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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Alleged Pelosi Attacker Pleads Not Guilty To State Charges; Liz Cheney Stumps For Democrat In Race Against GOP Election Denier; New 911 Excerpts Of 10-Year-Old Describing Uvalde Slaughter To Dispatcher; Supreme Court: Graham Must Testify In Georgia Election Probe; CNN Speaks With Friend Of American Student Who Died In Seoul Crowd Crush. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired November 01, 2022 - 20:00   ET

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

ERN BURNETT, CNN HOST: He said the conclusion of the trial was a turning point for him. And today he explained why and he writes in part: "I have decided that it simply won't change the reality or the way I feel, it won't make me feel better. The reality is that I will still visit Jaime at the cemetery and the monsters fate will not change."

Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

AC 360 begins now.

[20:00:24]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening.

We begin tonight with breaking news.

According to authorities, the man charged with trying to kill Paul Pelosi and separately accused of plotting to hold House Speaker Nancy Pelosi captive and break her kneecaps told officers on the scene, "This is a suicide mission."

David DePape was in Court today in San Francisco. Those words are from the State's motion to detain him. CNN has obtained a copy and that is not all he reportedly said. We'll have more of the details on that in a moment.

Just in tonight, Hillary Clinton is speaking out for the first time about the attack, here is what she just said on MSNBC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER US SECRETARY OF STATE: I think what we're seeing today, and it has certainly been thrown into very high relief by the horrific attack on Paul Pelosi is not just an aberration, where one or two people or a small group engage in that kind of violent rhetoric and urge people to take action against political figures, like her, like me, like others.

We're seeing a whole political party, and those who support it, those who enable it, those who run under its banner engaging in behavior that is so dangerous, and I find frankly disqualifying for people who are running for office.

I would like every American just to stop and think about that. This is the kind of violent rhetoric that leads to violent action, that props up authoritarians, and that is unfortunately what we see in the Republican Party today supporting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Up to that point, there were more reasons to believe the threats facing lawmakers, including Speaker Pelosi has not gone away. Some of it is fueled by conspiracy theories like the ones the defendant apparently bought into. The former President amplified one as well today.

Also as if to underscore that threat picture, there was this from the trial of five alleged leaders of the so-called Oath Keepers. Jurors were shown a series of text messages from January 6th referring to Speaker Pelosi, one of them reads, "Was hoping to see Nancy's head rolling down the front steps."

We begin in San Francisco where Paul Pelosi remains in the hospital facing what Speaker Pelosi says will be a long recovery from a skull fracture and where his alleged assailant was in Court.

Cameras were barred, but CNN's Veronica Miracle was there. She joins us now with the breaking news. What did we learn today?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, we just obtained that motion to detain. It was filed by the District Attorney and it argues why David DePape should not be released from custody. It describes him as on a suicide mission and that he had plans to target other politicians.

It quotes him as saying to Paul Pelosi about Speaker Pelosi, that "She is number two in line for the presidency, right? And when Mr. Pelosi agreed, DePape responded that they are all corrupt, and said we've got to take them all out."

The motion also says the attack on Paul Pelosi with that hammer was caught on body-camera video and it also says that DePape told officers that he didn't have plans to intentionally harm Mr. Pelosi, but that if he escalated the situation he would go through him if he had to.

We saw him in Court today. He was arraigned on multiple felony charges including attempted homicide, burglary, elder abuse among others. He entered not guilty pleas for all of those.

The Pelosi family was not in Court, but the prosecutor told the Judge that they are asking for privacy during this very traumatic time. The judge also signed a protective order which says that Mr. DePape cannot contact Paul or Nancy Pelosi and that he can be nowhere near their residence -- Anderson.

COOPER: What was this alleged attacker's demeanor like during his Court appearance? MIRACLE: Well, the first thing that I noticed about him when he came in is that his shirt was half off because his right arm was in a sling and I later learned from the public defender that he actually dislocated his shoulder during his arrest.

When he came into Court, he was able to walk on his own. He had a very tall and large stature, but a very solemn demeanor and just sat down and went through the proceeding. And when I asked the public defender about his mental status, his mental condition, the public defender said he could not speak to it only that he met with DePape very briefly yesterday -- Anderson.

COOPER: Veronica Miracle, appreciate it.

Now and first on CNN. What the Pelosi family about to face, CNN's special correspondent, Jamie Gangel joins us with that.

Jamie, what have you learned?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, we've been told members of the Pelosi family, as soon as tomorrow are expected to be able to hear the audio from that 9-1-1 call that Paul Pelosi placed to police and also to see the bodycam footage of the San Francisco police officers who responded to their house the night he was attacked.

