Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
Kevin J. Lincoln II is Interviewed about Homicides in California; New Image of Debris from Asteroid Impact; FAA Unveils New Rule for Flight Attendants; CIA Director says Putin Can be Dangerous; Crump Sued over GoFundMe Cash. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired October 04, 2022 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
MAYOR KEVIN J. LINCOLN II, STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA: So, our law enforcement, again, our multiagency task force, they're going to continue to do the great job that they're doing, investigating this case and getting to the bottom of it.
But the most important thing is, is to bring justice for these families. And thank you for sharing that image earlier and getting it out there because if the public has information regarding this homicide -- these homicides, these series of homicides, or, quite frankly, any other homicides that have taken place in the city of Stockton, if there's information, it's very, very important to share that information as well, provide that to law enforcement. We have a tip line that's been established. And we have an award for these series of homicides. The award is now up to $95,000. That's $75,000 that we, as a city, have allocated for this investigation for information that leads to the arrest, and then our local Stockton Crimestoppers is adding an additional $10,000. And in addition to that, a local small business owner of a construction company donated $10,000.
And so not only is our law enforcement taking this very seriously, but our entire community is taking this very seriously and stepping up to make sure that we can get to the bottom of this and get that person or those persons that are responsible for these homicides and these violent crimes off the street.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Mayor, we certainly appreciate your time this morning. This is obviously very scary for your community and anyone around the Stockton area.
Thank you.
LINCOLN: Thank you.
KEILAR: Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's bring in CNN chief law enforcement intelligence analyst John Miller.
John, what jumped out to you there? JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, I
think they're doing the right thing. They went back and they looked for similar shootings that were outside this pattern that started in July and they found two, including one that's a homicide, but one with a live victim. That live victim is extraordinarily valuable now because this is someone who may have seen the killer, may have had key details.
But it tells us much more. It tells us that these were probably practice killings before he started this tighter pattern in this smaller area. So now he's engaging, if it is a single individual, in what the profilers would call hunting behavior. He's out there stalking. He's out there hunting. And he only strikes probably when the conditions are ripe because what's common between his killings is desolate areas, lone victims, no apparent witnesses in close proximity and the fact that it's in a relatively tight area probably tells us that that's an area he's comfortable in. He either lives there, or he used to live there, or his mom lives there, but it's a place where walking down the street, if he were stopped, he'd be able to say, here's who I am, here's where I'm going, here's where I'm coming from.
So, I think overnight their investigation turned up extraordinarily valuable clues and we're learning a lot about this offender.
BERMAN: John Miller, thanks for helping us decode what we just heard there. It seems like maybe they're in a different place in this investigation than they were just a few days ago.
Thank you very much.
Ahead, why civil rights attorney Ben Crump is being sued by a former client.
KEILAR: And a stunning streak of debris has been left behind from NASA's spacecraft collision with an asteroid.
And a Rams linebacker doubling as security when a streaker stormed the field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he goes. Yes -- oh, yes, look at this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he is. There he is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes. That's what we're talking about. Wagner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, he's not - Wagner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:37:27] KEILAR: This morning we're getting a new view of the debris left behind after NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid.
CNN's space and defense correspondent Kristin Fisher is with us now.
All right, what exactly are we seeing here?
KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an incredible image in and of itself, right? I mean it looks kind of like a comet streaking across the sky there.
But, Brianna, what's so extraordinary is that humans, people, actually created what you're seeing there. That is a result of the DART crash, that DART spacecraft crashing into an asteroid about ten days ago. The Dimorphous asteroid. And so what you're seeing there -- this was all captured by a telescope in Chile -- is streaks of rocks and debris stretching out for about 6,000 miles away from that point of impact. And so it really just goes to show you that NASA was indeed successful in hitting that asteroid, Dimorphous, right there.
And it's all those -- see all those dots and those chunks of rock on there? That is what is spewing and creating that comet-like trail in that image.
