Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

NYC Machete Attack Suspect Arrested For Attempted Murder Of Police Officers And Attempted Assault; McCarthy Scrambles For Votes Needed To Win Gavel Ahead Of Vote; Ukraine: Hundreds Of Russian Troops Killed In Strike Near Ammo Cache. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 02, 2023 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, and Happy New Year. I'm Bianna Golodryga, welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

We are following several new developments into the investigation into a machete attack near Times Square on New Year's Eve. Just moments ago, the 19-year-old suspect was arrested for attempted murder and assault of police officers. CNN has also learned that the suspect was added to a terrorist watch list just a few weeks before the attack. Sources tell CNN that FBI agents interviewed the suspect in mid- December after family members were concerned about his plans to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban.

Let's bring in CNN's Gloria Pazmino live in Times Square. So, Gloria, what more are we learning?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, as you said, the suspect has been arrested and officially charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and two counts of attempted assault. The suspect remains in the hospital. He was injured during the attack. A police officer did fire his service weapon injuring him on the shoulder, and he remains at this hour under police guard at the hospital.

Let me tell you what else we are learning about Trevor Bickford. 19 years old from Wells, Maine. He traveled here last week on the train. That's all according to law enforcement sources.

We've also learned that Trevor Bickford had been added to the terror watchlist after the FBI held an interview with him and started an investigation after his mother and his grandmother reported their concern after he expressed a desire to travel to Afghanistan. He said he wanted to die for his religion. And express a desire to join the Taliban.

We've also learned that during this attack, Trevor Bickford was carrying a backpack which contained a handwritten diary. He ditched that backpack near the scene here in Times Square. In it, he wrote about those same desires wanting to travel abroad and join the Taliban. Now, law enforcement officials also telling us that the U.S. Attorney here in New York has been weighing whether or not to press federal charges against Bickford. That, of course, remains to be seen.

He traveled here to this area where I'm standing right now which on New Year's Eve was just being flooded by thousands of people. This attack took place several blocks away from here at a security checkpoint. Everyone that is trying to get into this area on New Year's Eve needed to go through a security checkpoint. That is where Trevor Bickford approached these police officers and attack them with a machete.

I should also mention that in that diary, law enforcement sources tell us that Trevor Bickford wrote about his last will and testament leaving detailed instructions for what he wanted done with his body and what he wanted done with his personal belongings. We are awaiting to hear more about the possible motivation behind this attack, and whether or not he will be facing any kind of federal charges, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. It appears that he was prepared to die during this attack as well. Gloria Pazmino, thank you.

Well, on the other story we're following. The suspect accused of killing four Idaho college students will be back in court tomorrow. Bryan Kohberger is charged with first-degree murder. He's accused of fatally stabbing these four University of Idaho students while they slept at an off-campus home back in November. Kohberger is expected to waive extradition at a court hearing in Pennsylvania tomorrow and head back to Idaho to face prosecution.

CNN's Veronica Miracle is in Moscow Idaho with the very latest. So, Veronica, we've heard from the family of the suspect. What exactly are they saying?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, we understand that they're going to be in court tomorrow. We also understand they have not been able to speak with the suspect, Bryan Kohberger since his arrest. Through his public defender, the family has put out a statement expressing first and foremost, they say we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray for them each day. They also continue to say they want to let the legal process unfold before they make any assumptions and that they support their brother and son.

Now, tomorrow, if he does waive extradition at his hearing, he can be back in the state of Idaho as early as tomorrow. It could take a couple of days. We asked the police chief here what that process would be like and he said for security reasons they're not going to be revealing that information.

[14:05:05]

But what they are asking for here at the Moscow police department is continued help. They received about 20,000 tips throughout this investigation, which led them to Kohberer. Now, they're asking for people to send them information if they've had any interaction with him from as early as his childhood all the way up until now, either in this area or across the country. Because again, they have made the arrest but now they're trying to get a conviction. They want to paint a picture of exactly who he is.

