).
TUCHMAN (voice over): And listen to those who advocate for the migrants.
VALERIA WHEELER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MISSION: BORDER HOPE: They want to go in these buses.
TUCHMAN: Valeria Wheeler is the executive director of Mission: Border Hope. A nonprofit organization which serves this border community in Eagle Pass and operates the shelter for the recent arrivals. She's aware of the political component to the long bus rides, but says many of these people want to go to Washington or New York. The two locations where the Texas State buses are going.
And you're saying no one has been forced to go on these buses.
WHEELER: No one has been forced.
TUCHMAN: They're going out because they want to.
WHEELER: Yes.
TUCHMAN: This free ride to New York, Washington.
WHEELER (on camera): Hundreds of people come to the shelter each day. The people who work here takes an average of about 500 people daily. Many of these people have family in the United States, family with money and in no time at all they'll be in their family's hometown. But other people here have no family have absolutely no idea where they're going to go next.
Genesis Figueroa has no family in the United States. But she traveled a month and a half by foot, bus and boat to get here. She says I got very tired, my legs hurt and I got sick. I came down with pneumonia. I was hospitalized for three days in Guatemala. Genesis says she does have friends in Washington. So she says she and her husband are happy to take the Washington bus.
TUCHMAN: Washington, D.C. is 40 hours.
She says we've been on the road for so long. We don't mind two or three more days. Cousins Luis Pulido and Aynar Garrido (PH) took six weeks to get here from Venezuela. And then something horrible happens.
Luis says we left in search of a dream but now it's a very difficult hard situation because this trip took my brother's life. Tragically, Luis' younger brother Juan (PH) disappeared when they were all swimming across the Rio Grande. Shelter officials had just informed him one's body was found hinge around. The cousins said they will go ahead with their plans and take the Washington bus.
Luis says our destination is Chicago but as they will get off the bus along the route in Kentucky and their relatives will pick them up there. The executive director here confirms the buses have indeed let off passengers along the way once they get out of Texas.
The time has come for the bus to leave, Genesis Figueroa gets processed by members of the Texas State Guard. And so two cousins Luis Pulido and Aynar Garrido. And then 41 men, women and children come out in the blazing sun to board the bus for the 40-hour ride. Genesis says she's ready. She says, she hopes to support her family back at Venezuela by cleaning, cooking or doing office work.
Luis and Aynar said they'd like to help their families by working in the restaurant business. The bus pulls away. Each passenger we talked to saying they appreciate getting the air conditioned bus ride to what they hope is a much better road ahead.
Gary Tuchman, CNN Eagle Pass, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. I want to bring in now Monsignor Kevin Sullivan. The executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. Monsignor, so good to see you.
KEVIN SULLIVAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK: Thank you very much for having me.
WHITFIELD: So your organization is helping the migrants when they arrive. How are you able to meet their needs?
SULLIVAN: Well, we're straining but this is what we do. We've seen in our own offices in New York in the past six weeks or so, probably about 1800 individuals who have been arriving in New York. It is a strain, we do have a crisis. But this is what we do at Catholic Charities. And quite frankly, this is what we do as New Yorkers. We welcome people here and to the best of our ability we assure them that they are welcome.
We treat them with dignity and respect. And we try to get them the help that they need in order to make it in this city.
WHITFIELD: And when they get off the bus, what are some of the things that they are expressing they need? I mean, I realized that you're also assisting in shelter and food and clothes just like the city of New York is doing but to what extent are you able to help them when they say these are the things that I'm in need of?
SULLIVAN: Well, it should not come as a surprise although it may. One of the first things they ask us is a job.
[13:10:01] SULLIVAN: Where can I work? Because there are two parts to those whom we're seeing and most of them are young men from Venezuela, although there are families, also and a few from other countries. But two parts to it. One, they don't really want to come to the United States, but they're forced to because of the dangerous situation in Venezuela. There are over six million refugees in Venezuela.
So they're being forced, because of the fear, the persecution, the violence there. So that's the negative weather coming. The positive is because they do see the United States and they see New York as the opportunity, a place where they can get a job, and if they have family back in Venezuela, to probably provide for them back there. So that's what we're seeing. We're seeing the fear of where they are leaving, the need for them to flee and seek safety here.
