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Officer Under Investigation for Behavior at Uvalde School Shooting Hired at Another School; Couple Who Recently Bought Home in Sanibel Island, Florida, Finds It Destroyed by Hurricane Ian; Family Kidnapped in California Found Dead; Key Oil-Producing Nations to Slash Output, Gas Prices Likely to Rise. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired October 06, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Returning to Sanibel Island, homeowners now coming face to face with Hurricane Ian's devastation.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: A heartbreaking update this morning in the search for a kidnapped family of four just days after being abducted at gunpoint.

And the world's major oil producers announcing plans to slash oil production. The impact and response this morning.

BERMAN: We begin this morning with a CNN exclusive, a gut punch for the parents of Uvalde, Texas. CNN has learned that a former Texas state trooper who was under investigation for her response to the Uvalde school massacre has been rehired. She is now protecting some of the children, the same children who survived the shooter, at another elementary school in Uvalde. You're looking at bodycam footage obtained exclusively by CNN of then trooper Crimson Elizondo during the shooting the Robb Elementary. She arrived at the scene within two minutes of the gunman entering the school. Elizondo was recognized on this footage by parents at a different school in the Uvalde district where she was recently hired as a police officer, as a security officer.

GOLODRYGA: A comment made by trooper Elizondo on that body camera footage has parents in Uvalde outraged, and for good reason. Listen to what she told colleagues after delivering medical care to survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRIMSON ELIZONDO: My son is in daycare. He's not old enough. No, if my son had been in there, I would not have been outside, I promise you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: There are just no words.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz broke the story of Officer Elizondo's new job. He tried to get some answers from her and a school district official. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: I actually have some questions for you now. Offier Elizondo, I'm doing a story about you and your time at DPS. I'd like to ask you some questions, if possible.

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 her actions are under investigation? Mr. Miller, you don't want to respond to that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And with me now is Kimberly Mata-Rubio. Her daughter, Lexi, was one of 19 children killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary. And we continue to mourn alongside you for your loss. This news that we're reporting, that this officer who was at Robb Elementary that day, has now been hired by a different school to protect children. What's your reaction?

KIMBERLY MATA-RUBIO, DAUGHTER LEXI WAS KILLED IN UVALDE MASSACRE: Trooper Elizondo's inaction that day is disgusting, and as a mother, incomprehensible. The body camera you just aired is further evidence of the massive failure by Texas DPS, and as promised, I expect Director McCraw's resignation. As far as UCISD, given the disturbing information you just released, they can't be trusted with decisions that have been made in regard to the safety of our children. Us families have been calling for the officers to be suspended pending the conclusion of investigation, and now we can see why.

BERMAN: Given how she performed, and you saw her perform at Robb Elementary that day, how safe would you feel with her at a different school protecting children?

MATA-RUBIO: If she is at Uvalde elementary, that is where my son, who was also at Robb Elementary that day, that's where he goes to school, my husband spotted her on body camera footage as he has been following the news, and noted she was there at is 11:35, that's two minutes after the shooting. And then together while we were waiting in line to pick up our son, we spotted her on campus. And there's just no words. I don't understand how after everything that has happened you haven't learned your lesson, and how the school district didn't do an investigation or look into her before hiring her.

BERMAN: So to be clear, you spotted her, you spotted her, your husband spotted her on campus? What kind of a heads up had you received from either the district or law enforcement that she was going to be at now your son's school?

MATA-RUBIO: None.

BERMAN: No communication?

MATA-RUBIO: No communication. We spotted her on our own. She was helping kids get into their cars.

BERMAN: What does that tell you?

MATA-RUBIO: It tells me that they didn't do their jobs again. We've heard reports that the Pete Arredondo shouldn't have been hired as chief, but they didn't look into his background. And now they've hired this woman to work as a school resource officer without even calling DPS?

BERMAN: How did you stomach that? You said you and your husband, there were just no words. Talk to me more about that.

