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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Police Have Suspect Notes, Including To-Do List For Killing, CEO Murder Suspect Denied Bail, Fights Extradition To New York; Accused CEO Killer Comes From A World of Wealth; Suspect Denied Bail After Arrest In McDonald's Thanks To Tip; High-Profile Investigations Aided By Tips From The Public; Source: Suspect's Notebook Includes Justification For Killing; Fall Of Assad Raises Question Of Russian Influence In Middle East. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired December 10, 2024 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARC TICE, FATHER OF AUSTIN TICE, JOURNALIST HELD IN SYRIA SINCE 2012: You know, having a disciplined life even though he is in captivity.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Well, thank you both so very much. We all can only hope that you and your children will have the incredible joy of seeing him again very soon. Thank you so much for talking to me.
DEBRA TICE, MOTHER OF AUSTIN TICE, JOURNALIST HELD IN SYRIA SINCE 2012: A very happy Christmas, yes, that's what we're waiting for, Erin, thank you so much.
MARC TICE: Thank you.
BURNETT: Thank you both, and thanks to all of you for joining us. AC360 begins now.
[20:00:35]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, the alleged CEO killer's day in court from angry outbursts to his decision to fight extradition back to New York, where a murder charge awaits him.
Also tonight, tracing his privileged past and more immediate history in search of a motive for the murder he's accused of and an explanation for the target he allegedly chose.
And later, how other notorious cases over the years, just like this one, have been broken by everyday people who see something, say something and help keep their neighbors safe.
Good evening, thanks for joining us. We have just learned that Luigi Mangione made a to-do list for killing, as well as notes justifying those plans. That's what CNN's John Miller just got from a law enforcement source briefed on the matter. According to the source, this material was contained in a spiral notebook, along with what police have already characterized as a three-page handwritten "claim of responsibility."
It comes at the end of a day that began with Mangione making it clear he is not going quietly, not procedurally and not otherwise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUIGI MANGIONE, ALLEGED CEO KILLER: " ...it's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It's lived experience."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was the defendant on its way into a courthouse in rural Pennsylvania, where he elected to fight extradition back to New York on murder charge, unclear what he was referring to or responding to. He was lower key on his way out after prosecutors detailed the gun, silencer, $8,000.00, passport, and multiple masks he was carrying when arrested, and the judge denied bail.
Late today, his attorney took issue with that, saying anyone not charged with a capital crime is entitled to bail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS DICKEY, SUSPECT'S ATTORNEY: The judge could set a million dollar bail. It could be $5 million bail. But you know, damn it, you get bail. That's what you do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, he also told reporters that his client intended to plead not guilty to the New York second degree murder count. He was charged with late last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: You were under the impression that you're trying to defend the client on the fact that he is not the shooter?
DICKEY: Listen, I haven't seen any evidence that says that he's The shooter. And remember, and this is not just a small thing, the fundamental -- the concept of American justice is a presumption of innocence until you're proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and I've seen zero evidence at this point and so I'm not even aware of what the charges are.
REPORTER: That's just regarding the extradition request?
DICKEY: Well, the only hearing today was the extradition, so, we're going to take one step at a time. It's a long process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As to that process local DA Peter Weeks pledged full cooperation with New York authorities.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER WEEKS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY , BLAIR COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: We acknowledge that the New York City Police Department and Manhattan District Attorney's Office charges should take precedence they're more serious, and we intend to cooperate with them to the best of our ability to facilitate their prosecution of this defendant first. But we don't intend to withdraw our charges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Now, earlier today, Pennsylvania authorities released this mug shot of the defendant, a far cry from the smiling man flirting with a hostel employee in New York and the State Police put out a photo of him eating what appears to be hash browns inside the Altoona McDonald's, where police caught up to him just yesterday morning.
Again, it is this new so-called to do list that starts us off. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz has the latest with that. So, what do we know about this?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So, this is really striking, Anderson, and very significant certainly for law enforcement to have this. It's how they describe it as being a to-do list. And also information about his plans about how to do this. And there are two things that are very striking here.
Number one, he says that there was some talk about potentially using a bomb, but he was scared that innocents would be hurt in that. So, that was a bad plan. The other thing, and this is a quote, according to our colleague John Miller, from this notebook, and he sort of says, in essence, what could be better than to, "kill the CEO at his own bean- counting conference".
So, in essence, you know, law enforcement and certainly investigators will view this as a confession.
COOPER: So this is a -- this is not the "manifesto" which maybe is too grandiose a term, or this is a notebook?
PROKUPECZ: This is a notebook, handwritten notebook. It's a spiral notebook. Remember there was a backpack that he had with him. So presumably that's where this was found.
COOPER: All right, Shimon, thanks very much.
