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New Day
Suspects at Large after 10 Killed, 15 Hospitalized in Stabbing Spree; Millions Take to the Air, Roads as Labor Day Travel Rises; 75 Million People Under Flood Watches Across 20 States; Biden Hits Swing States Today in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania; Violent Holiday Weekend Across U.S.; Bed, Bath & Beyond CFO Jumps to Death from High Rise; Black Lives Matter Leader Accused of 'Siphoning' $10M from Donors; Airport Worker Charged After Threatening to Crash Stolen Plane. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired September 05, 2022 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar, with John Berman on this NEW DAY. Ten deadly stabbings across 13 different crime scenes. The latest on the manhunt now underway in Canada.
[05:59:47]
And both President Biden and former President Trump sweeping through battleground states and ratcheting up the rhetoric.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A man in custody this morning after a Memphis teacher is abducted while jogging.
And who will replace Boris Johnson as Britain's prime minister? The world is about to find out.
A manhunt unfolding right now in Canada for two suspected killers.
Good morning to viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. It is Monday, September 5, and the search is on for two armed and dangerous suspects in a mass stabbing Sunday that left at least ten dead and 15 injured.
These attacks took place across 13 separate crime scenes in an indigenous community in the surrounding area in central Canada. Police say some of the victims were chosen at random, and some were specifically targeted.
BERMAN: The suspects have been identified as Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson. It's not clear whether they're related, and police are unsure at this point about a possible motive.
CNN's Paula Newton, live for us in Ottawa this morning. Paula, why don't you give us the very latest on this manhunt.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An incredibly unnerving night there for people in Saskatchewan and beyond. Police giving a late update and saying, Look, as of right now, there may have been a spotting of the two suspects in Regina, Saskatchewan, hundreds of miles away. And yet, they cannot be sure that they haven't gone further afield, which there are now alerts out in three separate provinces.
Now, as you say, think about this. This is one of the worst mass killings in Canadian history. As you said, ten dead, multiple injured.
And here's the thing. It unfolded over so many hundreds of miles, and you had people taking themselves into hospitals and clinics. Police still appealing to those people to say, come and let us know what is happening.
We are almost at the 24-hour point, and as you say, the manhunt continues. They believe they could be in the area of Regina but are not sure.
Police saying as to motive, they have no idea what unfolded here, but crucially, they say this might have begun as some type of a targeted event but then continued with random attacks throughout the province.
The issue here, though, is that they have not had a sighting for so many hours. People continue to get those crucial alerts on their phone, but they have been told do not approach them if you see them, but also do not let anyone into your home if you see any stranger.
And we have eyewitnesses say that they had strangers looking for medical help come to their door but have turned them away, because they have no idea what is going on in this confusion right now.
I want to say that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also obviously said he's keeping an eye on those things and has come up with a statement saying, "I am shocked and saddened and devastated by the horrific attacks today in James Smith Cree Nation in Weldon, Saskatchewan that claimed the lives of ten people and injured many more. As Canadians, we mourn with everyone affected by this tragic violence and with the people of Saskatchewan."
And John, I have to say this is a holiday weekend right here in Canada, as well. A lot of people would have been out and about. There were many different community events, a lot of people electing, though, to stay home, not knowing exactly what was going on.
It really mirrors a mass killing, the largest in Canadian history a couple of years ago in Nova Scotia. Again, rural communities, where law enforcement is not omnipresent, right? And so a lot of people, again, continually unnerved and wondering now that it has been almost 24 hours and still no more sightings of these two suspects -- John.
BERMAN: Any information on the background of the suspects?
NEWTON: Not at all. We did have a statement out of the indigenous community just alluding to the tragedy and yet not really giving us any more indication as to whether or not they are members of that community or what may have led up to this.
But again, that is making it so much more difficult for police to retrace these suspects and understand where they were and where they may be going to. Incredibly puzzling.
And when you think these were stabbings, right? As of now, police do not have any indication of firearms were involved, and eyewitnesses are really talking about some very -- very violent and gruesome scenes as those victims tried to get medical help.
BERMAN: As you said, it is the unknown that is most unnerving this morning. Paula, please keep us posted. Thank you.
KEILAR: More than 12 million people hitting the skies this Labor Day weekend. So after a summer filled with flight delays, baggage issues and staffing shortages, how is this weekend stacking up?
CNN's Pete Muntean joins us live, as always, from Reagan National Airport. Tell us how it's looking there, Pete.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It seems like we might hit that 12 million passenger projection, Brianna, of folks traveling on the airlines that have been struggling with staffing issues all summer.
The pressure has been on, not only from passengers but also from the federal government, also from workers. In fact, airline pilots protested at airports across the country just this past week to say that many of these problems are the airlines' own doing.