[08:05:02]

MATA-RUBIO: I think we just looked at each other and we just thought this isn't right. This isn't her. And the further we got up into the line, we realized that this is her. The school district doesn't care about my kids. And I've been so patient. We enrolled our kids this year again. They're still with UCISD. I gave them a chance to redeem themselves, to make things right, and it's just blow after blow.

BERMAN: Do you feel safe with your kids at this school?

MATA-RUBIO: I don't feel safe with my kids anywhere.

BERMAN: It hurts to hear you say that, but I understand where you're coming from. Do you feel as if the town has your back?

MATA-RUBIO: Absolutely not. Brett Cross, another parent, has been protesting at the campus, central office. We go by there to visit him. No one's there. A few people.

BERMAN: So now that this is --

MATA-RUBIO: -- of the kids that are still at school.

BERMAN: Now that this is out there, now that you and your husband spotted her there, what response have you received now that this issue has been raised?

MATA-RUBIO: I haven't seen much. I posted that I wanted Director McCraw to resign, and that this woman was in the wrong. And I didn't get a lot of interaction online. And I posted again and said, don't think that I haven't noticed the lack of response. Wrong is wrong. Whose side are you on? You should be supporting these families.

BERMAN: Again, you say to them, you've asked them, you've pointed this out to them and asked for a response, and they just dodge you and don't respond at all?

MATA-RUBIO: I've heard one person for the school district did respond to my question about why she was employed. He said that she had only been out in the hallway. And my response was -- or she had been outside the building and not in the hallway. And my response was that's even worse. She didn't even try to go inside. I'm seeing a little bit of different footage now that maybe she was in the hallway, but she still doesn't do her job.

BERMAN: Kimberly Mata-Rubio, thank you for being with us this morning. Again, we are so sorry for your loss. We are thinking about you and your family every day.

MATA-RUBIO: Thank you. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: The heartbreak is just endless. The least, the very least that this school district and that those there that are supporting these students are that say they're supporting these students can do is be there for these families, that these families can rely on them. She says she has no trust, that there's no one there for her. And can you blame them or her husband for themselves having spotted the woman?

BERMAN: How can you -- I think the question is, or a question is, how can you continue to surprise these families after they've been through so much? How can you continue to put them in the position where they spot this officer at the school with no warning whatsoever? They've been through so, so much, and you can just sense the frustration. It's beyond frustration.

GOLODRYGA: And it's beyond cruel at this point. They're just reliving this nightmare.

We're going to switch gears now and turn to Florida, where Floridians are beginning to discover what's left of their homes on the Sanibel Island, which remains cut off from the mainland. Despite warnings that hurricane Ian decimated the island, they were not ready to find their neighborhood unrecognizable. CNN's Randi Kaye is live in Naples, Florida, with more. Randi, what are you seeing there?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, it was a very emotional journey back to Sanibel Island. We went with a couple. They had bought their home there two years ago, they called it dream home. They evacuated for hurricane Ian. They thought they'd be back in a few days. But we were along with them as they got their first look at the damage to their home. And at times it was really overwhelming for them. This is what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: It's 7:00 a.m. and Julie Emig and Vicky Paskaly are on a boat for Sanibel Island. This will be the first time seeing their home up close since hurricane Ian swept through here, and they have no idea what to expect.

How do you feel about coming here today?

VICK PASKALY, SANIBEL ISLAND RESIDENT: Very apprehensive. I almost don't want to know. I'm afraid of what we're going to see.

JULIE EMIG, SANIBEL ISLAND RESIDENT: This time it's not going to be the same. Our island has been changed.

KAYE: We made our way from the mainland across the gulf of Mexico because the one road in was destroyed. [08:10:00]

You see where the causeway used to be. What did you think?

EMIG: Troubling. It's troubling to know that mother nature is that powerful.

KAYE: With the island cut off, Julie and Vicky had to hire a private boat to take them to Sanibel. Captain Brandon (ph) Mossen (ph) was at the wheel for the hour-long journey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like there's an opening right here.

KAYE: As we edged closer to Sanibel, now just a couple miles out, the destruction left in Ian's path became clear.

