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Erin Burnett Outfront

Former VP Dick Cheney, A Staunch Republican: I Will Vote For Harris; Teen Shooting Suspect, Father Appear In Court On Murder Charges; China Silent On Former Aide To NY Govs Charged As Secret Agent. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired September 06, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:47]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news, former Vice President Dick Cheney says he's voting for Harris, sparing no words for Trump tonight as Trump's self-inflicted wounds have multiplied this hour.

And more breaking news. We hear from the students who stopped the alleged Georgia gunman from entering her classroom. This as the suspect and his father made their first appearances in court.

And the accusations tonight against a top New York governor's aide read like spy novel. Was she an agent of the Chinese government? Tonight, what the Chinese government does not want the world to know.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good Friday evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, another big Republican name backing Kamala Harris tonight. That's the former Vice President Dick Cheney, who says he will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

The statement was just released from Dick Cheney in which he writes: In our nation's 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence. He can never be trusted with power again. As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our constitution. And that is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Obviously, Dick Cheney, I mean, was someone who was reviled by the left, reviled. I mean, he served as George W. Bush's vice president, George H.W. Bush's defense secretary, Gerald Ford's chief of staff, ten years as a Republican congressman, instrumental to the Iraq war.

An even as Harris is hunkering down for debate prep in Pittsburgh tonight, she is on the airwaves, going up directly capitalizing on this moment, but going after Trump aggressively. So in an interview on Univision radio which we just 18 million people, she said this:

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, this, this person who has talked about how immigrants poison the blood of America, this person who seeks to divide our nation, belittling people, belittling members of the military for goodness sake.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: Harris going after him directly, not obliquely in any way. It is direct on the nose again and again.

As for Trump today, he chose another target to attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly, I know you're going to say it's a terrible thing to say, but it couldn't have happened. It didn't happen and she would not have been the chosen one. She would not have been the chosen one.

(END VIDOE CLIP)

BURNETT: At a time when he is trying desperately to win over women voters, Trump today, chose this time to insult a different person, Jessica Leeds. If you don't remember that name, she is one of the women who accused him of sexual missile conduct. So instead of focusing on Harris, he was talking about her in an insult -- insulting her looks, part of a 45-minute rant, outside of New York courthouse. It was out of a known Trump playbook.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Every one of these cases, it's political interference. It's a witch hunt, just like the fake Russia. It's a hoax. It's a scam. It's a political witch hunt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: But it is not just today's event where Trump went off message. Listen to Trump yesterday at an official event which was about the economy. Here, he was actually talking about addressing the high cost of childcare that was the question. Here's the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have to stay with childcare. I want to stay with childcare, but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I'm talking about, including growth, but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I -- that I just told you about. We're going to be taking in trillions of dollars. And as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it's relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we'll be taking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: He's trying to say it would be affordable. These public appearances are not getting Trump the headlines, that his

campaign necessarily wants. In August, as we mentioned, he raised $130 million, which it sounds like a lot. It is though less than he raised in July and Harris raised nearly three times that during the month. So that is the context.

According to her campaign, the vice president brought in 361 million in the same timeframe that Trump brought in 130.

[19:05:094]

And Harris's team is already putting that massive amount of money to work. They say they're planning 2,000 events across the country, their purchase right now in campaign ads already $370 million in committed money.

MJ Lee is OUTFRONT live outside the White House.

And, MJ, Trump off message today talking about Jessica Leeds. She wouldn't have had the chosen one the -- I guess if he were choosing who he was going to have a sexual relationship with I mean, this is where he was today. I know you have some new reporting though about what Harris has been doing with her time in addition to those interviews, a lot of debate prep. What are you learning specifically about what she's doing?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, as, you know, the Harris campaign could not have been clear that they were not fans of the muted mic rule, but we did see earlier this week they did begrudgingly accept the rule that the mics would be muted when a candidate is not speaking, but without once again complaining that they believe that this is going to be disadvantaged -- advantageous for the vice president.

What a source tells me is that her best moments are when she's drilling down on somebody. So we've lost that. It takes a big thing off the table people for us. So, now, as the vice president, as you said, is hunkering down in Pittsburgh for the next stretch of days to really focus on debate prep. I am told by this source that a big mission for that team is going to be figuring out how to remedy for the fact that her mic is going to be muted.

You know, when you talk to Harris allies, they will often point to moments in a hearing committees -- committee hearings, excuse me, when she was senator, when she would grill people, like Brett Kavanaugh, like Bill Barr, and really showing that prosecutorial side of her and this is exactly what they had hoped the vice president would be able to do on the debate stage with Donald Trump.

