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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Suspect Faces Murders Charges In Three Long-Unsolved Gilgo Beach Serial Killings, Pleads Not Guilty; Report: Trump Employee Warned In Documents Case; Interview With Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-IL); House Passes Defense Bill After Adopting Controversial Amendments Targeting Abortion Policy And Other Issues; GOP 2024 Contenders Court Iowa Evangelicals While Vying To Be Top Trump Alternative; PA State Police Believe New Doorbell Camera Video Shows Escaped Inmate Michael Burham; Scientists: 2023 Could Be Hottest Year On Record; Four Young Children Who Survived In The Amazon For 40 Days Released From Hospital. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 14, 2023 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: AC 360 starts right now.
[20:00:02]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360: Nearly, 13 years after the first four bodies were found, police charge a man in three of his many killings, of 11 killings on New York's Long Island. How authorities tracked burner phones, Google searches, and used DNA from a pizza crust to identify the suspect.
Also, could it soon be three people charged in the classified documents case? New reporting from Maggie Haberman who joins us live.
And the heat: What's behind it, where it is worse, and the places that could soon set all-time records.
Good evening. Thanks for joining us.
Twelve-and-a-half years ago, the bodies of four people were found over several days buried near a remote beach on New York's Long Island. All four were women, murdered wrapped in burlap. They were eventually identified as Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainerd- Barnes, and Amber Lynn Costello and they were not the only ones.
In the year that followed, investigators will uncover seven more sets of human remains across two Long Island counties, bringing the total to 11.
But there were few clues. The case went cold. No arrests were made, until now.
Tonight, the remarkable story of how authorities came first to suspect and then build a six-count murder case against a 59-year-old married architect with two children of his own and a home in a quiet Long Island neighborhood.
CNN's Miguel Marquez joins us now from outside the suspect's home -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Anderson, I want to show you some of what has been happening outside his home.
This case, these unsolved murders have just gripped Long Island and so many people for so long. Police have been out here all day going through his home, bringing out tons of evidence, and even though they've only brought charges regarding three of those deaths near Gilgo Beach, it has been received with enormous relief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND TIERNEY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: I'm standing here with my law enforcement partners in the Gilgo Taskforce to announce the indictment of defendant, Rex Andrew Heuermann.
MARQUEZ (voice over): Sex workers found tied up, their bodies wrapped in camouflage burlap dumped near Gilgo Beach on New York's Long Island.
TIERNEY: When I took office in January 2022, I made Gilgo a priority.
MARQUEZ (voice over): The Gilgo Beach murders traumatized and captivated Long Island just east of New York City for more than a decade. Now, the suspect as unthinkable as the murders themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a shock. Like I said, I lived 29 years here. I mean, I've seen some things, but this is --
MARQUEZ (voice over): Rex Heuermann, 59, charged with three murders. Today, the investigation continuing, he faces a possible fourth murder charge.
Investigators say they identified Heuermann using DNA from the bodies of the victims and from witness descriptions of him and the car he drove.
Investigators obtained hundreds of search warrants and subpoenas linking Heuermann to temporary burner phones and fake e-mail accounts. Investigators allege he used them to communicate with his victims, taunt the family of one of them in search for information related to the investigation into the long unsolved murders.
MAJOR STEPHEN UDICE, NEW YORK STATE TROOP COMMANDER: We recognize that these crimes may have happened years ago, but that pain continues.
MARQUEZ (voice over): Investigators' biggest break came when they were surveilling Heuermann at his Midtown Manhattan office.
He was eating pizza and discarded in a public trash can. DNA from the pizza crust say investigators linked Heuermann to the murders.
Heuermann has been charged with the murders of Melissa Barthelemy, Amber Lynn Costello, and Megan Waterman, all sex workers, all in their 20s. The investigation is continuing and he has also been named as a suspect in the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
In all, there were 11 bodies found in and around Gilgo Beach, only three and possibly a fourth now linked to one alleged killer so far.
Investigators say they made the arrest now because they feared Heuermann could strike again.
TIERNEY: One of the reasons why we had to take this case down was we learned that the defendant was using these alternate identities and these alternate instruments to continue to patronize sex workers.
MARQUEZ (voice over): Rex Heuermann has pled not guilty and insists through his lawyer that he is innocent. He is an unlikely suspect, a husband, father of two, an architect working in Manhattan, dealing with arcane building codes.
In February 2022, he was even interviewed about his job for a YouTube show.
REX HEUERMANN, SUSPECT IN GILGO BEACH MURDERS: Rex Heuermann, I am an architect. I'm an architectural consultant. I'm a troubleshooter, born and raised on Long Island.
