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Hearing for Murder Suspect in Idaho; Boy Swept Away by Flooding; Temporary Migrant Center Open; Russia Shuffles Military; Taylor Dudley Released from Russian Custody; Supreme Court Allows New York Gun Law for Now. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 12, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:32:22]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Idaho quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger is expected back in court. Lawyers set to discuss how to move forward in the case. This as we're now hearing more from the victim's family members.

Here is the father of Madi Mogen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN MOGEN, FATHER OF VICTIM MADISON MOGEN: I just - I broke down and I just - I just cried. I could only take so much of that. And I just - I - I cried and I still haven't read the rest of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: CNN correspondent Josh Campbell is in Moscow, Idaho, with more.

So, Josh, what do we expect to see today?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, in just a couple hours' time, at the courthouse behind me, the suspect in this case,, 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger, will have what's called a status hearing. Now, these are largely procedural in nature. We'll have to wait and see whether there is anything of substance that comes out.

But this is, as we've been mentioning, a precursor to what's called a preliminary hearing, and that's where we could see additional evidence from prosecutors, additional witness statements.

Now, of course, this all comes as Kohberger has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder. An attorney for him says that his client will be exonerated. But, of course, authorities have already unsealed a trove of potentially damaging evidence that include a DNA connection allegedly between the suspect and the crime scene. Police also analyzed the movements of his vehicle, the movements of his cell phone, which put him in the vicinity, police say, of the residence where these murders took place at least 12 times before the killings. Now, finally, we're also getting some new insight from people who new

Bryan Kohberger. One of his neighbors spoke with CBS News and said that in discussion after the incident, Kohberger actually brought it up, saying that it appeared that police have no leads and that Kohberger thought that this was a crime of passion. Again, so chilling there that this neighbor says that this occurred after the fact.

We know, of course, the suspect in this case was studying criminology and criminal justice. So, a lot of questions still about the motive here, whether there was any connection to these four victims. We're waiting to hear more from authorities.

But, again, this prosecution, the trail continues in just a couple hours' time. That suspect will be back here in court in Moscow, Idaho, guys.

SCIUTTO: Yes, just so heartbreaking for the families as they go through this.

Josh Campbell, in Moscow, thanks so much.

HILL: Parts of California right now bracing for yet another round of rain. This after being battered by heavy flooding, mudslides and toppled trees over the course of the last several days. Flood watches in effect. At least 40 state routes have actually been closed.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

On the central coast, hundreds of National Guard members are now searching for five-year-old Kyle Doan. This after rising floodwaters swept him right from his mother's arms.

[09:35:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSY DOAN, SON SWEPT AWAY IN FLOODWATERS: I want to switch places with Kyle. I don't want to be here. I want Kyle to be here. I wish Kyle was the one that was rescued.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: That poor mother. I can only imagine.

CNN national correspondent Camila Bernal is in San Miguel, California.

Camila, I mean just horrible to hear, a personal story there, right, of loss through all of this. Now there's more rain. I wonder how that might complicate the search.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a really difficult search. And, look, it's a family that right now is in shock. They say that it is so hard to process this. But they're just not giving up. They want to find their son. They want him back. And so they will be searching in the water here behind me. This is the creek where Kyle was last seen. I want to just kind of go

over this creek because it is still flowing somewhat rapidly, and the terrain is really difficult in terms of the search. That's why you're not seeing anyone out here this morning. They're waiting for the sun to come up.

But we're expecting National troop members, they're - or National Guard members. We're expecting many of the neighbors, the family, the friends, who have been out here day after day looking through the mud, looking through the waters.

The reality is that this mother says that she tried to hold on to her son. She describes, you know, saying that he told her, it's OK, mom, don't panic, it is going to be OK. And she did everything she could to hold on to her son, but the current was so strong that he was swept away by that water.

Here is his father describing what that mother told him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN DOAN, SON SWEPT AWAY IN FLOODWATERS: He was too far in the middle of the current in the creek. They couldn't reach him. They could get to her because she was closer to them and was able to get a rope to her and get her over to the side, but they couldn't get to my son. The husband that was there saw him, he was floating back. His head was above water. He was looking out. And that was the last time they saw him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: But they are not giving up hope. Look, that car is still here, just a couple of feet behind me. It's really hard to see because the sun has not come up yet. It's part of the reason why they're not searching yet.

