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President Elect Trump's Plans To Reverse Civil Rights Initiatives; Corporations Scramble To Protect Execs After CEO Killed In Ney York City; FBI Director Chris Wray Resigning. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 11, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:36]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Crucial fingerprint evidence tying Luigi Mangione to the scene of the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO last week in New York as a so called murder to do list was allegedly found scrawled inside the 26-year-old's notebook.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, CNN getting a firsthand look inside the opulent palace that Bashar al-Assad called home during his brutal reign over Syria as new videos recorded inside a military warehouse shed light on how the regime may have paid for his lavish lifestyle.

And President Elect Donald Trump's Justice Department preparing to go anti-woke. How the department's storied civil rights division could reverse several of President Biden's initiatives. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

KEILAR: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar alongside Boris Sanchez here in Washington. And it could be weeks before Luigi Mangione is in New York to face the charges that he allegedly assassinated UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Right now, Mangione is in a Pennsylvania prison fighting extradition to New York and the judge has given him two weeks to file paperwork as his attorney stresses the 26-year-old son of a wealthy Maryland family is presumed innocent.

Now, CNN is learning of the first pieces of forensic evidence that allegedly tie Mangione to the crime scene. Sources say that his fingerprints match ones that were found on a burner phone that the gunman tossed or dropped as he was fleeing the scene in midtown Manhattan.

SANCHEZ: The sources also say that investigators have located pages of a notebook belonging to Mangione in which he references a conference. Thompson was going to attend an investors conference the morning that he was killed. The pages also contained a to-do list of tasks needed to facilitate the killing. Sources say in the pages Mangione reasons against using explosives because they could, quote, "kill innocents".

Sources add that Mangione concludes that a shooting would be more precise, musing what could be better than to, quote, "kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference". It's those final sentiments that have corporate America scrambling to protect their senior executives and reevaluating just how prepared they are for a serious threat that just last week seemed unimaginable.

KEILAR: CNN's Matt Egan is with us now with a closer look at how this case has really shaken C suites across the country. Matt, what are you hearing?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Boris and Brianna, this has been a real wake up call for corporate America. There is a palpable sense of concern, even fear, in boardrooms and in C suites. And I'm told that the phones at the security firms that protect CEOs, those phones have been ringing off the hook ever since the shooting, a week ago.

One veteran security official told me, quote, "Corporate America is nervous. Health care is the target now, but who's next?" And so, yes, businesses are taking a range of action to ramp up security.

First, they are increasing the number of security personnel and the level of technology at offices and even in the residences of executives. They're also urging executives to delete their digital footprints, stuff like where their kids go to school and the floor plans to their homes. They're enhancing mail screening. They're more closely scrutinizing online threats as well.

And there's also a growing belief that the security blanket that protects the corporate parent CEOs needs to be extended to their lieutenants, right to the division CEOs, like this UnitedHealthcare executive who often don't get that top notch security that the big bosses do.

And there's concern that this might not be a one off. That the online support that we've seen on social media for this murder, for the attention that the suspect has gotten, that it could actually spawn copycats, that is a real concern. The NYPD put out an intelligence report earlier this week that said that the rhetoric may signal an elevated threat facing executives in the near-term with the shooting itself having the capability to inspire a variety of extremists and grievance driven malicious actors to violence.

[14:05:02]

Now, hopefully that is not the case. But for now, a lot of businesses, they're taking this very seriously. They're not taking any chances, and they are increasing security. Boris and Brianna.

SANCHEZ: And Matt, what's the price tag? Talk to us about how expensive it is to protect executives.

EGAN: Yeah, it is extremely expensive when you think about the armed guards, the technology, the surveillance cameras that are used, the threat monitoring, cybersecurity. Now, the Median S&P 500 company disclosed spending almost $100,000 to protect their CEOs last year, and that was up more than double from two years prior. But that's just the Median company. There's financial companies and media firms that have disclosed spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect their CEOs. Some of the big technology companies, they say they're spending millions of dollars to protect their CEOs and the family of their CEOs. And again, the thinking is that that tight security is probably going to have to get expanded to even more senior executives, given what just happened here in New York a week ago. So you got to believe that these expenses that companies are putting forth to try to protect their CEOs and their other executives, all of that spending is going to have to go much higher. Boris and Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Matt, thank you so much. And joining us now is former FBI Agent and Associate Professor at the University of South Florida, Bryanna Fox, and Retired NYPD Detective and Adjunct Professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, David Sarni. David, you see Mangione here fighting extradition. He could be in Pennsylvania for a while. How do you see investigators using that time?