That is responding to him questioning him, even interrupting in real time and showing that side of her that she now they believe can't do as freely given that the mics are going to be muted.

The other piece of this, of course, is that they believe the -- with the mics now being off. That, that is not going to display sort of the more unhinged side of Donald Trump that they were hoping that they would be able to show the public next week. So, all of these things are things that they are trying to remedy for, again. Again, they've been very clear that this is not a rule that they are happy with.

But again, they felt like they had to accept it for this debate to continue.

BURNETT: All right. MJ, thank you very much.

All right. So let's have a conversation about where we are.

Aisha, let me start with you, Dick Cheney. So, you know, Liz Cheney came out and gave her endorsement. Now, her father, Dick Cheney, coming out and saying, you know, in our 248-year history of America, there's never been an individual who's a greater threat to our republic Donald Trump.

I would bet that had I said to you even a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago that you'd be sitting here being like, thank God, I loved Dick Cheney, you told me I was on la, la, land, okay, but let me just ask you, what are you excited about this endorsement? Does this help?

AISHA MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, you get knocked me over with a feather, honestly. I don't think that anyone would thought we would have seen the day that Dick Cheney of all people would come out so viciously against his own party.

So, let's just talk about that. This is as much of an indictment on the current state of Donald Trump's party right now as anything. But then to also abandoned the party and then go affirmatively for the Democrats. It really just tells you the dire straits that they are in the danger that Donald Trump presents if in fact, we were to let him enter the White House again.

BURNETT: So, Scott, obviously, I know you're close with the Cheneys. You've known them for a long time, your friends with Liz Cheney.

You shared these photos of the two of you together with us. There's you and Liz Cheney. I know you were closed in your time in Congress. Dick Cheney did an event for you as well as someone in the military. I know that, you know, women in many capacities.

So what do you think of this? When you hear him say this is the individual that's never been -- there's never been an individual until Donald Trump that's a greater threat to our republic. He can ever be trusted with power again and I'm casting my vote for vice President Kamala Harris. Does it give you any pause?

SCOTT TAYLOR (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: No, listen, let me first -- let me first say, I have respect for the former vice president and obviously Liz, we work closely when we were in Congress both of them, and they're entitled to their opinions and who they want to support and not support, and I just -- I've I disagree with them.

I deeply disagree with what they're doing. I don't think it moves the needle at all to be honest with you. And it's, you know, Kamala Harris, vice -- the vice president, her policies and positions are in direct confrontation of the values that the former vice president and Liz have, 100 percent.

And my personal opinion is their positions and their policies, hers, Kamala's, the vice president, are much more dangerous for the future of this nation than President Trump, of course.

BURNETT: So, Toluse, you know, when we look at how this is all playing out, obviously, the Cheneys don't have any effect on the fundraising numbers that we have thus far. That's for sure.

But the numbers for August that came out of the Harris campaign, right? Last night, we had heard it would be more than doubled Trump's August haul.

[19:10:03]

We'd seen some numbers out there that on other outlets that showed around 300 million. But the actual number came out way more than that 361 million, nearly triple, so nearly triple the number of amount of money raised in one month. She also has $100 million more than Trump in cash.

So, you know, when you look at it that way, too, it's like, okay, look, I mean, if it comes down to money, we're done here. Is it that simple?

TAYLOR: Is that for me?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's never that simple in politics. Money helps, money will allow Kamala Harris and her campaign to try to reach more voters, including some of those Republicans like Dick Cheney, people who aren't used to getting mailers and ads from Democrats, aren't used to hearing an appeal directly from Democrats in their communities. This money will allow Kamala Harris, who has a much bigger and larger, more advanced operation in terms of turning out the vote, than Donald Trump does, it will allow them to continue to power that operation in which is huge, it's a huge machine.

And whether or not that machine is able to overcome the momentum that Donald Trump has not because he has a lot of offices are a lot of staff in these states because people genuinely decide that they want to vote for him. People think that he is their standard bearer. He is the person that represents them. They came out in large numbers in 2020 and in 2016, whether or not, you know, the machinery and the money behind Kamala Harris can overcome some of the momentum that Donald Trump has had over the course of his career. That is a question that remains to be seen, but the money definitely helps and it shows that Kamala Harris has momentum behind her as well.

BURNETT: Right, and to have all that money coming in at the very end, I mean, you know, it matters and when we all know that. You're looking at these campaigns where it used to be oh, my gosh, combined spending 1 billion was a big deal. I mean, now that doesn't seem that way. I mean, that's another conversation I shine found them all to be rather awful. But today Trump and I played him talking there today. He was talking

about Jessica Leeds. He was in court to try to appeal his conviction in the E. Jean Carroll case. That's the defamation case.

