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North Korea Fires 2 More Missiles; U.S. Believes Ukraine is Behind Assassination of Putin Ally's Daughter; House GOP Aiming for DHS Chief's Impeachment; Clinics Across 14 States Have Stopped Abortion Care Post-Roe; Ex-Trooper Investigated Over Uvalde School Shooting Rehired to Secure School; Oz's Medical Research Under Scrutiny Amid PA Senate Race. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired October 06, 2022 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Dangerous new developments on the Korean Peninsula. I'm John Berman. Bianna Golodryga is in for Brianna this morning. Great to see you here.
[05:59:23]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST/ANCHOR: Good to be with you. Busy morning.
BERMAN: Yes, it is a busy morning on the Korean Peninsula, to be sure. North Korea test firing two more ballistic missiles overnight, two days after launching an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan.
North Korea has conducted now 24 missile tests so far this year, and the pace does seem to be accelerating.
GOLODRYGA: The U.S., as expected, reacting quickly, moving a Navy aircraft carrier strike group into the waters off the Korean Peninsula.
South Korea is calling the North's recent launches a, quote, "serious provocation" that threatens peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the international community.
According to U.S. intelligence, the missile tests do not pose an immediate threat to the United States.
BERMAN: Let's go live right to South Korea and Seoul and bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks. Paula, give us the latest.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we're hearing here from the South Korean side that the USS Ronald Reagan is back in the waters off the east coast of South Korea, carrying out naval drills, as North Korea fires yet more missiles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS (voice-over): As North Korea continues to break its own missile launch record, South Korea says trilateral naval exercises are back in its waters. The U.S., South Korea and Japan holding drills to track and intercept missiles, a response to the North's launches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the impact of all this? You know, American aircraft carriers cruising around. Carrier? pretty much nothing. It will probably make some people in the United States and Republic of Korea a bit happier. But it will have zero impact on North Korea's behavior and decision-making.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): North Korea blamed their recent flurry on the U.S. Thursday, calling them just counteraction measures against last week's U.S.-South Korea naval drills.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It will only increase the condemnation, increase the isolation, increase the steps that are taken in response to their actions.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): But a United Nations Security Council hearing this week suggested Pyongyang is not isolated. While the U.S. blamed Russia and China, without naming them, for enabling North Korea, Russia and China blamed the United States for increasing tensions, a schism that benefits Pyongyang.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kim Jong-un is doing what he thinks he can get away with. He's not expecting any kind of strong U.S. reaction. He's letting the South Korean government and the U.S. government know that he has significant capability.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): North Korea is expected to continue capitalizing on geopolitical turmoil. A seventh underground nuclear test expected at any time. If it happens, most likely after the Chinese Party Congress, so as not to anger its main benefactor.
Kim Jong-un also released a five-year plan less than two years ago. He appears to be working his way through that list.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS (on camera): Which is leading many experts to believe that Kim Jong-un will continue in the vein that he is in -- John.
BERMAN: The question really is how far will this go?
CNN's Paula Hancocks, thank you very much for that.
GOLODRYGA: Well, CNN has learned this morning that U.S. intelligence officials believe people within the Ukrainian government authorized the car bombing that killed the daughter of a Putin ally back in August.
But sources say Darya Dugina may not have been the intended target.
Joining me now is CNN White House reporter Natasha Bertrand. Natasha, this is very interesting, because at the time, the Ukrainians defiantly saying that they were not behind this murder.
What more are we learning? How significant are these findings from the U.S. intelligence? NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Bianna.
They are quite significant because, of course, if this is the case, then it would signal a dramatic expansion of Ukraine's covert options inside Russia. Right?
And so what we are learning is that the U.S. intelligence community does believe that elements within the Ukrainian government authorized this attack on Dugina. But it was not her who was the intended target, actually. It was actually her father, who is a Russian ultra nationalist, a philosopher, a political figure inside Russia, who is a major proponent of the war in Ukraine.
Now, it is unclear whether the U.S. intel community believes that President Zelenskyy had anything to do with this, or signed off on it, or authorized it in any way. And it's been kind of vague in terms of which elements within the Ukrainian government they believe actually signed off on this.
But what we do know that is that the intel community says that they have intelligence that suggests that they were targeting her father, and not her.
But what happened was that she was driving his car at the time of the attack.
Now, just going back to what I mentioned earlier about this signaling a dramatic expansion of their operations there. Before this, their operations really had seemed to be limited to kind of the Southwestern part of Russia along the border with Ukraine, targeting military bases and fuel depots there.
This really struck in the heart of Russia, just outside Moscow. So clearly something that the U.S. is pretty concerned about at this point.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, the U.S. also concerned the Russians could continue to retaliate against high-level officials in Ukraine, as well.