I was here when his brother, 18-year-old brother, came for the first time and saw the car. It was emotional for him. He was hugging -- the friends that are out here helping him search. It is a really difficult process for this family. And we will have to wait and see what happens today as they continue to search.

Jim. Erica.

HILL: That's just - it's just such an awful, heartbreaking story.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Camila, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, our hearts go out to that family.

Still ahead, incredible new images of what one Ukrainian soldier somehow survived. That's an x-ray showing an unexploded grenade inside his body. We're going to be live close to the front lines coming up.

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[09:42:31]

SCIUTTO: Could there be some relief coming along the southern border? U.S. Customs and Border Protection says that a new migrant processing center, you see it there, in El Paso, Texas, is now open. Officials say that tent-like facility will boost processing capacity by 1,000 and will ensure that migrants are treated with dignity while in custody.

HILL: CNN's Rosa Flores is live this morning in Texas.

So, Rosa, as we know, El Paso has really become the epicenter of this crisis. Practically speaking, what will the impact of this new center be?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, practically, it will double the holding capacity in the El Paso sector, which is important because it will give the federal government a way to mitigate the impact of migrant surges.

So, what happened in El Paso, and the reason why El Paso became the epicenter of the current immigration crisis, was because a very large number of migrants crossed into the United States during a very short period of time. This overwhelmed the federal government, the local government and even non-profit organizations.

And so what this giant -- it looks like a giant tent. And we have video of this. What this giant tent does is, it allows the federal government to manage that migration flow a little better because they're able to have more processing capacity.

Now, that giant tent is climate controlled. It has areas for eating and sleeping. And it's important to note that all of this is part of the Department of Homeland Security's plan to prepare for the lifting of Title 42. Part of that plan is to increase resources and also to add ten soft-sided facilities, like this, along the border. And this is one of them. The one in El Paso is one of them. That's expected to help the federal government mitigate the impact of the next migrant surge.

Erica and Jim, as you know, Title 42 is still in place, but border communities are bracing for the lifting of Title 42 because a migrant surge is expected after that.

SCIUTTO: Yes, we'll see if that makes a difference.

Rosa Flores, thanks so much.

HILL: Russia is reshuffling its military once again. This as President Vladimir Putin seemingly demotes his military commander in Ukraine.

SCIUTTO: General Valery Gerasimov will now head up the invasion. Sergei Surovikin, who was in charge only since October, is going to be one of his deputies. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, in the east.

Surovikin, I mean he was nicknamed "General Armageddon" for his brutal tactics in the Syria war. He's out.

[09:45:02]

Does this mean any change in the nature or the strategy in the east for Russia?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, Jim, it represents an attempt to get some sort of more cohesive operations going in the east. But General Gerasimov is somebody who doesn't exactly have a record of success. He was overseeing the initial phases of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which went disastrously wrong, particularly in the Kyiv region.

Now, regarding the dangers faced by Ukrainian soldiers, we've seen these pictures of -- the x-ray pictures of a soldier who had been hit by what's known as a VOG Russian grenade, that's launched by a grenade launcher. Apparently, surgeons were able to remove this live grenade from his torso. There were two sappers in the operating theater just to make sure that as soon as the grenade was successfully removed from his body that it didn't go off.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Wow.

HILL: That is really something.

Ben Wedeman, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still to come here, the Supreme Court handling a momentary loss to Second Amendment advocate who have been battling New York's gun control laws. It's really, though, something that two of the justices said that is giving them hope. What were those comments?

Stay with us.

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[09:50:31]

SCIUTTO: This just into CNN.

Taylor Dudley, a U.S. Navy veteran who has been detained in Russia for nearly a year, there's a picture of him, has now been released. This comes after months of negotiations spearheaded by former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. He's often been involved in negotiations like this.

HILL: CNN White House reporter Natasha Bertrand joining us now with more.

So, Natasha, what are the details? What more are you learning about this? NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, so this literally

just happened moments ago. Thirty-five-year-old Taylor Dudley, a Lansing, Michigan, native, was released to former Governor Bill Richardson and his team there in Poland after being detained in Kaliningrad in April of 2022.