He did not attend any of that trial when it was actually happening, but he did appear in court today.

All right. Why do you think he did that? Is that -- is that now campaign strategy?

MILLS: Listen, the reason that we see so many Republicans surprisingly come out in support of Kamala Harris is exactly because of what we saw on display today with Donald Trump. The consequences of him winning are so dire it is obvious that he is frivolous, that he is not paying attention to what is best for America.

He literally took 45 minutes to grandstand about why he didn't think this other woman was attractive enough for him to, you know, fondle -- right, would it be the chosen one. But we know that means. I wouldn't actually grab her by the, you know, you know what. That's what he's talking about today.

I think the reason that he did it is because he is desperate and he's trying to find any kind of hook, any kind of red meat for his base. He's literally throwing everything at the wall. So every time he gets up there and says, look, the Democrats are persecuting me in the court. It helps him with his fundraising and helps him with his base. And so, he's trying to use every moment that he possibly can to figure out how to stay in the press and how to get in front of his people.

BURNETT: Scott, how though does stuff like that help him do what he has to do to win, which is do way more than his base?

TAYLOR: Well, I think it's unprecedented in our nation's history, the lawfare at every level Democrat prosecutors have gone after this man. I under -- I mean, he has to be very frustrated. Of course, I -- listen, they changed the law temporarily, specifically to do this, it was funded by a megadonor -- megadonor Reid Hoffman. I mean, this is incredible.

I mean, I understand. I share a frustration. I would like to just touch really quickly on one of the campaign cash that you spoke about, you did, Erin, you did a fantastic job on the show pointing out that changing positions on the border and then using the border wall and are campaign ads now. She has a really tough time. She's going to have to spend a ton of money having a completely different story about a completely different person, despite all those videos of her crazy political positions that are out there.

BURNETT: All right. I want to talk about political positions. The one -- that's got a lot of attention among people, Toluse, on the right since the beginning, all right, this one sort of got some -- I don't know there was a vibe around it. I don't know why because its a small thing, but it's plastic straws may because everybody use draws.

But, you know, until she now says that she is against banning plastic straws. Harris campaign official tells "Axios", quote, she does not support banning plastic its extra. So some people watching my God, this is not a big thing. Why are you guys talking about it? Because it has been a thing that right-wing media has been focused on quite significantly throughout this campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE DOOCY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You know, a major liability for Kamala Harris, she wants to ban plastic straws.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: She wants to ban plastic straws. I love my plastic straws. I hate those paper straws.

MITCH ROSCHELLE, FOX BUSINESS NEWS ANCHOR: Don't forget, Kamala Harris is against plastic straws. So you don't have to look beyond that as an economic policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: And ironically, I have to say, this actually happened in 2019 when she said he was going to ban plastic straws.

[19:15:00]

I happen to remember the conversation. I was a part of it.

Here's when the original promise was made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Plastic draws are a big thing right now.

HARRIS: Yeah.

BURNETT: Do you ban plastic straws?

HARRIS: I think we should, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Aisha is laughing here, Toluse. But this was a thing, right? It started then. She said she was going to ban them. Now she says she isn't going to ban them.

And this is just a thing that had gotten out there in the ether, and now a lot of pickup as we just showed in certain corners of the media world.

So does -- does this flip flopping like this, you know, do anything for her? Does anybody care?

OLORUNNIPA: I don't think many voters are going to be changed based on her position on plastic straws. I think the environmental voters are going to vote for her already because of her record.

But I do think this question of why she's changed so many positions whether it's on the environment, whether it's on Medicare for all, whether it's on whether she wants to ban mandatory buyback -- implement mandatory buybacks for guns, specific kinds of guns, those are the types of things that she's going to have to address during the debate.

And I think whether she's able to do that will determine whether or not he has a successful debate.

MILLS: Erin, can I just say --

BURNETT: Yeah?

MILLS: -- Kamala Harris said on this network, her values have never changed. She is absolutely the only candidate that believes in climate change, believes that it is a very critical and urgent threat, and is doing all that you can to address it.

BURNETT: Well, I'm going to say on the plastic straw thing, when I first asked the question, plastic straws, it was either that or paper and I -- all right to be, you know, take umbrage at that. Now, we all know there's that other option, those straws came and tell they're not plastic. There are great technology has gotten involved, maybe a little bit of context in the flip-flop might help here.

Thanks to all. I appreciate it.

And we are just days away from the debate. You can watch the ABC News presidential debates simulcast here on CNN on Tuesday at 9:00 Eastern.