MARQUEZ (voice over): As for the several other victims found near Gilgo Beach, many of their family members hope this will lead to answers about their loved ones: Were they victims as well?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hopeful for the future, and I'm hopeful that a connection is made.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: What more are investigators saying about the suspect and his alleged crimes?
MARQUEZ: My God, the more you dig into this, Anderson, it is just shocking how much investigators have put out there.
[20:05:10]
Some seriously incredible investigative work that they have done. They're saying that this guy became increasingly brazen through all of this saying that he was using burner phones to search about the investigation itself. And with regard to that one taunting that he used a burner phone to call a relative of Melissa are telling me, telling that person that he had sexually assaulted and killed Melissa Barthelemy, just shocking -- Anderson.
COOPER: That's incredible.
Miguel Marquez, appreciate it.
Joining us now is Suffolk County district attorney, Raymond Tierney, who you saw there in Miguel's piece.
Mr. Tierney, thank you so much for joining us on this evening. What initially led you to this suspect? Was there a first clue that
was sort of an aha moment?
TIERNEY: Well, I took office in January 2022. Of course, the investigation have been going on for about 12 years, so we did sort of a soup to nuts analysis of the case. And we looked at some of the old evidence, and then we factored in some new evidence, specifically some information with regard to a car that the defendant owned.
We were able to plug that into existing phone evidence, as well as some of the hairs that were left on the murder victims. And I think March 14, 2022 was when we really focused on this defendant, and that had been the first time that this defendant had ever been identified as a suspect in these murders.
COOPER: Wow. So he wasn't even identified as a suspect early on. It was March of 2022?
TIERNEY: That was the first time he was identified as a suspect. That's correct.
COOPER: And when did you know for sure, in your opinion that he was the killer?
TIERNEY: Well, I mean, I think that there is -- you know, it just kept on getting more and more interesting. I think, if you look at the defendant, he is a very large person with a distinctive appearance.
The witnesses at the time of Amber Lynn Costello's disappearance really described a person that looked -- that appeared very much like the defendant. He owned a particular vehicle, a Chevy Avalanche.
FBI agents back in 2012 established areas of interest of phone usage in both Massapequa Park and New York City, where it appeared as though the murderer was making phone calls and this constrained area was exactly where this defendant lived, as well as where he worked.
So you know, we kept on putting these things together, stringing them together, then, of course, following him attaining the abandonment sample, and then being able to link up some of the DNA samples left at the scene with profiles of both the defendant and his relatives was very helpful.
COOPER: Can you say how long you were following him for? Like, physically following him? Or electronically?
TIERNEY: Well, it is very difficult to follow somebody 24/7.
COOPER: Yes.
TIERNEY: But, you know, we had the resources of our task force, fortunately, so we had the resources of both the Suffolk County PD in this instance, as well as the FBI.
So we were physically surveilling him, and then we have ways of electronically surveilling people, which I don't really wants to get into.
COOPER: Sure.
TIERNEY: So we were -- you know, the combination of the two, you know, we were gathering evidence, we felt comfortable. But then we got to the point where, you know, the interest in gathering evidence didn't override our concern for public safety, given his activities,
COOPER: And how much -- I mean, in the 12-and-a-half years, there's obviously been a lot of technological advances and changes in DNA. How much of the technological changes in that timeframe have been instrumental in helping?
TIERNEY: Well, I think the thing that's really extraordinary about the case is the FBI, the cast agent, he did a phenomenal job. And he really, back in 2012, you know, he set the course for the cell site evidence.
You know, the women were out in a tough environment for a prolonged period of time. So there was not a lot of forensic evidence. In fact, the hairs that we got in 2010 -- I'm sorry, 2011 -- you couldn't use traditional DNA analysis methods.
So the DNA technology improved, where you could now go from you couldn't use what's known as traditional nuclear DNA testing, but you could do mitochondrial DNA testing and as we got into, you know, the late teens and into the early 20s now, the technology caught up to where we could do that which was very fortunate.
COOPER: Well, Mr. Tierney, it is extraordinary work. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
[20:10:10]
TIERNEY: Thank you. Thank you, Anderson.
COOPER: A "New York Times" report 12 years ago drew on criminologists and other experts to paint a picture of the likely killer, and that picture resembles the suspect in many ways. Quoting now from that report: "He is most likely a White male in his mid-20s to mid-40s. He's married or has a girlfriend. He is well-educated, well-spoken. He I financially secure, has a job and owns an expensive car or truck."
Our next guest is former FBI senior profiler, Mary Ellen O'Toole, currently director of the Forensic Science Program at George Mason University.
I mean, it seems like that profile seems to certainly fit this suspect. How common is it for serial killers to have a spouse, to have a family, to have kids?
MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT PROFILER: Well, we have many cases where these serial killers have families and they have children and they have jobs that they've held down for years.
And it is this ability to live a normal lifestyle when they're not out killing that allows them to fly under the radar screen for years.
So we used to have a theory in the unit that if some cases go unsolved for a long time, we're probably looking for someone that's living that prosocial life and appears to be very normal to friends, neighbors, and family members.
COOPER: You just heard from Raymond Tierney, in the press conference he gave today, he said the suspect compulsively searched for images of the victims and their families. He was trying to locate members of the victim's families, taunting -- we know at least one family member victim was contacted by someone claiming to be the killer.
I mean, if these were the same person, what drives that sort of compulsion?
O'TOOLE: Well, that's the right word to use that those are compulsions, and one of the things, one of the motivations that probably drives that is he has tried to monitor the investigation and trying to figure out exactly what's going on and then another reason to do it is to enable him to relive the murder itself.
And so if he did target one family member from one of the victims, and continually called that person that may have been because that particular victim was his favorite victim.
I've done interviews with these serial killers, and they will tell you, I have a favorite victim and they obsess on that one victim, even long after they are dead.
COOPER: I mean, I don't even know if I should ask this, but what does that mean, a favorite victim? Like favorite in terms of who that person was, or how the killing went down?
O'TOOLE: That is defined by them. So for example, a favorite victim could be someone that fought back and didn't die quickly enough. So the serial killer liked that.
Another definition of a favorite victim could be the manner in which he killed her, and he is reliving that more really enthusiastically than some of the other victims.
So it really depends on what his definition is, but I've heard them say that on a number of occasions, "I had a favorite victim." So I don't know if that's the case here and why he targeted that one family, but it also seems to blend into the behavior at the crime scene.
This individual seems to have sexually sadistic tendencies and one of the things that oftentimes kind of underpins making phone calls into a victim's family, which quite frankly is really high risk is that they love to hear the fear in the family's voice, and the sadness and the upset and the anger.
So that response they get from the family member can be actually sexually arousing to the serial killer. COOPER: Wow. And, I mean, do you think this -- if this is the
correct suspect, do you think he may have been involved with other killings?
O'TOOLE: Yes, I do. I do. And I say that for a couple of reasons having worked many, many serial murder cases, this is not behavior that starts at 40 years of age. This is behavior we generally see beginning in about late teens or early 20s and we always look for practice murderers when we're dealing with a serial sexual killers.
Those are the murders that they commit prior to becoming a serial killer, where they decide on what weapon they want to use, who is their victim going to be? How do they approach the victim? What do they say?
So they have a period of maybe years of practice until they get it down to the point where now, it is exactly the way they want it to be.
So I think that there are other murderers out there, and I think eventually, they will hopefully find most of them maybe not all, but that's what we say, what is the full extent of this person's lethality because we are probably only looking at a part of it right now.
COOPER: Mary Ellen O'Toole, I appreciate you being with us. Thank you.
O'TOOLE: You're welcome.
COOPER: New word that there could be possibly another person charged in the classified documents case. We'll talk to "New York Times'" Maggie Haberman, what she is reporting about who recently got a so- called target letter from special counsel.
And later, we'll take you to Pennsylvania where the escaped inmate believed to be armed and certainly dangerous was spotted. We will show you that video and what that may mean for the week long man hunt.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:45]
COOPER: Tonight, developments in two separate investigations into the former president. The first is a CNN exclusive. Two sources familiar with the special counsel's election interference probe telling us the prosecutors have interviewed the secretaries of State of Pennsylvania and New Mexico. They are the latest in a growing list of election officials in other states that we know about.
The second item is "The New York Times" reporting that a third person could be facing charges in the documents case.
CNN political analyst, Maggie Haberman, a "New York Times" senior political correspondent share a byline on that. She is also the author of the best-selling "Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America" joins us now.
So what do you know about this employee, who according to your reporting, received a target letter from Jack Smith.
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: This is a low-level employee, Anderson, but it is somebody who was before the federal grand jury in May and prosecutors have continued to try to drill down on the question of whether anyone interfered with security footage, surveillance footage that the Justice Department was seeking and whether everything was complied with and whether statements have all been accurate.
And look, we don't know whether this person will be charged or not, but it really does underscore that this investigation did not end with the indictment of Donald Trump and Walt Nauta.
This investigation is continuing. We don't know what other turns it may take, but a bunch of subpoenas had been sent in recent weeks for additional documents and more witnesses had been brought forward.
COOPER: Do you have a sense of how wide the net is? I mean how many employees the former president had been questioned or contacted by the special counsel's office?
