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Colorado Dentist Charged With Murder In Wife's Poisoning; Colorado High School Shooting Suspect Found Dead; Off-Duty Pilots Helps Land Plane After Captain Has Medical Emergency; Biden To Meet With Trudeau, Address Parliament In Trip To Canada; Lawmakers Grill TikTok CEO Amid Possible U. S. Ban; Secy Of State Faces Questions On Afghanistan Troop Drawdown; Gisele Bundchen Addresses End Of Marriage To Tom Brady. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired March 23, 2023 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[15:31:50]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: There's some really strong video out of Philadelphia that police want you to watch because they're searching for four gunmen who opened fire on a group of teenagers Monday afternoon. You see, the shooters fired off more than 60 rounds using rifles and semiautomatic pistols.
Police say that a 13 year old and a 16 year old are now hospitalized in critical and extremely critical conditions. There was a third teen that was shot who is considered stable.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: This morning, the Denver area dentist accused of putting poison in his wife's protein shakes was formally charged with first degree murder. James Craig was arrested Sunday. That was the day after his wife Angela died.
SANCHEZ: Prior to her death, Angela was hospitalized at least three times with mysterious symptoms. According to the arrest affidavit, James ordered arsenic and cyanide while searching the Internet for undetectable poisons.
CNN's Jean Casarez is following this for us. Jean, in this affidavit, some of his search history, quote, how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human? Wow.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, along with some YouTube videos of how to make poison. Now, today, he has been formally charged with first degree murder. It is the highest murder charge in Colorado. It is life in prison if convicted.
And according to the legal documents, we see a timeline here. Let's show everybody. First of all, on March 6th, that is when authorities say that there are records that he received his first order of arsenic that he had ordered.
Now, I want to tell you, the legal documents also say that during this whole time period, he is communicating on the Internet with a romantic interest, who he flew in, according to the documents, while his wife was in the hospital. All right?
Now, on March 6th, his wife was admitted to the hospital. She didn't feel well. She had a lot of symptoms. He then orders another drug at that time, Oleandrin. The delivery was intercepted, though. However, he never got it. But then on March 9th to 14th, when she was readmitted into the hospital, and then she died on the 15th, he orders potassium cyanide.
Now, when he orders that, they ask him on the form, why are you ordering it? And he said that he was a surgeon and he had to order it for cranial reconstruction. So I want to show you now. On the 6th, which was the day that she originally started feeling bad, here's a text that is part of the legal documents.
She says, quote, "I feel drugged." And his response is, "Given your history, I know that must be triggering. Just for the record, I didn't drug you. I am super worried, though. You really looked pale before I left, like, in your lips, even."
And she had been visiting her sister, and her sister told law enforcement that she had just been informed by Angela that five to six years ago, James did drug her, but he drugged her because he said he was going to commit suicide and didn't want her to stop him.
[15:35:06]
DEAN: Wow. Jean, that is a lot there to take in. My goodness. All right, thank you so much for that reporting. Jean Casarez in New York.
SANCHEZ: Also in Colorado, police confirmed that the teen suspect who shot two faculty members yesterday at a Denver high school has been found dead.
DEAN: Authorities say 17 year old Austin Lyle was being searched for weapons when he allegedly pulled out a gun and started shooting. CNN's Whitney Wild has been following all the developments. And Whitney, we know there was a safety plan in place for this particular student. What else are you learning about the suspect?
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're learning is pretty limited at this point because he's a juvenile. Up until yesterday afternoon, officials were reluctant to release any details about the suspect because he's a juvenile.
But then later they decided that he presented such a severe risk to the community that they were willing to start putting out his name at his age. What we know again is that he's 17 year old Austin Lyle. He was to undergo a safety check every day that he went into that school. That safety check involved a pat down every day.
According to officials, he had never produced a weapon until yesterday. They were reluctant to give details about why this particular student had a safety plan in place, but they said in general, it is based on past educational as well as behavioral experiences with that particular student. So much more to learn on that.
As we move forward, the big question is, of course, how are the victims? And we are waiting for more details on their conditions, but what we can tell you are their names. That is Eric Sinclair and Jerald Mason, two members of the administrative staff there, both operating in the dean's office.