And next, see how some Christian leaders are pulling evangelical voters away from Trump, plus a dramatic day in court as the teen accused of killing four people at his Georgia high school and his father appeared before a judge for the first time.

And now, we have some gripping new details about the former aide to two New York governors accused of being a spy for the Chinese government. What China is saying tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:35]

BURNETT: Tonight, evangelicals for Harris. The group is now claiming 200,000 members and they have put out right now four new ads targeting Trump, including this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MODERATOR: Have you ever asked God for forgiveness?

TRUMP: That's a tough question. I'm not sure I have. I just -- I don't bring God into that picture. I don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Even as some evangelicals are moving toward the Democratic Party, others are shedding the title altogether.

Dianne Gallagher is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARISSA MILLER, POST-EVANGELICAL COLLECTIVE CHURCH MEMBER: It was just like an exhale, like I can breathe here. I can -- I can see myself here. I'm accepted.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a feeling Larissa Miller, a lesbian who was raised as a devout conservative evangelical, wasn't sure she'd ever have.

MILLER: That belief system essentially says that you cannot be gay and be Christian at the same time, I knew that I had to figure it out because was just dying inside, and you start feeling like there's not an answer, there's no one for you.

GALLAGHER: Her church today, Watershed in Charlotte, is one of about 75 churches that belong to the post-evangelical collective.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would say that Jesus was incredibly political. But when you show up here, the goal isn't to have a political conversation. This is a spiritual conversation.

GALLAGHER: But preaching a radical reimagining of Christianity and biblical doctrine often with a focus on inclusivity and social justice tends to attract worshippers who align more with the Democratic Party.

In Nashville, it's setting up inside an elementary school auditorium, where Pastor Josh Scott and the Grace Point Church community gathered to examine their own spiritual evolution.

JOSH SCOTT, PASTOR, GRACE POINTE: In the beginning, we were definitely have fallen in that evangelical orbit, but now we firmly moved away from that.

GALLAGHER: Why?

SCOTT: Because our values have grown and expanded and become more inclusive, and it seems like evangelicalism is values have done the opposite.

GALLAGHER: Across the city, in a crowded sanctuary at Spero Dei, Reverend David Moses Perez preaches a moderate and liberal message, the opposite of what many in his congregation grew up hearing.

DAVID MOSES PEREZ, MINISTER, SPERO DEI: They did not want to let go up their faith practice being Christian, but they couldn't be in this rigid box of American evangelicalism that was going to define them doctrinally, politically, theologically.

GALLAGHER: Shedding their evangelical upbringing and the conservative politics often attached to it.

SCOTT: For a lot of people, their shift really kicked into high gear in 2015, 2016 with the rise of Trump.

GALLAGHER: White evangelicals are a powerful voting bloc that generally supports Republicans. More than 75 percent of them voted for Donald Trump in the past two elections and there's no indication their support, has greatly shifted.

But polling also shows that their numbers are shrinking, from 23 percent in 2006 to just 13 percent last year.

SCOTT: When we think about evangelicalism, the first thought is not good news, but it is the Republican Party platform.

GALLAGHER: But conservative evangelical activists say that's not a fair assessment. For years, the Faith and Freedom Coalition has worked to mobilize that white evangelical vote.

[19:25:00]

And founder Ralph Reed says that political support is simply about values.

RALPH REED, FOUNDER, FAITH & FREEDOM COALITION: We want to make sure, for example, that you know where Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on abortion, on the border, on Israel, on Iran, appointing judges, on religious freedom.

GALLAGHER: Recently, the smaller progressive evangelical wing has actively campaign, even cut ads for Kamala Harris. But post- evangelical leadership insist they're not aiming to be the liberal version of their former church.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really important that you make room for other folks who are showing up and they're being curious, so that the tension is not to become the rigid judge mental reverse side of what you just left.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER (on camera): And I want to be clear for the post- evangelicals we spoke with, Erin, this is not a political decision. This is a deeply spiritual, religious journey they're on. But in the U.S., it can be hard to separate religion and politics, especially when it comes to the word evangelical.

According to the Pew Research Center, between 2016 and 2020, there was a slight uptick in the number of people who began identifying flying is a white evangelical. The one thing they all had in common coming from different backgrounds, they supported Donald Trump.

BURNETT: All right. Dianne, thank you so much.

And also tonight, rigging an election, inciting a riot, a Teflon politician who could do no wrong in the eyes of his loyal supporters. Who are talking about? Well, not Donald Trump.

A deft young politician from Louisiana, at least he was young 150 years ago.