More now, on how unexpected this all is to those who've known this defendant, said one former classmate: "I feel like it's a cliche. Everybody is like he was a quiet guy, but like, he wasn't even more normal than that." But then he added, "I know he kind of fell off the radar with everybody."
That is what investigators are focusing on in part, what happened during that time. Did this person's apparent back problems or possible insurance issues play into it? Police want to know and what about his mother filing a missing person's report for him 16 days before the shooting?
There's a lot to learn. CNN's Brian Todd sets the stage.
[20:05:19]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020, shooting suspect, Luigi Mangione maintained an active social media presence for years, posting smiling photos from his travels and gatherings with friends. He worked as a software engineer for the online car sales company, TrueCar, according to his LinkedIn page.
FREDDIE LEATHERBURY, FORMER CLASSMATE: There was nothing that came off weird about him. He had great friends, he had a lot of female friends as well. He was a relatively unassuming kid. He was down to earth. He was smart, well-adjusted socially.
TODD (voice over): His most recent address was in Hawaii, where he lived for about six months at a co-working and co-living space in Honolulu, according to a building manager. His only known encounter with the law there was a ticket for trespassing.
People who know him in Maryland, in Pennsylvania, at Stanford and in Hawaii, and those who know his family have all told CNN that he was very bright and expressed surprise that he would be accused of murder.
THOMAS MARONICK JR., FORMER RADIO HOST FOR MANGIONE FAMILY OWNED STATION: I was just stunned, shocked, couldn't believe it. It's just not who you would think of at all.
TODD (voice over): About six months ago, his social media activity suddenly went cold. Posts from X this past October show concern from friends. One post says, "Hey, are you okay? No one has heard from you in months and apparently your family is looking for you."
In recent years, Mangione suffered from back pain and underwent surgery for treatment according to the Hawaii building manager.
R.J. MARTIN, BUILDING MANAGER IN HAWAII: He mentioned -- oh, I need to go back to see my doctor and then I'm going to have to have surgery. It also weighed on him that he knew that there was an impending surgery.
TODD (voice over): The profile photo on an X account that appears to belong to Mangione features what looks like an x-ray image of a spine with hardware from a surgery, and posts from a now deleted Reddit account that closely matches his biographical details, say that the user had suffered from back aches related to spondylolisthesis since childhood, but aggravated the condition after a surfing incident.
"My back and hips locked up after the incident," the user wrote in July 2023, adding that "... intermittent numbness has become constant and I'm terrified of the implications."
MARTIN: He was in bed for about a week. We had to get a different bed for him that was more firm, and I know it was really traumatic and difficult. You know, when you're in your early 20s and you can't, you know, do some basic things. TODD (voice over): Police are investigating whether a back injury on July 4th, 2023 could be related to the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
JOSEPH KENNY, NYPD CHIEF OF DETECTIVES: Some of the writings that he had, he was discussing the difficulty of sustaining that injury. So, we are looking into whether or not the insurance industry either denied a claim from him or didn't help him out to the fullest extent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Brian, do we know anything more about his family's efforts to find him during the past six months, when he seems to have been isolating himself?
TODD: Anderson, according to "The New York Times," Luigi Mangione was the subject of a missing person's report filed in San Francisco by his own mother on November 18th. We have reached out to the San Francisco Police Department for more details on that.
Now, the NYPD says that he does have some ties to San Francisco, but the exact time that he was there is unclear -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Brian Todd, thanks very much.
Joining us now, CNN law enforcement analyst and former Secret Service agent, Jonathan Wackrow, CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is here, as well as CNN legal analyst, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, former Manhattan chief assistant district attorney; and Kenneth Corey, former chief of department and chief of training for the New York Police Department.
So just big picture, where does the investigation stand tonight?
PROKUPECZ: It's really I think at this point it's going to start to move backwards, I think, because they need to really figure out more about him. You know, there's a point in his life where it seems -- I mean, the only way to best way to describe it is that he was radicalized, right?
Like there comes a point where there's a switch in his life and something changes. And I think for law enforcement and certainly for folks who study this stuff, they want to know where that switch was, what happened. And so, while yes, they are still gathering a lot of evidence, they have all the evidence they need to charge him at this point, but I think there's still a lot to find out about him. And I think that is a very important part of this investigation.
COOPER: Jonathan, what stands out to you at this point?
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, I mean, Shimon is spot on, the investigation is going to start slowing down, right? There's a big difference between apprehension, right? A crime was committed. We need to find that suspect. We need to gather items of evidentiary value to make attribution to get this individual in custody. Now, he's in custody, and the investigation is going to slow down all in the furtherance of the prosecution. So, investigators are going to work backwards, as you said, they're going to start, you know, making sure that every item that they have lines up to support the ongoing prosecution of this individual, they have to go back and they're going to start over with all of the video surveillance evidence, this massive mosaic of thousands of hours of video.
