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Suspected Georgia School Shooter's Father Arrested, Charged With Murder; Harris Raises $361 Million in August, Nearly Tripling Trump's Haul; Soon, Trump Expected to Appear at Court to Appeal $5 Million Jury Verdict. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 06, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A massive fundraising haul for the Harris campaign, nearly triple what Team Trump raised last month, what that means for the vice president's momentum just two months before Election Day.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Minutes away from the alleged Georgia school shooter's first court appearance, his father now arrested and charged, what we are learning about his role.

And federal investigators raided the homes of several top officials connected to New York Mayor Eric Adams.

Kate is out today. I'm John Berman with Sarah Sidner. F is for Friday, and this is CNN News Center.

SIDNER: We begin with breaking news for you. We are standing by for suspected 14-year-old shooter Colt Gray to make his first court appearance in Georgia. He is charged with murdering two students and two beloved teachers at his high school less than 48 hours ago. Very soon, we will see him before a judge.

His father has now been taken into custody too, charged as well in those killings. Colin Gray is the second father in the United States' history to face manslaughter charges stemming from a child mass shooter. The first was Michigan father James Crumbley, who was convicted after his son opened fire at Oxford High School, killing four people. Gray is, however, the first father now to be to also face second-degree murder charges.

Let's get straight to CNN's Rafael Roma outside the court there in Georgia. Rafael, first, can you give us some sense of how this hearing for the 14-year-old will happen in the next hour?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara, good morning to you. The hearing will happen here at the Barrow County Courthouse in about 90 minutes. And as you can imagine, there's a lot of interest here, not only from the community and the state of Georgia, but a lot of media presence here this morning.

Now, I have to tell you something, Sara, the suspect himself will not be here. He's going to appear virtually because right now he's being detained at the Gainesville Regional Youth Detention Center. But what we know already is that he is facing at least four charges, Sara, and the charges that he faces, of course, have to do with the horrific murders that happened Wednesday here in Winder, just about an hour away from Atlanta, northeast of Atlanta.

And in a significant development overnight, Sara, we have also heard and got confirmation from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that the suspect's father, Colin Gray, has also been arrested and he faces multiple charges. Let me read to you what he is facing now. The 54- year-old is now facing eight counts of cruelty to children in the second-degree, two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the second- degree, and another four counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Now, why did authorities here decide to charge the father? This is what the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HOSEY, DIRECTOR, GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: These charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon.

He is in custody at this time.

The arrest was made when we had the probable cause to make the arrest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And overnight, Sara, we have also heard that both the father and the son were on law enforcement's radar for at least a couple of years for different reasons stemming from incidents that happened here in Georgia. Let me tell you, for example, that in July of 2022, the family was evicted from their home, and as part of the eviction, and this is key here, sheriff's deputies collected three guns, including an AR-15 rifle for safekeeping, and those weapons were later returned in May of last year, deputies interviewed Colin Gray. And the FBI flagged on online post that threads to an unidentified location.

[07:05:05]

And then in December, we also learned that the father bought the son a gun for Christmas.

Now, he was interviewed. The father, Colin grade was interviewed by Jackson County Sheriff's Office, and this is what he had to say about the availability of weapons around his house. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have weapons in the house?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are they accessible to him? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are. I mean, there's nothing loaded, but they are down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do -- we actually -- we do a lot of shooting. We do a lot of deer hunting. He shot his first deer this year. And that's like, I'm pretty much in shock, to be honest with you. Well. I'm a little pissed off, to be even really honest with you, if that is what was said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Of course, Sara, this is going to play out more fully during the trial for the father. But what I can tell you being here in Winder is that this is a community still in shock, as you can imagine, a lot of people still trying to process the horrific incidents that happened here on Wednesday. Sara, back to you.

SIDNER: Four lives lost, and we will be talking about some of the victims, including one of the teachers and the story that she has to tell about what happened. Thank you so much, Rafael Romo. I appreciate your reporting this morning. John?

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, the Harris campaign reports it raised a whopping $361 million in August. That's just under three times Donald Trump's fundraising haul. The Harris campaign now has $404 million cash on $295 million for Trump.

