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New Day

FBI Infiltrated Bible Group in Virginia; Feds Investigate Native American Remains; Suns Take 2-0 NBA Finals Lead; Branson Set to Beat Bezos. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 09, 2021 - 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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[06:32:54]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Developing this morning, unsealed court records show that after the attack on the Capitol, the FBI infiltrated a Bible group in northern Virginia, where members discussed surveilling the Capitol after the attack, testing homemade bombs and waging a second American civil war. Undercover agents were also able to gain access to the group's encrypted group chat and at least one member of the group who was allegedly planning to build and test explosives has been arrested.

Joining us now is retired FBI special agent Tom O'Connor. Agent O'Connor spent 28 years in law enforcement. He served on the Joint Terrorism Task Force and he ran FBI infiltration and undercover cases. He now works as a principal with security firm Fed Squared Consulting.

Thank you so much for being with us, Tom. You're really a person uniquely situated to give us some insight here.

And I just wonder, when you look at this timing, at this moment when federal authorities decided this is -- this is the moment where we are going to go in, what does this tell you about where the threat level was?

TOM O'CONNOR, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, thanks for having me, Brianna and John. I appreciate that.

You know, when you're talking about undercover operations or confidants (ph) of human sources infiltrating criminal organizations, when you're talking about domestic extremists, you have to be extremely careful because you have to have a nexus of criminal activity to actually work in here. And clearly, in this case, from the court reportings, there was that criminal nexus. And just by being involved at that Capitol, that brought the ability for the FBI and law enforcement to use that technique of undercover operations.

And, I mean, it is a -- it's a game of, when is it going to be that person going from flash to bang. And I think that the FBI did an unbelievably good job here in getting in front of potential violence. You can't wait until something happens and then use your undercover operations. That's -- this has to be done beforehand. But you have to have the authorities. It's a tool in the tool box that gets you to the point where you can make the arrests that they've made in this case.

[06:35:02]

KEILAR: So how do you -- how do you get to this point because the FBI was actually able to get access. There was an agent, I believe, added to this encrypted group chat. They had, obviously, an undercover agent who was working on this. How do they get to that point? Is that something that would have been in place pre-January 6th?

O'CONNOR: No, doubtful, I mean because they -- from reading the court records, the person involved here actually met with undercover officers or informants at the location and that led to the ability to work the undercover case. So it was a post-January 6th event, it appears. But they were able to get in there.

And then these are very professional, undercover operatives who -- agents who have a lot of training and they will build a -- communications with these people and that's how they're allowed to, you know, be invited into the encrypted chat, which is enormous because it's an encrypted chat and it's very difficult to get into something like that. So that's a major win in dismantling something that could have been another event taking place down the road. And that's the whole idea is to get in front of this stuff.

With domestic terrorism, again, it's very difficult because you're not going to try and infiltrate a Bible study group because if there's no criminal activity that's First Amendment protected activity and the FBI is very, very cognizant that it's the violence used to intimidate or coheres a civilian population or to influence a government that meets the definition of domestic terrorism.

And, actually, the most difficult part I see is that there is no actual penalties attached to the definition of domestic terrorism. And I think that's something that Congress can come together and actually make a criminal charge for domestic terrorism.

I personally don't think that we need to make groups that are -- have extreme thought that they should be illegal, like ISIS and al Qaeda. That's the First Amendment. It's the violence that the FBI looks for, it's the violence they need to get in front of and they're very good at doing so.

Undercover activities have been used for decades in dismantling the mafia and dismantling criminal organizations, drug organizations, computer and cyber crimes. It is a tool that once you get the authorities to do that, and there's a lot of check boxes, it is a very effective way of dismantling an organization.

KEILAR: And, look, January 6th revealed who was willing to take it from free speech to action, right? And that's what we saw in this case there.

So, Tom, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Tom O'Connor.

O'CONNOR: Thank you very much. Have a great day. KEILAR: All right, you, too.

The Olympics, they're a mess right now. A state of emergency, no fans, COVID infections and controversies involving American athletes. We're going to speak with Greg Louganis, Olympian, coming up.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And you basically taught him swimming at your local pool?

KEILAR: That is not -- I just followed his diving career from a young age.

BERMAN: All right.

Plus, unearthing part of America's buried past. A new investigation into the history of Native American boarding schools.

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[06:42:40]

BERMAN: The recent discovery of hundreds of human remains and unmarked graves at two indigenous residential schools in Canada that sent shock waves across the border here. Shortly after that discovery, President Biden's administration announced it would launch an investigation into this nation's own history of Native American boarding schools after more than 150 years tore native children from their families and culture. Many never returned. Most Americans have no knowledge of this dark history, even as most Native Americans still live in its horrific legacy, as CNN's Martin Savidge found.

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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the Rosebud-Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, America's nearly two century effort to eradicate native languages and cultures continues to traumatize.

SAVIDGE (on camera): Was it a hard day?

MALORIE ARROW, SICANGU YOUTH COUNCIL: Yes, it was.

SAVIDGE (voice over): In 2015, Malorie Arrow went to Washington, D.C., with a tribe's youth council. They stopped at a former Native American boarding school in Pennsylvania.