They're going to really piece that together to start to tell the story of everything that happened prior to the attack, the attack itself and the moments afterwards, really showing that premeditated action that he took.
They're also going to look at other witnesses that they may have. He was here for a long time. As they were trying to apprehend him they didn't have the ability to go out and cast a wide net on who else interacted with him, now they can. They have the luxury of time to slow down and find all of those additional individuals.
[20:10:30]
COOPER: And Karen, we mentioned that he's fighting his extradition to New York. New York governor plans to submit a warrant to bring him to the state. What are the next steps for the Manhattan district attorney? And how does the suspect contest his extradition? How does that complicate things?
KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, extradition is a very perfunctory process that happens every day all across the country because otherwise any fugitive, after they commit a crime could just go to another state and not be prosecuted. So, this happens all the time.
The next thing that happens is you fill out a form, you get what's called a Governor's Warrant by the governor of New York, who requests from the governor of Pennsylvania that he be brought here.
He has a couple of weeks to file a writ, basically to essentially contest that and that will trigger a hearing. And at the hearing, the prosecutors will have to put forth some of their evidence to show that they have evidence to support these charges. Just a very thin amount of evidence, but they have to show that they have probable cause that a crime occurred, and then the judge will decide.
So it's going to happen either way. He's going to be extradited. The only potential wrinkle would be if Pennsylvania said they wanted to go forward with their charges first, which I think they've already said they don't want to. But that's the only thing that could delay it. This extradition -- this type of extradition, as I said, is very common and I don't foresee any issue with that. At the end of the day.
COOPER: Chief Corey, we mentioned investigators are also looking to this notebook from the suspect who references the UnitedHealthcare conference. He had a to-do list on task to facilitate a murder, something like that, how does that impact the investigation? KENNETH COREY, FORMER CHIEF OF DEPARTMENT, NYPD: Yes, so I think that's one of the things that the investigators are going to start looking at now. Like Jonathan said, right now, the urgency has stopped, right? The suspect is in custody. Now, the detectives have to work to put a case together and a couple of other things that they're going to want to know is how long was he planning it? Where did he get some of the information that he had?
How did he know that the victim was going to be where he was at that specific time? Had he been surveilling him? How long had that surveillance go on?
And also, what has he been doing since he left New York City? You know, about an hour after the murder, he was out of New York City. So, where has he been for the last several days, and who has he been dealing with there?
COOPER: Yes and they're looking into, Shimon, into this back injury and whether that played some sort of a role.
PROKUPECZ: Yes, because they want to see if there's some kind of claim was denied or whether there was some other thing. You know, the other thing they may be looking at to see if he was on any kind of medication for it.
So, they're going to be able to get all of his medical records. The District Attorney's Office will be able to subpoena that and able to get that.
You know, for the DA's Office and for the prosecution, they now need to start anticipating what the defense will be here once they get an indictment and potentially goes to trial. So, you could start to see all of that information, the gathering of all of that.
So, you know, it's kind of like they don't want to leave any stone unturned. And so, they're going to try to get as much as they can as they get ready to prosecute him.
COOPER: I want to play that sort of outburst he had as he was entering court today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANGIONE: ... it's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It's lived experience."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I mean, Jonathan, I'm wondering, does anything stand out about that? The thing that hasn't been talked about, I mean, most people who have mental health issues aren't violent, but that's certainly an option here. I mean, this guy disappears on his family for six months. They're trying to find him. He disappears on all his friends it certainly wouldn't be a surprise if there was something going on in his head. WACKROW: No, there definitely is. Not from this video, though, this was performance art, right. This was this individual seeing the media, seeing in seizing that opportunity. I mean, just look at the amount of people that have animated around him in support of him, you know, in the last 24 hours. I mean, this was performance art.
The key is, is that notebook. Right? And we talk about that pathway to violence. And actually, we spoke about it last night where it starts with a grievance. And I said at one point, were going to see ideations of violence. Here is the written proof of the ideations of violence.
We already know that there was planning and preparation that went on. We now know it's a very clear pathway to violence. Shimon, your thought about he's been radicalized somewhere. That's key, right?
So while he was a lone actor in all of this, he was influenced by something, right? You don't go from a grievance to killing another human being on the street that quickly without other influences.
And that is what law enforcement is going to focus in on now is where were those influences? Is anybody else at risk or being targeted by a broader group? And they have to act quickly.
[20:15:18]
PROKUPECZ: I just want to bring up a point, and I don't think anyone's really making a big deal of this, but the missing person's report to the San Francisco Police Department. I think we need to know more about what prompted that. And what did the San Francisco Police do? I think it's important because something had happened and there was a reason the family went ahead and reported that, and maybe there were signs.
You know, it's always important to sort of look at that, to see did someone try to go report him what was done?