So, NASA definitely made impact. We know that now from multiple angles. Now we just kind of have to wait and see if they were successfully able to push that asteroid just slightly off course.
KEILAR: I still find that image so fascinating. I did not expect it to look exactly like an Almond Roca. That's my opinion, anyway. But --
FISHER: I think it's a - it's a - it's a dragon's egg is what it looked like to me.
KEILAR: Right, a dragon's egg, yes, as well.
So, separately here, tomorrow, and this is significant, a Russian cosmonaut is actually boarding a U.S. rocket on a mission to the International Space Station.
FISHER: I mean isn't this remarkable?
KEILAR: Yes.
FISHER: Given everything that's going on with Ukraine and Russia and relations with the United States. Yes, so for the very first time in about 20 years, Russian cosmonaut, which is a Russian version of astronaut, is going to be launching from U.S. soil on a SpaceX rocket.
Now, the reason it has taken this long for this to happen is largely because, you know, for many years, for the better part of a decade, the United States did not have its own human-rated rocket for any astronauts to fly, on U.S. or Russian. So, this is the first time it's happening in quite some time, largely because of that.
But the timing now, just incredible. This is part of NASA's crew swap agreement. Last week they had a NASA astronaut flying on a Russian Soyuz rocket. Tomorrow at noon this Russian cosmonaut, if all goes according to plan, is going to be launching on a SpaceX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
And so the reason they do this is because they want to maintain good relations between the U.S. and Russia up at the International Space Station.
[08:40:01]
But it is just extraordinary that they are able to, you know, maintain these relationships given everything that's been happening here on planet earth.
KEILAR: Yes, it's really amazing.
Kristin, always lovely to have you. Thank you so much.
FISHER: Great to see you.
BERMAN: Time for "5 Things to Know for Your New Day."
The U.S. and Japan condemning North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch. This one flying over Japan in a provocative weapons demonstration overnight. This is the latest in a series of launches this year by Kim Jong-un, escalating tensions between the countries.
KEILAR: Sources tell CNN Trump lawyer Alex Cannon refused Trump's request to tell the National Archives that all presidential documents had been returned. He declined because he wasn't sure that Trump's statement was true, which it was not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE DOROW: Mr. Brooks, we're having issues because of you.
BROOKS: I'm not going to let you intimidate me into believing something that I know is not true.
DOROW: Mr. Brooks, I am not intimidating you. I am -
BROOKS: Because you can't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Chaos in a Wisconsin courtroom. Darrell Brooks kicked out twice on the first day of his trial for allegedly killing six people by driving an SUV into a crowd at the Waukesha Christmas Parade last year.
KEILAR: A new investigation revealing systemic abuse and misconduct by coaches in the top tier of women's professional soccer. The report also warns that girls face abuse in youth soccer as well. The president of U.S. Soccer calling the findings heartbreaking and deeply troubling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, a streaker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he tear his ACL?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's still going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: During a Monday night game between the Rams and 49ers, a fan started running across the field carrying some kind of a device that emitted pink smoke. Rams linebacker Bobby Wagner delivered the man a pretty big hit, helping security to catch him.
KEILAR: That is "5 Things to Know for Your New Day." More on these stories all day on CNN and cnn.com. And don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast every morning.
BERMAN: Federal aviation officials are expected to announce a plan to help improve work condition for flight attendants. We have the details ahead.
KEILAR: And are migrants in New York traveling to Florida to help out in hurricane relief? The new reports this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:46:34]
KEILAR: Here in just moments, federal aviation officials are expected to make a major announcement that will give flight attendants more mandated rest time between flights.
CNN's Pete Muntean joins us live from Reagan National Airport.
Pete, tell us what this plan looks like.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, this changeover has been hard fought by unions for years. In fact, the Trump administration had the chance to act on this after Congress passed this rule back in 2018, but it did nothing.