The police chief told me that within one hour of that press conference ending on Friday where they announced the arrest, they have 400 calls into their tip line specifically about Kohberger. He's a graduate student at Washington State University studying criminal -- criminology, which also makes him a teaching assistant. And one of his students told CNN that as of late, he's just been off. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAYDEN STINCHFIELD, STUDENT IN CLASS WHERE SUSPECT WAS TEACHING ASSISTANT: He have like a little bit more facial hair, just like several but definitely less like well-kept than he was. And he was a little quieter. You know he didn't -- he used to stand up at the start of class and like talk about some stuff sometimes. And this time, he didn't really do it at all. He was definitely I think, like the previous like mental preoccupation that we've been noticing where it was like you know he didn't really want to be there. That was like an all-time high. And he just, you know, didn't look like he was doing great.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: And, Bianna, Kohberger's apartment at Washington State University was searched over the weekend. And we spoke to somebody who lives right below him. She said that in the last four months when they've been living underneath him, it has been very difficult because he would be up all hours of the night. one, two, three in the morning, vacuuming in the middle of the night. It was very disturbing to them. They also saw that white Hyundai Elantra that police were looking for, they didn't make the connection that he could potentially be the suspect, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: No doubt that his arrest comes as a huge relief for that community which has really been on edge for nearly two months now since those murders took place. Veronica Miracle, thank you.

And I had the father of Kaylee Goncalves gives his first interview with CNN since the arrest of Bryan Kohberger. That's coming up in the next hour.

Well, two big take -- cases to discuss. Let's bring in Juliette Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst who served as Assistant Secretary in the Homeland Security Department. And Charles Ramsey is a CNN senior law enforcement analyst who led the police forces in Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. Welcome both of you.

Let's begin with the Kohberger arrest there. And, Chief Ramsey, as we said, he's expected to waive extradition tomorrow. What can we expect when the probable cause affidavit will be unsealed once he returns to Idaho?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, you're going to get a lot of information as to how they zero in on him. Now, we've already heard that you know DNA played a huge role, information from the public you know about the white vehicle, there's a lot of information that we have, but there's an awful lot of information that we don't have. And so, you're going to learn a lot more about the actual investigative steps taken to really zero in on him.

The police department and all those law enforcement agencies did a very, very good job in my opinion. This is not an easy case. It's very complicated, but they were able to bring it in. And even though people were thinking that things weren't going the wrong way, I think they handled it properly in terms of holding information from the public until they got the person they were looking for.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Up until now, there had been concerns that given the length of time that it passed that this will turn into a cold case. Clearly, things have changed quickly.

Juliette, let me ask you about Kohberger's background in criminal justice. And the fact that he was a graduate student there, he has a deep knowledge of the legal system. And I want to read a Reddit post that was -- has been since taken down where he may be even linked to looking for people to participate in a research project to "understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime." Could that help investigators with a motive as the investigation begins now?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It could help with them understanding the extent to which he had planned this out and whether -- and the extent to which he had also planned out his exit. I mean, there were -- there was a significant amount -- a significant amount of time between when the murders occurred and they catch him in Pennsylvania. Did that kind of research also help him? There's also statements or reporting about what he may have said at the moment of his arrest, which may be relevant as well to his knowledge of how the criminal justice system is going to work.

But that one question we still don't have answer is the question of whether he knew any of the individuals in the home or whether it was random in the sense that he staked out a house where there was activity, maybe the door was unlocked, the girls were young, and he and -- he was watching them?

[14:10:09]

That question of why this house, why those victims, that's going to be what we're all looking for in terms of what we're going to find out this week.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And whether it was premeditated or not.

KAYYEM: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: And, Chief Ramsey, we heard from one of the students who's a teacher's assistant in one of these classes there where he -- the student said that his behavior had changed a bit. He grown some facial hair. Just from that -- from that student, perhaps they'll speak to other students as well, can any of that be used as evidence or does that come across as just hearsay? RAMSEY: Well, I mean, I don't think that's pretty strong in terms of anything. I mean, you have to prove that the individual committed the murder. And letting your beard draw a little bit or being a little distracted during class is not going to bring it to that conclusion. So, they've got a lot of work to do. They're still trying to locate the murder weapon.

One interesting thing because he was taking a look as a criminology student in terms of the thought process before, during, and after, he may have taken some notes. If he actually committed that crime, then he becomes an individual that would be kind of like self-reflecting on those kinds of things, perhaps. So, they're going to be doing a lot of work to get this ready to actually go to trial. Those interviews are always helpful and we want people to come forward and provide information. But that kind of information by itself is really not helpful in terms of conviction.

GOLODRYGA: Juliette, let me ask you about the attack in Times Square. We now know that the suspect had been known to the FBI. He had been on the watch list. And that FBI officials and agents had actually spoken with him just a few weeks ago after his family had voiced concern. Does this suggest to you that perhaps the ball was dropped somewhere between then and now?