COOPER: And Karen, Mangione's attorneys argued the judge should have imposed bail, saying that in Pennsylvania, most crimes are bailable offense. Is it unusual that he was denied bail in this case?
AGNIFILO: I don't know that he would be -- have any chance at bail. Certainly when he comes to New York, I can assure you a judge is not going to set bail. So, that could be one of the reasons he's fighting extradition is to try to see if Pennsylvania, that typically does set bail might give him an opportunity to be released here because he's going to be in for a very long time. This case is going to take quite a while to go to an ultimate trial.
And I agree with much of what everybody is saying. But I think one thing I just want to point out is it looks to me like this -- there might be a not guilty by reason of insanity defense that they're going to be thinking about, because the evidence is going to be so overwhelming that he did what he did.
And I hear what you're saying about being radicalized. I hear what you guys are saying. But as a former prosecutor in that office, I would be concerned that you have someone who is a valedictorian of his class. He was brilliant his whole life. He comes from this great family.
I mean, something changed, right, significantly, something changed. And they're going to, I think, potentially have a not guilty by reason of insanity potential defense. So the prosecutors are going to try to shore that up as well in their investigation.
COOPER: Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Jonathan Wackrow, Shimon Prokupecz, thanks. Chief Corey is going to come back shortly.
Next for us, at that point, more on the suspect's upbringing. What a forensic psychologist makes of what we know so far.
And later, some of the other big cases over the years in which the public involvement has played a key role in breaking that and more, when we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:21:20]
COOPER: Chilling words tonight from what a law enforcement source says where pages of notes in a spiral bound notebook made by a murder suspect, Luigi Mangione, who is now awaiting extradition from Pennsylvania in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson.
In one passage, again, according to our source who was briefed on the matter, Mangione muses about what could be better than to, "kill the CEO at his own bean-counting conference."
Now, earlier today, his attorney was asked about Mangione's state of mind. At the moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICKEY: I wasn't looking for impressions. What I was trying to do was form a bond with my client. I want him to trust me and I want him to be confident that I'm here for him. And I feel that I'm very pleased how that went.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As we mentioned before the break, some of his friends describe him dropping off the radar recently. We still don't know much about that. We know more, though, about what came before, and our Gary Tuchman has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over) : The high school valedictorian.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.
TUCHMAN (voice over): Luigi Mangione graduating from Baltimore's Gilman School in 2016, an exclusive private school.
MANGIONE: The parents here today, first off, sending us to Gilman was far from a small financial investment.
TUCHMAN (voice over): Indeed, tuition at the private school was and still is pricey at almost $38,000.00 a year today. But murder suspect Mangione had a family with plenty of money.
THOMAS MARONICK, JR., ATTORNEY: I was just stunned. Shocked. Couldn't believe it. It's just not who you would think of at all.
TUCHMAN: Thomas Maronick Jr. is an attorney who knows the family.
MARONICK: The Mangione family is one of the prominent families of Baltimore County. They own a lot of real estate. They own golf courses. They're just a very well respected name.
TUCHMAN (voice over): In this family picture, Luigi Mangione stands third from the left. He is surrounded by his sisters, his father, Louis and mother Kathleen are on the right.
In the late 70s, the murder suspect's late grandfather, World War II veteran, Nicholas Mangione, Sr., and his late grandmother, Mary started creating a business empire.
The grandfather grew up in Baltimore's Little Italy neighborhood. He ended up buying two country clubs, started a nursing home company and bought WCBM Radio, a well-known conservative talk station in Baltimore.
Family members also run a family foundation that has nearly $4.5 million in assets, and were longtime benefactors of Loyola University Maryland. The suspect's father today runs the family business.
Attorney Maronick used to be a talk show host at the radio station owned by the family.
MARONICK: Well, they donated money for the pool's swimming center at Loyola University. It bears their name. That's a huge amount of donating to get that.
TUCHMAN: One of Luigi Mangione's cousins is a state legislator in Maryland.
NINO MANGIONE, MARYLAND HOUSE OF DELEGATES: I am Delegate Nino Mangione for the record, District 42-A in Baltimore County.
TUCHMAN (voice over): Republican delegate, Nino Mangione introduced a bill earlier this year to bring back the death penalty in Maryland.
NINO MANGIONE: I believe we need to send a strong signal to the most vicious of all criminals that if you take a life, that justice in turn will demand your life.
TUCHMAN (voice over): The bill failed.
Notably New York State, where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed, also does not have the death penalty. State delegate Mangione released a statement on behalf of the family that says, in part: "Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by the news."
Luigi Mangione received an Ivy League education, graduating with a Bachelor's and then Master's Degree from the University of Pennsylvania. That, coupled with his family wealth, afforded him advantages most don't have.
To conclude, his high school valedictorian speech, he said this.
[20:25:07]
MANGIONE: It's been an incredible journey, and I simply can't imagine the last few years with any other group of guys.