What is so interesting here is that this deals with the mandated rest time that flight attendants get between trips. Right now the rule mandates that after up to 14 hours on the job, a flight attendant can have nine hours of rest mandated by the FAA. The airline must give them that time off.
This proposed rule that has been out there for some time, after 14 hours on the job, a flight attendant could get up to ten hours of mandated rest. Now, that hour might not sound like all that big of a difference, but, remember, that flight attendants have been dealing with so much during the pandemic. In fact, they've been protesting at airports across the country saying that they're simply being pushed to the limit.
I want you to listen now to Flight Attendant Damion of Southwest Airlines. He was at a picket last week at Baltimore Washington International Airport. And he said that they are simply being overworked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAMION WEST, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES FLIGHT ATTENDANT UNION: Sometimes the flight attendants are the first person that a passenger sees when something goes wrong. We are the first person, you know, after they pass through security, after they check their bags, we have to deal with the brunt of the frustration in airline travel right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: Flight attendants simply say that they are aviation's first responders. Their job has gotten a lot harder during the coronavirus pandemic. There were more than 5,000 reports of unruly passengers on board commercial airlines in 2021. That number has gone down some in 2022. We're at 1,973 reports by flight crews to the FAA of passengers acting up on planes. The FAA has a zero tolerance policy. This new policy going into effect, the FAA about to announce it in just minutes, could help them a little bit.
Brianna.
BERMAN: Yes, Pete, as someone who doesn't sleep nearly enough, an hour, an extra hour actually does sound like an important, significant amount. And you said this could go into effect soon. When?
MUNTEAN: Pretty soon. If this is the final rule that we will see here, this could go into effect in just days. Remember, this has been waited for, for years. Flight attendants can't get enough help and they want this to go into effect very, very soon. We'll see here.
BERMAN: All right, Pete Muntean, great to see you. Thank you so much for that report.
So, Ben Crump responding to a lawsuit this morning from a family member he used to represent.
KEILAR: And soon, five members of the Oath Keepers will be back in a federal D.C. courtroom for their historic sedition trial. We have a live report ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:53:42]
BERMAN: Dangerous and reckless, that's how the CIA director described Russia's President Vladimir Putin when he is cornered. This as the Russian leader warned that he might fire nuclear weapons at the west, while thousands of his people flee Russia's military draft and as Ukraine makes gains in the east.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL BURNS, CIA DIRECTOR: He's got to be concerned, not just about what's happening on the battlefield in Ukraine, what's happening at home and what's happening internationally. You know, he stood next to Xi Jinping last February, just before the war started, and they proclaimed a friendship without limits. Well, it turns out that that friendship has some limits to. I mean the Chinese have controlled their enthusiasm for Russia's conduct of this war. They haven't provided the kind of military support that Putin has been looking for as well.
So, he's got to be troubled by what he sees. But he's also stubbornly confident in his own judgments. He believes he's tougher than anybody else.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You make it sound like he's even more dangerous.
BURNS: Putin cornered, Putin who feels his back against of wall, can be quite dangerous and reckless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Joining me now is CNN counterterrorism analyst and former CIA counterterrorism official, Phil Mudd.
And the CIA director knows from years of experience what he's talking about here when it comes to Vladimir Putin, cornered, reckless, defensive.
[08:55:00]
What do you think that means, Phil?
PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Boy, I'm taking this first, John, from looking at the personality of the CIA director, Director Burns, whom I know. He's a subdued, understated individual. He's been around for a long time and he knows the Russians. So, when you're looking at what he's saying, you've got to take it at face value.
I think one of the interpretations I would have is, if you're sitting in the Situation Room at the White House, you've got to make sure you don't transition from what you think to what you know. You think, based on Washington interpretation, that it would be highly unlikely for the Russians, for example, to use tactical nuclear weapons. We do not know that. That would seem to be a rash measure by Putin. But based on what Director Burns is saying, you've got to look at the White House and say, we don't think they'd use tactical nukes, but if Putin - if the assessment of Putin is that he's dangerous and cornered, we cannot assume that. We do not know that. And we've got to at least plan for that eventuality. It is really uncomfortable, John.