KAYYEM: No. I mean, this is going to be a very difficult case, I think, to understand sort of what happened in that gap period. But this is not uncommon. And in some ways, the fact that the FBI approached him before is good news. And that's because we want families to come forward in all of these cases, in particular, international foreign terrorism in which there's some nexus between an organization or group and an individual who's becoming radicalized. He talks about going there to get trained in the absence of him being able to do that. He then plans an attack here. It's the family members who always know. It's the mother, the wife, the children. So, we do want to promote them coming forward.

They then talk to him, but he hasn't done anything. And he may -- you know he have obviously lied to them. And so, they can't make an arrest. There's -- we've -- not even New York City has the capacity to follow everyone who's showing signs of violence or showing signs of radicalization. This is a case that we'll learn more. In particular, what I'm interested in is sort of those ties to the Islamic -- to what we're hearing are Islamic groups, in terms of what he just passively following along, or were there some back channels and some other communications which promoted him to do this. But the mother clearly saw a radicalization and came forward and the FBI did interview him. These are hard cases to break before some action is taken. Whether it's communication with a foreign group, or in fact, the attack itself.

GOLODRYGA: We'll continue to follow both of these investigations. Juliette Kayyem and Chief Charles Ramsey, thank you so much for your time, Happy New Year to you both.

Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is trying to make a deal with his own party 24 hours before the House speaker should vote. So, what concessions is he offering up now? Plus, the Ukrainian military claims hundreds of Russian troops were killed in a strike in Donetsk. The latest on the ground there, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:17:46]

GOLODRYGA: Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has hours left to secure the votes he needs to become Speaker of the House. Yesterday, he outlined some concessions in his quest for the leadership role but he is still facing a math problem. Nine Republican hardliners say the concessions are not enough and five other Republicans have committed to voting no. This afternoon though, he remained optimistic about the vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to speak the vote for Speaker tomorrow?

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA): And take away all the excitement? I think we'll have a good day tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: He just sense all that excitement, his voice says. CNN's Lauren Fox joins me now. So, Lauren, McCarthy has given into just about every single demand asked of him. What are the sticking points at this point?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think one of the sticking points is that he just had some members who are going to vote no tomorrow, including Ralph Norman, who I talked to earlier today who said his big issue isn't the rules package but making sure that there's a balanced budget. He said he just isn't sure that McCarthy is going to be good on his word when it comes to that issue, so he's going to be voting tomorrow for Andy Biggs, the conservative alternate candidate. That is a major problem for Kevin McCarthy because he can only afford to lose four votes tomorrow. Like you outlined, he has far more than that who are on the fence or are strongly opposed to him going into tomorrow.

He tried to assuage concerns last night on a private conference call, telling members that he was willing to lower the threshold that it would take to call for a vote to oust the speaker, essentially fire him from the job he really wants. He says -- he said that he was willing to lower that threshold from a majority of the conference to just five members. But Matt Gaetz, one of the hardliners said that still was not good enough for him.

And I will tell you. Moderates are starting to get a little frustrated because they feel like a lot of concessions have been made by McCarthy, things that they don't oppose -- things that they're opposed to, and yet, there is still no movement toward McCarthy. So, tomorrow is going to be a big, major day, potentially a very upsetting day on the floor of the house as Kevin McCarthy seeks that job, Bianna. GOLODRYGA: Essentially, a historic day of that. Lauren Fox, thank you. Well, as noted, it is the first time in decades that we could see a so-called floor fight when House members require multiple ballots or votes to elect a new speaker of the House.

[14:20:03]

CNN's Harry Enten joins me now. So, Harry, Happy New Year to you.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: I know you've been busy in this New Year looking at some of the public perceptions of McCarthy. Tell us what you found.

ENTEN: And Happy New Year to you as well. Look, when we look right now at the public, right? This is not members of Congress but look at the public at large. I think it gives you an understanding and sort of the insights that Kevin McCarthy is just not that popular of a guy. So, let's take a look at the net favorability ratings of potential first- time speakers. That's favorable minus an unfavorable rating.

And you'll look at the bottom of the list, this is among all adults nationwide, Kevin McCarthy with a minus 19-point net favorability rating. That is by far the lowest on this list of potential first-time speakers going all the way back since about 30 years ago. He's not anywhere close to Nancy Pelosi, right? It was at plus 18 points. And Newt Gingrich in 1994, who was not that popular of a guy was at minus nine points. So, Kevin McCarthy, really not popular among the public at large.

