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CNN This Morning

Texas Authorities Arrest Migrants; Willis Pushes Back on Relationship Claims; L.A. Innocence Project Takes up Infamous Murder Case; NFL Divisional Round This Weekend. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 19, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:28]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning, new video shows Mexican authorities pulling migrants out of the Rio Grande to safety on Thursday. This happened near the Texas border in Eagle Pass.

Meantime, Texas officials have begun arresting migrants for the first time in the Shelby Park section of Eagle Pass after the state blocked federal border agents from access to the public park (INAUDIBLE) week.

CNN's Rosa Flores has been following all of this, joins us live now from Eagle Pass.

Rosa, you've gotten access inside the zone that Texas is controlling. What are you seeing?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me show you how Texas is doubling down because they have added multiple layers of razor wire. And you can see here that migrants use clothes and other items to try to protect themselves as they cross in.

And as you mentioned, overnight we obtained videos and pictures from Mexican authorities showing that despite all this migrants are still trying to cross. Mexican authorities rescuing several of them.

But I want to show you, because the international boundary between the U.S. and Mexico is the middle of this river. And once migrants cross the middle of the river, they are on U.S. territory and under U.S. law and policy. They should be processed under federal immigration laws.

But, Phil, that is not happening right now because this area has been taken over by the state of Texas. So, instead of being processed under federal immigration law, they are being arrested and charged with criminal trespassing. That is a state charge.

Phil.

MATTINGLY: Rosa, there's also another meeting between U.S. federal officials and their Mexican counterparts that's coming up. What are the expectations? Do they feel like there's anything they can do in the near term to try and stem some of the tide here? FLORES: Well, what we know is that this is a working group. So, this

is an extension of the talks that happened in mid-December in Mexico City between both countries. Now, look, the number of migrant apprehensions have plummeted since mid-December when migrants were -- excuse me, border patrol agents were apprehending about 10,000 migrants per day. Right now that number has dropped to about 4,000 migrants per day. And DHS attributes that drop to actions by Mexico, up to law enforcement and also deportation. And so these talks are a continuation of the talks in mid-December. They are going to continue working together and maintaining that relationship.

As for what we can expect out of these talks, we're not expecting any big announcement. But yet again, this maintains the relationship between these two countries. And, Phil, you know as much as I do, what Mexico does or doesn't do when it comes to immigration impacts the number of migrants that end up on the U.S. southern border.

Phil.

MATTINGLY: An absolutely critical bilateral relationship.

Rosa Flores, thank you so much.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead for us, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is fighting back against claims that she had a relationship with a prosecutor who she hired for Donald Trump's Georgia election subversion case, and that that is inappropriate or unethical. How she is defending herself and how the accusations could impact the case.

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[08:37:45]

HARLOW: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis fighting back against allegations that she benefitted from a relationship with her lead prosecutor in the Trump Georgia probe, Nathan Wade, a man who she hired. Now, Willis was subpoenaed to appear in court next week as part of Wade's divorce case. But in a new filing, Fani Willis' attorney claims that Wade's estranged wife, quote, "conspired with interested parties in the criminal election interference case to use the civil discovery process to annoy, embarrass, and oppress Willis." Willis' attorney did not directly acknowledge the allegation but said, quote, "because the parties agree their marriage is irretrievably broken, there is no information that Willis could provide that would be relevant."

These allegations against Willis and Wade came in a court filing earlier this month by someone named Mike Roman. He is a former Trump 2020 campaign official who was indicted over his role in the fake electors plot. Roman alleges that Wade is having an affair with Willis and used money he billed the D.A.'s office for his work on the case to take her on fancy vacations. It's complicated, but could be crucial. Roman's attorney has not yet provided direct evidence of any affair. The judge overseeing the Trump case did, though, set a hearing on all of this to consider the motion that Willis has put forward to quash the subpoena.

Here to discuss all of this, legal analyst, former U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, Michael Moore.

It is super complicated, but I just wonder, Michael --

MICHAEL MOORE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It is complicated.

HARLOW: I wonder the big picture here. Is the entire Georgia RICO case against Donald Trump now in peril?

MOORE: Well, I'm glad to be with you.

It's not in peril. And this is not something that I think on its own will be detrimental or completely destructive of the case. I think what has happened is you now have a real optics problem for the district attorney herself, which is never good for a prosecutor as she may be putting, you know, credible questions as play. And, frankly, some of the issues may come up later if there are questions about the public funds that she used to pay Mr. Wade, and the purpose of that, whether or not they were legitimately earned and that type of thing.

I think it's more likely that the judge will make short work of this at a hearing. He'll ask the filing attorney, the defense attorney, to put up what evidence they have of this, which I think will include some information from a sealed record in the divorce proceeding of Mr. Wade and his estranged wife.

[08:40:01]

And will probably, you know, ask the district attorney to state in her place if the allegations or any of the allegations are true.