TUCHMAN (voice over): A young man of promise then, an alleged killer, now whose journey into darkness has only just begun.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Some perspective now, joining us is forensic psychologist, Kris Mohandie and CNN senior national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem.
Juliette, I'm listening to Gary expand on his background. How does that or how might it fit into the puzzle that investigators are trying to piece together right now? Is that just the usual profile for a shooter in this kind of crime?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The profiles differ, but the idea that he had a great education and came from privilege, we've had killers like this before, in particular the Unabomber, Kaczynski was Ivy League educated, was quite smart, had a purpose for his killings.
So the thing that that they're going to try to connect, at least in the investigation is, what happened to lead to this moment? Was it the physical pain that he was in? Was it outside substances, drugs or whatever else? Was it a radicalization process either through books or online? So, they're going to be looking at that that got him focused on not just hating our healthcare system, but actually hunting down a CEO.
COOPER: Kris, I mean, we've learned that the suspect fell out of contact with his friends and family for about six months ahead of the alleged killing. What does that tell you? How critical will his actions during that time period be for investigators to just to kind of understand why he did this?
KRIS MOHANDIE, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: I think it's going to be critical to piece together what was going on in those six months. The fact that his mom filed a missing person's report November 18th strongly suggests that there was deterioration that they noted. His friends noted that he dropped off the radar.
All of these things are consistent with -- and I don't, you know, provide these kinds of statements lightly, but there is a likely deterioration in his mental state. He actually looks different than he did as the joyful younger man that he was.
There's an intensity that is about him that he did not used to have. I believe that there's a chance that he could have a significant mental deterioration. That doesn't change the fact that he had a grievance, that it was likely based in his own personal experience, and then learning about the experiences of others and then immersing himself in the materials in books that he was reading. "Deny, Defend, Delay" or some variant of that and a couple of other books, as well as his identification with Ted Kaczynski, who was mentioned by our other esteemed guest here that led him to justify those other statements that were in that alleged manifesto of "the parasites had it coming."
And then ultimately to prepare, which is -- these are the steps that a person goes through to ultimately do and involve themselves in this kind of targeted violence.
COOPER: Juliette, I just want to play again the incident as he was being led into court today and I'm going to ask about it.
KAYYEM: Right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANGIONE: It's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It's lived experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You know, I mean, there are some people out there who are portraying this guy is like an avenger for, you know, a cause. What I don't understand is how much is it just he read stuff and is impassioned and did this, which seems less likely to me than he had some severe mental health issue that then he started to focus on this particular thing through that, through that lens.
KAYYEM: Yes, and/or it could be all of the above that there's mental deterioration than then is linked to what we understand is a physical ailment. And then this is the key and goes to what he was saying there, then him creating a narrative of why it wasn't just about him, right? And this is exactly what Kaczynski did. And the ties -- the clear ties between Kaczynski and this case in terms of creating a narrative that the killing isn't just a killing, it is a killing for a purpose.
That purpose then elevates the person, right, so they become some sort of cult leader. Remember, Kaczynski also had followers like this. We didn't have the internet or social media, but he had a lot of people who were kind of in to him, and we see that now. And the danger of that isn't simply it is wrong, it's disgusting, he murdered and assassinated a person, but then you get into the copycat aspects of this. People who do not have the mental deterioration or the physical deterioration and just decide this is the way forward for social -- for whatever I deem as social justice.
COOPER: Yes, Kris Mohandie. Juliette Kayyem, thank you.
Coming up, a tip from the public was the key to the apprehension of the suspect. We're going to take a look at other high profile investigations that came to a close with the help of Good Samaritans.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:34:32]
COOPER: We're learning more tonight about the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. A source tells CNN police have a notebook that includes a to-do list for the killing. This comes a day after the suspect was arrested eating at McDonald's in Pennsylvania.
An employee called the police after a customer recognized the man from photos circulated by the New York Police Department. Tips from the public have played a crucial role in a number of high-profile investigations.
Randi Kaye takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Secret Service spotted a rifle poking through the bushes at Trump International Golf Club in Florida in September, they opened fire.
[20:35:05]
Ryan Wesley Routh, allegedly there to shoot Donald Trump, quickly escaped.
SHERIFF WILLIAM SNYDER, MARTIN COUNTY: Because the information was that the suspect was possibly headed north on I-95.
KAYE (voice-over): That information came from a quick-thinking witness at the scene who gave police a description of the suspect, as well as a picture of the car and license plate. Minutes later, Routh was arrested.
SNYDER: The witness from the incident at Trump International was flown to the scene by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, and he was able to make a positive ID.
KAYE (voice-over): Routh pleaded not guilty and is behind bars awaiting trial. When escaped prisoner Michael Burham broke out of jail last year, he was on the run in Pennsylvania. That was until a couple and their dog, Tucker, spotted him in a wooded area.