ARROW: Getting there it was -- I didn't feel anything. I didn't -- like I felt like I was supposed to feel getting to the school. But it wasn't until we got to the grave sites.

SAVIDGE: They found graves of Native children their age from their very own Sicangu Lakota Tribe taken from their very reservation more than 100 years ago.

ARROW: We all started crying. Like we all felt that energy there.

CHRISTOPHER EAGLE BEAR, SICANGU YOUTH COUNCIL: It's like mourning a relative you didn't know you had.

SAVIDGE: They left with one question.

BEAR: Why don't we bring them home? We didn't have an answer for that, you know? Why don't we bring them home?

SAVIDGE: During the 19th and much of the 20th century, generations of indigenous children in the U.S. were forced into boarding schools, many run by religious organizations or the federal government, part of a campaign to assimilate them into white Christian culture.

RODNEY BORDEAUX, PRESIDENT, ROSEBUD-SIOUX TRIBE: Take the Indian out and save the child was kind of the -- the -- the -- the talk back then.

SAVIDGE: Many children suffered sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, malnourishment and disease. No one's really sure how many died. But the more than 900 unmarked gravesites found near just two Canadian schools is a grim indicator of what could be found in the U.S.

[06:45:00]

CHRISTINE CLEAVE, CEO, NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN BOARDING SCHOOL HEALING COALITION: If you look at the numbers here from the United States, we had twice as many schools. You can basically just estimate that our numbers will be double what they found in Canada.

SAVIDGE: Many tribal leaders believe the generational trauma from erasing people's identity directly relates to the chronic issues on reservations today, poverty, addiction, suicide.

SAVIDGE (on camera): So no one went untouched?

BORDEAUX: No. No one went untouched. No -- no family went untouched. So we need to find out the truth.

SAVIDGE (voice over): Finding that truth is what the federal investigation is all about. But it's likely to be uncomfortable.

As for those children, Malorie and her friends found in that graveyard years ago, they are coming home. In the largest repatriation of its kind, the remains of nine Lakota children, from that former Pennsylvania boarding school, will begin the journey back next week.

ASIA "ISTA GI WIN" BLACK BULL, SICANGU YOUTH COUNCIL: We saw a change that we needed, so we became the change.

SAVIDGE: The young Lakotans (ph) plan to escort the children home. Christopher may even sing to them in their own language, something the boarding school would have forbidden.

BEAR: (SINGING).

SAVIDGE (on camera): Is it the end of something or really just the beginning?

BULL: It's the beginning. There's so much more boarding schools that we have yet. This is just the start.

SAVIDGE (voice over): They know much more needs to be done. Many more children need to be found.

BULL: You look at it as, why do these schools with, you know, a lot of the white children got to attend schools with playgrounds. Our children had to attend schools with graveyards. And it should be a wakeup call now.

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SAVIDGE: This is the Veteran's Cemetery at the Rosebud-Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. It's a place of honor. And it is where those children will finally be laid to rest, each one of them dressed in a buffalo robe in the Lakota tradition.

As for that investigation, many Native leaders are for it but they fear a lot of those records were lost or destroyed long ago. They also worry that it will stop short, that it will only identify potential gravesites unidentified positions all across the country, hundreds of them, but it won't bring the children home, which is what the tribes and the Nations most dearly want.

John.

BERMAN: Martin, such an important story to tell, such important history to learn and so much important truth still to discover here. Thank you so much for doing this for us.

SAVIDGE: Yes. You're welcome.

BERMAN: This morning, confusion after Pfizer says immunity to coronavirus is waning and booster shots may be needed very soon. The CDC and FDA say, not true. What you need to know, next.

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[06:52:10]

BERMAN: The Phoenix Suns now just two wins away from their first NBA title.

Coy Wire has more in the "Bleacher Report."

They're rolling, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Rolling, John. Good to see you.

It's been 28 years since Phoenix has been in the NBA finals and they're playing up like their making up for the lost time. The Suns, the hottest thing in that Arizona desert in July right now. Devin Booker had 31 points in this one, 7 three-pointers. And even though the Bucks played really well, Phoenix just shot down any of their hopes from beyond that arc. A playoff franchise record 20 three- pointers. That's just four off the NBA final's record. Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo single-handedly keeping the Bucks in this one. The two-time league MVP scoring a playoff career high 42 points. The rest of the starters scored 43 combined for them. The Suns win 118- 108. The series now going to Milwaukee for game three on Sunday.

And Stanley Cup champion Lightning, they're going to celebrate their second boat parade down there in Tampa on Monday, but the big question this time, are the players going to throw the Stanley Cup from boat to boat? You remember Tom Brady and the Bucs tossing that Lombardi Trophy when they won the Super Bowl in February. The Stanly Cup's Twitter feed, great follow, by the way, giving a warning to Brady saying, for your information, it's too heavy to throw, Tom. Well, Brady responds, I don't know, everything feels a bit lighter after some tequila. If Tom Brady talking tequila shots doesn't say happy Friday, I don't know what does.