Dana Bash tells his remarkable story and who brand new book, "America's Deadliest Election". She joins me now.

And, Dana, I hope that this -- I hope this remains an accurate title and situation here as these months go by. It's amazing to see this and look at you and know that you did this by the way. I mean, it's amazing.

A book and --

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I have an amazing co- author who is just remarkable. So --

BURNETT: Yeah, David Fisher, I'll say his name.

BASH: To be clear, he's -- David Fisher is terrific.

BURNETT: As your friend, it's amazing just to see this. You know, my pride.

But you dug into this wild story, 1872 election, that a lot of people don't know anything about, and the man at the center of it, Henry Warmoth, you know, the way we wrote it up, there could be Trump he was divisive. He leveraged media attention incredibly brilliantly. He was even impeached. The parallels are eerily similar.

BASH: So similar, in a lot of ways, but if you really just zero in on this character and that's a classic picture of him -- maybe what are the only pictures of him back from the time when he lived and he was a Lincoln Republican and he was a Northerner who is actually a carpetbagger, like a real carpet bagger, one of the people for whom this term was named.

He went to the South and he became a southern politician by telling the people what they wanted to hear it. First, it was telling these freedmen, the newly freed slaves, who could vote for the first time that he was going to do everything in his power for them. And he won and he won in a big way.

Well, then a few years later, when the Republican Party that he was a part of it in Louisiana kind of threw him to the curb, he changed, and he -- but he did so with a lot of people still following him. And there is a quote in here from our book -- I just want to read this to you in this really speaks to the parallels that you're talking about.

The people who had allegiance to Warmoth defied description. It appeared there were willing to die or kill for him. The question was, why?

In that case, they knew he was corrupt. People loved to love him. They loved to hate him. And he was a very charismatic figure who was all about staying in power.

I mean, it is amazing when you think about that and just the power of personality and charisma, as you say, I mean that extremely loyal base that he had, that Trump has. I mean, Trump memorably said this.

I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters. Okay? It's like incredible. When you were writing the book and doing your research. And I know that was said, what stood out to me.

Did -- what personality traits does Trump share with Warmoth?

BASH: Well, there's that and then there's also the tremendous violence. Obviously, it's called America's deadliest election because there were so many people who died through pitch battles in the streets of New Orleans and actual murder, a massacre in cold blood outside of New Orleans.

But it was he who was very open about inciting the violence, Erin. He said, let violence come after an election that he lost. So there are similarities between the two men but most importantly, there are similarities between these electoral events that led to a lot of people not sure about the outcome of the election, back then it was because there was real chaos.

[19:30:10]

Last time around was because people were told that was true without evidence that we found.

BURNETT: Well, as you say, if you -- those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. But obviously, you know, you read this in the perspective and context that history can give us and hopefully so we do not repeat it.

Dana, thank you so much and congratulations. I hope everybody will get Dana and David's book, "America's Deadliest Election".

And next, meet the student who stopped the Georgia school shooter from opening fire inside her classroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRI JONES, BLOCKED THE SHOOTER FROM HER CLASSROOM: If I were to open the door, they like, he would've got every single one of us in that class

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And the White House ending an investigation after an American woman was shot in the head and killed purportedly by Israeli troops.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news we are hearing for the first time tonight from the student who came face-to-face with the alleged shooter who killed two students, two teachers, and injured nine other people in Georgia, in high school.

[19:35:01]

This comes as the 14-year-old suspect and his father both made their first appearances in court.

Isabel Rosales is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fourteen-year-old Bri Jones was the first student to lay eyes on Colt Gray just moments before she says, he began his deadly rampage.

BRI JONES, BLOCKED THE SHOOTER FROM HER CLASSROOM: He knocked on the door, I went up, I saw him hone a bag and just pulling a gun out. I'm not sure what kind of bag was it, but I see him pulling out of a bag like the gun was so big, like --

ROSALES: Gray was her classmate and their class, the first he tried to enter. She tells CNN.

JONES: I always look out the door before opening it as just like it's a habit my mom taught me.

ROSALES: But as her teacher instructed her to let him back in, she said --

JONES: I know he has a gun. If I were to open the door, they like he would have got every single one of us in that class and I don't want me, my teacher, my friends in the class, and my other classmates. I don't want none of us to get hurt.

So I just -- I just go like, I thank God that I didn't open a door.

ROSALES: Joan said Gray moved on to her sister's class down the hall.

MALASIA M ITCHELL, SAW HER TEACHER FATALLY SHOT: Colt shot my teacher multiple times.

ROSALES: Malasia Mitchell says shell never be able to erase the image of her teacher, Richard Aspinwall, begging for help.