Look at the latest cancellation numbers, according to FlightAware. Two hundred and ten flight cancellations yesterday. That is the worst we have seen over the weekend.
[06:05:07]
But to put this into context, this is only about a quarter of the worst day of last week. And, remember, there have been about 45,000 flight cancellations in total for the summer. So so far, so good.
Look at the TSA numbers over the week so far. We saw 2.3 million people kick off this rush on Thursday. We will see now as we go through the lull of the weekend and we get the numbers of Sunday, people coming back to flying that now begins the big rush home. The FAA anticipates 41,000 flights in the air today.
People really not all that discouraged, though, by these travel troubles. The real question here was whether or not people would be turned onto driving rather than flying, especially considering the national average for a gallon of gas according to AAA, now $3.75, down from that $5 peak, that all-time record, that we saw back on June 14.
A lot of factors at play here. Now the question is whether or not airlines can really stick this landing, if you pardon the pun, and pull off a full mulligan after what has been such a hard summer for travel. We will see.
This is the last big test they are facing of the summer. Of course, we've got Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, too.
KEILAR: Let's hope they pass that test. Pete Muntean, thank you so much.
BERMAN: And a flash-flood emergency in Northwestern Georgia has become a 1-in-200-year event. Officials are warning this is a particularly dangerous situation with the possibility of two inches of rain per hour.
Seventy-five million Americans are under flood watches across 20 states.
Our meteorologist Chad Myers with us this morning and has the forecast. Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John.
An awful lot of rain in places where people don't want it and some rain in places where people do. Right now, though, the rain is all the way from Ontario all the way down to the Gulf Coast.
The heaviest rain overnight has been just North of Boston where flash flood warning are still in effect.
Down to the South, we are going to see these 75 million people under the flash flood, either advisories or watches or later on today, obviously, there will be warnings.
This is what the radar is going to look like. And this is not going to be any picnic for those airline flyers that we just talked about. Big storms over big cities, especially into New York City, into Boston, into D.C., over the next several and even 24-hour period before it finally pulls offshore.
Now, the northeast has been in a horrible drought, so we will take this rainfall when we can get it, as long as it doesn't come down too quickly. But that's going to be hard to do over Connecticut when some spots are going to pick up 8 inches of rain just today. So you go from drought to flood, and that's typically how we've been doing it.
Back out to the West, brutal heat. I mean, brutal heat, 110. Look at the color on the map here. Death Valley in the 120s. Even Redding, Sacramento, 115, this afternoon in the shade, John.
BERMAN: That's hot. As for the rain out here, Chad, we've forgotten what it looks like.
MYERS: I know.
BERMAN: We have no memory of what rain is after this summer. I've never seen anything this dry before.
Chad Myers, thank you very much.
MYERS: You're welcome.
KEILAR: President Biden hitting the road with Labor Day campaign stops in the key battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The president returning to Pennsylvania just days after Donald Trump escalated his attacks on Biden and the Justice Department at a rally this weekend.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live at the White House with more on what we should expect -- Jeremy.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brianna.
They say Labor Day is the unofficial kickoff of that midterm campaign season. Certainly, President Biden and many of the candidates in these competitive states have already been doing that over the last couple of weeks.
But today, President Biden will certainly be trying to show that he has earned that moniker that he's given himself of the being the, quote, "most pro-union president."
The president will host -- will participate in a couple of Labor Day events both in Wisconsin, as well as in the state of Pennsylvania. Two very key and competitive battleground states, where the president will be surrounded by union leaders, as well as some of those candidates in those competitive races in both states.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the president participating in Labor Fest there, and he is expected to be joined by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. Not clear if the Senate candidate, Mandela Barnes, will be joining him, as well.
And then in Pittsburgh, President Biden is expected to be joined by John Fetterman, the candidate for U.S. Senate in that state.
Now, listen, Biden advisers say that, in recent weeks, they have felt the wind at their backs as it relates to this midterm push. They believe that the president has secured a number of key legislative accomplishments that the president will certainly be eager to tout today.
And they're also looking to try and turn this into a choice election, rather than a referendum on the president himself.
And certainly, President Trump over the weekend making that a bit easier for President Biden by -- with some of the words that we heard from him in the state of Pennsylvania over the weekend, calling the president an enemy of the state, calling the FBI "vicious monsters" and continuing, of course, to propagate his lies about the 2020 election.
[06:10:09]
Certainly, President Biden has been trying to draw that contrast over the last week, and I expect he'll continue to do that as we now hit this two-month stretch until election day -- Brianna.
KEILAR: All right. We'll be watching with you. Jeremy Diamond, thank you.
BERMAN: A violent holiday weekend that saw many communities suffer through shootings and gun violence. In New York, police are investigating a chaotic car chase and a robbery, all caught on video.
