Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Victim In Road Rage Shooting Talks To His Killer In Court Via AI; Kyiv Accuses Russia Of Violating Putin's Declared Three-Day Truce; Migrants, Believed To Be Destined For Libya, Sat On A Bus For Hours Then Abruptly Returned To Detention Facility. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 09, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:33:40]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, an unprecedented moment in a courtroom. Christopher Pelkey was killed in a road rage incident in 2021. But in a way, he just spoke to his killer in court, really from beyond the grave. His family used artificial intelligence to give him a voice at the sentencing, an AI victim impact statement. This is believed to be the first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER PELKEY, KILLED IN A ROAD RAGE INCIDENT: Time it's ever happened to Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me. It is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances, in another life, we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and in God who forgives. I always have and I still do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now is Christopher's sister, who made this all happen, Stacey Wales. You know Stacy, thank you for being with us. And let me just start by saying, you know, we are sorry for your loss. I know it's now been five years, but I'm sure it is still something that is painful. So why did you want to do this?

STACEY WALES, BROTHER KILELD IN ROAD-RAGE INCIDENT: I had been writing my victim's impact statement for two years. And when it came time, a week and a half out to be able to make that statement, I was struggling with actually putting down on paper what I'd been compiling nothing was coming out right, and it didn't seem worthy of how to sum up Christopher's life to the last person that was going to make a decision about the merit of it.

[09:35:06]

So when I was thinking about what to say to the judge, I just didn't feel that what I had to say was going to impact him. I know the courts like to hear things like forgiveness or remorse, but that was not something I was ready to give yet. I'm still working on that. And I just kept hearing Christopher's voice in my head, not from an ethereal way, but just from a moral impact way.

The imprint that he left was one of thanksgiving, thankfulness, forgiveness. And so I just wanted to think, well, what would he say in this moment. And there's no way that I could echo that because it's not how I felt. And then I thought to myself, well, why can't I just write my opinion piece on what he would say? And I thought it would be more impactful if we brought it to life the AI.

BERMAN: To give the chance, the judge, a chance to really see and feel your brother in a way. So that's the why you did it. Now, how? I mean, how did you do this?

WALES: The goal was to humanize him, John. So you're right there. My husband and our friend Scott Yancer are both involved in AI technologies, and they had done this for corporate projects for commissioned clients. And so I knew it was possible. He had shown me his work before, and I thought it was neat.

So when I had this idea, I approached him and I said, Tim, I would like to do this for Chris. I'd like to have him make his own victim impact statement, and I want you to make it for me. And he says, Stacey, do you understand what you're asking me to do? That's my best friend. This is personal. I didn't know those other people.

BERMAN: What was it like for you then, for your husband, for, you know, your mutual friend to see your brother talking again?

WALES: They worked on the technical component, they worked on the audio, and they worked on the visual. And my husband told me, he says, this does not work, and I will not show it if it does not embody the spirit of Chris and his morals and his ethos. And he says, I won't let AI touch any kind of a script for that. I said, you don't have to. I've been trying to write mine for two years, but I wrote his, or what I thought he would say in five minutes.

And so when he put it all together and he showed it to me, it just -- it warmed my heart, and I knew it was going to be effective because this is how Chris believed. He was a very black and white kind of person. You knew where he stood on every issue.

BERMAN: And what was the reaction from the judge?

WALES: What some people think is that this AI presentation was in a vacuum and offered to the judge as its sole piece. What isn't talked about is that 49 letters impact statements for Chris alone from his friends, family, all the way from elementary school to the day he died in four different states and two different countries wrote in impacts about Chris on their life.

And the judge read that in the two days, within two days in advance of sentencing. And so when went to sentencing that day, he had also additionally listened to almost three hours of in person testimony of 10 of us that assembled on the courtroom to let our voice be heard, which is allowed in Arizona law. And this was the capstone of all of that. So when the judge reacted and said that he thought this embodied the

person that he had been learning about, it's because this was the crown of an iceberg and a weight of what had come before, what he had heard.