[20:05:18]

Anderson, just as a reminder, we know Paul Pelosi placed that 9-1-1 call at the beginning of the attack after convincing the assailant to let him go to the bathroom where his phone was charging, and that he spoke cryptically to police.

The bodycam footage is expected to show what the police saw when Paul Pelosi opened the door and his assailant attacked him with a hammer fracturing his skull.

Just a little while ago, Anderson, the DA just told CNN that the phone call was actually very brief. That recording will be brief, but she confirmed the bodycam footage does show the horrific attack with the hammer -- Anderson.

COOPER: And do you know if this 9-1-1 audio and the body-camera footage, you said it's -- is it going to be made public soon?

GANGEL: We don't know yet, Anderson, but look, as we've seen with cases, 9-1-1 calls, bodycam footage, they are released in many cases and I think what's important is this audio and video could provide critical evidence, whether it is hearing what the assailant said, if anything on that phone call, but certainly that attack, it may very well provide firsthand critical evidence of what the assailant did.

And that striking video is important because it not only documents what happened that the assailant was looking for Nancy Pelosi who let us just remember was the target of this attack, but perhaps it will help combat these crazy lies, conspiracy theories that have been spread on social media -- Anderson. COOPER: Jamie Gangel, appreciate it.

Despite all we've learned about what happened over the last several days from reporting like that and the Federal criminal complaint filed yesterday, the conspiracy theories continue to spread.

Today, as we mentioned, the former President offered one of his own. Of course he did. We're not going to spend a lot of time on the details except to say that it is one more thing for law enforcement to debunk.

Joining us now, San Francisco Police Chief, Bill Scott.

Chief Scott, I appreciate you joining us.

We just heard from Jamie Gangel's reporting, the Pelosi family will be able to hear the 9-1-1 calls, see the bodycam footage of the video earlier tonight on CNN. The District Attorney said that you see the attack on the body-camera footage. Is it clear to you why the attacker hit Mr. Pelosi with a hammer as the police were approaching? Was there some trigger to that?

CHIEF WILLIAM SCOTT, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: Well, first of all, Anderson, thank you for having me on.

What is crystal clear to me is he tried to kill Mr. Pelosi. Now, what was going on in his mind as to why he did that? I can't speak to that. But what is very clear to me from viewing that body-worn camera is he tried to kill Mr. Pelosi.

COOPER: Can you confirm how many times Mr. Pelosi was struck?

SCOTT: Well, we know it is at least one and we are trying to figure that out through the evidence and the injuries. But we know, it is at least one is what can be seen on the body-worn camera footage.

Now, it was an immediate tackling of this, Mr. DePape by the officers and we're talking about a matter of from the time that door opened until the hammer was swung at Mr. Pelosi. We're talking about no more than up about three seconds.

So this was a very rapidly unfolding series of events, and we know it happened at least once, but the officers responded immediately to tackle him and disarm him and try to save Mr. Pelosi's life. So, things happened very, very quickly.

COOPER: In the 9-1-1 call, was Mr. Pelosi able to identify and spell himself as Speaker Pelosi's husband? Was the dispatcher aware of who he was? Or did she become aware of who he was during that conversation?

SCOTT: Well, he did identify himself and officers knew that they were responding to the residence of Speaker Pelosi and her husband. And, you know, I did just want to clarify one thing, the call was approximately three minutes. And as I've said, and I'll say again, you know, there was the dispatcher trying to really figure out and decode what was being said on that call and so, she attempted to keep him on the phone in order to do that.

But at the end of the day, she did figure it out and raised the priority of the call thinking that it wasn't like what was reported by Mr. Pelosi, there was something more there. And I say again, I think her being able to figure that out along with Mr. Pelosi's keeping his wits about him, he was heroic and the dispatcher figuring out that there was something more was also heroic, and I think that both of their actions saved his life.

[20:10:13]

COOPER: So, it was a three-minute call -- a three-minute 9-1-1 call. It is remarkable and we are starting to see more details of what was said on that call, but that the dispatcher was able to figure out through sort of the cryptic words that Mr. Pelosi was using. Is that something that dispatchers are trained on?

SCOTT: You know, yes, they are trained to try to figure things out and it comes with experience, but also it is intuitive. I mean, you have to have a sense for things and Heather Grimes had the intuition to just say something is not right here. You know, it is not really making sense.

And your training, experience, and just plain old intuition were the three ingredients, I think that made her do what she did in terms of upping the priority of that call and making sure that officers got there quickly.