DAVID SARNI, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: Thanks for having me. And I'll tell you this, it's great that, you know, for the detectives who've been doing this, you know, not going to sleep, working day in, day out, now you have a chance to call marshalling the evidence, and that's what you're doing. The detectives are now going to work with the district attorney's office to kind of get all of the ducks in a row so they can actually, you know, proceed with this case as it goes forward.

The benefit of this is, you know, the detective who has this case wasn't out on every scene. So all of those pieces, all those documentation that he's going to be able to read over, so this way he can be apprised, really in real time of what happened while he's working and other detectives are working on this investigation.

SANCHEZ: Bryanna, moments ago, the NYPD held a press conference and said they had received the gun found on Mangione in Pennsylvania. And they said this, quote, "We were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that were found in Midtown at the scene of the homicide." I'm wondering what you make of that?

And the news we got about fingerprints matching a burner cell phone that was disposed of at the crime scene compared to what we heard from Mangione's attorney last night arguing that he hadn't seen or heard of any evidence that officials have the right person in custody.

BRYANNA FOX, FORMER FBI AGENT: Right. Well, in terms of the shell casings matching the firearm and being able to establish that so quickly, unlike what we see so often on movies and TV shows, this even recently used to be a lengthy process. We'd have to submit all of the shell casings and the weapon to the FBI forensic laboratory or a local lab. And this would take some time and the evidence wouldn't even get returned for weeks or months.

Now, with the advent of the ATF's NIBIN capabilities and others, this could be done sometimes in house --

SANCHEZ: Brianna, sorry we have to interrupt you.

We have breaking news just into CNN. We've just learned that FBI Director Christopher Wray has just submitted his resignation. CNN's Evan Perez joins us now live from the Department of Justice. Evan, talk to us about this news.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we were anticipating -- I'm sorry, I am trying to silence my phone right here. We were anticipating that the FBI Director would try to talk to his troops, talk to the people at the FBI before making this official. And we're told that there's a town hall, an all hands at the FBI at this minute where the FBI Director, Chris Wray, is telling the FBI employees that he is planning to resign, that he's planning to resign soon.

It's not effective immediately. We don't know more details at this point. But this has been something that obviously has been the talk of Washington, has been talk of the country because President Trump has made clear that he plans to replace Christopher Wray FBI leadership. He already has chosen Kash Patel as his next FBI director.

So the question was really just a matter of when is he planning to go? Whether does he plan to leave on January 20, does he plan to resign or does he plan to wait for President Trump, the incoming president, to fire him?

[14:10:02]

So the answer now as of this -- this hour, with the FBI Director having an all hands meeting with the FBI employees, the answer is that he plans to leave ahead of the new President's arrival. So some of the details I think are still to be worked out.

And behind the scenes, you know, Boris, there's been a big discussion for the FBI. One of the parts of this has been how to do an orderly transition to whoever is going to take over. But there also was pushback from people inside this building, also from people at the FBI, which is not normalizing what Donald Trump is doing, which is to just habitually replace FBI directors that he doesn't like.

These people are supposed to serve 10 year terms for a reason, to try to remove them from the influence of politics. And here Donald Trump is now about to have his second FBI Director, in this case with Christa Wray -- Christopher Wray pushing him out ahead of the time that he takes office.

So at this hour, we know that the FBI director is talking to FBI employees. He wanted to make sure they heard the news from him while he also tries to make it clear that he plans to get out of the way before the new President takes over. Boris.

KEILAR: Yeah, it's a real politicization of the FBI even as people argue, oh, it's been politicized, so there needs to be change. It's sort of this wheel in a way that keeps going on this issue. Evan, I wonder if you have a sense of how people working inside the FBI are feeling about this and the effect that this may have internally on those folks who are doing this work day in, day out.

PEREZ: There's a lot of -- there's a lot of concern inside the FBI. Look, Chris Wray is actually pretty popular inside the -- inside the bureau because, you know, he -- one of the things he has done is he has tried to lower the temperature for the FBI. There's a lot of criticism from -- from the previous leadership of the FBI, James Comey, and the way how he handled the office, especially when Donald Trump first took office in the first-term.

So inside the FBI, Chris Wray has been seen actually a very -- as a -- as a very thoughtful, as a very quiet leader, someone who is trying to restore the reputation of the -- of the FBI. That has obviously not worked out that well for, especially among Republicans who have been very critical of a number of things, including of course, investigations of Donald Trump.