But let's zoom in on Republicans right because that's ultimately what this floor fight tomorrow could potentially all be about. Let's take a look at the net favorability ratings of potential first-time speakers among members of their own party. What you see here is Kevin McCarthy is far better liked among Republicans than he is among adults at large right at plus 30 points. But again, that's kind of near the bottom of the list. Only Newt Gingrich was less like.

And so, you know, there'll be this idea, hey, maybe there'll be this groundswell of support for Kevin McCarthy from say, the grassroots that might push some of these Republicans who are kind of iffy on him over the head. This is more like, hey, we like Kevin McCarthy, but we don't really love Kevin McCarthy. This is not something you would expect sort of that groundswell of support.

There is one nugget I'll kind of point out, though, which is remember, Kevin McCarthy has faced this before, right? Back in late 2015, there was essentially this idea that Kevin McCarthy would succeed John Boehner as the Speaker of the House, and he just couldn't do it. He couldn't generate enough support among the Republican caucus.

So, the good news for him is he's much better like now among Republicans at plus 30 points than he was back in 2015 at plus two points. But again, this is weak soft. These are not great numbers. They're OK.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, OK, only Kevin, right? Is that what you're trying to say?

ENTEN: Yes, absolutely.

GOLODRYGA: That name holds. What -- well, you know, we had one day before the vote, so walk us through some of the math that's needed here.

ENTEN: Yes. So, you know, we've been talking about this because, at the end of the day, this is all a math game, math, math, math. So, what is Kevin McCarthy need to become a speaker? So, keep in mind that right now, Republicans have 222 seats, right? A majority of House seats is 218. So, the number of votes that Kevin McCarthy can afford to lose is just four -- it's just four.

And you know, here's the problem -- here's the math problem. If he can only lose -- afford to lose four, there are by five hardlines against him. Then there are nine who were unsatisfied with his compromises. All of a sudden, you're looking totally against him right now, it's at least 14. He's 10 away from where he essentially needs to be. And I think the real question is, as we sort of go hour by hour and zone in on tomorrow is, how is he going to get 10 of these folks to actually get on his side? At this point, it's unclear. But, of course, you can't beat something but nothing.

GOLODRYGA: Right.

ENTEN:l And I'm not sure who the alternative is for Kevin McCarthy at this particular point.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Harry Enten, you are more than OK.

ENTEN: (INAUDIBLE).

GOLODRYGA: And I have lots -- a lot of friends like you here at CNN and viewers as well. Thank you for watching.

ENTEN: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you for joining me.

ENTEN: All right.

GOLODRYGA: Well, in their last official day of business, the January 6 committee has released what could be its final round of witness interview transcripts. Plus, we're learning new information about who former President Trump was speaking with days before the insurrection. And crowds gathering in Rome as they pay their respects to Pope Benedict as he lies in state. We will take you there straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:28:16]

GOLODRYGA: Ukraine's military says hundreds of Russian troops have been killed in a missile strike. This is in the Russian-occupied region of Donetsk. A telegram video shows the rubble left in its wake. Both Russian and Ukrainian and pro-Russian reports say Russian troops were stationed at a vocational school next to an ammunition storage facility which exploded when the rockets hit.

CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman joins us from Kyiv. So, Ben, an Information-Minister says this strike was from an American-supplied rocket system. Why were these troops also stationed next to an ammunition storage facility? That's a big question that many military experts are asking as well.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bianna, that's I think even -- we also know that Russian military bloggers are asking that very question because if there was ammunition stored right next to this vocational school, or in the school itself, that might explain this very high death toll. Now, the Russians are saying -- the Russian Defense Ministry is saying 63 soldiers were killed. The Ukrainians initially put out this number of 400 killed, 300 wounded, they say. Now, they are clarifying the numbers.

Now, the Ukrainians haven't specifically said they hit the vocational school, just that they hit targets in Makiivka. So, we don't really know -- obviously, they're not a lot of targets there to be hit. They're probably the ones who hit it.

Now, the Russians are saying that the Ukrainians use what are known as HIMARS. That's High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems provided by the United States which had been very effective in taking out Russian systems. And the Ukrainian Defense Ministry just about an hour ago put out a tweet saying don't tease our HIMARS, they bite. And certainly, that seems to be the case if that was the weapon system they used, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.