PASKALY: It's just gone. Our beach is gone.

KAYE: Once off the boat, it's around a mile on foot to their home. What they see is overwhelming.

EMIG: We live down this way. This beautiful street that's been forever changed. Oh my God, their house is gone. Total devastation. Totally changed. It just heartbreaking to see this. Unbelievable.

KAYE: They're closer to their house now but still unsure what they will find until they make the turn and the bend.

PASKALY: I think I see the back of our house.

KAYE: Remarkably, their house is still standing.

There's all kind of stuff that doesn't even belong to them in their backyard. We found these, these are somebody else's camera negatives, certainly not theirs. And also in the backyard, this bag of birthday card for someone's 60th birthday, certainly not their name on it and not their collection of cards. And look at this. This is what's left of a door from a woman's restroom from a clubhouse at a resort that is blocks and blocks away from here.

PASKALY: How do you ever start with this?

KAYE: With the power out, it took about an hour to get the hurricane shutters opened manually.

PASKALY: Upstairs is, we're good here.

KAYE: But on their lower level, hurricane Ian had left his mark. In the garage, the floors were slick with mud and sludge and the smell was unbearable.

EMIG: We were wondering how high the water got. This tells us the story right here. This tells us the story. About six feet of water in here.

KAYE: And their mini-cooper, which they left behind when they evacuated, full of water and mold, all of this just beginning to sink in.

EMIG: I know.

KAYE: And in their lower level apartment, the force of the water destroyed the kitchen, the island flipped on its side, and the refrigerator yanked out of the wall and left to rest on top of the kitchen counter.

PASKALY: This was our dream home. Sanibel provided it to us for two years. It was wonderful.

KAYE: Until Ian took it away.

PASKALY: Until Ian took it away.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KAYE (on camera): And Julie and Vicky say they will rebuild. They just don't know where to start, as you heard her say there. They do have hurricane insurance and flood insurance, but the way it works on Sanibel Island, Bianna, is that the lower level, which is where you saw that mud and muck and mold, is not covered by flood insurance. So that will be on them. They will have to figure out how who to pay for that. And, of course, other parts of Sanibel Island were far worse hit than their area. So the question is, will the rest of the people rebuild? We saw beach cottages that were caved in, mattresses in the street, we saw a refrigerator in a tree. So it's going to be a long time before that island can recover, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And this insurance issue is one that many families there in that state are facing right now. Will they be covered? Can they afford to rebuild? And they're considered the lucky one. They survived this. Randi Kaye, thank you.

KAYE: Absolutely.

BERMAN: A tragic end of to the case of a kidnapped family in California. Authorities say a farm worker discovered the bodies of the four family members, including an eight-month-old girl. Surrounding video showed them being abducted this week at gunpoint. A suspect is in custody.

CNN's Natasha Chen live in Los Angeles with the latest here. Natasha?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, the family yesterday during a press conference was pleading for help, saying that they were emotionally dying every minute not having any clues. By early evening they got their answer, and it's not the one they were hoping for. The sheriff when the bodies were found was even a bit emotional, especially because he says this involves the killing of a child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF VERN WARNKE, MERCED COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Our worst fears were realized tonight. CHEN: A tragic end in Merced, California. Four family members

kidnapped from their trucking business were found dead Wednesday night according to the Merced County sheriff.

WARNKE: It was a farm -- not farm worker. It was a fellow under contract who cleaned an orchard. It's harvest time, and he was out there helping with harvest and came across them. We believe fully that our victims were deceased before we even got notified of the crime.

CHEN: The sheriff expressed his anger after the bodies were found.

WARNKE: There's a special place in hell for this guy. I'm hoping our district attorney's office goes for the death penalty. I'm going to tell you that right now. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. And I would like to be there when that happens. That's how pissed I am with this. This is completely and totally senseless, a whole family wiped out, and we still don't know why.

[08:15:00]

CHEN (voice-over): This brutal discovery comes after authorities released surveillance footage of eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri, along with her parents Jasleen Kaur and Jasdeep Singh, her uncle, Amandeep Singh, kidnapped at gun point.