The Mar-a-Lago search is something that Donald Trump himself raised in his interview over the weekend with -- with NBC. So there's a lot of concern because you have heard from Kash Patel, who is the incoming president's pick to run the FBI next. You've heard that they are planning to try to -- they want to go after the former -- the President's political enemies

And so inside the FBI, there's a lot of concern that the bureau is going to be turned essentially to go after Trump's enemies and take its eye off the ball on things that are actually a threat to this country, including, of course, the threat from -- from China, from Russia, from Iran, the national security threats, terrorism, all of those things that really are the bread and butter and the vast majority of what the FBI does.

So a lot of concern right now. I think I just talked to FBI employees who are a bit shocked that is happening right now. They were anticipating perhaps that Donald Trump would actually do the firing once he takes office on January 20th.

SANCHEZ: Evan Perez, please stand by.

I believe we still have David Sarni with us. David, I'm curious to get your reaction to this news, but I just want to point out for our viewers that when Christopher Wray was nominated to replace James Comey Back in 2017, he was confirmed by the Senate 92 to 5. And Donald Trump himself, in a social media post announcing that he was nominating Wray some seven years ago, described him as a man of impeccable credentials. What do you make of this news now?

SARNI: I'll just say this being, I know, a retired member of the largest police department in the United States, regime change happens, administrations come and go. The work of the people who have boots on the ground doesn't really change. You know, I've seen the police department in the last three years, especially New York City, commissioners come and go. And I've worked under several.

Usually, the marching orders will come from the administration, from higher up, from, I'll just say from the police commissioner, from us and then goes down -- and just goes downward. But it really comes down to focus. And leadership is always about accountability, responsibility and transparency the way I look at it. And this is something that, you know, was unexpected. But if you're looking for, you know, I'm not going to, you know, speculate on what Director Wray reason why he left, but this happens in any administration.

[14:15:05]

You know, police department, the police commissioner works at the behest of the mayor and that's what you have here.

We've had several -- we've had several police commissioners in the last three years. So -- but the out -- the reality is the boots in the ground, they're still doing the work. And you know, even though we just had a new police commission come to police department, they still did the investigation of the CEO shooting. And it was seamless. It didn't affect the rank and file for the most part.

So we'll see how this goes. I mean, this is what happens in any law enforcement administration. You'll have people leave and those people on the ground will just work according to what the edicts are brought up from above.

KEILAR: And I do want to bring in now Steve Moore, retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent. Steve, how are you reacting to this news that Chris Wray is resigning?

STEVE MOORE, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, I'm kind of surprised, actually. There was a precedent set after Hoover where directors served for 10 years absent any kind of malfeasance or problems or something like that. And that -- the purpose of that was to theoretically make them not products of an administration so much as products of a justice system, kind of semi, you know, a shorter term version of a judge, something like that.

So I'm a little bit surprised. But after hearing what the President Elect has been saying for so long and the fact that he's nominated somebody to be the next director, on that side, you know, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. I just didn't know how he would navigate around Wray being in office and Wray having a pretty good reputation within the bureau.

SANCHEZ: To the point about his reputation, Steve, what do you make of his trajectory from being someone that Trump called a man of impeccable credentials, being confirmed 92 to 5 in the U.S. Senate, to now being someone that Trump and other Republicans have lambasted and now are seeking to push out of office?

MOORE: Well, I think subsequent to President Trump's election, a lot of things happened that was not -- that were not in his favor, things that he was not happy with. There is a perception among a large population of America that the January 6th involved people were actually singled out and for higher punishment than other people were. And of course, that involved the FBI.

The president -- the President Elect had the problems with the documents retained in his possession and he, not ridiculed, but he blamed the FBI for what he thought was heavy handedness during this. And I'm paraphrasing, obviously. So among Trump supporters. Obviously, he took -- he took a position that the FBI had been weaponized or politicized.

And I think the director's, Director Wray's credentials have not changed. It's just that he has not done certain things that President Trump would have wanted him to do. And I think even in the agent population, they feel that the bureau has been somewhat politicized since, say, Director Comey's comments on Hillary Clinton's emails.

And the agent population wanted a more -- wanted a stronger reaction to the politicization of the bureau. And they didn't see that either. So maybe for different reasons, both the agents and the Trump person -- Trump supporters, are both along the same lines there.

KEILAR: And let's -- Steve, thank you so much. I do want to read part of what Wray said in his according to remarks. These are excerpts of his prepared remarks at a bureau town hall.