And also the hope and the opportunity that they are going to make it here and add to the vibrancy and the economy of New York.
WHITFIELD: And by now you probably heard what governor -- Texas Governor Abbott has said he says, you know, Arizona and Texas bear the brunt of this with migrants coming across the border. And so, it sounds like he is vowing to continue to bus people to New York City and other places. So, for how long do you believe Catholic Charities is able to help keep up with the demand?
SULLIVAN: We are strained already. Our workers have sacrificed, our resources are not without limit. We're going to do the best we can for as long as we can. However, this is not New York's problem. It's not Texas's problem and not Arizona's problem. This is a national problem. And we need a national a federal response to what has been for decades a broken immigration system. So we need the federal government to step up and to deal with a national problem.
We can't just solve it in Texas, New York or in Arizona. We need us to respond as a nation.
WHITFIELD: So in the meantime, as we heard from many of the migrants who were in Gary Tuchman's piece, there is the emotional trauma that comes with the journey, with the case of the one young man who lost his brother who drowned while trying to cross the river. How were you able to assist in the meantime before there is a federal program that you are suggesting or more expensive federal way to address this?
How were you able to help with the emotional trauma that many of these people are arriving with?
SULLIVAN: The first thing we do is when we welcome them, we treat them with respect, compassion, tell them that welcome here, that they are safe here. That's the first step. But we know that for many of them, there is need for some professional mental health services. We don't do that on the first day, the first week. But as we continue to work with those migrants, that's something that has to be part of the way that we respond to the trauma that they have experienced.
WHITFIELD: And then for the children, while New York is saying it's, you know, trying to work to get many of them in school. What kind of assistance can you offer them?
SULLIVAN: Well, we -- first of all, we have had a wonderful partnership with New York City. New York City has said we're welcoming people. So Catholic charities have been collaborating, we're doing our part as a nonprofit organization, the city is doing its job as a -- as a government agency. Yes, there are glitches but there's a openness to doing the right thing. You know, we all working with the families with children say, hey, school is only a couple of weeks, wait, you have to get them in.
We're also saying, hey, the public school system is there. But if it's appropriate, we'll help you to get into one of the Catholic schools that is here, too. So, education is a high priority for all workers in making sure that the families with school-aged children get into school so that they don't lose a year of education.
WHITFIELD: And Monsignor, I'm asking you about all the things that Catholic Charities is doing. And I'm wondering, what are some of the things that people can do to assist catholic charities.
SULLIVAN: Well, I mean, obviously, you go to our Web site, we're expanding our private resources. We have generous donors. And with the increase, we need more resources. Yes, I agree. We do need resources from the federal government to step up to the plate without a doubt but we also need private donations to fill in those things that are between the gaps.
[13:15:04]
So that is obviously something that we would welcome and we could surely use to help those who are coming to ask for our services.
WHITFIELD: All right, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan. Thank you so much.
SULLIVAN: Thank you so much for having me.
WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead. CNN spoke exclusively to the U.S. Ambassador to China as tensions run high between the two countries. Why he says it's on China now to send a different message to the world.
Plus, three men have been charged for the killing of notorious mobster Whitey Bulger. But the circumstances around his death are still somewhat a mystery. I'll talk with one of Bulger's former associates about what questions remain.
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WHITFIELD: The United States top envoy to China speaking candidly for the first time about Beijing's reaction to Nancy Pelosi his trip to Taiwan earlier this month. Ambassador Nicholas Burns says China overreacted to the House speaker's visit calling it a quote manufactured crisis. CNN's Selina Wang has more in this exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Taiwan for less than 24 hours. But the fallout from her visit is still rippling around the world. China's swarmed the skies and seas around Taiwan with warships and planes encircling the island in a practice blockade.
NICHOLAS BURNS, UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: I think there's a lot of concern around the world that China has now become an agent of instability in the Taiwan Strait and that's not in anyone's interest.
WANG: In his first T.V. interview since becoming the U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns said he defended Pelosi's visit to Beijing.