[20:20:10]
HABERMAN: It's a lot and it's a wide range, Anderson, between Trump Organization, Mar-a-Lago specifically, people on his campaign, people from his former White House, people who worked for him at the time, people have been asked questions, you know, going back to how he kept records and his practices.
It's a very, very extensive investigation, which we could get a sense of from just the sheer volume of discovery material that was turned over to the defense team.
So I anticipate that when it becomes clear how many witnesses we're talking about, we know the government has a list of 84 witnesses that they are interested in talking to. We'll see how the Trump team handles it. I think it is going to be surprising to people just how wide this net was.
COOPER: And is it possible? I mean, do they send a target letter intending to -- I mean, letting them know the person that they may actually be prosecuted? Or is it also to possibly encourage somebody to flip?
HABERMAN: Look, there's always a hope, I think for prosecutors that somebody who is facing potential charges could end up cooperating whether that actually means flipping or not in an investigation, and so that happens up until the point that there's charges.
But when a target letter is sent, it doesn't always result in charges, but it usually means charges and recall that Donald Trump was sent a target letter before he was -- excuse me -- before he was indicted by the Justice Department in June.
COOPER: And we learned late yesterday through a reporting from you and Kaitlan Collins that Hope Hicks and Jared Kushner have testified in front of the grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the election. Has there been any reaction from the former president or his team?
HABERMAN: They're not surprised. They know that all of these subpoenas have gone out. They know that prosecutors have been interested in talking to this list of people, they know that they are targeting the prosecutors, interviews with people in Trump's immediate area when he was in the White House in those final months to try to get a sense of his mindset.
So there is not a lot of surprise, it's also not a comfortable thing. And no one on the campaign or the legal team, particularly enjoys the fact that Trump's family is involved, but they are not surprised. Jared Kushner worked in the White House, it is what it is.
COOPER: And publicly, the former president, I mean, certainly at rallies seems -- he is happy to talk about it. Do you have any reporting and how he's actually viewing this privately?
HABERMAN: Viewing which? The investigation or his indictment or Jared Kushner testifying or all of the above?
COOPER: His indictment and also, I mean, all of the above, really? I mean, he's sort of playing it off publicly as you know, he's suffering this for, you know, for everybody else's benefit.
HABERMAN: Look, he is playing this politically. He has incorporated the indictment that he has already been -- that he has now and the possibility of another and possibly get another one in Georgia and one in Washington over January 6, and his efforts to stay in power.
He has melded this completely into his political campaign. And you're I think, going to see that going forward for some time. He is -- he laughs it off, or he dismisses it, or he describes it as a witch hunt and you're going to see that for a long time.
He has been very angry at various points about the federal indictment in particular, he is facing a lot of legal action. He is not happy about any of it, but he is still going to make that a key feature of his messaging.
In terms of prosecutors talking to members of his family, he is not happy about that and it adds to his complaints privately that they are targeting him and targeting the Trumps.
COOPER: And according to Politico, the former president is in talks to a sit down interview on a podcast that Mike Tyson has. Do you know much about the strategy behind that?
HABERMAN: So there's a couple of things, Anderson. Number one, Mike Tyson is a very old associate of his. He was actually an advisor of sorts to Tyson at one point in the late 1980s. He was a huge defender of Tyson's when Tyson was convicted on a rape charge and said it was a travesty.
So it's not entirely surprising. It's also a reminder that Trump has this unique niche that he tries to appeal to just in terms of cultural aspects of the country.
He has been a public figure, he has been a celebrity. He has also been sort of a sports figure. And he has been -- or at least, connected to the world of wrestling, connected the world of boxing. And I think that his campaign has long seen that as an advantage that it can press, especially as it tries to appeal to men, you know, men is obviously a very broad category. It's often you know, cut up into different groups among men, but that is his base of support.
And so they're going to try to maximize his vote there and it is not surprising that he is talking about it. It does seem that it's a potential recipe for things getting a little complicated in an interview, but we'll see.
COOPER: Yes, Maggie Haberman, appreciate it. Have a good weekend.
Coming up next, Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and the Republican passed Defense bill loaded with provisions that have turned what's normally a bipartisan measure into a bitter fight over abortion and diversity training medical services for transgender servicemembers.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:28:26]
COOPER: Tonight, a deeply controversial version of a traditionally non-controversial defense bill is now heading for the Senate. The Republicans powered it through the House today complete with provisions limiting abortion access, transgender care, and diversity training of the ranks. Those measures which were the price that the far right members demanded of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for supporting the bill all but doomed it in the Senate.
I spoke about it just before airtime with Washington Democratic Congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal.
Congresswoman, thanks for being here. Can you explain your reasoning for why you voted against this Defense bill?