The issue of her personal life and her - you know, who she chooses to see or date, you know, frankly, I don't think that's much moment at this time. The question is now whether or not she hired somebody who was not experienced. Does he, in fact, have a felony prosecution background to be handling this type and this magnitude of a case, and whether or not the monies paid, the public monies paid, were appropriately paid.

HARLOW: Right. And we're talking about north of $650,000 paid to him so far in this case. That's taxpayer money.

Some of the great local reporting done there by "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution" talks about what she could face, though. I mean this is the DA in charge of this case. And their reporting is that if Trump's, you know -- not Trump's, but this fellow defendant of Trump's attorneys here prevail in all of this, Willis could be charged with honest services fraud and potentially prosecuted, ironically, under a federal racketeering statute. Is that possible?

MOORE: You -- I'm not going to say that things aren't possible. I think that's far down the road. And we don't know enough about the facts yet. What we - what we do know is that she has paid Mr. Wade approximately or almost ten times as much as she has paid another one of the special assistant who's a long time lawyer and RICO expert here in the state. She's -- her other special assistant, she's paid Mr. Wade about five or six times as much as she's paid this other special assistant. So, those disparities are going to have to be explained.

I haven't seen the record, but the reporting is that there's one entry even where he's paid for a 24-hour period at a significant hourly rate. And so those are questions she's going to have to ask.

HARLOW: OK.

MOORE: No judge wants the courtroom to become a circus. And the problem with these kinds of allegations is that it -- it has a tendency to make a case a circus as opposed to the facts of the case. That's exactly one of the reasons I've suggested that she should just recuse herself, answer the questions directly, recuse herself, and let somebody else come in and take over the prosecution of the case.

HARLOW: I do want people to hear her defense. She spoke about this publicly Sunday.

Here it is.

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FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: All three of these special counselors are superstars. But I'm just asking God, is it that some will never see a black man as qualified no matter his achievements? What more can one achieve? The other two have never been judges, but no one questions their credentials.

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HARLOW: She is trying to have a subpoena quashed so she won't have to answer questions in this civil divorce proceeding that could tie to this bigger case. Do you think she succeeds in that motion to quash the subpoena?

MOORE: I don't think she does. I mean I think, frankly, she's got herself right in the middle of that case. I think there are questions any time you have a divorce case about division of property and marital assets and all those things, the alimony, all that gets considered by a court no matter what something might -- someone might file in their initial papers. But to see in a case like this where the -- she makes the allegations that he's being questioned because he may be an African American male, I think it misses the mark. I don't think you can use race as a sword to attack somebody clearly, but nor do I think that you can use it as a shield to hide behind to say that simply because the -- you know, you may be African American, that your activities are beyond any inquiry, especially when these allegations are made. And I think that's the line she's crossed.

It strikes me that these are very similar tactics to what we even see with Trump, and that is that, you know, instead of facing the allegations head on and simply giving an answer of yes or no, this is true or no it's not true or yes I did this and it was a mistake and I'm sorry and, you know, what can I do to make it right, instead we seen now it's an attack on the people who are questioning or raising the issue for further investigation. And I think that sounds a lot to me like maybe a concession that some of the allegations in the motion must be true.

HARLOW: We'll know pretty soon given there's going to be a hearing on this.

Michael Moore, thank you.

MATTINGLY: The L.A. Innocence Project is now taking up the Scott Peterson case two decades after he was convicted of killing his wife and unborn son. The new evidence they say they have uncovered. That's next.

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MATTINGLY: There are new developments this morning in one of the most infamous murder cases of the 2000s. The Los Angeles Innocence Project now representing Scott Peterson. That's two decades after he was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife. Laci Peterson was 27-years- old and eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002. Her body was found in the San Francisco Bay in April of 2003. Peterson was convicted in 2004 of murdering his wife and their unborn son. He was sentenced to death in 2005. That was overturned in 2020 and a court ordered his conviction re-examined. But in 2021 he was resentenced to life in prison without parole.

Now, however, the L.A. Innocence Project wants to exonerate Peterson by contending the key evidence was withheld from his first trial. Peterson has maintained his innocence throughout his sentence and claims he received an unfair trial based on possible juror misconduct.

CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now.

Jean, you were in the courthouse back in 2004 when he was sentenced to death. For those who don't remember it, this case was enormous.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it was huge. First of all, hundreds of people outside that courthouse waiting for that verdict.

[08:50:01]

When it came out, there were cheers as far as the eye could see.

But the case and the facts are fairly simple. It was December 24th and it was 2002. Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant. She was about to give birth right after the new year of their son Conner. Already had a name. And she went missing. Scott Peterson said that he left the house around 9:30. She was going to walk the dog. Now, no one ever saw her walk the dog. But he then decided to go fishing. He got his boat, went out - fishing boat. Went out into the bay. Came back -- wasn't out there too long. Came back home and discovered that she was gone.

Well, there was a search. And several months later, her body, along -- her remains, I should say, along with her unborn son, that's terminology from the California courts, Conner, washed up very close together, two miles away from where Scott Peterson went fishing.