BERMAN: How good is U.S. intelligence now on Vladimir Putin, particularly human intelligence about what he does, what he thinks, how he feels right now?
MUDD: I'm going to give you an answer you might not expect. I would say, don't count on it. There's a couple of things going on here. There's the difference between assessing what's going on with Russia in the battlefield. I would judge that American -- that the CIA and defense intelligence at the Pentagon are very good on this. And probably excellent.
And there is a long way between that and going to Moscow, where I'm going to judge we have limited access to Putin's inner circle. And understanding what's going on in the mind of a man who used to be a spy. Even if you have access to that inner circle, John, you can't assume that even Putin is telling his inner circle what he thinks or that he even knows what he's going to do next week. So, how the heck do we know? We've got to make judgments about how aggressive he might be, how dangerous he might be, but those are pretty squishy judgments in my experience, John.
BERMAN: Phil, we've got about 30 seconds left.
We know that often there are diplomatic back channels where State Department officials speak to the officials in foreign affairs overseas. What about intelligence back channels?
MUDD: There would be, but I'm not going to assume that those back channels have any way to influence Vladimir Putin. People are talking to people in Moscow and elsewhere, don't count on it. Putin's his own man, John.
BERMAN: Phil Mudd, sobering to say the least. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
MUDD: Thank you.
KEILAR: This morning, the mother of Daunte Wright's son is suing her former attorney, Ben Crump, along with Daunte's parents over GoFundMe money. Wright was shot and killed by a Minnesota police officer during a traffic stop in April of 2021. The mother of his child is now filing suit claiming she hasn't received any of the more than $1 million raised following his death.
CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez is with us now.
Omar, what have you learned?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, so this is being filed by the biological mother of Daunte Wright's son, Daunte Junior. She says she's the sole person who's taken care of this child according to this lawsuit. And it's being filed against Daunte Wright's parents and Ben Crump, who's represented the family.
Now, part of the lawsuit reads that of the $1,039,260 raised through GoFundMe and managed by Crump's law firm, not one single penny has been turned over to the plaintiff for the benefit of Daunte Junior. And despite her claiming in this lawsuit that she was promised up front any GoFundMe proceeds would be split 50/50 between Wright's family and Daunte Junior to make sure he's being taken care of.
BERMAN: Omar, how has Ben Crump responded to this lawsuit? JIMENEZ: Well, basically, John, at this point, Ben Crump is saying that this has nothing to do with me because I didn't manage any funds. And he sent me a statement that reads in part, this is strictly a family dispute between the mother of Daunte Wright's child and Daunte's parents, who set up the GoFundMe account in question. Ben Crump Law did not benefit from any of the funds raised and we did not accept any fee in this case. Our hearts are always with the family, and we pray that they can find resolution.
I've also reaches out to Daunte Wright's parents, his mother in particular, but haven't gotten a response. They have 21 days to respond in court based on what has been filed. But, obviously, this is something that seems to be trying to be figured out at the family level but has now spilled over into the courts.
KEILAR: All right, Omar, we know you'll follow that. Thank you.
BERMAN: And finally, not for the faint of heart. The human tower contest is back.
So, 11,000 people packed a Spanish bull ring to watch people climb on to each other's shoulders to see how high they could go. It's a tradition in Catalonia.
[09:00:01]
The event was paused because of the pandemic. The team from Vilafranca secured first prize with a 43-foot tower.
Now, we should note, there is some risk here. Organizers say seventy- one people -
KEILAR: Yes.
BERMAN: Seventy-one people were treated for injuries, 13 of them taken to the hospital
KEILAR: There is some risk indeed.
All right, CNN's coverage continues right now.
