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CNN This Morning

Gilgo Beach Murder Investigation; Christopher Miller is Interviewed about the War in Ukraine; Student Loan Payments Resume in Fall; "Hard Knocks" will Feature the New York Jets. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 18, 2023 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:31:16]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning we're learning more about the suspected serial killer in the Gilgo Beach murders. A source familiar with the case tells CNN Rex Heuermann asked law enforcement just one question as they processed him in jail, is it in the news? Now, investigators in New York say they're still pouring over what they describe as a flood of evidence, including a vault in his basement holding hundreds of guns.

CNN's Jean Casarez is live in New York this morning.

And, Jean, what's been striking is, this is still very much an ongoing investigation. What sense do we have of the type of new evidence they've been gathering from Heuermann's house?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This is continuing. And they say it will continue for a long time.

We do want to tell everyone, we have learned that Heuermann is now on suicide watch. And the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department is telling us that initially he was not, but the medical staff determined through their assessment of him that he should be put on that suicide watch. And as that continues at the sheriff's department and in the jail, the prosecution is going forward with their evidence on murder charges for three victims. But the police department, law enforcement, in all aspects, continuing that police investigation.

Now, what we're learning, they have executed and continue to execute many search warrants for the residents, the office, also a storage unit. But at the residence, we are learning, a source is telling CNN, that they are looking for anything out of place. Anything that could be potential evidence related to the charges. And we are told that they found a doll at the residence. Not in the children's rooms, but in another location in the house, and that was a red flag to them. We believe they took that into evidence.

And also they were expecting to find some guns but they found 200 to 300 guns, according to a source telling CNN, at Heuermann's home. And what they found were pistols, revolvers and semiautomatic rifles. They found them in a walled off vault behind a locked metal door in the basement. And, obviously, they collected all of those guns. They knew 92 of them were registered with the state of New York, but not 200 to 300 of them.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: And Heuermann's wife and daughter, we haven't heard a ton about them, but what do we know about their reaction to his arrest and these charges?

CASAREZ: Well, this is what we need to remember. This is a married man. We know he was an architect. Big firm right on Fifth Avenue in midtown New York City, but he had a family at home that he was living with. And the Suffolk County deputy police commissioner spoke out on that.

Listen to what he said.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what I'm being told is, when we initially informed them about their husband, their father, they were shocked. They were disgusted. They were embarrassed. So, if you ask me, I don't believe that they knew about this double life that Mr. Heuermann was living.

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CASAREZ: We have seen many instances where someone who is charged as a serial killer has a family at home, that they knew nothing about it. But the police are saying, we have many more questions, many more interviews to do with family and friends.

And this investigation, they want to go from 2010, when those 11 set of remains between 2010, 2011 were found, everything he did, every moment of everyday until last Thursday when he was arrested because they're looking to see anything else that he may be ultimately believed to be charged with.

PHILLIP: So much more to learn here on this case.

Jean Casarez, thank you very much.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, happening overnight, the Ukrainian city of Odessa coming under drone and missile attack just a day after Ukraine hit and damaged Russia's Crimean bridge.

[06:35:03]

We're live on the ground.

Stay with us.

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PHILLIP: CNN cameras capturing explosions in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa overnight. The attack comes just a day after Ukraine hit and damaged Russia's Crimean bridge. A Ukrainian official says that naval drones carried out that strike. The violence playing out as Russia formally announced that it will no longer allow Ukraine to export grain by way of the Black Sea. The United Nations condemned that move, warning that this could cause food prices to rise and worsen global hunger.

Now, joining us now from Kyiv is a correspondent for the "Financial Times," Christopher Miller. He is the author of a new book, "The War Came to Us: Life and Death in Ukraine," which is out right now.

[06:40:08]

Chris, thank you for joining us.

You've spent so much time in Ukraine. You're there right now. I wonder, what is your view of this counteroffensive? How it is going and how that strike that we were just talking about on the Crimean bridge plays into it?

CHRISTOPHER MILLER, AUTHOR, "THE WAR CAME TO US: LIFE AND DEATH IN UKRAINE": Right. So, we've heard President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admit in recent days that the counteroffensive isn't going exactly according to plan. And Ukrainian soldiers on the front line, who I visited just last week, were telling me that they've been forced to even change tactics after their original plan A had faltered some. They're running into these extremely dense Russian defensive lines and fortifications that include anti-tank trenches and mine fields. And these mine fields are really slowing the Ukrainian advance, specifically in the south, where they're trying to cut through or break through, rather, this extremely dense Russian front line to get to this strategic city in Melitopol (ph) in hopes of cutting what is known as the land bridge that Russia uses to supply its forces in the southern part of Ukraine.