Martin Savidge joins us with more on what's happened. Good morning, Martin.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Yes, another violent weekend in America, and of course, in the minds of many this weekend, it is not over. We begin, as you say, in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): A car chase and robbery caught on camera. In a video obtained by law enforcement in New York, a car crashes into this silver SUV on a busy street in Manhattan Saturday afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got a gun. He's got a gun.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): A man emerges and approaches the SUV, wielding a firearm. The victim reported that $20,000 was taken, but law enforcement says there are some inconsistencies with the amount.
In Virginia, seven people were shot in Norfolk after a fight broke out at a house party early Sunday morning.
MICHAEL GOLDSMITH, INTERIM CHIEF, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA: The preliminary investigation reveals that there had been a party at that location that had been advertised on social media. Apparently, a fight broke out at the party, and once the fight started, then somebody pulled out a gun and started shooting.
SAVIDGE: Twenty-five-year-old Zabre Miller and 19-year-old Angelia McKnight were shot and killed.
Norfolk State University said several of the victims were NSU students, including McKnight, who was a second-year pre-nursing student from New York. The president of the university writes, "Angelia's life was important, and every Spartan is a key member of our campus. With our strength, we will continue to work together."
MAYOR KENNY ALEXANDER (D), NORFOLK, VIRGINIA: Violence has no place in the city of Norfolk. Let me be clear to anyone in our community committing crimes and engage in acts of lawlessness, we will hold you accountable for your actions. The violence must end now.
SAVIDGE: In Florida Saturday night, two people were shot and killed and at least three more injured outside a restaurant in Palatka.
In Charleston, South Carolina, a shooting early Sunday morning left five with nonlife-threatening gunshot wounds. Two were arrested and charged with firearm violations.
The Minnesota State Fair closed early after a shooting injured one person Saturday night. The area was heavily populated, and police haven't released the identity of any suspects or a motive. And in Maryland outside Washington, D.C., two teens were shot and
injured outside an AMC movie theater. Hours earlier, moviegoers were evacuated from another D.C. area theater after a threat to harm was reported. Police were called and shut down the theater for the rest of the day, according to CNN affiliate WJLA.
ELIZABETH HARVEY, WITNESS: I heard that in one of the movie theaters, someone had said, You all are going to die, which caused the -- I guess the crowds to flee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: And of course, John, now the focus of law enforcement will switch to another concern, which is, of course, the roads and the highways across America, as many people begin the trip back home -- John.
BERMAN: Yes. This weekend not over yet. Martin Savidge, thank you so much for that report.
A Memphis teacher abducted while jogging now a suspect has been charged in her disappearance.
And a top executive at Bed, Bath & Beyond falling 18 floors to his death from a high-rise in Manhattan.
KEILAR: And starting tomorrow, many corporate bosses are telling their workers it's time to get back to the office. Will they comply or head for the exits?
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[06:18:06]
KEILAR: This morning a suspect facing charges in the disappearance of Eliza Fletcher, who investigators believe was abducted while jogging on Friday morning.
Police say Cleotha Abston is charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
Surveillance video showing Fletcher jogging when a man hops out of a black SUV and forces her inside. Police arrested Abston Saturday after they found the SUV. DNA from a pair of sandals found near the site also helped investigators link Abston with Fletcher's disappearance.
Witnesses also say Abston was behaving oddly after the abduction, cleaning the inside of his SUV and washing his clothes in a sink. Police say Fletcher has still not been located. She is a junior kindergarten teacher. You can see here she is a mother of two.
BERMAN: That's horrible.
Law enforcement confirming to CNN that the CFO of Bed, Bath & Beyond has died after jumping from the 18th floor of his Manhattan high-rise apartment. CNN's Brynn Gingras here with the details. Good morning, Brynn.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning.
An esteemed colleague in the financial community is one way the independent chair of the company's board of directors is remembering Gustavo Arnal this morning.
The 52-year-old, though, is also a father and a husband. Police found Arnal's body Friday after a law enforcement source tells CNN he jumped from the balcony of his 18th floor apartment in a Manhattan high-rise. His wife witnessing it. No criminality is suspected, according to that source.
Arnal, the chief financial officer of Bed, Bath & Beyond, had been with the company for more than two years. The board's chair saying he was "instrumental in guiding the organization throughout the coronavirus pandemic, transforming the company's financial foundation and building a strong and talented team."
The company, though, struggling as of late. CNN reporting last week that Bed, Bath & Beyond is trying to avoid bankruptcy by shrinking, resulting in layoffs for 20 percent of its workforce, closing 150 locations and dumping several of its in-house brands.
[06:20:07]
And less than two weeks ago, Arnal was specifically named as a defendant in a class action suit filed in which he and other stakeholders are accused of a pump-and-dump scheme, essentially artificially inflating the company's value prior to selling shares.