COOPER: As you may know, the former President has called into question the circumstances of the attack. You've said previously, this was a break in. That is still accurate, yes?

SCOTT: Yes. That is absolutely accurate. This was a break-in. There is no doubt in anybody's mind it had anything to do with this investigation of whether or not this was a break-in.

This was a break-in, plain and simple. Evidence is overwhelmingly clear and I don't know why anybody would say otherwise, but I am here to tell you that it was a break-in.

COOPER: Chief Scott, I appreciate your time tonight. I appreciate all what your officers have done. Thank you.

I want to get some perspective now from CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI Deputy Director, Andrew McCabe; also CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller.

Andrew, what stands out to you about this case, given what we have learned today?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, you know, I mean, obviously, Anderson, the Feds and the State are going after this attacker with everything they've got in two simultaneous prosecutions that could probably -- will likely land this guy in jail for the majority of the rest of his life, which is great, and both cases appear to stand on pretty solid ground. I mean, just the information we learned from the Federal affidavit that was filed yesterday is remarkable in its detail and the statements made by the defendant himself, really put him in a very bad position for these prosecutions going forward.

So, that all seems to be lining up well on the back of this misinformation, and layer upon layer of additional lies and conspiracy theories that just breathe additional oxygen into this insanity. It's very frustrating.

COOPER: Yes. John, I know you've been pouring over the details of actually the interaction between them.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I mean, it's chilling. It's something out of a Stephen King novel. He's asleep in bed and a voice wakes him up and says, "Are you Paul Pelosi?" It's two o'clock in the morning. He says, "Yes." He says, "Where is Nancy?" He said, "She's not here. She's in Washington." The voice says, "When is she going to be back?"

Now, Anderson stop tape here for a minute. In context, that sounds crazy to us when we are talking to somebody while we're sleeping. But remember, this is a family that's lived around security details in their house and their kitchen, outside.

COOPER: They have a tremendous -- I mean, I've seen her security detail. It's quite large.

MILLER: People coming and going. He is groggy out of a dead sleep. And when he says, "Well, I'm going to tie you up and we're going to wait for her." It is clear to him, something is very wrong.

He gets out of bed and he heads for the elevator. He knows he can get in the elevator. There's a phone in there, he can stop the elevator. And Mr. DePape blocks his path.

He is talking to him: "Can I call someone for you? What do you need her for? Is there something I can help you with?"

"She is second in line for the President? We have to take them all out."

COOPER: That's what he says to her.

MILLER: Yes, and then he says, "Well, is there someone I can call for you?" He says, "No, this is the end of the line for you." At this point, he diverts to the bathroom. He knows his cell phone is on charge there. He turns it on, puts it on speaker, calls 9-1-1 and then engages in a conversation where he is trying to get the message across to the operator but not trying to get --

COOPER: Because the guy can hear him on the 9-1-1 call.

MILLER: The guy is on the other side of the door. He's got a handful of zip ties and a hammer. And he says: "There's a man here and he's asking for my wife, Nancy Pelosi, and I don't know him," he says when she asks, and she says, "Do you need police, fire, or ambulance?" And the suspect is glaring at him. He said, "No. How about is the Capitol Police here?" And she said, "You know you're calling the San Francisco Police." He says "Yes."

She said, "Do you know this man?" He said, "No, I don't " And then the suspect responds, "No, I'm a friend of theirs." So she is gleaning something is definitely not right here and makes that Priority A call.

When the police are coming -- now, remember the suspect's thinking here is, I know, I went by a million cameras to break in here. I know, Paul Pelosi has seen me, I now think that the police are on the way, and he is heading downstairs. I know I'm going to get caught. I know this is the end of the line for me now.

When the police get there and Paul Pelosi opens the door and heads back to the suspect, trying to keep things calm. The police put their flashlight through the door and they see the two men standing there with a hammer. And the officer says, "What's going on here," and Paul Pelosi, let's go of the hammer, and then he is struck.

If you look at the suspect's later statements to police, what he allegedly said is "I knew this was a suicide mission at that point, and that I wasn't going to get away and if I had to go through him, I was going to go through him. He had escalated this by calling the police and putting his hands on the hammer and I had to hit him."

COOPER: John Miller, Andrew McCabe, appreciate it. Thank you.

Next how you know that Election Day is coming and the races are tight, which big name campaigners are hitting the trail, which one is crossing party lines to do it and where things stand in the battle to control Congress?