He said, "After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down. My goal is to keep the focus on our mission, the indispensable work you're doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work."

[14:20:02]

SANCHEZ: He also adds, quote, "It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. This is not easy for me. I love this place, I love our mission, and I love our people. But my focus is and always has been on us doing what's right for the FBI." He also insisted that the FBI cannot change its commitment to doing the right thing the right way every time.

We have a lot of news to break down. FBI Director Christopher Wray announcing his resignation. We're going to take a quick break. Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

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[14:25:11]

SANCHEZ: Breaking news to CNN. FBI Director Christopher Wray says he will resign at the end of President Biden's term. This after President Elect Donald Trump announced that he intends to nominate a new FBI director. Let's go straight to CNN's Kristen Holmes, whose life force near Mar-a-Lago. Kristen, obviously this is noteworthy because Trump is the one who nominated Wray during his first term.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And that term is not over yet. Wray still has three years on it. But Donald Trump is recently a Sunday said that he wasn't thrilled with Wray. And as you noted, he had already said his intent to nominate Kash Patel to run the organization. Now, he was asked directly if he was going to fire Wray during this interview. And he said, seems kind of obvious that if I want Patel to run the organization, he'd have to take over someone's job.

Now, in the past two years, he has accused Wray of invading his home, talking about that search in 2022 for classified documents that ultimately led to the indictment of Donald Trump in that case in 2023. He has also indicated he believes that the agency and the FBI has become part of what they call the deep state. So he wanted somebody to come in, shake things up and completely gut the organization, which they believe that Kash Patel will do.

Also notable, we know Kash Patel has been on the Hill every day this week. They are trying to work on his nomination. But I will tell you that speaking to a few Trump people just now as this news was coming in, they are very happy that it worked out this way.

Again, Donald Trump did not quite say directly that he was going to come in and fire him on day one, but it was very clear he was going to have to get rid of Wray in order to install Kash Patel. And we were told that it was very critical to him to get Patel into that role.

So unsurprising on that end that they are happy that it's not Donald Trump firing yet another head of the FBI. I will remind you of this unprecedented move that we would have seen had Wray stayed in as the Donald Trump transition administration took over, would be the second FBI Director that Donald Trump would have had to fire or would have fired because he fired James Comey his first time around to install Wray into office.

But it was very clear that Donald Trump was incredibly unhappy with the FBI, that he wanted to see changes in there over the last several years, particularly since he left office, since he lost the election. You can think the FBI did enough work to try and prove that he had won the election. Just obviously, as we know, he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. But he wanted his law enforcement agencies to be rallying around him, and they did not at that time under Wray's leadership.

So, again, unsurprising that this was the end result, particularly given what we had heard Donald Trump say as recently as Sunday, that he was likely to get rid of Wray, that he was unhappy with Wray. He again accused him of invading his home. But the Trump people are happy that this is how it's playing out because it paves the way for Kash Patel requires them to do less work and means the job is technically open or will be at the beginning of his administration.

KEILAR: Yeah. Kristen Holmes live for us from West Palm Beach. Thank you for that.

Let's talk more now with Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts. He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He's a Marine veteran who served four tours in Iraq. Congressman, we were going to have you on to talk about some other things. This just broke that Chris Wray is announcing his resignation. I think we expected this to happen, that he would go in some form or fashion. But what's your reaction to this news? REP. SETH MOULTON, (D-MA): Well, first of all, I'm not surprised. I mean, Donald Trump wants to get rid of Chris Wray, someone he appointed to the position, because Chris Wray actually upheld the law. Donald Trump thinks that he's above the law. But if I took classified documents home to my house, I would expect the FBI to raid my home, too. That's the right thing for the FBI to do. Trump thinks he's above the law, so he wants to get rid of his own nominee.

KEILAR: Do you have worries about the politicization of the department?

MOULTON: Brianna, that's exactly the word for it. Trump wants to politicize the FBI to turn it back to the days of J. Edgar Hoover, where the FBI has its own really lawless agenda, where the FBI is a tool of the state to persecute Americans, not to actually uphold the law for everybody in our land. So it is very dangerous.

And the calculation that Chris Wray made when he decided to resign is a calculation that hundreds, thousands of federal employees are making right now all across Washington and all across the country. I've heard from a lot of friends who work for the federal government trying to decide, do they wait to get fired? do they resign on their own terms, as Chris Wray decided to do? Do they resign in the administration when they get to a point where they're asked to do something that they fundamentally disagree with?