Natasha Bertrand, thank you, as always.
BERMAN: This morning, a tragic end to the search for a missing family of four in California. Police say a farm worker found the father, mother, uncle, and 8-month-old baby dead in an extremely remote area.
Surveillance video shows the family being kidnapped at gunpoint from their trucking business. Officials say the suspect tried to take his own life before being taken into custody, and the motive remains unclear.
The sheriff expressed his frustration, speaking with reporters overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF VERN WARNKE, MERCED COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: I'm hoping our district attorney's office goes for the death penalty. And I'm going to tell you that right now. I'm not going to sugar coat it. And I would like to be there when that happens. That's how pissed I am with this.
[06:05:09]
This is completely and totally senseless. The whole family wiped out, and we still don't know why.
The circumstances around this, when we are able to release everything, should anger the hell out of you on how things went down. I told the other crew that was here earlier there was a special place in hell for this guy; and I'm -- I'm hoping he is there for a long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: The sheriff says the suspect has been speaking with investigators. What an awful story.
GOLODRYGA: Really upsetting story.
Well, new this morning: more than a dozen of former president Donald Trump's top congressional allies, including several Republicans close to the leadership, tell CNN that, if their party takes the House in the next month's midterms, the secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, not President Biden, is their No. 1 target for impeachment, over problems at the Southern border.
Joining me now is CNN Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona. So Melanie, why are House Republicans so eager to impeach Mayorkas, of all people?
MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a huge reason is politics. Republicans are thirsty for revenge after Donald Trump's two impeachments. The base has really been demanding impeachment of either Joe Biden or one of his cabinet officials. Those calls are only going to grow louder if Republicans take over the House.
And so far, Republicans have really zeroed in on Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, as their No. 1 impeachment target. That is because they, A, think it's going to be more palatable inside their party to go after a political appointee, versus a sitting president.
And B, they think Mayorkas, at least in their minds, embodies one of the issues that animates Republicans the most, which is the Southern border. And Republicans say Mayorkas has failed to secure the border; he has failed to enforce immigration laws.
And just take a listen to what GOP Congressman Chip Roy told my colleague Manu Raju about potentially impeaching Mayorkas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): I think that's something that we ought to consider. But you know, impeachment cases are things you build. I've circulated memoranda articulating why I think that the actions he has taken rise to the level of impeachability. But again, I think you build cases.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZANONA: Now, not everyone in the party thinks this is a good idea. There are some moderates who are worried about political blow-back over immediately moving to impeach.
But it is an idea that is gaining steam in the Republican conference, including from some key McCarthy allies. It is an issue that McCarthy -- Kevin McCarthy, the GOP leader, will have to face almost immediately if he takes over as speaker. But so far, he has really side-stepped impeachment questions, saying they're not going to predetermine the outcome, but not ruling it out either.
GOLODRYGA: Interesting to hear Chip Roy say that they're continuing to build their case as we speak, though.
Has Mayorkas responded at all to this?
ZANONA: So the Department of Homeland Security has really defended its handling of the border. They have said that the department will have removed or expelled more individuals encountered at the border this year than any other year.
They have also said that they have seized over 10,000 pounds of fentanyl from coming across the border this year.
So really, they have just really strongly defended their position. They say that the secretary is solely focused on his mission at DHS.
But I can also tell you, behind the scenes, the administration is staffing up and taking other steps to prepare for potential investigations and impeachment -- Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Melanie Zanona, you'll continue to follow this story for us. Thank you.
ZANONA: Thanks.
BERMAN: A new survey out this morning shows the consequences of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The decision triggered laws in several states banning or restricting abortions.
Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is with us. What do the numbers tell us, Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: John, what the numbers tell us is that it is difficult, actually impossible, for women in 14 states to get abortions in their states.
Let's take a look at a map. In these 14 states, the Guttmacher Institute says there are no abortion providers, none. These are states that have either banned or sort of nearly banned abortions. And in these 14 states, women can -- there are no more clinics that offer abortions. Now, when we look at it this way, look at it another way, in 2020, in
those 14 states, more than 125,000 women got abortions. So that's the number, per year, more than 125,000 women, are seeking abortions in those states, and they're not going to be able to get them.
And John, that map doesn't even include states like Ohio or South Carolina or Indiana, where they do also have near total or total abortion bans, but the courts have stepped in. But it's temporary. The courts could step back out, and those bans would be back on there -- John.
BERMAN: Interesting to see how quickly things like this develop.
Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.
COHEN: Yes.
BERMAN: So we have a CNN exclusive. One of the officers who responded to the Uvalde shooting has been rehired to protect some of the children who survived.