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-IL): Yes, Anderson. This was a bill that became really an extreme MAGA Republican bill that was not designed in any way to be able to get bipartisan support.
Now, as you know, the top line of defense spending is always a challenge for progressives, but this went far beyond that. Not only is it the highest top line number we've seen in a very long time, they put in all sorts of amendments that were added at the last minute, that aim to strip -- move towards an abortion ban across the country, basically ban abortion care and reproductive care for servicemembers, eliminate gender affirming care for trans folks and eliminate DEI, diversity, equity and inclusion, which as you know, we're trying to build up -- our military buildup our troops we need to have people from all over that represent different communities, and we have trouble recruiting right now as it is.
So this was a bill well designed to appease the MAGA extreme right wing of their party and it was terrible to see.
I haven't seen such a divided partisan vote in the entire time I've been in Congress.
[20:30:10]
COOPER: For Speaker McCarthy, it was not just about appeasing the most extreme elements of the party, it was also to make Democrats look bad, knowing most likely they would vote against it. I want to play something that Speaker McCarthy said today about your vote and others -- other Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Why did the Democrats vote no? Technically, it's a bipartisan vote, but four Democrats vote with us. Are the rest of the Democrats against a pay raise for their veterans? Are they against deterring China for a safe future? Are they against rooting out wasteful spending because they all voted against it today?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So that's how he is portraying it?
JAYAPAL: Yes, that's right. I think that this is his attempt to try and say that we don't support our service members when, in fact, everything that we are about is making sure that we have a strong military where service members get the support they need. And they made it such and you know this, you've been covering this issue for a long time. They made it such that they could only get four Democrats who, by the way, you know, there were four Republicans who voted no.
So that sort of evened itself out. This was not a bipartisan bill. And I think you're right, he wanted it not to be a bipartisan bill. And that is the issue with Team Extreme of the Republican Party. They're not interested in trying to pass things. They're not interested in trying to govern. They're not interested in getting that raised for service members. Otherwise, they wouldn't have passed a bill that is not going to pass in the Senate.
There is no way this bill is going to pass in the Senate. And we're going to have to have a bill come back to us and we'll see what the Republicans do at that point.
COOPER: I want to read something that you wrote about this today. You said, quote, "Trans children, parents and medical professionals know what's best for their families, not Republican legislators trying to take their rights away. As the mother of an incredible trans daughter, I know how cruel this amendment is and I'm horrified that it passed through the House".
I mean, it sounds like this is personal for you. JAYAPAL: It is personal for me, Anderson. This is about life and death for our kids to be able to get the care that they need and to be the heroes that they are in just trying to live their lives at a time that is incredibly difficult. So yes, it's personal to me.
But I can tell you there are Democrats and Republicans and Independents across the country who see this for what it is -- a cruel, blindly partisan, extreme thing that Republicans are trying to pin. They're, you know -- I guess what they're hoping is going to be a victory at the polls. I don't think it is. I think Americans are going to see through it.
COOPER: And just, I mean, finally, a defense bill does have to be passed. What do you think is going to happen in the Senate?
JAYAPAL: Well, I think the Senate is going to pass something that does have bipartisan support, but Kevin McCarthy just put Marjorie Taylor Greene on the conference committee, which means that he's still catering to those extreme right elements. And at the end of the day, the bill is going to have to come back to the House. It is going to have to pass the House. Otherwise, we are not going to be able to support our military.
And I think that Republicans, you know, are going to try to say that this is Democrats fault, but everybody can see what happened today. They insisted on passing a very partisan bill. And, Anderson, they didn't even take bipartisan amendments that essentially didn't do that much, but would have given a flavor of bipartisanship to the bill and perhaps encouraged more Democrats to vote for it, but they just insisted on making it as extreme as they possibly could.
COOPER: Congresswoman Jayapal, thanks for your time.
JAYAPAL: Thank you, Anderson.
COOPER: Some of the social issues the Congresswoman and I talked about took center stage today at an Iowa gathering of evangelical Christians that has become a pilgrimage for Republican and presidential hopefuls, with the notable exception this time of Donald Trump.
As CNN's Jessica Dean now reports, not only do the candidates use the event to try to burnish their conservative credentials, Iowa's governor made it the launch pad for newly passed abortion restrictions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signing her state's six-week abortion ban into law onstage during the family leadership summit Friday, which gathered evangelical voters in Des Moines.
GOV. KIM REYNOLDS (R), IOWA: I could not imagine a more appropriate place to sign this bill.
DEAN (voice-over): It was an issue Florida Governor Ron DeSantis embraced during his remarks to the conservative audience.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will be a pro-life president. So, I mean, of course I want to sign pro-life legislation. We need to develop a culture of life in this country.