And so, as we wait, there are so many more questions than answers at this point. Namely, what are Denver Public Schools going to do moving forward to ensure the safety of students as well as faculty? There are several events today. There's a -- we are awaiting a press conference from Denver Public Schools to answer more of those questions.
But what I can tell you is at this point, the superintendent for Denver Public Schools says that they are going to put two armed police officers at that high school, at East High School in Denver for the remainder of the year. For now, classes are canceled. It's spring break next week, but beginning in early April, there will be two armed police officers at that school.
In addition, there will be an armed police officer at all of the comprehensive high schools throughout Denver. However, this new policy flies in the face of a policy that was put in place in 2020 which removed police officers from Denver public schools.
The superintendent sending a letter out to parents last night saying he is willing to accept the consequences of his actions, but he says he simply cannot sit by now. And he believes it is in the public's interest, in the safety of students and faculty's interest to put these armed police officers in place, even if it goes against that past resolution. Back to you.
SANCHEZ: Yes, really stunning that the Mayor of Denver, Michael Hancock, also was admitting that a mistake was made removing school resource officers from those schools.
Whitney Wild, thanks so much for the report.
DEAN: Still ahead this afternoon, an off duty pilot jumps into action on a Southwest flight. You'll hear that story and the cockpit audio next.
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[15:43:00]
DEAN: Well, talk about right place at the right time. Yesterday, on a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Ohio, an off duty pilot jumped into action after the plane's captain became ill. While the Southwest co-pilot took control of the plane, the off duty pilot helped with radio communications. Listen to this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we're going to get airstairs out here. The captain became incapacitated while enroute. He's in the back of the aircraft right now with a flight attendant, but we need to get him on an ambulance immediately.
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DEAN: The FAA says the Southwest flight returned to Las Vegas and landed without incident. The airline has not released information on the pilot's condition or the nature of the medical issue.
SANCHEZ: All that rain and flooding and atmospheric rivers in California this year is paying off when it comes to the drought. According to the latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor, large parts of the state are now considered drought free. This marks the fourth straight week of improved conditions for folks there.
Keep in mind, just one month ago, more than 33 million Californians were in drought inflicted areas. But as of today, that number now stands at 4.6 million.
DEAN: President Biden is set to make his first trip to Canada as Commander in Chief today, where he will sit down with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before delivering a speech to the Canadian parliament Friday. The White House saying this visit will focus on a broad range of shared security challenges, including immigration, trade, and the war in Ukraine.
SANCHEZ: Circling back to where we were at the top of the hour, there was a fiery hearing on Capitol Hill today. The CEO of TikTok tried to defend his company against mounting security scrutiny. Some lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have even called for a nationwide ban of the popular app.
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REP. CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R), CHAIR, ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE: We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values, values for freedom, human rights, and innovation.
REP. FRANK PALLONE (D), NEW JERSEY: I still believe that the Beijing Communist government will still control and have the ability to influence what you do.
[15:45:01]
You see, my problem here is you're trying to give the impression that you're going to move away from Beijing and the Communist Party. You're trying to give the impression that you're a good actor. But the commitments that we would seek to achieve those goals are not being made today.
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DEAN: And with us now is CNN Chief Washington Correspondent and Anchor of The Lead and State of the Union, Jake Tapper. He's a busy man. Jake, Republican Congressman Gary Palmer from Alabama asked TikTok CEO about an interview you actually did on The Lead.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: Yes, that's right. We interviewed TikTok's head of public policy, Michael Beckerman back in December, and I asked if he would condemn the crimes being committed against the Muslim minority population, the Uighurs in China by the Chinese government. And I mean, these are facts. The U.S. State Department has called this a cultural genocide and human rights groups have been talking about this for years and years.
We've run all sorts of stories on The Lead and elsewhere on CNN. Firsthand accounts of the torture and worse. And Mr. Beckerman refused to condemn it and it was pretty remarkable. I'm glad to see that some of our friends on Capitol Hill were watching.
SANCHEZ: And Jake, we want to get your thoughts on this other key hearing on the Hill today. Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifying before the House Foreign Relations Committee. The chairman of that committee, Mike McCaul, he's been pushing to subpoena the State Department for these diplomatic communications related to the Afghanistan withdrawal.