BERMAN: I know there are a lot of people looking at this thinking this may be the beginning of something in the legal sphere. But I know for you this is really about your brother and your feelings. So again, thank you for being with us. We are sorry for your loss and I'm sure that your brother would be proud of you. Stacey Wales we appreciate it. Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Remarkable person. It's really amazing. Coming up still for us, Ukrainian forces say that Russia is violating its own unilateral ceasefire. CNN is live on the ground.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:43:48]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump is calling for a one month ceasefire in the Russia Ukraine war. But Ukrainians on the front line say Russians continue to break Putin's own three day ceasefire.

CNN chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joining us now from eastern Ukraine. There have been a lot of promises broken from Putin's side. What are you learning there?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is something unilaterally the Kremlin declared they were going to honor for 72 hours essentially I think many cynics said to ensure that their victory parade in Moscow perhaps continued more calmly.

But the Ukrainians have talked about now 700 violations across the front lines. They've also discussed how over 100 bombs have been launched by Russian jets on some northern towns as well. And importantly to suggested that there has been a drop or perhaps no Russian attack drones or missiles in the skies.

But none of that frankly is any solace when FPV attack drones, smaller ones have indeed been used it seems, and injured civilians in other areas of the country too. We ourselves are with troops on the front line. Just as this began at midnight, they saw artillery continuing.

We were the drone unit about noon, 12 hours after it started, they said nothing had changed at all. And their concern is that really Russia will use this to reposition to gain strength and then assault after the ceasefire.

[09:45:08]

But I should tell you, Sara, some interesting news developing here on the diplomatic front because President Zelenskyy of Ukraine has said that tomorrow there will be a meeting of the leaders of the Coalition of the Willing. Now that's a term used for the European leaders who are willing to stand by Ukraine and potentially even contribute a reassurance force to Ukraine in the event of a cease fire.

We've also heard too from French President Emmanuel Macron. He just put a post out saying that he spoke to President Donald Trump several times last night. And all European leaders now appear to be coalescing around the idea that Russia has to get on board with a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, something that the U.S. and Ukraine has proposed now for 50 days plus, but Russia has rejected, instead offering its own unilateral, much shorter ceasefire.

So, speaking to a European official who suggested that in fact it feels now like potentially the Trump administration is now more on board with this European idea and this European official suggesting that finally the pressure is there. That may be a reference to the sanctions the White House has suggested they might potentially implement if to quote President Trump, he feels that Putin is indeed tapping him along. So clearly a significant meeting will happen at some point during tomorrow.

Unclear where of these key European leaders they are all in consort put pushing for a ceasefire. Now, we know President Trump spoke to Zelenskyy last night. That's the second call since the Oval Office blow up significant in itself. We know Donald Trump spoke to the German new Chancellor Merz just the same night as well. And Manuel Macron saying they spoke multiple times as well.

A lot moving here and this key meeting, pressure on Moscow to agree to a more substantial cease fire. But big doubts given what we've seen over the past 24 hours, that they will. Sara,

SIDNER: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much for all of that great reporting there from Ukraine. John.

BERMAN: All right, new this morning, a group of migrants detained in South Texas sat on a bus for hours. At least one had been told they were about to be deported to Libya. But then the bus turned around taking them back to the detention center without explanation. So CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has this story. What's going on here, Priscilla?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John, this was an hours long ordeal that was described by one of the migrants on that bus to his attorney who I spoke with yesterday. Now, according to this migrant's account, this all began in the early morning hours of Wednesday when he was woken up in the detention facility in Texas and put on a bus with what he said were 12 other migrants of different nationalities headed to what he later described as a base where they sat next to a military aircraft.

Now this migrant, Filipino migrant had been told earlier in the week that he was going to be deported to Libya, to his surprise, and that was reiterated when they were headed to this military plane.