And later, what the Supreme Court had to say to Senator Lindsey Graham who made a Federal case out of not wanting to testify to a State grand jury investigating the scheme to overturn the 2020 election?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:37]

COOPER: With just a week go into the Midterm Elections, some of the biggest names in national politics are campaigning for House and Senate candidates in key States.

President Biden, former President Obama, former Vice President Pence operating along traditional party lines; outgoing Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney crossing them, campaigning for Democrats and take a look here at what the final days look like with former President Trump joining the fray in Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny joins us now in East Lansing, Michigan, where Liz Cheney campaigned today for Democratic Congresswoman, Elissa Slotkin.

So, Jeff, Congresswoman Cheney says she doesn't know if she has ever voted for a Democrat in the last 40 years. What did she say at the campaign event tonight?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, she did say -- and this ended just a few minutes ago -- she said this is the first time she has campaigned for a Democrat, but made clear the reason that she is doing so is because she believes this is a critical moment for the country. She said it is a time of testing where every American cannot be a bystander in the fight for democracy.

Of course, this comes three months after Liz Cheney was defeated in her own primary, and just a couple months before she leaves Congress on her own. But she made clear she still wants to try and influence the shape of the next session of Congress. If Republicans happen to win the majority, she clearly wants to limit that and try -- and avoid any election deniers being sent to Washington, but she framed the stakes of the race like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): If we want to ensure the survival of our Republic, we have to walk away from politics as usual. We have to walk away, we have to stand up every one of us and say, we are going to do what's right for this country. We're going to look beyond partisan politics.

If the people in our party are not doing the job they need to do then we're going to vote for the people in the other party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And these two Members of Congress have some history. They sit on the House Armed Services Committee. They both have served this country at the State Department and The Pentagon as well.

But Anderson, she was very blunt tonight saying the chips are down. This is a time of our testing.

COOPER: Do we know what, if any effect she might have with just a week to go?

ZELENY: Well, look, I mean, this is a very close race, one of the most competitive races in the country and it is clear that to win she needs to win Republicans and Independents. That's for Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin.

This is a very competitive district. It's always been won by President Trump. It's been redrawn a little bit. So, it's now a plus-one Biden district, if you will, but she has to win Independents and Republicans.

So that's what they hope the effect of this is tonight, kind of getting the message to some of those Republican or moderate voters who may be swayed by Liz Cheney.

COOPER: And Congresswoman Cheney also said earlier today that she would shoot back another Democratic candidate in a race. Do we know who? ZELENY: We do. She actually made a stop in Ohio before coming here to Michigan, and she was asked about the JD Vance-Tim Ryan Senate race and she said look, just given all the questions that JD Vance, the Republican Senate candidate has raised about the 2020 election. Obviously, he was backed by the former president. She said she simply could not vote for JD Vance.

So she said if she was an Ohio voter, she would vote for Tim Ryan, the Democratic candidate there. Unclear how much any of this will impact the races, but here in Michigan, in this district, in particular, Anderson, it is clear that there are many Independents and Republicans who are questioning the outcome of this, so this could help at least on the margins, in a tight race -- Anderson.

COOPER: Jeff Zeleny, appreciate it.

Because this is, in the end, a numbers story, we are joined here by CNN's one and only senior data reporter, the one and only Harry Enten.

So which four Senate races have you been analyzing and have changed over the last month?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, so let's talk about those four. Let's start in Arizona, which I think is the easiest story to tell because Mark Kelly has held a consistent lead, but that lead has shrunk. It's now down to three points over Blake Masters, the Republican.

You go to Georgia, that race, oh, my God, so tight, so tight and what is key about Georgia is neither Herschel Walker nor Raphael Warnock are above 50 percent, and what does that mean, if this forecast is in fact, correct, exactly on the button, that would mean a potential runoff in December to potentially decide the United States Senate, because in Georgia you have to win -- get a majority vote to win.

Go to Nevada. How tight is the race there? Another race in which the candidates are even and then of course, you might end up in the State of Pennsylvania, where here is a surprise given all the previous graphics, the came candidates are again even. They are even again.

COOPER: And that's -- I mean, Oz has come up a little bit. He was little -- he was further back.

[20:25:06]

ENTEN: Yes, that is correct. So if you essentially took a look at the race -- all of these races about two months ago, let's say the beginning of September -- I can't believe those two months ago, how fast the summer has gone. If you were to look at the race two months ago, in all of these races, the Democratic candidates were leading in all of them. So, it's very clear looking at the math right now that it is the Republicans that have momentum.

COOPER Why is that?