DEAN (voice-over): But he stopped short of committing to a federal six-week abortion ban like the one he signed in Florida.
DESANTIS: I will be somebody who will use the bully pulpit to support governors like Kim Reynolds is a critical issue, and it's one I'm happy to have done.
DEAN (voice-over): One conspicuous absence on Friday, former President Donald Trump, who skipped the event but will travel to Iowa next week.
REYNOLDS: Thank you so much.
[20:35:05]
DEAN (voice-over): Governor Reynolds, popular among conservatives in the state, has pledged to remain neutral in the state's caucuses but has appeared at several events with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
Earlier this week, Trump attacked her for not endorsing him, writing on Truth Social in part, quote, "I opened up the governor position for Kim Reynolds. And when she fell behind, I endorsed her". In response, DeSantis called Reynolds, quote, "a strong leader who knows how to ignore the chirping and get it done". While Haley touted the Iowa governor as a, quote, "conservative rock star".
TIM SCOTT (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Isn't it good to be in a nation where you are free to praise the Lord?
DEAN (voice-over): Trump's rivals who continue to lag behind Trump in the polls, hoping to use his absence Friday as a moment to stand out to voters. Former Vice President Mike Pence calling Trump's words on January 6, quote, "reckless".
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whatever his intentions in that moment, it endangered me and my family and everyone that was at the Capitol that day. I believe history will hold him accountable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: And what we just heard from Pence there is about as explicit as any criticism that we heard from the stage about former President Donald Trump, Anderson. Instead, the candidates really focused on talking about their own viewpoints, really trying to sell themselves to that critical voting bloc of evangelical voters and attacking Democrats and President Biden. Anderson?
COOPER: Jessica Dean, I appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up next, why doorbell camera video is the attention of Pennsylvania police and the manhunt for an escaped inmate. What the video shows coming up.
Also, the already hot summer and how it's likely getting even hotter. Our Harry Enten has the numbers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:40:26]
COOPER: Tonight, Pennsylvania State Police have released crucial new doorbell camera video that they say shows the escaped inmate, who's been on the run for eight days now, a fugitive they consider armed and dangerous. An investigator said that the video offers some important new information on the wanted inmate.
CNN's Brian Todd continues to cover the manhunt force in Pennsylvania. Here's his latest report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: Check the area around their homes.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A compelling new piece of evidence tonight in the manhunt for escaped inmate Michael Burham in northern Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State Police released this doorbell camera video saying this is Burham walking past a home in an area just south of the city of Warren.
BIVENS: We consider this to be a confirmed sighting for a variety of reasons.
TODD (voice-over): Police say this video was recorded in the last few days just after 05:00 a.m.
BIVENS: He is no doubt becoming more desperate and will attempt to acquire the things he needs to survive.
TODD (voice-over): Police now say they believe Burham has an injury to an ankle or a leg. They say the video indicates he is probably limping.
BIVENS: We believe that he did potentially have an injury during the escape.
TODD (voice-over): This comes one day after police showed us this photo, saying they're confident this bag and tarp full of clothes, food and other items belong to Burham. They said it was found in the general area of the city of Warren in the woods. Police also called on Burham to turn himself in.
BIVENS: Don't do anything foolish that gets anyone else hurt. Don't get yourself hurt. We are going to capture you. TODD (voice-over): Burham is considered armed and dangerous and is wanted in several alleged cases, including the shooting death of a 34- year-old woman, a carjacking and kidnapping of an elderly couple, and setting his ex's car on fire. Police say he escaped Warren County Prison last Thursday night through a hole in the cage surrounding the prison's rooftop gym, repelling down using bedsheets tied together.
Burham eluded law enforcement earlier this year before his arrest when it took two weeks to capture him. This dash camera video shows when law enforcement caught him back in May in South Carolina. As for this manhunt, Warren residents say they're taking every precaution necessary to remain safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until he is captured, I'm going to be sitting here armed because I have the right to bear arms and my wife and I both have permits.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Brian, there's certainly a lot of hikers, campers where you are. What message do police have for anyone going out in the area?
TODD: Anderson, there are a ton of hikers and campers in this area. The weekend is upon us. The weather is good, and that means a lot of them are going to be out. Despite that and despite the fact that Michael Burham is considered armed, dangerous, and now police say he is desperate, despite all that, Lieutenant Colonel George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police says he is not, not recommending that people cancel their outdoor activities this weekend.
I also pressed him on whether he would shut down certain areas of the woods and forests around here, he said he does not want to do that. He says, basically, I can't shut down huge swaths of territory in western Pennsylvania. But of course, he is advising people to be vigilant, keep an eye out for Michael Burham, because he is now desperate, according to police.