MITCHELL: We had to drag our teacher -- our teacher's body fully into the classroom. We heard him take his last breath.

ROSALES: Mitchell says she felt powerless.

MITCHELL: I've been trained what to do like give CPR and other -- but I couldn't help him, couldn't help you because couldn't help him. So I ended up having a seizure.

ROSALES: The 14-year-old suspect who allegedly caused all this pain in court today with families of the victims, just feet behind him.

JUDGE: You're charged with four counts of felony murder.

ROSALES: Just minutes after the suspected shooter left the courtroom, where he did not enter a plea, his father walked in for his own first appearance.

JUDGE: Two counts of felony murder in the second-degree. You're charged with four counts, felony involuntary manslaughter.

ROSALES: And he's charged with eight counts of second-degree felony cruelty to children, an arrest warrant for Colin Gray alleges he gave his son a firearm when he knew his son was a threat to himself and to others.

It's only the second time a parent has been charged in connection with a mass shooting carried out by their child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: GBI has arrested Colin Gray.

ROSALES: Last April, in an unprecedented case, the parents of Ethan Crumbley were each sentenced to 10 to 15 years for involuntary manslaughter. The D.A. in the case says Colt Gray may face additional charges.

BRAD SMITH, DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF THE PIEDMONT JUDICIAL CIRCUIT: You can anticipate there will be new charges on Colt Gray because we never addressed the other victims in the school.

ROSALES: At Apalachee High, some students left wondering how they can possibly move forward.

Do you think you'll be able to come back to school?

MITCHELL: Yes because I'm not going to walk in fear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES (on camera): And, Erin, I am in nearby Monroe, where students should have been out here in the football field here celebrating an away game between Apalachee and Monroe High. But instead they are indoors tonight holding a vigil, paying their respect to the, two teachers killed and the two students, one of which was the assistant football coach.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Isabel, who's been covering this incredibly.

Joey Jackson is with me now, our legal analyst, criminal defense attorney, of course, and Tim Clemente, former FBI agent.

So, Joey, the father of the shooter, Colin Gray, second-degree murder charges, which is much more severe than involuntary manslaughter, which were the charges successfully brought against the Michigan school shooter, Ethan Crumbley's parents.

So do you think prosecutors can reach this bar, second-degree murder?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So more evidence, obviously, Erin, will be brought forward, but from what we know now, what they're doing, prosecutors is using what they have available. What did they have available? There's a statute in Georgia, a law that

speaks to when you inflict harm upon a child, either mentally or physically. And it comes with negligence and a child dies, guess what that is? It's second-degree murder.

And so, the theory is, if you're negligent here, what's negligence? Do you not have a duty and a responsibility to make sure that your firearms are in a place that they're not accessible to someone? And so, I think what they're doing, Erin, is they're using this law to suggest that the father did not exercise due and reasonable care and in not doing that, left it to his child, who obviously had problems. And as a result of that, there's that, I think it's appropriate.

BURNETT: I mean, Tim, because we know that the team allegedly made threats about shooting a school and he and his father went in and were interviewed about that. And it was after that that father gave him the gun that he used to kill people. So just to make sure that timeline again is blatantly clear, but in that, you know, when he and his son were brought in by investigators because he sounded made those threats, here's what Colin Gray, the father said.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

COLIN GRAY: Please instill in him that what -- if this is -- whatever or wherever this is coming from, it's no joke.

[19:40:05]

INVESTIGATOR: No.

COLIN GRAY: Like it's no joke.

INVESTIGATOR: Well, we wouldn't be here if it was.

COLIN GRAY: No, I know. I know. And I'm telling you right now, we talk about it quite a bit. All the school shootings, things that happened.

INVESTIGATOR: Yeah, scary.

COLIN GRAY: Hey, are you getting picked on at school? He is. He's getting picked on at school and is everything ok? That's why I keep going up there, you know, because, you just, never you never really know and I don't want anything to happen to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: So, Tim, you know, in all of the interrogations, interviews you've been in, as the FBI agent asking the questions, do you -- obviously, the teen is in custody right now and you think that maybe his comments or something that he has said even now could have led to his father's arrest?

TIM CLEMENTE, FORMER FBI SWAT TEAM & SPECIAL AGENT: Yeah. I think it's very possible because from what I heard early on, the kid was cooperating or at least answering questions. And if he didn't lawyer up and shut up immediately, he may have revealed things about why his dad gave him the gun, what does dad said about having the gun? What his dad might have said about bullies and how to deal with them.

There's a lot of things that that could of kid could have said to implicate his father. And the fact that so quickly leads me to believe that he may have said something that led authorities to jump on it immediately.