ENTEN: Why is that? Here's the reason why. Take a look right now at what I would call the fundamentals. Take a look at satisfaction with the direction of the country that people have right now. Below 20 percent.

Look at congressional approval rating, just above 20 percent. Look at presidential approval rating, at about 40 percent. And if you look at each of those different factors on satisfaction, that's the worst in the Midterm since 1982. You look congressional approval rating, that's the second worst since 1982. You look at presidential approval, that's again, the second worst since 1982.

So I don't think it's so much of a surprise. The fundamentals are kind of bringing the Democrats back to that.

COOPER: I mean, given the -- if you look at that, the worst, second worst, second worst, isn't it surprising that GOP candidates run farther ahead?

ENTEN: Yes, I think it would perhaps be surprising. But here is the thing, candidates matter. I know this is perhaps a surprise in our polarized era, but if you look at the net favorability that is the favorable minus unfavorable of the Republican candidates in Arizona, in Georgia, in Nevada and Pennsylvania, they are all underwater.

So you sort of have Biden going in one direction, sort of pulling the Democrats down, but the Republican candidates are themselves pulling themselves down.

But I do have one question for you, Anderson. And that is who do you favor in the World Series?

COOPER: Well, yes, you know -- do you know the teams?

ENTEN: Do you know the teams?

COOPER: I do not know who is playing.

ENTEN: We do have --

COOPER: Let me guess, the Cardinals?

ENTEN: Oh, that is a baseball team.

COOPER: I know it is a baseball team.

ENTEN: It is also a football team.

COOPER: Oh, the Phillies and the Houston Astros.

ENTEN: There you go.

COOPER: The Astros were in a Series a while ago, weren't they?

ENTEN: They have played in multiple World Series over the last decade.

COOPER: Yes, I recall that.

ENTEN: The won a World Series.

COOPER: In the last decade.

ENTEN: They --

COOPER: Is it already the World Series?

ENTEN: It is.

COOPER: Has that happened? Hasn't baseball been going on for like a year?

ENTEN: Now, no, it has not been going on. It just started.

Do you know what city the Phillies are from?

COOPER: Philadelphia?

ENTEN: Very good.

COOPER: Yes, yes. Well, they are the Phillies.

ENTEN: You know, sometimes, you know, I don't know you didn't know what the mascot was for the Buffalo Bills.

COOPER: The giant dollar bill. Of course, I do.

ENTEN: Of course.

COOPER: Don't be silly.

ENTEN: Surprising.

COOPER: Harry Enten, thank you.

Coming up -- we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:31:11]

COOPER: We have an important story to tell you about but we want to give you a warning there is -- next report is disturbing. So, if you have young children in the room, you might ask them to leave. CNN has obtained had never before revealed 911 audio from the Uvalde school shooting in May they killed 21 people including 19 children. Now what you're about to hear is the voice of a 10-year-old girl named Khloe Torres, trapped at Robb Elementary School with a gunman who'd already slaughtered friends and a teacher speaking to a police dispatcher 911 call made by Khloe from inside the school during the attack. Following that you'll see video of law enforcement authorities at the school discussing the information that Khloe who survived the attack gave the dispatcher. Now CNN obtained these calls from a source and is using excerpts with the approval of Khloe's parents. CNN's also informed families who lost people in the massacre that this story was coming.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has the full story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just advising we do have a child on the line.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the moment everything at the scene in Uvalde should have changed. At 12:10 p.m. on May 24th, fourth grader Khloe Torres, who survived the shooting was inside room 112 at Robb Elementary and spoke to 911. Police just a few feet away in the hallway were just minutes later made aware of the worst-case scenario was unfolding. Khloe along with her classmates and teachers some dead or dying were alone trapped with an active shooter. It's the phone call that should have made the difference. Instead, it would be another 40 minutes until police finally enter the room and kill the gunman.

CNN has obtained the call never made public until now. A warning to our viewers. It's painful to hear. We're choosing to play portions of the audio with the approval of Khloe's parents. And because it is crucial to understanding the full scope of the law enforcement failure that day.

KHLOE TORRES, UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm calling with the police department. Are you OK?

TORRES: No, there's a school shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, yes ma'am. I have a multiple units there. Are you with officers or are you barricaded somewhere?

TORRES: I'm in classroom -- what's the classroom number? 112.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 112 (INAUDIBLE)?

TORRES: 112, 112. Yes, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your name, ma'am?

TORRES: Khloe Torres. Please hurry. There's a lot of dead bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay on the line, OK? You said you're in room 112?