Let's get right to CNN's Jeff Zeleny for the latest on this. That's a lot of cash, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John, good morning, a lot of cash indeed. And when you look a little bit deeper into these numbers the Harris campaign is releasing this morning, you're getting a sense of just the depth and the breadth of the fundraising. But it's also a sign of excitement and enthusiasm. Look at these numbers here, $361 million in August compared to the former president's haul of $120 million.

Now, for him, that is slightly lower than the month before. But if you look at Harris' numbers specifically, $361 in August, but cash on hand. That is the key number here. That means she can spend that much money in the next 60 days before the Election Day.

But look at that, since July, $615 million since she, of course, has become the Democratic nominee. So, that certainly is one more of the metric here that speaks to the enthusiasm. But one other thing, in August, 3 million donors, but 1.3 million of her donors were new donors, giving for the first time. You see the Trump numbers there as well that we just talked about, but these new numbers for Harris showing, look at these, 3 million donors, 1.3 first time donors. That means, of course, that they can almost certainly give again and again up until November. So, certainly, one more metric of the excitement and enthusiasm for the Harris campaign, John.

BERMAN: Obviously, to have this such money means you can spend it, but it also has other implications for the next two months. ZELENY: It does. Look, I mean, money is not going to be the thing that is going to win a campaign, but it certainly can lose it if you don't have it. What are they spending all this money on? That, of course, is television ads. And, of course, all eyes are on Pennsylvania. The big debate is there next week. But Pennsylvania is getting more spending from both sides than any other battleground. That's what they are using this money on. Some $65 million has been spent by the Harris campaign alone there, $75 million in new reservations for the rest of the campaign for television ads, that is likely to go up.

So, what this money is being spent on is a different strategy. We're seeing the Harris campaign spending across the seven battlegrounds. The Trump campaign has trimmed its sails a little bit in terms of what they are spending. Again, money is not likely to be an issue for either side, but this is a sign of excitement and enthusiasm, and it gives the Harris campaign more options to spend more on T.V. ads, digital ads, and certainly building a grassroots campaign. John?

BERMAN: When you got the money, you don't have to spend as much time raising the money for the next 60-plus days.

ZELENY: That is true.

BERMAN: Jeff Zeleny, great to see you, as always. Thanks so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, Donald Trump back in a New York courtroom this morning, which case he's battling and what to expect there.

Also breaking, Zelenskyy makes a surprise visit to Germany, where he met with defense secretary Lloyd Austin, his big request that could change the course of the war.

And the NFL kicked off football season last night with the Chiefs and the Ravens, not the Raisins, the Ravens, don't come for me anymore. And there was a very special guest in the house. I wonder who that could be.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: All right, very shortly this morning, Donald Trump will be in a New York City courtroom. The former president and his team looking to overturn a $5 million verdict that found him liable of sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll.

CNN's Kara Scannell is outside the court where we could see Donald Trump within the next couple hours. Kara, what are we expecting today?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. So, Donald Trump is expected to appear in this courthouse behind me just a few hours from now, and he is challenging the verdict, that $5 million verdict by the jury, finding that he sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll.

[07:15:01]

Now, his lawyers are going to argue that the judge should never have let the testimony of two other women who have accused Trump of sexual assault go before the jury, and they also say that Access Hollywood tape should not have been played.

Now, Trump's lawyers, that will be their argument. E. Jean Carroll's lawyers are going to counter that, saying that that testimony, that evidence, was evidence of Trump's M.O., that he had assaulted women. Then when they went public with it, denied it and criticized their appearances.

Now, both sides will only have about ten minutes to make their arguments. And unlike Donald Trump's criminal trial, where he spoke to cameras in the hallways during breaks in the trial, there are no cameras inside this courthouse. So, Donald Trump will not be able to campaign here, even though he is expected to make an appearance at Trump Tower later today, where he will speak to the cameras, but no decision is expected in this case.

And, you know, Donald Trump is not required to be here today. He's obviously choosing to do so to make another appearance outside in one of his cases, which has been a consistent part of his campaign. John?