BURNETT: And, you know, his ex-father-in-law, so ex-father-in-law. I mean, I'm saying this is what we would hear, right? What was said, that Colin Gray, the father, create a hostile environment. The home would yell the teen and his mother, but it was very abusive and dysfunctional situation, if not physically, mentally so.

How does that play into this?

JACKSON: So the problem, Erin, is that goes to what we call as lawyer's mitigation. It doesn't excuse and it's not a defense. It might go to what any type of punishment would be, but because there's an environment like that, you can argue that the father should have taking further steps to secure the weapon so that they don't get into his hands.

And so, to just say that someone has a home like that shouldn't that then put you on notice even more as a parent to ensure that your child doesn't have access. So what will be used, but it will not be used in terms of a defense to excuse what occurred.

BURNETT: Yeah. All right. Well, thank you both so very much. I appreciate it.

Joey, Tim, good to see you both.

And next, pressure building for Israel to strike a deal to bring home the hostages. Hard to imagine pressure could get any greater that it did. And then six people were executed. I'm going to check back in with Yoni Asher, whose wife and two daughters were freed from Hamas captivity.

And Chinas silencing any mentioned that the former New York governor's aide who was allegedly working for Beijing, just silenced, wiped out, are watching to see if our own report with new details on this story will be censored by the communist government tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:46:26]

BURNETT: Tonight an American woman has been shot dead, reportedly by Israeli troops. Twenty-six years old Aysenur Eygi had been taking part of the protest in the West Bank when she was shot in the head. The White House saying is deeply disturbed by the killing and is urgently calling on Israel to investigate.

And it comes as the Israeli government is under intense pressure tonight to end the war in Gaza and bring the remaining 101 hostages home after six were executed by Hamas last week.

Joining me now, one hostage family who did come home, Yoni Asher, his wife and two toddlers were taken hostage by Hamas. His mother and brother-in-law were murdered.

And. Yoni, you and I, well, we spoke on October 7 and we are speaking now and thank God for the miracle in your life. Your precious daughters and your wife lucky and home. Thank God for that, as we found out, those hostages were executed, murdered last week that, that hits you in a way that it hits so few. You can understand the fear of those families and now their incredible loss.

Are you losing confidence, Yoni, that the remaining 101 hostages will come home alive?

YONI ASHER, WIFE & TWO YOUNG DAUGHTERS FREED FROM HAMAS CAPTIVITY: Well, first of all, hello, Erin, and thank you for having me.

I am -- I am scared for the families that a lot of hostages will not return. And I want to tell you that many of them are still alive, dozens, over 50. So it's not -- it would not be correct to think that they are dead. We see it all the time testimonies that they are alive. And they are going and getting fewer and fewer.

We need to do everything to get whoever is alive back home.

BURNETT: And, Yoni, we have been speaking about this since October 7, almost a year since you and I first spoke from the moment that you realized that your wife and daughters were taken by Hamas because they've been visiting your mother-in-law for the weekend you were home now they are home now.

You just shared some images of them with us. How are they, Yoni?

ASHER: Well, it's a bit complicated, Erin, because it's unprecedented. There was no such case -- especially not in the Western world and all the specialists and the social workers in the world, and not have not experienced such a thing. So we follow our instinct as parents, we are dealing with nightmares, we are dealing with fears, with noises when fear from noises, questions.

Very hard questions like, what did they want for us? Did they wanted to kill us? Are they in jail?

My daughters are so young, they don't know the meaning of terrorist or war. They only know that they are evil persons that wanted to kill us maybe, but the only thing I can answer that we're safe now and they're also asking about Gadi, their grandfather, who was still there, 80- years-old, Gadi Moses, and my daughter even told me, I don't believe that he will return a few days ago. And I told her why? Because -- and she told me because it's taking too long.

[19:50:05]

And it's hard to explain for such young girls. I want to tell you that right now, it's nighttime here and few minutes ago, my daughter my little daughter Aviv woke up with screaming and for 40 minutes, she would not stop. So it's something new that we just discovered. It was -- they were getting up at night, but for a few months, few moments, and later on, going back to bet and now it's getting worse and worse.

So I don't know what is coming up next for us in the future.

BURNETT: When you talk about those 40 minutes and not being able to know what a child like that is going through.

You know, Yoni, I know your in your home now and one of visited you there you were alone and you were praying they were even alive. You told me how much they love dressing up as princesses. And I know you took them to Disney World a few months ago this is them were showing now this video that you shared with them dancing with bubbles.