RON ECKLUND, DOG SPOTTED FUGITIVE: I knew who he was as soon as he stood up.
COOPER: And you went from photos, from video? I mean, from the photos you're seeing on TV?
ECKLUND: Oh, absolutely. Yes, we've seen, you know, it's been, what, it was nine or 10 days he was on the loose.
COOPER: Yes.
ECKLUND: And, you know, we've seen plenty of --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Photos and --
ECKLUND: -- photos and, you know, news coverage and whatnot. The news and everything were saying he could be armed and dangerous. So I don't know, does he have a gun?
KAYE (voice-over): The couple called police. Burham was arrested and later sentenced to 25 to 50 years for the escape and a kidnapping.
In 2022, Frank Robert James unleashed a smoke canister on a crowded Brooklyn subway car, then opened fire. Ten people were shot and at least a dozen others suffered injuries. James escaped in the chaos. The 28-hour manhunt ended when keen observers spotted James and called police.
ZACK TAHHAN, SPOTTED SUBWAY SHOOTER: I said, yo, this is the guy. Like, I can't believe, turn my eyes, bro. Like, we need to call the police. And we called the police, and the police reached him. And the police just told me, thank you, and he left.
KAYE (voice-over): James was arrested in Manhattan's East Village after admitting guilt. He was sentenced last year to life in prison.
The manhunt for this pair gained national attention in 2022. Alabama fugitive Casey White was on the lam for 11 days with former corrections officer Vicky White, who helped him escape from an Alabama county jail. Hundreds of tips came in, but just one ultimately led to the location of the fugitives.
VICKY WHITE, FORMER CORRECTIONS OFFICER: Let's get out and run. We should have stayed at the fucking hotel.
KAYE (voice-over): Authorities forced the fugitives' car into a ditch in Evansville, Indiana. Casey White was arrested and sentenced to life last year for escaping. Vicky White died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds after the crash.
Four brave citizens came to the rescue of eight-year-old Shasta Groene nearly two decades ago. In 2005, she was kidnapped by Joseph Duncan, along with her brother, whom he later killed. Authorities had been frantically searching for the children when they got a call that Shasta and her captor had been spotted at a Denny's restaurant in Idaho.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all four decided that Duncan would not leave the restaurant that night with Shasta.
KAYE (voice-over): Two of the tipsters were Denny's employees. The other two were customers. They all split the reward money.
Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COOPER: Well, my next guest worked to apprehend the New York City subway shooter that Randi Kaye just mentioned in her report. Back with me is Kenneth Corey, former Chief of Department and Chief of Training for the New York Police Department.
So what are the advantages? I mean, putting the information out there, getting the public involved in a manhunt, can it also complicate an investigation?
COREY: Yes, and it does. So the decision on when to go public with information is always a strategic one, and it's always one that's held in consultation with the case detectives.
You know, normally, once detectives have identified a suspect and they have probable cause to arrest, they're going to want to try to take that individual into custody as quickly as possible, but also as quietly as possible.
They obviously don't want to alert the suspect that they're on to him and have he or she run. And at the same time, they want to have the opportunity to question the person without, you know, having them necessarily invoke counsel, or I should say, without counsel invoking on their behalf. And that happens quite often.
As soon as a suspect's name goes out, the police department gets a letter from an attorney that says, hey, that's my client. You can't talk to him unless I'm present.
COOPER: So --
COREY: So they want to kind of avoid that circumstance.
COOPER: So, I mean, you were Chief of Department for NYPD in 2022 when the shooter opened fire in the Brooklyn subway car, which was really, I think, the last major manhunt in New York City before this one. What were the main differences between that manhunt and the one we saw this time?
COREY: You know, so every case is different, obviously, and therefore every manhunt is different. In the Frank James case, he had left behind a tremendous amount of evidence at the crime scene. We had credit cards with his name on it, you know, in a bag on the subway train.
Of course, we didn't know initially that Frank James was the perpetrator in that case. He could have been one of the victims who left a bag behind. He could have been -- the property could have belonged to somebody that the shooter had robbed earlier in the day. But within a few hours, we were able really to dial in on Frank James as a person of interest. And probably by late afternoon that day, we had developed probable cause to arrest him. Detectives then went out -- go ahead.
COOPER: No, but -- yes, go ahead.
[20:40:06]
COREY: Detectives went out. They went to a bunch of locations that he was associated with. When they didn't take him, when they weren't able to get him overnight, very early the next morning, we made the decision to go public with it.
We actually lit up the emergency alert system in New York. Only the second time that that's ever been done. The first time was after the Chelsea bombing in 2016, basically directing every cell phone in New York, everybody carrying a cell phone, hey, go to this website, look at these photos, have you seen this person?