TORRES: Yes, ma'am. Please send help.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): You can hear injured people in the room crying out in pain. The dispatcher asks Khloe to tell her classmates to stay quiet. She does her best.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to tell them that they need to be quiet.

TORRES: I am. I am. I'm telling everybody to be quiet and now nobody is listening to me. I know how to handle these situations. My dad taught me when I was a little girl. Send help. Some of my teachers are still alive but they're shot.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Less than two minutes into the call at 12:12 p.m. the Uvalde dispatcher sends an urgent message to police on the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3-20. Go ahead with that child's information. Relay it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) child is advising he is in the room full of victims, full of victims at this moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10-4, Uvalde. Can you confirm to see if that shooter is still standing? Or has he shot himself?

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): If active shooter protocol had been followed, this dispatch should have triggered police to spring into action and breach the classroom. Instead, 38 minutes were allowed to go by as more officers arrive on scene with more equipment until something is done. Nearly 400 officers responded in Uvalde. Khloe wanted to know where they were.

[20:35:06]

TORRES: How far are you all away?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're inside of the building, OK? You need to stay quiet, OK?

TORRES: They're inside the building. We just need to stay quiet.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): On the other side of the door, the law enforcement response was disorganized and chaotic. Official reports detail the catastrophic mistake that was made. Police on scene thought the shooter was a barricaded subject and not an active shooter. Khloe's called makes it clear an active shooter situation is unfolding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They think there's kids in there. Supposedly one kid called in and he was in there with him.

PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Body camera footage from local and state police departments obtained by CNN shows the officers on scene knew about the phone call and that there were children inside the room hurt and in desperate need of medical attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know if he has anyone in the room with him, do we?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he does.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight or nine children. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought he said victims, room 12.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we hadn't hears that, no. We're in the 4s, right? This is building 4?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody hurt?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not here. No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: EMS in there already?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we have an active shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in here. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I'll stand here and be ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last contact- hold on. The last contact we had was one of our school PD officers, his wife is a teacher. She called him and she said she's dying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They just had a number of kids in room 12.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A kid in room 12. Most of the victims in room 12.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) we're taking too long.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: CNN Shimon Prokupecz joins us now. This is the first time I've seen this. This is unbelievable. This is not unbelievable. This is completely believable, given what we the lies and the cover ups that have been going on for so long from these people. But I mean, it's an it's outrageous.

PROKUPECZ: It is and it was such a hard decision to make whether or not to air this, Anderson. And, you know, our team, we sort of were in a place where how do we tell this story about how horrific it really was inside that classroom.

COOPER: They knew there was a little girl talking to other kids who were alive, telling them their teachers were wounded bleeding, and asking me for help. And the little girl passing on, oh, they're in the school as if she believes they're actually going to come in because of course they should come in.

PROKUPECZ: Over a dozen times, she's asking for help. Where are they? Well, she's with her friend. They're trying to get the police to come in. At one point they even offered to unlock the door. Like, what's also --

COOPER: The kids offered to unlock the door?

PROKUPECZ: Yes.

COOPER: I mean, that this -- the tenth -- that fourth graders have more courage, or more intelligence than some of the folks out in the hallway is stunning to me.

PROKUPECZ: It's --

COOPER: Or I should say the leadership because there's plenty of low- level police officers who want to go in, who want to do the right thing. They're not, you know, they don't want to be incompetent. But there's crying out for some friggin leadership.

PROKUPECZ: And you can see in the video of the body cam footage, so many missed opportunities, because there are radio transmitters, and they're telling the officers there, there are kids in the classroom go and go in. And every one just freezes and no one does a thing. That call is 20 minutes of just brutal hell, Anderson for these kids to hear them. There's so much that we don't show, so much that we don't play because it is just so brutal. But it was important to show and to show viewers exactly the moments inside there and how horrific it was.

Meanwhile, the police officers were standing just feet away from the door. And the other thing is the gunman, he was distracted. They had plenty of opportunity. And they made a better effort to figure out what was going on inside. There were two rooms there, at one point he was in another room. The kids --

COOPER: There were hundreds of officers there.

PROKUPECZ: Yes. The kids weren't even sure if he was still in the room. And you can hear loud music because he was playing the music so loud. So, there was when you listen to this --

COOPER: He was playing music.

PROKUPECZ: He was playing music and you could hear it. And he was in the other room. So, he -- there was plenty of time for them to go inside. That's what this audio tape clearly makes and why they did it and what they were doing during those moments. Look, there's more reporting to come, Anderson obviously, we're still digging in on some things that are going to indicate that everyone there knew what was going on inside that classroom, that there were kids in there and yet they failed to act.