BERMAN: You mentioned the New York criminal case where he was found guilty. We are expecting an important ruling decision today from the judge in that case.

SCANNELL: Yes. Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over that trial, has informed both Trump's teams and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office that he will decide today whether to postpone Donald Trump's sentencing. He's currently scheduled to be sentenced on September 18th. Trump's lawyers asked for that to be delayed until after the November election, saying that if the judge rules against them in their attempt to get the entire verdict thrown out based on the Supreme Court's ruling of presidential immunity, they say they won't have enough time to appeal that decision. So, they've asked the judge to push this off.

The prosecutors have not opposed that request, saying that they defer to the judge. So, ultimately, what the judge decides today will let us know if Donald Trump is going to face a sentencing before the election, or if it will come sometime after. John?

BERMAN: That will be fascinating. All right, Kara Scannell, a lot going on today. Thanks so much for being with us.

So, this morning, good news for drivers, the country pumping so much oil that gas prices could drop below $3 by Thanksgiving.

And brand new, too, CNN reporting this morning that Donald Trump said while he said he was expanding the battleground map, his campaign spending tells a different story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

SIDNER: All right. Breaking overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a warning at a surprise meeting hosted by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Ramstein, Germany. Zelenskyy says a, quote, significant number of air defense systems that were promised by allies have not yet been delivered. The meeting is happening at a time when deadly missile strikes in Ukraine have killed dozens.

We turn now to CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen who is in Central Ukraine with more on this story. What is Zelenskyy looking to get? I mean, this was, you know, to some a surprising statement that he's not getting the weapons that he says were promised.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know what, Sara, surprising statement, but also surprising visit by Volodymyr Zelenskyy going to Germany, going to Ramstein meeting, where normally he would only send his defense minister to. So, it just shows how important for the Ukrainians it is to get additional weapons and specifically to get air defense weapons.

Of course, that's something that the Ukrainians have been talking about, that they need a lot more of. And he certainly did. You're absolutely right. Sound the alarm bells in that meeting. He said that he was very grateful for the air defense weapons that the Ukrainians have got. Of course, a lot has been pledged. Some of those weapons have been received. But he also said that some of the things that had been pledged had not yet reached Ukraine. And that, of course, is causing Ukrainian lives, or is killing, destroying Ukrainian lives every day.

I want to listen in to some of what Volodymyr Zelenskyy had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: The number of air defense systems that have not yet been delivered is significant. This is what was agreed upon, and this is what was, what has not been fully implemented. The world has enough air defense systems to ensure that Russian terror does not have results. And I urge you to be more active in this work with us on air defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So, that's Zelenskyy there saying the world has enough air defense systems to help Ukraine, but he wants those air defense systems to arrive in Ukraine a lot faster than they have. And, of course, all of that couldn't be more important than in the past two weeks, where we've seen really an uptick in those Russian missile attacks. We had one of the deadliest, in fact, this past week, when the city of Poltava was hit and the death toll there now stands at 55 people who have been killed and almost 300 who were injured, but also massive missiles attacks happening on Monday of this week as children were just going back to school here in Ukraine and the week before that as well. On top of that, Sara, the Ukrainians also want, in general, more arms from the U.S., but they also want the U.S. to ease up restrictions on allowing the Ukrainians to use longer distance weapons to hit targets deeper inside Russia, Sara.

SIDNER: There is a lot going on there, a lot of death, a lot of destruction, including we're seeing Kyiv and Lviv as well. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much to you and your crew. Stay safe out there.

All right, ahead in the race for the White House, one campaign is spending significantly more in the swing states. We'll discuss.

And campaign promises at the pump, what the candidates are saying about gas prices, that's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: So, this morning, is it a false promise? Despite the U.S. pumping more oil than any country ever, former President Donald Trump is attacking Vice President Kamala Harris on energy policy and he is vowing to make gas cheaper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I will end Kamala Harris' anti-energy crusade and implement a policy of energy abundance, energy independence, and even energy dominance.

My plan will cut energy prices in half, or more than that, within 12 months of taking office. It will be an economic revival of our country like no one has ever seen before.

[07:30:02]

Energy was what caused our problem initially. Energy is going to bring us back.