COOPER: It's got to be difficult in a case like this one with this Mangione that there's no criminal record to speak of. I mean, it wasn't in the system.
COREY: Yes, so that's where the limitations of technology come in. You know, we talk about technology, video, facial recognition, even forensics, and they are all going to be key elements for the prosecutor here in ensuring his conviction.
But in terms of identification and apprehension, they weren't getting us there. He's not in the system. So the facial recognition, you know, at least in New York, that's limited to what's in government databases.
So it's going to be primarily mugshots, maybe some driver's license photos. But the NYPD doesn't use it to scan social media. I also don't think that the photograph was adequate for facial recognition, because most of his head is covered.
They talked about, right, the Joe Kennedy, the chief detective talked about evidence left at the scene, the water bottle that he bought at Starbucks, the kind wrapper. They got a partial fingerprint off that. His fingerprints aren't in the system.
He's never been arrested. His DNA is not in the system, because he's never been convicted of a crime. So now that he is in custody, they will collect his fingerprints, they will collect his DNA, they'll do direct comparisons to connect those items to him, but they weren't going to aid in his identification.
COOPER: And are there other databases like for fingerprints or a photo that law enforcement can access?
COREY: No, so the fingerprint databases, you know, in New York, you're going to go through -- every state is going to go through their own state's database, and then they're going to submit to the FBI for the federal database to see if he's been arrested in any other state.
So if that person has ever been arrested, convicted with -- of a crime, if they've ever been fingerprinted non-criminally, they applied for a job, they had to get a background check. If they were going to be bonded, like working for an investment bank, they would have had to submit non-criminal fingerprints.
They're going to work as a teacher. So those would certainly return as well as fingerprints in the system. DNA, you know, again, much harder.
COOPER: Yes.
COREY: You know, unless you're convicted of certain offenses, the government doesn't have the DNA of all 330 million Americans on file.
COOPER: Yes. Kenneth Corey, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
CNN is going to continue to model the story, bring you any latest developments. I want to move toward in Syria about this -- after the surprising fall of the Assad regime, a new interim prime minister has been named with potential to help reshape the entire Middle East. What that might mean for Russia's military and their influence in the region, we'll have details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:47:11]
COOPER: An interim prime minister has been appointed by the rebel groups now in control of Syria. Mohammed al-Bashir will oversee the country's transition over the next three months. Now, the fall of the Assad regime sent shockwaves throughout the whole region.
Israel says it carried out hundreds of strikes across Syria the past two days on facilities it says contained chemical weapons and long range missiles. IDF ground troops have been deployed into a demilitarized buffer zone between the two countries for the first time in 50 years.
And the Israeli defense minister claimed that the Syrian naval fleet was destroyed overnight. Still, though, one of the biggest unknowns remains what the collapse of Assad means for Russia's military influence in the Middle East.
Fred Pleitgen has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): As Syrians embark on a new era after ousting longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad, Russia fears the era of its massive military footprint in Syria could be coming to an end.
The former commander of Russian forces in Syria and now Member of Parliament is already warning Russia's leadership not to make concessions. Any gesture of goodwill in the Middle East is perceived as weakness. Weakness is unacceptable, he says.
What should be done in this situation, he's asked. Talk from a position of strength, he answers.
But how much power does Russia still hold in Syria? Kremlin control TV strategizes over what might come next with maps showing Russia's bases in Syria. A guest acknowledges Moscow was caught off guard again.
Thinking about how it all happened in Syria reminds me about how it all happened in Ukraine in 2014, he says. I want to highlight one universal lesson for world powers. Don't take wishful thinking for reality. When a power is crumbling in days and can't protect itself, this is a verdict.
For years, it was the Russian military that kept the Assad regime afloat. Russia's air force pounding rebel groups, its navy firing cruise missiles at ISIS militants in eastern Syria. In return, Assad gave Moscow a 49-year lease on both its main airbase near Latakia and a military port in Tartus, allowing Vladimir Putin to project power throughout the Middle East.
PLEITGEN: The fact that Russia has its military assets in Syria also makes Moscow a key player in the Middle East. But now the Russians acknowledge that that status is in jeopardy.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Once a key ally for the Russian leader, Putin now allowed Assad and some of his family members to flee to Moscow. A decision folks in Moscow told us they support.
We don't abandon our men, he says. He is our man. It was the right decision. He has nowhere to go. He would have been killed.
But even here, Syrians living in Russia telling me they're happy Assad's been ousted.
[20:50:08]
We will be able to live in calm and peace and be able to safely visit our country, he says. We don't have to worry that someone can throw us in prison because they don't like what we said. We're happy that the dictatorship is over.