Plus, Mehmet Oz, under fire in Pennsylvania's critical Senate race. Why his opponent is accusing him of animal abuse.
[06:10:07]
GOLODRYGA: And America's national debt hitting an all-time high. How did we get here, and more importantly, where are we heading?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: CNN has exclusive new reporting that reveals one of the state troopers who responded to the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, has been hired by the school district to protect some of the very same children who survived that shooting.
All this while she's under investigation for her actions during the police response at Robb Elementary School.
CNN's Shimon Prokupecz broke this story. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: School shooting. Let's move in.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a community reeling from one of the worst school shootings in history --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm behind you. I'm behind you.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): -- still begging for answers and accountability.
[06:15:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got it. I got it. I got it. I'll stick with you.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): CNN has learned that one of the Texas state troopers under investigation for her actions at Robb Elementary has a new job as a newly-hired school police officer at Uvalde Elementary, trusted with protecting some of the same students who survived the massacre.
Parents of children who were killed at Robb were the first to notice the officer, Crimson Elizondo, on campus, recognizing her from body camera footage of the shooting.
Elizondo, a four-year veteran of the Texas Department of Public Safety, was one of the first law enforcement officers on scene on May 24. She resigned from the DPS over the summer and was hired by the Uvalde School District soon after.
PROKUPECZ: I actually have some questions for you.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): On the playground outside her new post, Elizondo can be seen here in the dark blue uniform.
PROKUPECZ: Officer Elizondo, I'm doing a story about you and your time at DPS. I'd like to ask you some questions, if possible.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Before Elizondo resigned from DPS, her actions and the actions of six other DPS officers at the scene of the shooting were referred for further investigation.
In a redacted internal memo to the organization's director obtained by CNN, DPS cited, quote, "actions which may be inconsistent with training and department requirements" as the reason for the referral.
Despite early efforts by state officials to blame the local police department in Uvalde for the failed response --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we going in or we're staying here? What are we doing?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): -- a time line from body camera footage shows Elizondo arrived on scene just two minutes after the shooting began.
The new information now indicates she was among several DPS officers on scene who potentially could have taken action to stop the gunman.
Footage shows her without a tactical bullet proof vest or long rifle, out of step with active shooter training.
She spends most of the 77 minutes before the classroom was breached outside the school. According to sources familiar with the investigation, Elizondo told investigators that, without her gear, she was not comfortable joining the others inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we going to go around that way or which way?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Out of nearly 400 law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting, 91 were from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Seven of those officers were referred for further investigation for their conduct that day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He shot the windows out.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Crimson Elizondo is one of them. The other six still work for DPS, while the investigation into their actions continues.
It is unclear if the Uvalde School District was aware of the investigation at the time of Elizondo's hiring.
PROKUPECZ: Sir? Sir?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The school district has not responded to emails, calls, or direct questions from CNN.
PROKUPECZ: Sir, do you know this officer who you have recently hired? Are you aware that she's under investigation for her actions on the day of the shooting?
Do you think she's fit to serve here, considering that her actions are under investigation? Mr. Miller, you don't want to respond to that?
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Elizondo's hiring raises further questions about the Department of Public Safety and the lack of transparency around the investigation and the conduct of its troopers.
DPS did not comment for this story.
PROKUPECZ: I think this is important --
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Speaking to CNN in September, DPS director Steven McCraw promised he'll resign if his agency was shown to have culpability for the botched response.
STEVEN MCCRAW, DPS DIRECTOR: I'll be the first to resign, OK? I'll gladly resign. I'll tender my resignation to the governor, OK, if I think there's any culpability in the department, period. OK? We're going to hold the officers accountable. No one gets a pass. But every officer is going to be held accountable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many? As good as you can be.
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): CNN also learning that Elizondo was recorded on video after delivering medical care to survivors, reflecting on the horrors of what she saw inside.
An officer asked if her children attend Robb Elementary. Elizondo's response --
CRIMSON ELIZONDO, FORMER DPS OFFICER: My son's in day care. He's not -- he's not old enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw you.
ELIZONDO: No. If my son had been in there, I would not have been outside, I'll promise you that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to make sure you're good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Shimon Prokupecz joins us now. Shimon, that's a remarkable report. And to think that this officer is now hired to protect some of the very same students who were at Robb Elementary School that day. What are you hearing from the families?
PROKUPECZ: They're upset. Really, really upset. You know, it's been so traumatic for these families, and it's all really compounded by the fact that they can't get answers. There's no accountability.
[06:20:10]
Most of the officers who were there on that day, from the local police to the DPS to all the other agencies that were there, are still working. No one has given the families any kind of information.
And then when they get this kind of information, you know, it's just such a gut punch to them. And they have to relive this moment again and again, because they know that the police messed up that day. And the fact that they can't get any answers.