WANG (on camera): The night that House Speaker Pelosi went to Taiwan you were summoned by China's deputy foreign minister. What happened?
BURNS: I was summoned at exactly the time when the speaker's plane landed in Taiwan. We had a very spirited, I would say, quite contentious meeting. The central issue is that the government in China overreacted, did so in a way clearly designed to intimidate and coerce the Taiwan authorities.
WANG (voice over): Beijing claims their response was justified in order to defend its sovereignty.
WANG (on camera): After the visit, China said it was going to cut communications with the U.S. on a number of key areas. I mean, how damaging is that not just to bilateral relations, but to the world?
BURNS: It's very damaging. Our government in Washington has been talking to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, but there's no substitute for cabinet level senior conversations. The Chinese have largely set those down.
WANG: When we look at this event, let's say 20 years from now, are we going to see that Pelosi visit as a moment that fundamentally changed U.S.-China relations?
BURNS: We do not believe it should be a crisis in U.S.-China relations over the visits, a manufactured crisis by the government in Beijing.
WANG (voice over): Russia's war in Ukraine has raised fears that Taiwan could also suffer an invasion by its more powerful neighbor.
WANG (on camera): What lessons do you think Beijing has learned from the war in Ukraine and how might it be applied to Taiwan?
BURNS: I think the Chinese authorities here know that the United States is watching China very carefully, as it conducts its relationship with Russia. In the meantime, we have been disturbed by what the Chinese government is telling its own people. Beijing has been blaming the war in Ukraine on the United States on NATO. These are completely specious and inaccurate arguments 34 years ago.
WANG (voice over): U.S.-China relations are at the lowest point in decades, mistrust is rampant on both sides of the Pacific. WANG (on camera): What are you transmitting to Washington about your key observations or about a reality check on what's actually possible when it comes to engagement?
BURNS: We have a difficult, competitive relationship with China. But you have to show up at the negotiating table. One of the messages that I would certainly as ambassador like to impart to the government here in China, please meet us. Please meet us halfway, both to discuss the issues that separate us and to hopefully work on the issues where we might do some good together for the -- for the greater good in the world.
WANG (voice over): Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, Senator Lindsey Graham may have to appear next week in front of a Georgia Grand Jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The latest on his ongoing court battle next.
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[13:28:00]
WHITFIELD: All right. Senator Lindsey Graham may have to testify next week before Grand Jury investigating efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. The staunch ally of former President Trump has been fighting a subpoena in court. But a judge has ruled he must testify.
CNN's Sara Murray has more.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is still keeping up the fight trying to get out of having to appear on Tuesday before a Georgia grand jury that's investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the state. Now a federal judge already told Lindsey Graham she was not going to quash his subpoena. Graham went back to that judge and said could you stay your decision? Could you essentially put pause on this because I'm planning to appeal.
The judge got back to him on Friday saying Senator Graham raises a number of arguments as to why he is likely to succeed on the merits, but they're all unpersuasive. Now Graham does have one other irons in the fire. He also filed with an appeals court saying he plans to file his appeal and asking that court to put us day again essentially to pause his required Tuesday appearance while this appeal plays out.
We are still waiting to see what the appeals court says about this. The district attorney who's investigating all of this in Georgia, her office has said that Graham is a crucial witness. They are particularly interested in a phone call that Graham had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Raffensperger came away from that call, feeling like the senator was asking him to throw away ballots in Georgia in a way that would benefit Donald Trump.
Senator Lindsey Graham has denied that and we will see what happens for his legal challenges and if he has to appear before that grand jury on Tuesday.
Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk more about all this now. I want to bring in Michael Zeldin, former federal prosecutor and host of That Said with Michael Zeldin Podcast. Good to see you. So, Senator Lindsey Graham still fighting to stay out of court and testify in Georgia. Are you convinced that he will testify as scheduled on Tuesday?
[13:30:00]
MICHAEL ZELDIN, HOST, THAT SAID WITH MICHAEL ZELDIN PODCAST: I believe he should testify.
What the fight is about is the speech and debate clause of the Constitution, which provides that if your activities during your legislative work are something that the judiciary wants to hear about, you can be prevented from having to be called there.