Moscow hopes the end of Assad's rule will not spell the end of its military engagement in the Middle East, while acknowledging it's still too early to predict.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
PLEITGEN (on-camera): And you know, Anderson, the Kremlin was asked today what role, if any, the Russians played in actually getting Assad out of Syria, as, of course, things were collapsing really quickly around him. The Kremlin spokesman said that leaving Syria was Assad's free will, and the rest, he said, the Kremlin would leave without comment. Anderson?
COOPER: Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much. Coming up, the latest episode of All There Is, my podcast about grief and loss, just got posted wherever you get your podcasts this week. My guest is Tyler Perry. He's built an extraordinary entertainment empire, but it's only recently that he's begun to turn toward the trauma he experienced as a child and the grief he feels over the death of his mom, Maxine, who died 15 years ago this past Saturday.
You're going to hear from Tyler in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:55:24]
COOPER: An all new episode of my podcast about grief and loss, All There Is, was just released minutes ago. You can point your phone's camera right now, the QR code at the bottom of your screen and follow the link that pops up to the podcast.
This week, I'm joined by actor, writer, entertainment entrepreneur, Tyler Perry. He's only recently begun facing head on the trauma and abuse he experienced as a child and facing the grief over the death of his beloved mom, Maxine, 15 years ago this past Saturday.
Here's some of the interview from the podcast.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
COOPER: What have you learned in your grief that would be helpful to somebody listening to this?
TYLER PERRY, ACTOR: What I've learned is that it's, it is what it is. And I would try and suppress it or not cry when it came or just push it to the side. You have to let it visit at will. You have to let it be what it's going to be so that you can move through it.
And I really do feel like it's a living thing. Like it is a visitor that will knock at the strangest moment at the worst time. You can't fight it. Let it be because in order for it to get better, eventually, it's got to move through you.
Because when my mother first passed, it would literally take my breath away. I'd find myself gasping for air when I would think about her or I'd fall asleep and she'd be in my dreams. And I would feel myself waking up and I'm fighting to stay asleep so I can just talk to her one more time. So, yes.
COOPER: After your mom died, you weren't sure you would survive.
PERRY: No.
COOPER: You were drinking. You'd said at one point that if you hadn't had so many work commitments --
PERRY: Yes.
COOPER: -- you might not have stuck around. PERRY: No, no, that wasn't -- what was the point? You know, what was the point? What was the reason? Feeling that level of love, leave me and leave me --
COOPER: But also because all of the -- so much of the drive that you had and have --
PERRY: Was about her.
COOPER: -- was about providing for her --
PERRY: Yes.
COOPER: -- and making sure that she had everything that she wanted.
PERRY: Yes. That was the goal and the purpose. And then when she was gone, so was that desire and that drive to keep pushing and working hard. You know, the strangest thing was because there was so much trauma, because there was so much poverty. I never thought I had enough for her.
I always thought it's this -- this is not going to be enough to make sure she's OK. Anderson, I'm angry, man. I'm so angry. I'm so angry. That's a part of the grief too. I'm angry.
That's another part that you have to be careful with when you're grieving. And this is why around this time of year, I go away because I don't know how it'll show up, but the anger is, oh God, I remember the first mother's day when people are like saying happy mother's day. And I'm like, I don't even want to hear it, you know?
And then to see friends who won't even call their mother or talk to their mother, they get the business from me. I'm just like, what is wrong with you? And I would get angry because I wish I had her. So I'm just -- I -- working my way through the stages of grief was hard. I think the anger was the hardest one.
COOPER: I have felt this rage. The -- is the hard hearted rage of a child. And I remember feeling it as a little kid, just terrified when my dad died and stunned, but just filled with rage that has continued throughout my entire life.
And I think there's -- it's been fuel in so many things I've done, but it's --
PERRY: I wasn't -- yes.
COOPER: It's hard.
PERRY: I wasn't allowed the rage. I wasn't allowed to have that because culturally --
COOPER: Yes.
PERRY: -- just being 6 foot 6 and black, there was this -- from the time I was in school, it was like, you're big, get to the back of the line. You're too big. So I wasn't allowed to have that kind of freedom to just be enraged about something.
So anger, my anger was quiet and slow, slow to build. But I felt this anger coming up out of me and all I could think of and hear was, don't -- you can't do that. You're too big. And one therapist said to me, you deserve to take up as much space on this planet as anyone else, because you're here.
You don't have to be smaller. You don't have to make yourself smaller. And I was able to just let it all go.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
COOPER: The new episode of All There Is with Tyler Perry is now available wherever you get your podcast. You can also point your camera, the QR code on the screen right now, click the link, get it, or go to CNN.com/allthereisonline. It's our new online grief community.
All the podcasts are there. So it was all the videos of the Tyler Perry interview and the other interviews we've done. You can interact with other listeners as well. The Tyler video is also available on the CNN channel on YouTube right now. I hope it all makes you feel a little less lonely in your grief.
That's it for us. The news continues. I'll see you tomorrow. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.