Now, it is not clear how Taylor Dudley ended up in Kaliningrad. He had been in Poland for a music festival, we're told, and he ended up crossing the border and he was then detained by Russian border patrol agents there in that tiny little exclave of Kaliningrad that, of course, is Russian territory, sandwiched between Poland and the Baltic states.

But what we know is that this has been the - a process of months of the Richardson team trying to get him release. And actually what we are told is that the former New Mexico governor, who now has a non- profit dedicated to these kinds of hostage negotiations, did bring his case up with the Russian officials, kind of around the same time he was trying to negotiate the release of Paul Whelan, Brittney Griner and Trevor Reid. Of course, Reed and Griner have been released and Paul Whelan has not.

So, what we are told is that Trevor - or that Taylor Dudley is in good health. He has been released just moments ago to the team that has been negotiated his release. And the Russian officials did not demand anything in return for his release. So, they are actually very pleased about how this all went. And, of course, they are emphasizing at this point that they are still working very hard to get Paul Whelan home. He, of course, remains in Russian custody.

Guys.

SCIUTTO: Remarkable. No quid pro quo for this one.

Natasha Bertrand, thanks so much.

HILL: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed New York's restrictive gun law to remain in effect as legal challenges play out. So, in a brief order, the justices rebuffed an emergency request from challengers who said that the law violated their constitutional rights. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas stressed they are not ruling here on the merits of law but simply declining to intervene in this dispute.

SCIUTTO: So, what are in the tea leaves there.

HILL: Yes.

SCIUTTO: CNN Supreme Court reporter Ariane de Vogue joins us now.

So, they didn't block it, but then you have two of the most conservative justices saying what in effect?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Well, you remember last summer, right, the Supreme Court really changed the landscape of Second Amendment law going forward. They got rid of that prior concealed carry law in New York. But, more importantly, they changed the framework that judges will use to look at any gun regulation going forward, right?

So, supporters of gun rights were emboldened. They went back to court on a whole host of issues and we really saw a ripple effect going on right now of these cases back at the court. The one that came back for the first time now to the Supreme Court came back just briefly but it was about that New York concealed carry law passed after that Supreme Court ruling. And these gun owners said, look, this law is in defiance of what you said last spring. You should look at it again. The court choose not to step in at this early -- at this early time.

SCIUTTO: Right.

DE VOGUE: But these two justices, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas, they wrote their own little opinion. And basically they had a message. They wrote, applicants should not be deterred by today's order from again seeking relief if they don't get the quick action by the Second Circuit. That sends two messages. It sends a message to these gun owners, be vigilant, watch the lower courts. But it also says to lower courts, work quickly here.

These two justices do not want this to linger in lower courts. They don't want the lower courts to thumb their noses at what the Supreme Court said.

SCIUTTO: OK.

DE VOGUE: And they're worried it's going to happen. So, the bottom line here is that this message has been sent out there and now you've got liberals, progressives, supporters of gun regulations really echoing what the liberals said in dissent last summer and they basically said, at this time of mass shootings, at this problematic time, these states need flexibility, and the Supreme Court has just taken that away from them.

So, that's what's going on. And it's really fascinating to see this ripple effect.

SCIUTTO: Just quickly, that was an invitation, though, to come back at a later time if, in fact -

[09:55:02]

DE VOGUE: It's an invitation to come back.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes.

DE VOGUE: And we're going to see a lot more of these petitions at the court.

SCIUTTO: Yes, they know the court they're dealing with.

DE VOGUE: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Ariane de Vogue, thanks so much. HILL: Also in New York, four men are charged illegally (ph) with

trafficking more than 50 firearms. This is the first prosecution in New York state under a bipartisan gun safety bill which President Biden signed into law last year, and it includes a gun trafficking provision that creates a separate conspiracy offense which state prosecutors used here to charge the traffickers.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

Listen, you talk to cops, they talk about these pipelines. And they increase gun crime. Prosecutors allege there were multiple illegal firearms purchases last year, some of which were sold to an NYPD undercover officer. All four of those perpetrators, or suspects, rather, were arrested Wednesday morning.

Still ahead, President Biden expected to speak on the economy at any moment as a key measure shows inflation continuing to cool. Some relief on prices.

Stay with us.

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