TAPPER: Yes, and we're going to have the chairman, Mike McCaul, on The Lead later today to talk about his push to try to get more information about that chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. McCaul is going to bring with him Marine Sergeant Tyler Andrew Vargas, who you might remember testified a few weeks ago.
He is a double amputee because of the attack by a suicide bomber on U.S. Service members at the Abbey Gate at the Hamid Karazai International Airport in Afghanistan in August 2021. A horrific time when we'll talk to both the Marine and Chairman McCaul about their attempts to get and seek accountability when it comes to that disastrous pullout.
DEAN: Yes. Looking forward to that very important conversation. Jake Tapper, thanks so much. We'll see you in just a few minutes. The Lead airs right here at 04:00 p.m.
SANCHEZ: Still ahead, Gisele Bundchen opening up about why her marriage to NFL legend Tom Brady ended. We'll hear her side of the story when we come back.
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[15:52:10]
SANCHEZ: If you are one of the many who is dying to know why supermodel Gisele Bundchen and former NFL superstar quarterback Tom Brady split, listen up.
DEAN: Bundchen giving her side of the story to Vanity Fair. And if you think she left Brady over football, think again. CNN's Chloe Melas joining us now. Chloe, what you learned from all this? Any surprising bombshells?
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Well, look, Gisele had said to Elle magazine last year that she wanted to get back in the spotlight, get back to modeling, and that she had really put her life on hold while she supported her ex's Tom Brady's football career. And now she -- you know, there's been so much wide speculation that the two divorced and announced their divorce in the fall because after he unretired, it's kind of like when we saw their marriage really unravel. So many have said it's because he went back to football and that, you know, if you want to make it so black and white that he chose football over her, now she's saying, not so fast.
I'll read you a quote that Gisele says in the interview. She says, "Listen, I have always cheered for him and I would continue forever. If there's one person I want to be the happiest in the world, it's him, believe me. I want him to achieve and to conquer all of his dreams to come true. And that's what I really want from the bottom of my heart."
And she said it's just crazy that people think that she divorced him over football. I mean, look, they've been together since their 20s. They have children together. Tom's had married before. It's complicated. We all know that marriage and relationships are complicated.
But she's getting out there in a very public way, talking about this next chapter of her life post-divorce. And she's on the cover of this magazine talking about her new life in Costa Rica, where she spends the majority of her time now.
SANCHEZ: You don't usually hear exes talking in such glowing terms, right? That was a really special remark from her. Chloe, we also heard from Tom on this, what did he say?
MELAS: So Tom opened up after the announcement of their divorce on his podcast, and he said that he loves his family and that it was amicable. Now, as you are noting, Boris, you know, who knows what's really going on, truly behind the scenes of this very complicated relationship and divorce that played out in a very public and sort of bombshell way.
But they have spoke very supportively of each other. They've been co- parenting their two children together, and he just said that he wanted to focus on football. Now, the irony of it all is that not too long after that and after the divorce, he ends up retiring for good. There were some on social media saying that perhaps they would then get back together, but it doesn't look like any signs of a reconciliation.
But you know what? Look, marriages, they can sometimes run their course, and at the end of the day, there are two kids, and it's really important that they can co-parent. So I think as somebody who covers Hollywood, it's really refreshing to see them not blast each other negatively in public. So I actually commend them both.
[15:55:06]
And it'll be interesting to see what Gisele does next, because it sounds like she's been waiting to get back into the spotlight for quite a while.
DEAN: Right. And here she is on the cover of Vanity Fair. That's like an announcement -- a very large announcement of, I'm back. But, yes, it is. And look --
MELAS: Yes.
DEAN: -- it must be hard to have everyone prying into what is clearly a very personal situation. All right, Chloe, thank you so much for running through that with us. We appreciate it.
MELAS: Thank you. Of course.
DEAN: And thank you all for joining us today. I'm Jessica Dean.
SANCHEZ: And great to be with you as always, Jessica. I'm Boris Sanchez. THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts in just a few minutes. Stick around.
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