One more thing I've got to tell you. He started dating a woman by the name of Amber Frey. She was represented by Gloria Allred. Amber Frey started dating Scott Peterson in November, one months before Scott - before Laci went missing. Scott Peterson told her that his wife was dead, and he was single. She wired up with law enforcement. She immediately went there. Gloria Allred by her side. And those tapes were played at trial.

But let's look. The Innocence Project wants things tested for DNA. Newly discovered evidence they didn't know about. And also retesting. First of all, a length of duct tape recovered from Laci Peterson's pants when those remains washed up shore. A 50-inch-long tape and twine tied in a bow around the neck of Conner, which is very curious because Conner -- she was eight months pregnant at that time. Target bag from the area where Laci's remains were found. Duct tape from the Target bag. A black tarp that was found close to the remains. Items from a van that was burned around the time she disappeared.

Now, Gloria Allred, who represented the star witness of this trial, gave a statement to CNN, and she said, "I think that Scott Peterson has a right to exhaust every available avenue to attempt to prove his actual innocence. However, the Los Angeles Innocence Project's decision to get involved does not in any way alter the 20-year judicial history of this case where he was convicted of first-degree murder of his wife, Laci Peterson, and second-degree murder of his unborn child."

And now it's up to the appellate court if they will agree to test these items for DNA, and many more than what I listed.

MATTINGLY: Stunning - stunning development. Please keep us posted.

CASAREZ: I will.

MATTINGLY: Jean, thank you.

Well, it's been 32 years since the Detroit Lions fans shed any tears of happiness. Tears like that. Now, one fan's cry, it's going viral, and he's getting a special gift on this NFL playoff weekend.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And to a very important place for him. And, yes, you see a few tears in there for those folks.

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HARLOW: It is a big weekend for fans of the Detroit Lions after they won their first playoff game in 32 years. They are playing again this Sunday. And this fan might be the most excited. That is Aaron Wikaryasz shedding tears in the crowd after last week's win. The viral video - well, the video went viral immediately, I should say, emblematic of the long-suffering fan base Aaron and his dad, Joe, used to go Lions' games all the time. Joe was even an ironworker who helped build the Lions' home, Ford Field, of course. In 2004, Joe died in a car crash, and Aaron says his dad was there on Sunday night in spirit with him.

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AARON WIKARYASZ, DETROIT LIONS FAN: It was a fill circle moment for me. I don't know my dad as an adult, as a man. So, it's hard to connect in moments as of late. So being there, I can - I can be 14 again.

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HARLOW: Wow. The best part of this story, he'll be back at Ford Field on Sunday. After hearing about Aaron's story, a Michigan attorney gifted him tickets to this weekend's playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Go Lions.

MATTINGLY: Well, we are just two rounds away from finding out which two teams - could be the Lions -- will be duking it out in Super Bowl LVII in Las Vegas. My San Francisco 49ers will be playing the Green Bay Packers tomorrow night. Harry Enten's Buffalo Bills have a big matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. It looks like Harry's outside. He's not. I don't know why he's wearing earmuff things.

Harry, the matchup itself, as you kind of look to the playoffs, can I just start with, how much does America love football?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: We love football. I obviously am amongst those folks who love football.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

ENTEN: I mean take a look here. TV viewers this past Monday night, the Eagles/Buccaneers went up against the Emmy Awards. Football crushed the Emmys. Nearly 29 million people tuned into the football matchup. Just 4.3 million tuned in to the Emmys.

But this is not a big surprise that the gridiron beat Hollywood because, take a look here, these are 2023's top television programs. Top 20, all of the NFL. Top 50, 49 are the NFL. And you look at the top 100, 93 are the NFL. So, a lot more folks are like me, wearing their nice little head scarves to work today, than you in a suit.

MATTINGLY: Head scarf. That's what we're calling that. OK.

Which fans are the most loyal?

ENTEN: Which fans are the most loyal? Well, how about this? Teams most watched in their local markets, the Buffalo Bills are number one. Number two, the team they're taking on this weekend, the Kansas City Chiefs.

[09:00:00]

Number three, the Green Bay Packers. More loyal than your 49er fans.

MATTINGLY: OK. Do you have predictions for this weekend?

ENTEN: I do have predictions for this weekend.

MATTINGLY: Yes. Yes.

ENTEN: Look, here's some nonbiased odds. Of course, I believe the Bills will crush the Chiefs, or at least I hope so, but they are favored by two and a half points. But, let's go Buffalo. Come on. You got to be rooting for them, right?

MATTINGLY: If you cared you'd be jumping through a table right now, like a real Buffalo Bills fan. One that is flaming. And you're not doing that. The head scarf doesn't do it for me. Do you actually care, Harry?

ENTEN: I might do it this weekend.

MATTINGLY: I look forward to it.

Harry Enten, as always, my friend, a pleasure.

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