That strike on the Crimea bridge that we saw was part of Ukraine's strategy to cut off these logistics because the other way that the Russians are getting military material and personnel into southern Ukraine is over this bridge from Russia into occupied Crimea, and then up through mainland Ukraine to the battlefields there.

MATTINGLY: Chris, what was striking to me in reading your book, particularly as I followed you as a reporter, kind of a day by day, breaking news, great context, all that, but your book is really a step back, kind of part memoir, part giving people a history of how this kind of all came to be, a very visceral moment for you personally, including the day of the invasion.

I'm -- but it also acknowledges -- you met -- you knew Zelenskyy before he was president. You've kind of watched the evolution of him as both a president and I think as a leader in the country. At this moment in time, how has he changed during the course of you knowing him, of you interacting with him?

MILLER: Yes, I mean, I think that's one of the most remarkable storylines in this war is the transformation of Volodymyr Zelenskyy from a stand-up comic, and comedic actor, to president and now a war- time president. He was extremely popular when he came in as president. Ukrainians like change here. There's only one president in the history of modern Ukraine that's won a second election. You know, he was brought in to shake things up and was elected with more than 73 percent of the vote. But by the time of Russia's full-scale invasion of February of 2022, that popularity really had fallen quite a lot and he was struggling politically. And this war has really turned him into a hero, as not only a political leader, but as commander in chief. He's really earned the respect of Ukrainians, and I think also Ukraine's western allies.

PHILLIP: Yes, I mean, Zelenskyy really seems to be leaning into what could be his role as an almost historical figure in this broader struggle for, you know, the global order. And to that end, on this question of how this all ends, Crimea and what Russia did initially in its first invasion of Ukraine is part of this picture. Do you think that this war ends with a fully unified Ukraine, or will there have to be concessions?

MILLER: That is certainly what Ukraine is hoping for and what this counteroffensive is meant for is to recapture all of Russian-occupied territory and to bring all of Ukraine back into Kyiv's fold. But they are having those difficulties that I mentioned earlier. And certainly right now one of the big topics of discussions is negotiations and at what point Ukraine would be willing to sit down, if not with Russia directly, which I think is a difficult thing to imagine, then through mediators to discuss a solution to this.

But President Zelenskyy is going to have a very difficult time negotiating any lasting peace or anything resembling a ceasefire when a lot of the Ukrainian public, who have lost loved ones and family members, they have been displaced, their cities have been raised to the ground, they don't want peace negotiations with Russia, at least those that would involve Russia keeping some of the occupied territories in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, in Luhansk, Golblast (ph) and especially Crimea. All of those are Ukrainian territory, obviously. And the goal here is to get all of them back. And Ukrainians have said, and polls here show, that they are willing to -- even at the risk of escalation -- continue fighting until they're able to take back as much territory as they can, if not all of it.

[06:45:04]

PHILLIP: Yes, and it's the will of the people - of the Ukrainian people that's gotten this war to this point when many people thought it would just end in a couple of days or weeks even.

MATTINGLY: Including just about all the western leaders.

PHILLIP: Yes.

MATTINGLY: Christopher Miller, thanks so much for your time. The book is called "The War Came to Us: Life and Death in Ukraine." It is both very personal and very poignant, but also an extremely well written kind of recitation of the last 15, 20 years. It's just an excellent book.

PHILLIP: And a breakthrough in the battle against Alzheimer's disease. The new drug that could be approved by the FDA soon.

MATTINGLY: But first, from cutting spending to picking up second jobs, Americans are bracing for massive disruptions to their budgets when student loan payments come due this fall.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just decided to throw a big bolder right in the path that I was on.

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MATTINGLY: Welcome back.

In just two and a half months borrowers are set to start paying off their student loan debts again. That's after a three-plus years long pause during the pandemic and after the Supreme Court struck down President Biden's plan to cancel some student loan debt. Borrowers are losing hope for some financial help.

[06:50:01]

Some families say they're going to have to make major sacrifices to be able to start making those payments again.

CNN's Gabe Cohen is here.

And, Gabe, you spoke to some of those families. What are they thinking and feeling right now.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so payments start in October, but you can sense this panic is already starting to set in. Interest on those payments picks back up in September. So, more than 40 million Americans, they need to start making these payments or they're just going to see that debt grow.

And, remember, this is not the same economy that it was in 2020. Cost of living has skyrocketed. And for many borrowers, the threat of losing hundreds of dollars from their monthly budget is a serious cause for concern.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elijah.

COHEN (voice over): At the Johnson home in West Virginia, family time is rare these days. Zach is working overtime and weekends. And when he gets home, Melissa heads to her part-time night shift at a distribution center.

