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Alex Murdaugh Sentenced To Life In Prison For Killing Wife & Son; Tennessee Becomes First State To Restrict Drag Show Performances; Tennessee Governor Signs Bill On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors; Biden Tells Democrats He Won't Veto Bill Rescinding D.C. Crime Law. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired March 03, 2023 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:34:06]
BRIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Disgraced South Carolina attorney, Alex Murdaugh, has been sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and youngest son.
Twice during today's sentencing, Murdaugh maintained his innocence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX MURDAUGH, SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR KILLING WIFE AND SON: Judge, I tell you again, I respect this court, but I'm innocent. I would never under any circumstances hurt my wife, Maggie. And I would never under any circumstances hurt my son, Paul-Paul.
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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: The judge said this was one of the most troubling cases he's ever seen because of the former lawyer's status in the local legal community.
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JUDGE CLIFTON NEWMAN, SOUTH CAROLINA CIRCUIT COURT: You practiced law before me and we've seen each other at various occasions throughout the years.
[14:34:55]
And it was especially heartbreaking for me to see you go from being a grieving father, who lost a wife and a son, to being the person indicted and convicted of killing them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: CNN's Dianne Gallagher has been following this story from South Carolina.
Convicted in just a few hours. Dianne, we heard from one of the jurors today. What did he say?
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor, from the time they were charged to the time they told the clerk they had a verdict just about three hours.
According to that juror, it actually took far less time to come to the conclusion that Alex Murdaugh was guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, and his son, Paul.
In the end, it was Paul's video, that video we have talked so much about, the one that he recorded of his friend's dog just minutes before the state says that he was murdered, that captured his father's voice at the kennels.
And we heard witness after witness identify Alex. That made Alex Murdaugh get on the stand and admit to the jury that his alibi was a lie.
That there, the juror says, was what convinced him of his guilt.
But he also said Alex's testimony, which, by many attorneys, was praised because of his skill in a courtroom, his ability to sit there for 14 hours and talk about all of this, the juror said he didn't buy any of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Did you feel like he was a liar?
CRAIG MOYER, JUROR: A good liar but not good enough.
I didn't see any true remorse or any compassion or anything.
GALLAGHER: Even though - he cried a lot on the stand.
MOYER: He never cried.
GALLAGHER: He never cried? What do you mean by that?
MOYER: All he did was blow snot.
GALLAGHER: Did you not see tears?
MOYER: No tears.
GALLAGHER: How did you know he was not crying?
MOYER: Because I saw his eyes. I was this close to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Now the prosecutor, who did the reply closed letter, he told my colleague, Wes Brewer, that he wanted to say, this was all tragically sad.
But he also finished, Victor and Bianna, with "God bless Bubba," the dog that had the chicken in its mouth in that video that forced Alex Murdaugh to call for him.
Without that dog and that video, it is possible that Alex Murdaugh would not have been convicted.
BLACKWELL: All right, Dianne Gallagher, we've heard from those defense attorneys that they will be filing for an appeal in the next 10 days. We'll follow that.
Thanks so much.
GOLODRYGA: Well, after the sentencing, two of Murdaugh's defense attorneys sat down with CNN's Randi Kaye and explained why they decided to have Murdaugh take the stand in his own defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM GRIFFIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR ALEX MURDAUGH: The thinking of it at that point in time, what is there to lose? They've heard about all of his financial crimes. They really hadn't heard why he committed the financial crimes. And they needed to hear about his drug addiction.
By putting him on the stand, I think the jury also got to see his emotions about Maggie and Paul, which are very raw and real.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Joining me to discuss is South Carolina state lawmaker and attorney, Justin Bamberg. He represents about 10 victims of Murdaugh's alleged financial crimes.
Good to see you. Thank you for joining us.
First question, it took the jury just three hours to find him guilty of both murders. The judge sentencing him to life in prison. Your reaction?
STATE REP. JUSTIN BAMBERG (D-SC): Well, honestly, I was surprised the jury came back that fast. I'm not surprised by the verdict.
I was thinking that we would still be here about this time today waiting on the jury to give us their decision.
But Judge Newman did what I thought he was going to do and he basically fried Alex Murdaugh like a catfish. Two consecutive life sentences send a very, very strong message.
Alex Murdaugh was a black eye to our community. He was a blackeye to the legal profession.