COOPER: Right. Brian Todd. Appreciate it.
As Brian just mentioned, this is not the first time that Burham has been on the run. There was a carjacking, a kidnapping. He forced a couple to drive him to South Carolina. That's where he was finally caught back in May. Thanks to the actions of my next guest, who spotted Burham hiding behind the shed on his property.
Joining me tonight is Anthony Phillips. Mr. Phillips, thanks for joining us. Can you just walk us through your encounter with the fugitive, Michael Burham the last time he was on the run?
ANTHONY PHILLIPS, SPOTTED BURHAM BACK IN MAY, LEADING TO ARREST: So after that, we go around to the back, I open up the building door, look in the building door, well, the shed door, garage door, if you want to call that. Open that up, didn't see nobody, shut the door. I'm like, ain't nobody out here so let's go on back in the house.
And Sadie girl, which is a little Jack Russell Terrier dog, she started growling over at one side of the building, one side, what's going on with her? And then went to the other side and growled and lit off a bark. And I got looking, I looked down and there was a pair of shoes over there right in front of the pump house.
And I asked the person, I said, whose shoes are those? She goes, they're not Bo's (ph) shoes. I know they're not your shoes. And then I got to look in a little bit more, and I seen something that said Anne Won (ph) on it with white over top of it. I was like, I got to look in it.
And I stepped back and I said, hey, Bo. Hey, Bo. And whenever I said that, Michael Burham stood up. And whenever he stood up, threw his hands up. He said, I don't want no trouble. I'm not going to hurt any buddy. I just want to grab my shoes and leave. And I went hollering cussing at him.
[20:45:06]
My old lady, she was trying to get me to come back. I was more worried about getting her into the house than I was anything, as long as she was in the house. And I told her to go in the house, call the law.
COOPER: It's one thing to hear on the news that there's a, you know, a guy who's escaped who's on the run and to know he's out there somewhere. But to actually suddenly see this guy on your property, what goes through your mind when you, you know, you call him out and he gets up there with his hands up?
PHILLIPS: It was -- I mean, it was kind of an adrenaline rush, man. I'll be honest with you. It was like, when you go back there, you're not expecting to see whatever you see and then whenever you see it. You're like, what? And then, you know, you get thinking about it a couple of days later, you know, something really bad could have happened.
I don't know if he was armed, but, I mean, I'm not going out there empty handed. You know, I mean, this could have went a completely different way.
COOPER: And you've seen this new video I know from police of him limping through a neighborhood. I mean, it's -- and it's good they got the video. How long do you think he'll be out there for?
PHILLIPS: Man, I'm going to be honest with you. With that guy right there, there ain't no telling, man. I mean, if you sit there and -- I've been on Facebook a lot and I've been looking at a lot of different posts and seeing the type of guy he is and seeing from what he did out here in Berkeley County.
I mean, the cops were right here at the house within no time. And he still let them on like over an hour chase and I'm talking about within minutes, within like two minutes, they were whole yards full. He still let them over an hour or some minute chase.
COOPER: Right. PHILLIPS: So there's no check with him. I mean, I don't put anything past him, Bo. I really don't. I hope quick and soon, I mean, the family that has all suffered because of what he's put them through, they need a little bit of justice. They -- somebody needs to help him to a nice shot instead of handcuffs or -- I mean, it's not right. Well, we need to be behind.
COOPER: Anthony Phillips, I appreciate you talking to us. And my best your wife.
PHILLIPS: Oh, thank you, sir. I appreciate you, Bo. You all have a great night.
COOPER: Coming up, record breaking temperatures around the globe. Harry Enten is here to breakdown the data behind the heat. And later, they survived a plane crash, spent a month wandering in the jungle. How four young children are doing now?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:51:46]
COOPER: The earth is currently in the middle of a weekslong heat wave with no signs of cooling down. Scientists warn 2023 could be the hottest year on record. This week alone, more than 90 million Americans were under heat alerts as the heat dome expands over the western half of the country. Temperatures in California's Death Valley, referred to as the hottest place on earth, could crack 130 degrees this weekend.
In agony, we turn now to our Senior Data Reporter, Harry Enten. So how did these recent temperatures track with heat waves of the past?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: It is hot. Let me tell you, it is hot.
COOPER: Is that what the data says?
ENTEN: That is what the data says. So why don't we look globally first?
COOPER: Sure.
ENTEN: Because I think it's so important to put what we're seeing domestically and put in a global context.
COOPER: OK.
ENTEN: The last 11 days globally --
COOPER: Yes.
ENTEN: -- have been warmer than any other on record since at least 1979. And why I say since at least 1979 is because we don't have records going back further than that. There are some people who believe that these are the warmest 11 days basically within the last 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 years.