COOPER: I mean, Shimon's reporting this has been from the moment this happened extraordinary. Thank you for standing on it so much.

Khloe's mom is going to be on CNN this morning tomorrow morning. So, definitely tune in for that.

Just ahead, Senator Lindsey Graham has avoided testifying in a Georgia probe about his knowledge of the attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Today the Supreme Court weighed in about whether he must. Details and analysis of that decision next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:43:16]

COOPER: Senator Lindsey Graham will now have to testify in a Georgia probe investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The Supreme Court declined Graham's request to block the subpoena. He argued the Constitution speech or Debate Clause shielded him from testifying. Two years ago, the Georgia Secretary of State told The Washington Post that Graham appeared to suggest he tossed legally cast ballots in counties with high rates of nonmatching bet ballot signatures. Quote, it sure looked like he was wanting to go down that road, Brad Raffensperger said. Graham called that ridiculous.

Joining me is CNN contributor John Dean from the White House counsel to President Nixon and CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig.

Elie, so Senator Graham's office calling this a win for him saying the Court affirmed the Constitution speech or Debate Clause could apply in certain circumstances. What do you make of this ruling?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It's not a win for Lindsey Graham Anderson. It is a loss on balance for Lindsey Graham. He had argued that he was exempt from testifying, that he didn't have to testify at all under the Speech and Debate Clause, which is part of the Constitution that says a sitting member of Congress like Lindsey Graham can't be forced to answer questions outside of Congress. But the problem for Lindsey Graham is the federal courts up to an including the Supreme Court said, yes, however, that only applies to your legitimate legislative activities and anything you were doing with the Trump campaign, any efforts to interfere with the election to pressure state officials. That's all-fair game.

So now bottom line, Lindsey Graham has to go in front of the grand jury, take an oath and answer questions from a prosecutor.

COOPER: And John, if Senator Graham invokes the Speech and Debate Clause in an effort to avoid answering certain questions about his post 2020 election activities, would it meet the bar and many people may not know what that clause was intended to be used for?

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's a new clause to most of the courts down there because they don't address it very often. So yes, he can raise it. Yes, he can hide behind it for a while. But the court -- the high court as well as the lower courts have gotten themselves familiar with this clause and it's pretty limited, it's limited to his legislative activities, as Elie said, so he's not going to get very far with this.

[20:45:16] COOPER: Well, I mean, Elie if the Senator objects to a question during testimony, how does that get decided?

HONIG: So, this is the problem. The Supreme Court said, if there's a dispute about a question, you can go back to the District Court, which is the federal trial level court. I guarantee you Lindsey Graham is looking at the calendar here thinking there will be a new Congress early January of 2023. And if he can throw enough issues up in dispute, the strategy may be to try to stretch this out until the new Congress takes over. I'm sure prosecutors are aware of that. And they're going to try to dispose of these questions as quickly as possible.

COOPER: John, Senator Graham's attorneys have said the Fulton County District Attorney has informed them the Grahams neither subject nor a target in the investigation. He's simply a witness. Does that preclude him from invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self- incrimination?

DEAN: Well, it doesn't preclude him if they get into areas that he thinks he might be in trouble. And I think there might be some areas where he could have some trouble. As the court noted, he had cajoled and exhorted officials down there, and that may be misconduct. So, he'll be kind of trying to step around those areas and stay out of them. And if it gets a direct question, he'd have to take the fifth. But, Anderson, that's a disaster for the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he hopes to be soon.

COOPER: When it -- Elie, when it comes to the possible substance of Graham's testimony, what's the most important information that Fulton County the district attorney would like to elicit from them?

HONIG: Well, let's remember, Lindsey Graham is not a senator from Georgia. He's a senator from another state from South Carolina. He was in coordination with Trump in the Trump campaign. I think they're going to look there. And I think they're going to look at Lindsey Graham's efforts to pressure local and state officials in the state of Georgia. I think that's exactly what prosecutors are going to focus.

COOPER: Elie Honig, John Dean, appreciate it. Thanks.

Still ahead, an exclusive interview with a friend of one of the Americans who was killed in that horrible crowd crush in South Korea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:51:03]

COOPER: Tonight, we have new details in that crowd crush in Halloween event in South Korea that killed 156 people. According to the national police they received the least 11 calls from people worried about a possible crush. And some of those calls were made four hours before the event. The head of the police agency says they'll set up a special committee to quote, reveal the truth transparently.