And he was a black eye in the courtroom because, even with his life and other people getting answers on the line, he still lied to everybody, the jury included.
BLACKWELL: What does this mean for your clients going forward now?
BAMBERG: Well, my clients, I spoke to a couple last night after the verdict came in and they were excited. They were happy. They still want justice in their cases. They're victims as well.
It was great to see Alex, albeit some recorded, practiced statement of, "I lied, I misled clients." They want him to own up to what he did to them.
Look a mother in the eye and tell her, I stole from your son when he suffocated to death in a nursing home. Look a client in the eye and say, I understand that you can't bend over or turn your head and I stole from you and I'm going to accept the consequences for that.
[14:40:05]
That's what they want.
GOLODRYGA: He's facing 99 charges of criminal crimes - financial crimes, I should say. The same judge will be presiding over those cases.
What do you expect to see coming out of those cases?
BAMBERG: Well, here is the thing. Alex can stay in prison, die, be reborn, and he's still stuck there for another lifetime.
He's running out of money. He's been convicted now. I don't know that his family will help pay for his lawyers on appeal.
The question is, is Alex going to force every single victim he stole from to go through this same ordeal we just went through, another trial?
But I can say with confidence, whether it be Judge Newman or another judge in this state, if Alex Murdaugh is convicted on any of those counts, he's going to get maxed out on each one as well.
GOLODRYGA: Is there money, though, available for your clients assuming he is convicted?
BAMBERG: I mean, the only thing that will work when you deal with Alex Murdaugh, at this point, is you have to get complete justice, complete accountability.
We still have civil claims against him. And now the estate of both Maggie and Paul have civil claims as well.
Our goal is to pursue Alex. And if that means, at the very end of the day, he has nothing left except his body and the SCDC uniform they issue him, we are perfectly fine with that.
GOLODRYGA: The judge said he wouldn't call for a mistrial. As you know, the defense attorneys said they will be filing an appeal in 10 days.
From your perspective, is there any grounds for an appeal to be given?
BAMBERG: As far as any appeals talk and all of that, the only thing I can say is Alex Murdaugh had a state senator in Dick Harpootlian and he had Jim Griffith, they put up a defense for him.
It's my understanding that there were times when Alex didn't even want to even listen to his lawyers because he thinks he's smarter than everybody else and he acts like he's smarter than everybody else.
No real concerns about any appeal. I think they will file it just because they have to. I don't see it going anywhere. I don't think he'll have any success.
He cannot run - Alex, if you hear, you can't run from accountability anymore.
GOLODRYGA: All right, Justin Bamberg, thank you so much for your time.
BAMBERG: Thank you.
BLACKWELL: There is a growing divide within President Biden's party over crime. Ahead, why one House Democrat tells CNN they cannot trust the White House.
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[14:47:04]
BLACKWELL: Tennessee became the first state in the country to restrict drag show performances. The bill signed yesterday limits performances on public property considered harmful to minors, to shield children from seeing the performances.
Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and repeat offenders a felony.
In addition to the drag law, the governor banned gender-affirming medical care for minors, even if the child's parent approves.
Story VanNess is a drag performer, and she is the assistant director for Knox Pride and the program director for Trans, Nonbinary Support Services.
Story, thank you for your time.
So this legislation - and I'm talking about the drag bill first. The sponsor says it's not targeting drag performers. It's not banning public drag performances.
Instead - and I wrote this down - "making sure children are not present at sexually explicit performances."
"Sexually explicit" has a legal definition from the Department of Justice.
But do you interpret this as banning public drag performances?
STORY VANNESS, DRAG PERFORMER & ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, KNOX PRIDE: Absolutely. And thank you for having me, Victor.
Absolutely. This is just another bill in a long line of bills that are just an assault on the queer community here in Tennessee.
But this bill absolutely is intended to criminalize drag in public spaces. This is not about children.
BLACKWELL: Some people may know about drag brunches, people going out to them, bringing their friends and family.
How will this law change the drag community in Tennessee?
VANNESS: The thing about drag, it typically is held at an adult venue, at a nightclub or a bar.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
VANNESS: So typically, those shows may have adult content but nothing crossing the line into sexual.
We have laws in place already that prevent that sort of - from it going into that sexual realm.
What this is going to do is it's going to take - it's going to take money out of the pockets of the drag performers, many of whom this is their only job. This is their only source of income.