In the video, an unidentified man is seen with a white trash bag, crossing the parking lot Monday morning, and Jasdeep. He drops the trash bag and then pulls out what appears to be a firearm.

Jasdeep and Amandeep are then seen with their hands tied behind their backs with the zip ties, forced into a truck by the gunman. The gunman returned six minutes later, and is seen taking Jasleen and baby Aroohi to the same truck.

A suspect was apprehended on Tuesday after attempting to take his own life. Doctors had to initially sedate him given his condition. However, local authorities have started talking to the suspect and are trying to figure out a motive.

An ATM card belonging to one of the victims was used in a neighboring town. Authorities there received information that the 48-year-old might be connected to the case. He is considered the sole suspect at this time and no charges have been filed, but the sheriff says others may have been involved.

The sheriff says the suspect also has a criminal history.

SHERIFF: Well, I can tell you right now, in 2005, he was arrested for something very similar. He did seven years in prison, was paroled in 2015 and here we go again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHEN: The sheriff did say that they're not revealing details of the conversation they're having with the man in custody, but yesterday, before the bodies were found, the sheriff did mention that because a victim's ATM card was used in a bank transaction and other circumstances, he does suspect that money maybe a part of this -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Natasha, it's an awful story. Thank you so much for bringing us up to date.

The world's top oil producers announcing plans to slash production in a move that could push gas prices higher. How the White House is responding next.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, support for Iranian protesters reaching the European parliament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Until the women of Iran are free, we are going to stand with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAITHAM AL-GHAIS, SECRETARY-GENERAL, OPEC: We are not endangering the energy markets. We are providing security, stability to the energy markets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At a price.

AL-GHAIS: Everything has a price. Energy security has a price as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: OPEC+ announced that it will cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day. That's the biggest slash since the start of the pandemic. The White House called the decision from the group of major oil producers, quote, concerning and unnecessary. The move undermines President Biden's controversial visit to Saudi Arabia this summer, where he tried to convince Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to increase oil production.

Joining me now is senior adviser for global energy secretary at the State Department, Amos Hochstein.

Amos, great to you have on this morning.

So, let's pick up with that controversial visit to Saudi Arabia by the president back in July. He left with a promise from MBS and OPEC producers that they would actually increase production by over a million barrels a day. What's happened since then?

AMOS HOCHSTEIN, SENIOR ADVISER FOR GLOBAL ENERGY SECURITY, STATE DEPARTMENT: Well, first, good morning. It's good to be with you. And let me just reiterate again, as you said, we think the statement

that they issued yesterday that they're going to cut production by 2 million barrels is a mistake and the wrong thing to do, especially as the world is reeling from high energy prices resulting from the war in Ukraine. This will primarily affect, to be honest, low-income and middle income developing countries who are reeling from high-energy prices today and where Saudi Arabia and Russia is working together to -- against their interest.

(CROSSTALK)

GOLODRYGA: Go ahead, go ahead.

HOCHSTEIN: As you said, the president was in fact in Saudi Arabia a few months ago. Since the time we made the decision to go on that trip, prices have gone from about $120 to about $88 or so, still a $30 decrease in oil prices and gasoline prices for American consumers have gone down from a very high peak of $5 to somewhere in the range of $3.50, to $3.70.

So the president has been very focused on bringing down oil prices and bringing gasoline prices for American consumers. And he's done that. We're going to continue to do that.

But the trip, as you recall, the president specifically said before the trip, during and after the trip, it was not about oil. At the end of the day, that was about geostrategic interests of the United States in the region. We wanted to strengthen the integration of Israel into the Arab world, to the Gulf, and achieve the overflights from Israel over the Gulf for the first time and after many, many years of trying to do that, moving Iraq away from Iran, and to be more aligned with the Gulf, and to address several other strategic security concerns.

GOLODRYGA: Sure.

HOCHSTEIN: So, that is why the president made that trip, not about oil. It is true that in July and August, Saudi Arabia and other increased production to their record levels in July and August and into September as well.