CNN Simon Watson sat down for an exclusive interview with a friend of one of the two Americans killed. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN CHANG, FRIEND OF STEVEN BLESI: Everybody was very fond of Steven. Steven was the kindest person that ever was. He will be there for you. Because like I give a friend for everybody. A kind soul.

SIMON WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ian Chang, a 21-year-old from Florida is talking about his friend Steven Blesi.

CHANG: He's name is Steven.

WATSON (voice-over): The two American university students met here in South Korea during their semester abroad in Seoul.

CHANG: It was like one of his big adventures to come here by himself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me some cooking skills.

WATSON (voice-over): A young Americans mixed class work with exploring Korea.

CHANG: He really definitely like the food here. For sure.

WATSON (on-camera): The barbecue --

CHANG: Yes, Korean barbecue.

WATSON (voice-over): And that included late nights out in Seoul's bars and nightclubs. That is until Saturday night when everything went horribly wrong.

CHANG: I didn't know it was real. You know the whole thing, because I saw him that day. Right. And just learning the news that he passed away. He just, you know, doesn't seem to meet you.

WATSON (voice-over): The two Americans plan to meet here in Seoul's Itaewon district to celebrate Halloween. But that night Korean authorities estimate more than 100,000 other people were also coming to party here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the beginning we thought it was funny.

WATSON (voice-over): Stuck in the crowd Anne-Lou Chevalier, 22-year- old French exchange student filmed herself with friends at first laughing. But then she suddenly looks distressed.

(on-camera): You were hurt what happened to you?

ANNE-LOU CHEVALIER, SURVIVOR OF CROWD CRUSH: At some point I had no air and we were so crushed to other people that I couldn't breathe at all. So, I just passed out.

WATSON: Unconscious.

CHEVALIER: Yes, unconscious.

WATSON (voice-over): Bystanders pulled Chevalier shovel a limp out of the crowd. She was one of the lucky ones.

(on-camera): This narrow alley was ground zero on Saturday night, hundreds of partygoers collapsed into a deadly pile up here and began suffocating under the weight of the crowd.

(voice-over): At least 156 people died. South Korea is still processing this staggering loss. Days later lost belongings on display for grieving relatives to identify.

CHANG: So, I miss Steven to tell them like hey, don't come to our place anywhere.

WATSON (voice-over): On Saturday night, Ian Chang got to the crowded neighborhood first, and warned his friends not to come. But the Atlanta native who loved hip hop and international travel, never answered. The next day authorities identified Blesi and Anne Gieske another American student from the same exchange program as two of the many victims. Just weeks ago, this group of friends went on a weekend hiking trip together.

CHANG: Was such a great person. And a great friend.

WATSON (voice-over): Steven and Ian shared plans for the future, hopes and dreams that will now never be fulfilled.

CHANG: I wish I could have made more memories with him. You know I'm going to miss him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Ivan joins me now from Seoul. I mean, it's so incomprehensible what's the latest about the investigation?

WATSON: Sure, let me just point out that we're at a memorial here where people are paying their respects to the victims of this terrible disaster.

[20:55:07]

We have seen the call logs, there were at least 11 calls to police, where people were warning in the hours up to the deadly crowd surge, that they were afraid people could be crushed to death by the sheer mass of humanity there. The police have said that they only assigned about 136 officers to focus on crime prevention in an area where the rest of its have upwards of 100,000 people gathered in these narrow streets and alleyways partying.

The Prime Minister of the country has said there was a lack of institutional knowledge and consideration for crowd management. The police say the response was inadequate. But what a terrible price to have to pay to learn this awful lesson with 156 mostly young people now dead. Anderson.

COOPER: It's just sick. Ivan Watson, appreciate it. Thank you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: New episode of my podcast All There Is, is out tomorrow morning. Is going to be the last episode for this season. All the past episodes are available right now, you can point your phone camera at the QR code on your screen for a link. It's a podcast about loss and grief and grief. And we had a series of remarkable and poignant conversations with Stephen Colbert and Molly Shannon and others.

Tomorrow's episode is different. It's probably the most moving episode yet. It's made by all of you who have listened, more than thousands of you left voicemails for me telling me about your loved ones who died and what you've learned through their loss and through your grief and what's helped you survive. Listening to your messages, it has been incredibly profound and inspiring. And that's what I made the podcast out of this last one for the season.

[21:00:20]

So, I want to thank you for all of that, for telling me about your pain and your grief, and your love. The episode is called You're Not Alone, comes out tomorrow on Apple podcasts. Wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also find the link on my Instagram page at Anderson Cooper.

The news continues. Want to hand over Jake Tapper in "CNN TONIGHT."