Arnal is also accused of misleading investors about the company's strategic plan and financial conditions in that same suit.
Now, it's unclear why Arnal may have taken his own life. A source tells CNN there was no note left behind, but that investigation is ongoing this morning, John.
BERMAN: All right. Brynn Gingras, keep us posted, please. Thank you.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.
An airport worker is charged after stealing a plane and threatening to crash it into a Mississippi Walmart. The latest on why he did it.
KEILAR: Plus, a lawsuit accusing a Black Lives Matter executive of siphoning millions of dollars from the organization. We'll have the details next.
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[06:25:20]
KEILAR: A court filing reveals that a Black Lives Matter executive is accused in a lawsuit of siphoning more than $10 million in charitable donations to the group.
CNN's Athena Jones joins us now with the details here -- Athena.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brianna.
This is a messy and very public fight. The grassroots arm of the Black Lives Matter organization is accusing this executive at the organization's foundation arm of essentially diverting this money to pay his own consulting firm and others. This is all part of a court filing.
BLM Grassroots is suing the executive, Shalomyah Bowers, the foundation, a Bowers consulting firm, and several other unnamed individuals.
Black Lives Matter Grassroots wants a jury trial, and they want the money back.
Now, this foundation was created to raise money to fund the on-the- ground efforts of Black Lives Matter. Well, now Black Lives Matter Grassroots is accusing Bowers of unfair business practices, fraud, intentional misrepresentation, among other things.
In the court filing they say, "Mr. Bowers continues to fraudulently raise money from unsuspecting donors, passing himself off as the organization that is doing the work of BLM, padding his own pockets and that of his associates at the cost of BLM's reputation."
Now, Bowers has denied the claims in this lawsuit. In a statement put out by the board, which is Bowers and two other people, they argue that this is really about a fight over who's in control of the foundation's purse strings. And they take issue with several of the facts as laid out in this suit.
Their -- the board statement goes on to call these accusations "harmful, divisive and false," and it says of this very public fight, "It only gives fodder to right-wing media's clear agenda of sowing distrust and division among black folks. And it is in deep contrast to abolitionist values and the fight for black liberation."
Now, of course, Black Lives Matter has increasingly become a target on the right, particularly after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. And even the term "Black Lives Matter," or just "BLM" has become something of a slur, a boogeyman.
This is a group -- their members are often portrayed as violent and/or corrupt, grouped in with Antifa and seen by many on the right as, you know, lawless protesters. Bowers and his allies are arguing that this very public fight just adds or gives fodder to those right-wing efforts to delegitimize the group and its aims -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Athena, we know you will follow this for us. Thank you, Athena Jones.
BERMAN: A Mississippi man is facing charges of grand larceny and making terroristic threats after stealing a plane and threatening to crash it into a local Walmart.
Cory Patterson landed in a field Saturday more than four hours after he took off from Tupelo Regional Airport, where he was employed for ten years. He was taken into custody and is being held without bond bond.
With us now is aviation attorney Justin Green. He's also the former president of the International Air and Transportation Safety Bar Association.
Justin, great to see you here. How can someone just take a plane from an airport and fly it? Aren't there supposed to be measures in place to keep this from happening?
You have to look at how many airports there are in the U.S., hundreds of airports in New York alone, thousands and thousands of airplanes, some airports like JFK, Newark, LaGuardia, very secure. Other airports, it's basically mom-and-pop shops.
So there is always going to be this -- this problem of people being able to gain access to the airplanes. And most scary is when the people that we trust, the people that you let onto the flight line, the people, the mechanics, the pilots, when they take the airplane.
BERMAN: He's in the airport already, so what's to keep him from taking off even, you know, before 6 a.m.
All right. When this plane was in the air, what was most concerning to you?
JUSTIN GREEN, AVIATION ATTORNEY: Well, obviously, he was threatening to crash it into the Walmart. You know, the airplanes are essentially built to be as light as possible, so it's actually the engines and the fuel on board that pose the greatest threat. So I was actually happy to see that he was draining his fuel out because the crash would have caused less of a secondary fire.
BERMAN: What can you do when someone is flying a plane like this in the air; you know they may have bad intentions? What are the different calculations? Can you shoot it down?
GREEN: Well, the U.S. can definitely shoot it down, but the problem with that is, you know, it's going to be potentially over a populated area. So there's actually pretty limited things they can do. Talking the person down is probably the best hope, and I'm very happy to see that he changed his mind and landed in a field.
BERMAN: Yes. They did have contact with him fairly early on. They did manage probably what was the best of all possible outcomes. Yes?
GREEN: That's right. And one of the things that you're going to find out is this happens, you know, every few years, something like this happens. Back in 2018 in Seattle, somebody -- a line person stole an airplane.
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