GOLODRYGA: Which was why -- which was why this was viewed as a surprise and by many seen as a form of OPEC, including Russia, OPEC+ weaponizing oil and energy resources. Do you view it that way as well?

HOCHSTEIN: I absolutely view it that OPEC+ led by Saudi Arabia and Russia were -- what they did yesterday was a huge mistake and unwarranted. Prices are, frankly, when they say that there's energy security has a price, that is true but not this price.

Prices of oil are still high. There was no need for this step. We've been very clear about that.

And we're going to work to identify the tools that we have to ensure that organizations like OPEC that assign quotas to their members of how much produce are not -- have a muted and less of an impact on American consumers and the global economy. GOLODRYGA: Well, how -- how will this impact American consumers?

Because estimates show that we can now expect gas price increases of 15 to 30 cents a gallon.

[08:25:04]

Is that what you're anticipating as well?

HOCHSTEIN: No, I think we have to see how this develops. I think the price now has been priced in today. We've seen an increase in oil prices over the last few days but they are from a low that we reached in oil prices that dates back to the pre-pan -- before the war, before the war started in Ukraine.

So we were going in the right direction. Prices were going down. They've now increased a bit.

As I've said, just a few months ago, the price of oil was $30 higher than it was and gasoline prices for consumer were more than a dollar higher than they are now, $1.30 higher than what they are now. So it may be a few cents. We've seen some of the reports that California prices are coming down. That should impact the national average as well.

So, we're still going to work. The president is still instructing to work, do whatever we can --

GOLODYRGA: Amos, can I get you to just weigh in on the question of America's moral authority here?

Because there was a lot of pushback, as you know, going into that visit to Saudi Arabia given that country's human rights records. We know that this war in Russia, in Ukraine is being funded by the sale of Russian oil. There are reports from "The Wall Street Journal" that the U.S. is considering lifting sanctions on Venezuela so that they can produce more oil.

First, can you confirm that last point? And second, why isn't it more important to have lower oil prices and gas prices than it is to perhaps end funding a war?

HOCHSTEIN: So, the president, I will tell you this, I was on the trip with the president and the very first thing that he did with the crown prince was raise issues of human rights. It was the first part of the conversation. It was honest. It was direct and it did not mince words as far as where the U.S. policies are and the values of the United States and as represented by Joe Biden who as president and his entire career stood for those values.

So, those were communicated in the most direct way possible, as we've said.

As far as Venezuela, I don't have anything to report to you today about that article. We have not made any decisions there.

We are focused on what we can do here at home, about making sure that increased production at home is able to sustain the -- whatever decisions are made outside the United States. We've already seen increases of production of about a half a million barrels a day by the U.S. industry. We expect those to go up into 2023. The president ordered an historic release from the strategic petroleum reserve --

GOLODRYGA: Which are at decades -- multi-decades low. Is there any concern the national energy security on that front?

HOCHSTEIN: I think we're doing it with all attention to our economic security and our national security. We've taken steps which we believe are prudent to support the U.S. economy and we'll continue to do that.

We announced that we do 180 million barrels within about six months. It's been more than six months, but we haven't yet released 180. So, we're still in the original plan.

The president announced yesterday we are going to release another 10 million barrels in the month of November to support the American economy.

And we are laser focused -- the president is laser-focused on reducing prices for consumers and we believe we have the tolls here at home to work with our allies and to work with Congress to make sure that we address the mistake that OPEC made yesterday, which was the wrong direction. And again, I believe it will have less of an impact in the United States and far more of an impact on lower income countries around the world.

GOLODRYGA: OK.

HOCHSTEIN: So, we're going to do everything we can to make sure that a small number of countries does not affect the American consumer.

GOLODRYGA: Amos Hochstein, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

HOCHSTEIN: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: North Korea firing two short range ballistic missile overnight. It's the second launch this week. How are international leaders responding.

BERMAN: And anti-government protests in Iran intensify despite crackdowns. Christiane Amanpour with us, ahead.

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