It's stigmatizing queer art and queer culture, which is the purpose. But it's - because they want people to think sexual. They want people to think that queer people are nothing but sexual.
BLACKWELL: But which is -
VANNESS: And that's their hang-up.
BLACKWELL: Which is interesting because one of the things that - and I read the law - that I have a question about the interpretation of the word "performance."
[14:50:03]
Because the law groups what they call male and female impersonators with topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers and strippers. All of the rest of those, those are actions, and designed to be erotic. Drag very often -
VANNESS: Right.
BLACKWELL: - usually is not.
But to characterize drag, just being in drag as a performance, does simply appearing in public in drag then count as a performance?
Do you see what I'm asking here? What's your interpretation?
VANNESS: I do. And we do have many drag performers have that concern.
But even past that, I'm a trans person. Depending on who is reading that law, they may determine that I am a female impersonator. I have trans - part of my job is working with trans people. And I'm
answering these emails with all this anxiety of, you know, I'm a dancer. I'm a dance instructor. Does what I do count?
Am I going to be arrested for dancing in public because I am not - because I'm seen as a female impersonator?
But if I've got my air pods in, like I frequently do, and I'm just jamming out as I'm going through, you know, the grocery store, does that count as a performance? Am I - so it's just -
BLACKWELL: Yes, yes.
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VANNESS: We're scared that not only is this going to limit our access to art, but also to life.
And I think that's the point. They're trying to legislate us out of existence. They're trying to make it so we can't leave our homes.
BLACKWELL: Let me ask you this. As the governor, Governor Lee there, was preparing to sign this bill, someone asked him about a photo from his yearbook in 1977.
This is Governor Bill Lee. He's the one in the pearls. He calls this light-hearted. He is there at some high school event.
His office elaborated in a statement to "The Daily Beast," saying, "The bill specifically protects children from obscene sexualized entertainment. And any attempt to conflate this serious issue with light-hearted school tradition is dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families."
Your thoughts?
VANNESS: I would argue that conflating drag with, you know, curious interest is ridiculous.
I don't know when the last - well, I mean, obviously, Governor Lee's been to some sort of drag event. But I don't know the last time he's been to a drag show and seen what a drag show really is.
What they're doing is they're just taking these examples that they're finding and they're blowing everything out of proportion. It's just another attack.
But it's also a distraction. Like all of this is distracting from all these other really important things that the Tennessee legislature and Governor Lee honestly should be paying attention to. But instead, we're worrying about drag queens.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Also, that other bill, the gender-affirming health care for trans kids. No hormone therapies, no surgeries, no puberty blockers. And we know from a study published in the National Institutes of
Health, 82 percent of trans individuals have considered suicide, 40 percent have attempted it. And the rates are highest among trans youth.
Story VanNess, thank you so much for your time.
VANNESS: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Anger, fear and frustration in East Palestine, Ohio, as families confronted the Norfolk Southern rail company one month after that toxic train derailment.
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[14:54:02]
GOLODRYGA: We'll have the latest from East Palestine, ahead.
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[14:58:32]
GOLODRYGA: A surprise move by the White House is catching many Democrats off guard. President Biden telling his party that he will not veto a Republican-led bill that would strike down a controversial Washington, D.C., crime law.
The bill received support from only 31 Democrats in the House. The Senate is expected to vote on it next week. A vote that has many Democrats split right now.
BLACKWELL: CNN's Tom Foreman has been watching all of this play out.
Tom, what does the bill actually do? And why is it so divisive?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The bill is fairly straightforward. They're rewriting the criminal code for the district.
For a long time, basically, they took a more progressive rather than punitive approach, eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for many crimes, reducing maximum sentences for things like robbery and carjackings, expanding jury trial requirements. Again, a more progressive view.
Big fight at the city level over this. But then it goes to President Biden, where basically he had said, you know, I'm going to back what the city wants to do here.
Then, then - Republicans started making a lot of noise about how this is soft on crime. They put forward legislation, and he does an about- face. And he says, I don't support changes the D.C. council has put forward,
such as lowering penalties for carjackings. If the Senate votes to overturn this, I'll sign it. And that has created an uproar among Democrats.
BLACKWELL: And how are Democrats responding?
[14:59:52]
FOREMAN: Well, in a variety of ways. In the Senate, some of them, who also are mindful of this notion that they don't want to be seen as soft on crime, a number of them are saying they will vote to repeal what the council has done here in the district.