BERMAN: Everything about that was true. Everything about that exchange was exactly right. Do you think the Bucks can turn this around, Coy?

WIRE: It's going to be really tough. You know, Chris Paul, he is a man on a mission, future Hall of Famer. This is his first NBA finals. And he just has that young core nucleus playing with so much energy and confidence. He's a great leader and I think it's showing.

BERMAN: Yes, and if Giannis Antetokounmpo could score 43 points and the Bucks still lose, I'm not sure what else can co on there. I'm not sure what else they can do.

Thank you so much.

WIRE: Good to see you.

BERMAN: So, for most of us, the words are enough to make our heads explode. Last night 11 young word wizards competing in the finals for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. And the last speller standing was a teenager from Louisiana.

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ZAILA AVANT-GARD: Murraya, m-u-r-r-a-y-a.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is correct!

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BERMAN: That is 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde. She is the first black American contestant to win the National Spelling Bee, which comes with a $50,000 cash prize. Zaila says spelling, though, is just a hobby. Her real talent, it seems, is basketball, or I should just say another talent, because I think she's good at everything. She is an amazing player and holds several Guinness World Records for dribbling. This teenager who I think can do absolutely everything will join us on NEW DAY later in the show.

[06:55:04]

I mean, is there anything she can't do? KEILAR: I just -- I know. And I also wonder, are somehow -- are these

skills somehow interrelated? You know, how does this work that she can manage all of these things, all of these words, all of these basketballs? I just want to know how that works. She's unbelievable.

BERMAN: She's also ridiculously good at math. I mean, seriously, I don't think there's anything she's not good at.

KEILAR: No, it's awesome. Can't wait to speak with her.

And this weekend, Richard Branson is set to travel to space aboard Virgin Galactic's rocket powered space plane. He beat out fellow billionaires who have been racing to space.

And Rachel Crane recently spoke with Branson about this. She's with us now.

Wow, Rachel, I mean he is on the precipice of something just amazing here. How's he feeling?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brianna. I mean we are just days away from this hotly anticipated space flight. And nobody is more excited than Branson himself.

Now, this is a flight that is nearly two decades in the making. That's because Branson bought the technology to Spaceship One back in 2004. Now, Spaceship One was the winner of the Ansari X-Prize, which challenged a non-government entity to fly a reusable crewed space craft to space twice in two week. So Branson bought that technology back in 2004. Since then has spent over a billion dollars on this program, hundreds of engineers have innovated on Spaceship One to create Spaceship Two. You see a mockup of Spaceship Two behind me.

Branson, as we said, just days away from taking flight. Very excited.

Take a listen to what he had to say.

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CRANE: OK, Richard, you are finally going to space in a matter of days. Tell me, how do you feel?

RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN GALACTIC: Well, I've managed to avoid getting excited for 17 years since we started building spaceships and motherships and space boards and all these things. And, you know, had to get through the test programs and -- and then yesterday I finally got the call from chief engineers saying that every single box had been checked on the safety aspect and that I was -- you know, would I like to go into space? And I hit -- I hit the roof, I was so excited. So -- and, obviously, yes, never been more excited in my life. And -- and the wonderful team who are coming up with me are equally so.

CRANE: You talk about excitement, but, tell me, are you nervous at all?

BRANSON: I'm not nervous. I'm -- obviously, always -- you're always nervous of letting the rest of the team down. I'm -- I'm going up, you know, as -- as someone there to -- to test the customer experience. And I'm just going to enjoy every single minute of it. It's not -- it's something that, you know, I think millions and millions of people out there would want to take my seat. And -- and I'm going to enjoy every second from the beginning to the end.

And so excited that this is the start for -- for thousands of people who could become astronauts in future years. And -- and, yes, looking forward to seeing a lot of these people off in future years to come.

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CRANE: Now, Brianna, Richard Branson has been on site with his fellow mission specialists and the pilots going through training the past couple days here at Spaceport America. And I want to tell you a little bit about the flight that he is going to experience on Sunday. VSS Unity, which is the spaceship, will be mated to the mothership, which is called Eve. The mothership will transport the spaceship to about 40,000 feet aboveground. That's when the spaceship will be released and literally dropped right before the rocket -- the rocket motor ignites, transporting Branson more than 50 miles above earth. That's when he'll get those astronaut wings, experience a few minutes of precious weightlessness, before gliding back down to earth.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Very cool. Very cool. Rachel Crane, thank you so much, live for us from New Mexico.

NEW DAY continues right now.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar on this NEW DAY. So Pfizer suggests you might soon need a COVID vaccine booster shot. The government says, not so fast. So what's going on here?

KEILAR: And we have some breaking news. The Taliban gaining ground in Afghanistan as the U.S. pulls out troops there. We will go live to the Pentagon.

BERMAN: New this morning, Republicans in Arizona keeping up the big lie, promising yet another recount. I'm talking about a new one after the audit in the presidential election.

KEILAR: And some new reporting just in to CNN. Is House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy losing control of his own conference?

BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. It is Friday, July 9th.

[07:00:00]

So this morning, debate over the issue of whether there is waning immunity to coronavirus from the vaccines.