Now, they sat on this bus for a few hours before then abruptly turning around and going back to the detention facility where he called his attorney to describe the events that had unfolded. Now, of course, this has sparked alarm among attorneys and particularly his attorney because this is a Filipino migrant who had a removal order. So he had plans to be deported to the Philippines in April.

Now those didn't come through and he has since been waiting in detention to be sent there. So he was surprised when he was suddenly told he'd be sent to Libya. Now, the Libyan government has denied that there's any agreement with the United States to this effect, saying that it categorically, quote, categorically denies any agreement or coordination with U.S. authorities regarding the deportation of migrants to Libya.

I will also add, John, we have been watching that military plane that was believed to be going to Libya. It did not take off there, instead going back to Guantanamo where a defense official tells our colleague Natasha Bertrand that it was holding military personnel that were being repositioned there. So just an hours long ordeal that ended with an aborted flight to Libya. John.

BERMAN: That is quite a story. Much more to learn here, I am sure. Priscilla Alvarez, terrific reporting. Thank you very much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:17]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the last practice before the big spring game here in Ann Arbor. So what you're seeing here is my Wolverines before they get after it this season.

GUPTA (voice-over): The Michigan Wolverines, the winningest football program in history. Befittingly, they play in the largest sports stadium in the country.

GUPTA: The big house. I'm so excited. Very few people get this view.

GUPTA (voice-over): Just imagine all these seats filled, more than 100,000 people all cheering for the same thing.

GUPTA: I love it. And that was my life. Every Saturday.

GUPTA (voice-over): One of my favorite times I was here was to deliver the commencement address.

GUPTA: Thank you. Simply being here is incredibly personal for me. You see, not only was the foundation for most of my life conceived in this town, I myself was likely conceived in this town.

GUPTA (voice-over): We are in Ann Arbor because this is my happy place. I spent 13 years of my life here studying to become a neurosurgeon. Yes, that's me with the mullet. I mean, give me a break. It was the 1980s.

GUPTA: They bring the patient in heads here. And I think I've probably spent years of my life standing right here. GUPTA (voice-over): Ann Arbor, Michigan is widely considered to be one

of the best college towns in the country. And I would have to agree. But what makes a great college town? The academics, the students, the sports teams, the food, the culture, the nightlife. If you ask me, Ann Arbor checks all the boxes.

[09:55:00]

It's packed full of incredible places, including the world famous Zingerman's Deli. I asked the owner, Ari, about what makes Ann Arbor such a happy place for me, for him and for so many others.

ARI WEINZWEIG, OWNER, ZINGERMAN'S DELICATESSEN: There's very good energy here. I meet a football coach, I meet a world class violinist, I meet a poet. That's in doing a book event, you know, and that's like one evening, you know, and I think there's a lot of that here.

And so the creativity enhances the creativity and people meet and creates a spirit of gentleness, generosity. That's wonderful.

GUPTA (voice-over): It's true. You do meet a lot of interesting people here. Probably the most important person I met was my wife, Rebecca. She used to work at my favorite restaurant in town, Palio. And when we started dating, she would keep this starving, poor surgical resident from going hungry.

GUPTA: I come in here and it was like I was a mafia don sitting here. They bring me pasta, a little glass of wine, more pasta, some bread.

REBECCA GUPTA, DR. SANJAY GUPTA'S WIFE: You did luck out when you had come here because if there had been like a mistake and we would have an extra meal or something, I'd be like, oh, can I have it? They're like, okay. And I hope we give it to you.

S. GUPTA: To the happiest place in the world.

R. GUPTA: Cheers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: That's, I mean, auntie. Cutest couple in the world. Thank you. For goodness sake. A new episode of "My Happy Place" airs Sunday, 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, clearly with Questlove only on CNN.

SIDNER: One of my happy places, chewing gum with you folks.

BOLDUAN: What are you doing right now?

SIDNER: I just wanted to go to my happy place.

BOLDUAN: Every Friday.

BERMAN: My happy place the weekend I'm headed there. Thanks for joining us. This has been CNN News Central. Situation Room up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)