MELISSA JOHNSON (ph): Yes, it's kind of like hi and bye.

COHEN: Both picking up hours because their student loan payments are coming due. ZACH JOHNSON (ph): We'll manage. But we're going to have to tighten it

up again.

M. JOHNSON: Yes. I'm glad I got a job.

COHEN: The nationwide payment pause since 2020 has left an extra $700 in the Johnson's monthly budget.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome home!

COHEN: It helped them buy a home.

Z. JOHNSON: I never thought it would happen.

COHEN (on camera): Were you proud?

Z. JOHNSON: Oh, yes.

COHEN (voice over): But with $75,000 of student debt looming, they're only buying necessities, foregoing blinds and bed frames, working to pay off their loans in six years.

Z. JOHNSON: Just wish we could be home more, but you have to do what you have to do for your family.

COHEN: Student loan payments restart this October, and Americans are anxiously preparing. By one estimate, 44 million people will owe on average roughly $200 to $300 each month, at a time when most are still feeling squeezed by high inflation, up 18 percent since the 2020 pause.

TIM HUGHES, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: We're barely managing things as it is.

COHEN: Tim Hughes, an L.A. public schoolteacher, is working summer school to make extra money and cutting way back on spending.

COHEN (on camera): Do you regret taking out loans and following the path you did?

HUGHES: Yes. When I look at my students, I feel like I'm doing them wrong if I tell them to set their sights on college and -- if they're going to have to take on loans.

COHEN (voice over): The Biden administration announced a new income- driven plan to lower monthly payments after the Supreme Court struck down its loan forgiveness program. But many borrowers still don't know what they'll owe each month.

ERICA BROWN, MARYLAND RESIDENT: It's kind of like you've decided to hit me with a sledge hammer.

COHEN: Sisters Erica and Tiana (ph) rent a home in Maryland with their mother. Mom's a teacher. Tiana's a pastry chef. And Erica is a clerk for an embassy. BROWN: We lived. We survived. And now I have to look at our budget and our finances and say, can we continue to survive if she is to put out $430, if I have to put out $150, if my mother had to put out $500 a month?

COHEN: The student loan pause helped them dig out of debt and start saving for a home, but that dream is dwindling, staring down more than $200,000 of student loans.

BROWN: You just decided to throw a big bolder right in the path that I was on.

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COHEN: And so the Biden administration is planning an onramp period to help people avoid penalties in this first year. And, look, the president's save plan could drastically cut down monthly requirements for a lot of these borrowers.

But, look, guys, after the loan forgiveness debacle that we have seen in recent months, so many of the borrowers I spoke with told me they're just not confident what's going to survive legal challenges and what help they're going to get and, as of now, when they're going to get it.

PHILLIP: There have been so many ups and downs for folks on their student loans. We'll see what the future holds.

Gabe Cohen, thank you.

MATTINGLY: Thanks, buddy.

Well, happening today, the first hearing in former President Trump's classified documents case. What we could learn about the timeline for trial.

PHILLIP: And the New York Jets, including Aaron Rodgers, will be this year's subject on HBO's "Hard Knocks." But a key part of the training camp we won't see. That's ahead.

MATTINGLY: And before we go to break, a look at the U.S. women's national soccer team in Auckland, New Zealand, training for the FIFA World Cup. The tournament kicks off this Thursday. The U.S. team play its first match on Friday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern against Vietnam. I can't wait for that. I'm so excited.

We'll be right back.

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[06:59:07]

MATTINGLY: It's the most wonderful time of the year, Abby. Football is about to start. It's football. It's football. Football.

PHILLIP: Wait, I was going to say, you tell me because - MATTINGLY: NFL fans are about to get an inside look at one of the most intriguing story lines of the season. Aaron Rodgers' first training camp with the New York Jets.

PHILLIP: CNN sports anchor, and nine-year NFL veteran himself -

MATTINGLY: Did Coy play in the NFL?

PHILLIP: The one and only, Coy Wire, joins us right now.

MATTINGLY: NFL star (ph)?

PHILLIP: So, Coy, I know you're more excited than Phil Mattingly about this.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, only 51 days until the kickoff of the season, but who's counting. This series features the pad-popping, high-stress, high-stakes nature of training camp where players are fighting to make the team and we get the behind-the-scenes glimpse of the building of a team in America's most popular sport.

It will be the New York Jets whose players have plenty of personality, y'all. They have a part-time jeopardy game show host, an Iowaska (ph) psychedelic tea drinker, a darkness retreat enthusiast and that's all one person.

[07:00:01]

New QB, four-time league MVP, Aaron Rodgers. The Jets were on the show in 2010 and they ended up going 11-5, advancing to the AFC championship.