COOPER: We don't have records going back past in 1979.
ENTEN: Not for global temperatures. We have them for local, right? We have them for states, we have them for counties, we have them for locally. But looking at the entire globe, we can't exactly say where it places.
But, you know, I said let's put it in a global context and then we'll take it domestic. Look at Phoenix, Arizona. They have had a high temperature reach at least 110 degrees every day this month. It lasts all the way back to the end of June, and there is no relief in sight.
This is -- they're going for a record. If we have it going all the way into the middle of next week, which is what we expect, then it will reach the record for most consecutive days in Phoenix with at least 110. And if I could just say one more thing about Phoenix, I love the city of Phoenix, and that is this, the nighttime temperatures have not dropped below 90 degrees --
COOPER: Wow.
ENTEN: -- the last few nights.
COOPER: That's crazy.
ENTEN: So there's no escaping this heat. And that is because of something called urban heat island, which is essentially all the infrastructure that's been built up around Phoenix, all the concrete roads, all that retains the heat. And so there's no escaping the heat whatsoever.
COOPER: It's called urban heat island?
ENTEN: Urban heat island.
COOPER: It sounds like a British reality show.
ENTEN: Maybe so. Maybe so. Although, you know, I will say that my friend Alec Alphas (ph) from high school did, in fact, star in a British reality show. But this is actually something that's real, and we see it in New York City all the time. It's part of the reason why in snowstorms, oftentimes you see bigger snowstorms in the surrounding areas rather than in Manhattan.
COOPER: OK, I lost you on the snow. You know, I had forgotten that last summer, I think it was more than 60,000 people died in Europe during heat waves. We don't see that those huge numbers of the deaths in the U.S. Is the difference most people there, many people there don't use air conditionings?
ENTEN: Yes. God bless air conditioning. That's all I can say. God bless. One of the great inventions we've ever had. About 99 percent of households in the Phoenix metro area have air conditioning.
COOPER: Right. ENTEN: A little bit more than 90 percent of households nationwide in the United States have air conditioning.
COOPER: Less than 5 percent?
ENTEN: Less than 5 percent in the United Kingdom have air conditioning. So they're all over there saying --
COOPER: Yes.
ENTEN: -- oh, those people in the United States, they're, you know, hurting the environment with air conditioning. That may be true. But if you look at the numbers on heat waves, air conditioning is the major difference. And that is one of the things they're doing right now in Phoenix.
COOPER: I was in Paris recently for a couple of days. No air conditioning anywhere.
[20:55:02]
ENTEN: There's no air conditioning.
COOPER: Crazy.
ENTEN: It's crazy, right?
COOPER: It's nuts.
ENTEN: Who would want to go over to Europe in the summer, especially as we're seeing all this heat right now? There's no way.
COOPER: It's --
ENTEN: There's no way.
COOPER: Yes. Well, you like to have light things. What is the -- would you have any data that's fun, that's not exact here?
ENTEN: Yes. So let me ask you a question. Where do you keep your air conditioner when you set it?
COOPER: So you mean like on really hot days?
ENTEN: Yes, on a really hot day during the summer.
COOPER: I would say somewhere like 73, 74?
ENTEN: Yes, that's --
COOPER: At night, I might drip down to 72, 71.
ENTEN: Yes. So that's basically I was interested to see whether or not you are where the rest of Americans are at. And what we see is most Americans during the daytime keep their AC thermostat in the 70s.
COOPER: OK.
ENTEN: Look at that, 46 in that 70, 73. I think that's a pretty nice temperature.
COOPER: Yes, I like it, that temperature. Harry Enten, thanks so much.
ENTEN: Thank you.
COOPER: Although they say you should be cooler when you're sleeping for best sleep anyway.
ENTEN: Whatever.
COOPER: Coming up, how the four young children that survived a plane crash and 40 days in the Amazon rainforest are doing now. It's an incredible story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: The four indigenous children that miraculously survived a plane crash spent 40 days wandering the Amazon rainforest were released from a hospital this morning, according to a spokesperson for a Colombian child welfare agency. More than 100 Colombian Special Forces troops and 70 indigenous scouts participate in the search to find them after the crash back on May 1st.
The survivors between the ages of one and 13, they were eventually discovered last month after rescuers heard an infant crying in the jungle. Authorities were motivated to keep looking for weeks after footprints, a dirty diaper and a bottle were found in the Amazon.
Columbia's president said the kids survive like, quote, children of the jungle. They're currently in a shelter home run by a welfare agency. We certainly wish them all a speedy recovery after their incredible ordeal.
That's it for us. Have a great weekend. The news continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