The other thing that's very frustrating for them is the school district. The school district has not responded to many of their demands, many of their questions.
Going into this story, I repeatedly reached out to the school district. They just ignore us. You know, and when we have critical information like this that we want to share with them and they're ignoring us, you know, for the families, this is, again, another sign of them being disrespected. The continued disrespect of the families are getting from the community and really from the government there in Texas.
GOLODRYGA: And reliving this nightmare, as you said, over and over again.
PROKUPECZ: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: And it was one of the families that actually recognized Officer Elizondo.
PROKUPECZ: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: What's the likelihood that she keeps her job after this?
PROKUPECZ: Well, we don't know. She hasn't been seen at the school since, I would say, early this week when we really started pushing the school district.
BERMAN: Interesting.
PROKUPECZ: Yes, and so a family member noticed her there, recognized her from the body cam footage that was publicly released. We were in this, for this story, able to obtain other body cam footage that no one has ever seen before.
And so before we did this story, I called many of the family members. I had a conference call with them, just to let them know ahead of time this was coming. Because I certainly don't want them to be sitting at home and be -- to be surprised by all of this.
It's something that I think that community, the government there, the state officials need to take into consideration. This -- these families are still hurting so much. It's incredible when you get on the phone with them to still hear their pain, to still hear what -- their frustration, and really over the fact that they are not -- still, almost five months later, not getting the answers that they need and want.
BERMAN: A couple things I'll note, Shimon. You calling the families while you were doing this, that's exactly what they want. They just want to know what's going on. They just don't want to be surprised anymore is what they keep on telling us.
And also, as you say, what they want is answers.
You're asking the questions. To see you there, repeatedly going to those officials, respectfully asking the questions that the families want. This is some report, Shimon. I'm very interested to see what the reaction is over time.
And I should note we're going to speak with one of the parents who lost her daughter in the shooting later in the show.
GOLODRYGA: Thank you, Shimon.
BERMAN: Wonderful work, Shimon.
So 33 days to go until the midterm elections. What are the issues of most importance to voters? Pollster Frank Luntz joins us with that answer.
GOLODRYGA: And what a new poll says about the impact the pandemic has had on our children. That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:27:09]
GOLODRYGA: This morning Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz is under fire. This time, the controversy stems from a report on the website Jezebel, scrutinizing his medical research at Columbia University.
It's prompted animal abuse accusations from his Democratic opponent in that race, John Fetterman. CNN congressional correspondent Jessica Dean joins us now.
So Jessica, I can't say I saw this story coming. How is it impacting one of the most closely watched races in the country?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Bianna.
And yes, this is certainly one of the key races coming up in the midterms. And now we're seeing Mehmet Oz's medical research record really coming under scrutiny here.
And it's stemming from his time as principle investigator at Columbia University's Institute of Comparative Medicine Labs. According to public documents and other documents that CNN has reviewed, he was the principal investigator there.
And that research was focused on a number of animals, including dogs. And as the -- over that principal investigator, his overall responsibility was for the safety and compliance within that research.
Now recently, within the last week, the website Jezebel published a new report, saying that between 1989 and 2010, over 300 dogs were killed in the process of that research. Also, that Columbia University paid a $2,000 fine for all of this.
And as you can imagine, Oz's rival, Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, has jumped at this chance to attack Oz, tweeting and coming out with a number of things, principle among them this tweet, saying, "Dr. Oz kills puppies. That's the tweet."
So Bianna, that kind of gives you the layout of what's going on here.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Creative tweet, and obviously not going to be good news for dog lovers out there in this state. The question is, is it going to have an impact on the race? Have we heard from Dr. Oz and his campaign in response to this?
DEAN: Yes, we have heard from them. You can imagine they were -- they wanted to get out there, and the campaign did want to comment on this. I'll read you what the campaign said.
They said, "Dr. Oz never abused any animals, and suggesting otherwise is ridiculous. Dr. Oz was not in the operating room when the operations were done. He wasn't present during the post-op treatments. No one alerted him of the problem until after the cases were finished, and he does not condone the mistreatment of animals." Again, that coming from Mehmet Oz's campaign.
And Bianna, it's worth noting, again, how critical this race is to who controls the Senate moving forward. Right now, we've got this 50/50 split, with Democrats controlling the Senate. This is an open seat in Pennsylvania, and this race continues to tighten.
So a lot of eyes are on this race to see who will win, and again, it could absolutely control -- determine who controls the Senate moving forward.
GOLODRYGA: A very important race, a lot of money being spent. It is down to the wire. Jessica Dean, thank you.
BERMAN: And indeed, the countdown is on. Less than five weeks to go until the midterm elections. Both the House and the Senate very much up for grabs.