When you -- when you think about what you just experienced in those 40 minutes with Aviv crying and in her sleep and the nightmares. And then you think about those beautiful pictures and their joy, does it feel like a dream to you? I mean, or does it -- does it feel real that they're truly home and that they are experiencing life?

ASHER: Well, that's exactly what I thought to myself when she was screaming and crying just a minute ago that it's like -- it's -- I'm lucky that at least she's here and not still held hostage by Hamas. We need to remember that on October 7 morning, they will only visiting their grandmother lives in one of the community it is next to Gaza on Israeli territory that Hamas death squads invaded to, on what, on strollers, on communities with babies, with the pacifier in their mouth, with RPGs and grenades, and gunshots directly attacked those communities.

And we were very lucky that they only got into their grandmother's house and took them instead of killing them, because in many families, it happens. We share -- Israel and the Western world, we share the same values and the same enemies. We have the same enemies that challenge those values, freedom, equality, LGBT rights, all of those things are exist in Israel, the true one Western democracy in the Middle East.

We are not a perfect country, but we have those values, those enemies are challenging those values and we can see terror attacks not only inside Israel. I think it's important that the western coalition United States, and the European countries it will do everything in their power to leverage their power in order to get the hostages home. I think that they can do it. And I think that the hostages should be home and the war will stop, let them go, and stop the war.

BURNETT: Yoni, thank you.

ASHER: Thank you so much, Erin.

BURNETT: And next, what are the Chinese trying to hide when it comes to the gripping story of the former aide to two New York governors accused of being a serious long time secret agent.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:56:57]

BURNETT: Tonight, chaos in New York politics, the governor and the New York City mayor both embroiled in scandal. The FBI now has the cell phones of some of the most senior officials in New York City seized when the FBI raided the homes of Mayor Eric Adams' inner circle. It is unclear what the FBI is exactly investigating with these raids and it comes as a former top aide for Governor Kathy Hochul is now accused of being a secret Chinese agent.

Will Ripley is OUTFRONT with new details tonight.

(BEGIN VIDSEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The dramatic downfall of Linda Sun, once a top aide to New York's current and former governors, now accused of secretly working for China, making headlines around the world.

But on Beijing's tightly controlled state media and heavily censored social media, silence.

China's foreign ministry refusing to even comment on what they described as a domestic U.S. case.

Prosecutors say Sun was working overtime, pushing Beijing's agenda for years. She's accused of forging documents to help Chinese officials illegally enter the U.S., quietly removing references to China's human rights record from a lunar new year greeting in 2021 by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

In July 2019, attending this pro-China rally in New York, coinciding with this visit to New York by Tsai Ing-wen, then-president of Beijing's arch rival Taiwan.

Prosecutors say behind closed doors, Sun was coordinating with Chinese diplomats, blocking Taiwanese officials from key meetings and securing favors for China.

This is just the latest high-stakes scandal involving Beijing's covert influence. Last month, this New York man, Shujun Wang, convicted of spying for the Chinese communist party, posing as a pro-democracy activists, Also last year, the Justice Department says it uncovered a secret Chinese police station operating in Manhattan, accused of intimidating Chinese dissidents living in the U.S.

Reports at the time claimed more than 100 secret Chinese police stations in more than 50 countries and territories. China dismissed the claims as completely false, calling the locations, service centers, to help citizens abroad with renewing official documents like their Chinese driver licenses.

This new 64-page indictment from U.S. federal prosecutors in New York reads like a spy novel accusing Linda Sun of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government, conspiring with her husband, Chris Hu, to commit bank fraud, accusing both of money laundering millions of dollars from China, bankrolling the couple's luxurious lifestyle, paying cash for their nearly $4 million Long Island mansion and $2 million condo in Hawaii, buying brand new cars, like a 2024 Ferrari and range Rover, funneling millions to her husband's businesses, even sending her parents dozens of salted ducks at Chinese delicacy.

The couple is pleading not guilty. Sun's attorney calls the investigation overly aggressive, and the indictment inflammatory.

JARROD SCHAEFFER, COUNSEL FOR LINDA SUN: We are looking for exercising her right to a speedy trial and addressing these accusations in the forum which is most appropriate, which is a court of law.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on camera): U.S. prosecutors say cases like this reveal just how far China will go, Erin, to infiltrate and influence the U.S. government. Suitcases full of cash literally is the diplomatic policy if they can't get good press coverage any other way, you know, to get human rights taken out of a speech, just millions of dollars to buy a new mansion.

BURNETT: It's absolutely incredible. It is the stuff of a thriller.

Will, thank you very much. Will in Taiwan tonight.

And thanks so much to all of you for joining us.

"AC360" starts now.