He's saying that these phone calls that he made to Georgia and other calls that he may have made to other people is part of his legislative work.
The court said, no, it's not. This is separate from legislation and, therefore, you have to appear. And so that's the fight. The judge has looked at the "speech and debate" clause.
We saw this, Fred, in the case of Menendez in New Jersey where he tried to do the same thing when he was charged with bribery in connection with his lobbying activities.
The court said no, no, no, that's not legislative activity, that's something separate.
So we'll see what the court of appeals says. But he should lose this case.
WHITFIELD: OK. And in that court filing on Friday, prosecutors argued that Graham's testimony is crucial to their investigation.
Saying it's, quoting now, "not simply because he possesses necessary and material information but also because he is expected to provide information regarding additional sources of relevant information."
So given the wording there, do you think prosecutors' case hinges on his testimony?
ZELDIN: No, I don't say hinges, but I say his testimony is critical to the prosecutor's understanding of the scope of the activities that were undertaken in Georgia, both by former President Trump and Lindsey Graham and others.
What was it that was going on? Who was speaking to whom? What were they trying to accomplish? And whether or not that was criminal is what's at the heart of the matter. And that's what Lindsey Graham can offer insight into and that's why his testimony is needed. WHITFIELD: And it's an opportunity, right, for a very specific
question to him, which was, who gave you the directive to call the Georgia secretary of state to talk about the 2020 election.
And the feeling is how he answers that question could also help advance the investigation?
ZELDIN: For sure. If he were to answer that question, without taking the Fifth Amendment or some other executive privilege or other type of defense, none of which should be availing.
If he were to answer that question, he could say, yes, I spoke to former President Trump or then President Trump at the time and we concluded that we needed to call Georgia for this purpose.
And that would be very insightful for the prosecutors.
WHITFIELD: And we have never learned that that conversation was recorded. We do know what was recorded was the secretary of state's conversation with the former president where he said, "find the votes."
Could it be that that conversation with Lindsey Graham was recorded and perhaps we just don't know it yet? Would that be revealed --
ZELDIN: I would be
WHITFIELD: -- in the early stages of this case?
ZELDIN: Sorry to interrupt.
WHITFIELD: Go ahead.
ZELDIN: I would be surprised if the conversation between Graham and Trump was recorded. But we know there was a call between Graham and Raffensperger, the secretary of state of Georgia.
I don't know whether -- I don't remember whether that was recorded but there are people with very specific recollections of what Graham was asking.
Their recollection is, like the Trump call, he was asking them to find votes to overturn what was the will of the Georgian voters.
So I don't know that we'll find another audio tape of that, but you have witnesses who were parties to that call telling them what they heard.
WHITFIELD: And then there's the ongoing DOJ investigation of classified documents at former President Trump's home in Florida.
A document unsealed on Thursday provided new details about the focus of the investigation, including the willful retention of national defense information.
How critical is that in your view? ZELDIN: Well, I think it's a very serious charge.
If the thought is that the former president knowingly kept national security documents with him, documents that had to be retained in the highest classification facilities, if he knowingly did that or was negligent, grossly negligent in his handling of those documents, that violates statutes.
If he was asked specifically for any document and he said he didn't have it, when he actually had it, that would be relevant to obstruction.
So there are a couple of things going on here that we just don't know the answer to.
But one thing that is clear is that the president was very haphazard throughout his presidency in handling classified documents. And he appears to have been even more haphazard in packing them up at the end of his presidency that he didn't think really should end.
[13:35:02]
WHITFIELD: All right. Michael Zeldin, we'll leave it there for now but I know we'll talk about it again soon. Thanks so much.
ZELDIN: I hope so. Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Also, we're learning new details about the three men charged with killing this man, notorious gangster, James "Whitey" Bulger, in a federal prison. One of his former mobsters joining me live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Three men have been indicted in the prison death of convicted gangster, James "Whitey" Bulger. The 89-year-old was the leader of a south Boston gang who evaded police for 16 years before his capture in 2011.
CNN's Alexandra Field has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After years of investigation, arrests are finally made. All three men charged in connection with the death of Whitey Bulger were fellow inmates of his at Hazelton Federal Penitentiary in West Virginia.
[13:40:94]
Bulger was 89 at the time that he died. Hours earlier, he had been transferred to the West Virginia facility from a prison in Florida.
His death immediately raising questions about the transfer and about why the high-profile inmate was in with the prison's general population. The three men charged, two of them are accused of hitting him
repeatedly on the head, causing Bulger's death. All three face a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
One remains at Hazelton today. Another is still in the federal prison system. And the third suspect was under supervised federal release in Florida at the time of his arrest earlier this week.
Whitey Bulger, of course, was the infamous mob boss who led Boston's Winter Hill Gang in the '70s and '80s. He was on the run from authorities for nearly 16 years, appearing on the FBI's most wanted list before he was captured in 2011 and sentenced to two life terms.
In light of the federal indictment, the U.S. attorney in Boston is now speaking out on behalf of the families of Bulger's victims. She put out a statement standing in solidarity with them in light of the recent news.
And also added this to the statement. She writes, "In the truest of ironies, Bulger's family has experienced the excruciating pain and trauma their relative inflicted on far too many and the justice system is now coming to their aid."
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Alexandra Field, thanks so much.
Let's bring in John "Red" Shea. He is a former mobster in Whitey Bulger's gang and the author of the memoir "Rat Bastards, The South Boston Irish Mobster Who Took the Rap When Everyone Else Ran."
John, so good to see you.
You worked for Bulger for years, even serving more than a decade in prison for your role in the Winter Hill Gang in south Boston.
So your reaction when you found out that the men accused of killing your former boss had been charged with this crime?
JOHN "RED" SHEA, FORMER BOSTON MOBSTER & AUTHOR: Well, first of all, thank you for having me on today.
My reaction was this, is that I've always said that his justice should come from his peers, if you will. And obviously that has happened. And he got his justice as he's given so many other.
And what's so ironic to me is that it's amazing how everyone is so concerned about the death of a killer. I don't understand why there would be so much news about the death of an informant killer.
And -- go ahead.
WHITFIELD: Well, I'm wondering, do you find it fascinating that -- I mean, not long ago, in an interview that you did on CNN, you kind of made a prediction that, you know, if Bulger were to be in the general population-type prison, then something like what happened would happen.
So you predicted his demise if he were to be vulnerable, I guess, you know, in a general populous. That's what happened. And in a matter of hours after him being transferred, that he would be killed.
I mean is it your feeling that the three that killed him, it was part of, I guess, a bigger plan to take him out? I guess people on the inside would ultimately take him out but in prison?
SHEA: Well, first of all, let me start off by saying the three men that have been charged, they're innocent until proven guilty.
WHITFIELD: Sure.
SHEA: And so I'm not going to speculate and say that they've actually done this because we don't know that. We don't know that these men are the ones that actually did that. We don't know that.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: It's interesting that you're very --
SHEA: First of all --
WHITFIELD: -- skeptical about that.
SHEA: I'm not skeptical. I just tell it like it is. In this country, we're innocent until proven guilty.
WHITFIELD: True.
SHEA: But I will say this. From what they have said about his actions in the former place that he was at and how he was acting up and stuff like that, it was almost like he wanted to go into population and he wanted to face his peers and he wanted to leave this earth, to be honest with you.
I think he had enough. Especially at 89 years of age.
And, you know, he was an informant. He didn't like being called an informant. But he was.
He always wanted to be the tough guy that he was and portrayed himself to be. But in the end, he was actually an informant. And he got away with a lot of things because he was an informant.
[13:45:00]
So that said, I just think he wanted to go out, you know, in a gusto, if you will.
WHITFIELD: So what does this case, whether it be his death or even his capture, say about organized crime today?
SHEA: Organized crime isn't what it used to be, that's for sure. It's not.
WHITFIELD: Still exists.
SHEA: I don't think anything is like it used to be. I don't think anything is like it used to be. I mean, today, we have so many surveillance devices and DNA and stuff like that.
And getting back to that innocence until proven guilty, you've had a lot of people with DNA cases where they have been found guilty and then, later on, released after so many years because of DNA. So.
WHITFIELD: All right. Fascinating. Fascinating talking with you.
John "Red" Shea, thanks for your time. I appreciate it.
SHEA: Thank you so much. Have a great day.
WHITFIELD: You, too.
All right, coming up, American roads becoming increasingly dangerous. The number of fatal accidents hitting a 20-year high. CNN is looking into what's behind this disturbing trend. That's next.
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[13:50:41]
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. A crisis on American roads. The number of Americans killed in traffic accidents is at a 20-year high. And about a third of these crashes are caused by impaired drivers.
CNN's Pete Muntean shows us how automakers and local, state and federal officials are working to find a solution.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The headlines are relentless and indiscriminate. In Indiana, four dead, including a member of Congress. In Los Angeles, five dead. In Illinois, eight dead, including all six members of the Dobosz family.
The losses tell the story of what safety advocates call a crisis on our roads.
STEVE CLIFF, ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, NHTSA. The overall numbers are still moving in the wrong direction.
MUNTEAN: New data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows 9,560 people were killed on U.S. roads in the first three months of this year. That's a 7 percent jump over the same period last year and the highest for a first quarter in 20 years.
CLIFF: We had hoped these trends were limited to 2020. But sadly, they aren't. Risky behaviors skyrocketed and traffic fatalities spiked.
MUNTEAN: Virginia saw one of the biggest increases nationwide with traffic deaths spiking more than 70 percent in the first quarter.
Last week, near Richmond, Triathlete Jonah Holland was cycling along a county road when police say she was hit and killed by a suspected drunk driver.
Thursday, fellow cyclists held a benefit ride in her honor.
BARB JEWELL, BOARD MEMBER, RICHMOND TRI CLUB: I'm just really sad that -- that we have all of this because of a death.
AMY COHEN, CO-FOUNDER, FAMILIES FOR SAFE STREETS: These are not accidents. We have a preventable public health crisis.
MUNTEAN: Amy Cohen lost her 12-year-old son to a car crash. Now, as the co-founder of Families for Safe Streets, she says the goal is not just fewer deaths, but zero deaths on our roads.
Safety advocates put the onus on automakers and governments, local, state and federal, to attack the issue from all angles.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says redesigning roads to be safer is a top priority for the Biden administration using funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It is as if we are living through a war. We cannot and must not accept that these fatalities are somehow an inevitable part of life in America.
MUNTEAN: The latest federal data says a third of motor vehicle deaths are caused by impaired drivers.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says alcohol detection systems that stop people from drinking and driving could save 9,000 lives each year.
Just one way to help solve an epidemic on the roads that got worse with the pandemic.
COHEN: This is preventable. We just need our leaders to have the political will to put in place solutions to save lives.
MUNTEAN (on camera): What's interesting is that this is very much an American problem. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says, in Canada, the traffic fatality rate is about half of ours in the U.S. In Europe, it is about a quarter.
Here is who is being hurt the worst, according to Secretary Buttigieg, those in low-income and rural communities, especially people of color.
Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, concerns of a potential nuclear disaster. A power plant in Ukraine, now in the middle of Putin's ongoing war in the region as fighting around the area intensifies. A live report from Ukraine, straight ahead.
And this quick programming note. Hawaii is a paradise, but for whom? Kamau Bell goes beyond the crowded beaches in Hawaii to explore the tensions between visitors and locals in an all-new episode of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" with W. Kamau Bell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where the broken relationship begins with the United States and its military and the people of Hawaii.
W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA": More and more mainlanders have been moving here. We saw that "Movers and Shockers" program.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think that's a very problematic program. It's a seller colonialism super charged with social media so that you could be a digital nomad and then occupy this space, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And meanwhile, the people of this land can't afford it.
[13:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they can't move to the suburbs and the ocean, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, there's no place to go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are homeless in their own homeland, struggling and surviving as best they can. And often, that means affordable housing is living in your car or under a blue tarp tent. Your kids are going to school, you've got a job maybe, but you just can't afford a place to live.
BELL: You just can't afford a place to live.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Catch the all-new episode tomorrow at 10:00 p.m., right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
