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Erin Burnett Outfront

Source: NYPD Finds Backpack Believed To Belong To Killer; CEO Killer's Name; Rebels Closing In On Syrian Capital After Seizing Third City. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired December 06, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:31]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

The breaking news, the assassin's backpack, tonight, it's believed to be in the hands of police. A police official telling CNN the gunman who killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO has likely left New York City. We've got a whole lot of new details tonight.

Plus, identifying the assassin. Police running pictures of the suspect's face through massive databases using facial technology. I'm going to speak to the man who helped ID the Boston marathon bombers.

Also breaking tonight, a major Putin ally's grip on power in jeopardy. Rebels closing in on the Syrian capital of Damascus.

And CNN tonight on the ground in Syria with a major exclusive. Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT on this Friday, the breaking news, the backpack. So here's where we are with this. Sources are telling CNN that police believe they found the backpack belonging to the assassin who killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson.

ABC News obtained a picture of the backpack. I'm going to just show it to you here. Again, this is ABC had gotten this picture of it. We are told that that backpack was found in Central Park in New York City.

Now, you know that for days now, authorities have been scouring that park. They've been looking for the backpack and it appears that they may now have it. That's crucial, of course.

But what they do not have is the CEO assassin, and top New York police department officials tell CNN exclusively right now that they have reason to believe that the suspect left on a bus on Wednesday, hours after the killing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: We also have reason to believe that the person in question has left New York City.

JOSEPH KENNY, CHIEF OF DETECTIVES, NYPD: Yeah, we have we have video of him entering the Port Authority bus terminal. We don't have any video of him exiting, so we believe he may have gotten on a bus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay, that's crucial information.

So let's just start with all of where we are here. What we know about the suspect's movements after the murder in Midtown Manhattan investigators say the assassin, who they do believe acted alone. So, you know, we've talked about the phone call that he had just before the shooting.

Right now, they're saying they believe he acted alone. So he did this assassination, killing, shooting, Brian Thompson in the back. Then he runs from the Hilton where he had shot Thompson with a silencer. He runs on that bike gets on a bike, goes into central park. He exits the park and we'll show you the map here around 77th Street.

Just the context here, that's 23 blocks from where the murder took place. For anyone not a New Yorker that is just over one mile. He then made his way to 85th Street, where police have this video of him on a bike. They say that's him and that they know that's him. Officials say from there, he walked up to 86th Street and grabbed a taxi to the George Washington Bridge bus station.

Now, the George Washington Bridge is all the way north. You can see that green part of central park. You got to go a long way up there, 90 blocks away and that's almost five miles. Okay, so he gets there in a taxi.

Officials then have video. You heard them just say entering that bus station. It is one of the busiest in the entire United States. There are 1,000 buses a day that go through that George Washington bridge bus terminal. They say that is where they lose him because they don't see him leave.

So if he got on a bus at this point, that means he could be anywhere in the U.S. even perhaps beyond. I mean, take a look at the map. Just of some of the locations that just from that bus terminal, you can go to any day Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and obviously that could just be the tip of the iceberg from there, anywhere around the country or Canada.

At this hour, DNA testing is being done on several items that they recovered at the scene of the assassination. That water bottle that we've mentioned that the killer may have purchased just before killing Thompson, that had a smudged fingerprint on it, that's undergoing testing. They're also testing a cell phone that was recovered at the scene.

So these are all major developments. And the backpack, we literally found out just -- just a few minutes here before we came on air.

So let's go to Omar Jimenez, OUTFRONT live outside that George Washington Bridge bus station where the suspect was last seen.

Omar, at this point, this is potentially a major break of some sort to show at what point he may have left, the time that he may have left New York City.

And it's still, though, presents a big challenge because even with all the new details about where this person has been and how this person made their way all the way to this bus terminal, of course, with this person being seen entering and busses continually coming in and out.

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The question is, what bus did this person potentially get on? And, of course, who this person is as well.

And you also mentioned a really key detail as a target for law enforcement over the course of this, where was this backpack that the shooter was seen wearing at the time of the shooting? It's part of why they launched a pretty huge canvass throughout Central Park to try and figure out where this is.

Well, now, law enforcement believe they have found that backpack, which they said was critical because not just of what could potentially be inside, potential clues, but also potential opportunities for DNA and fingerprinting. They're taking that back for additional testing just to make sure it's the bag they're looking for.

But again, as I mentioned, even with all of these new details, those two critical questions remain: Who is this person and where could they be now?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TISCH: We have a pretty good sense of where he has been in New York City, and we also now have reason to believe that he is outside of New York City.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Tonight, the top brass of the largest police department in the country are telling CNN the person they've been hunting for around the clock for days could be anywhere.

KENNY: We have numerous assets from numerous, numerous different units from within the detective bureau and the department itself that are working on this. So it's all hands on deck right now. Could it lead us out of state? Absolutely.

JIMENEZ: The NYPD says they believe the gunman who shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, outside of his midtown hotel Wednesday morning, may have left the city on a bus, miles north of the shooting site.

KENNY: We have video of him entering the Port Authority bus terminal. We don't have any video of him exiting.

JIMENEZ: And they don't know which bus or where it was heading or when. They still don't even have his name. MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR FBI PROFILER: I think the bus is

important because there's less scrutiny when one takes a bus and I think he felt at least felt or believed that he could blend in better and would not be necessarily somebody that would come to the attention of authorities like he would if he took a plane, or even Amtrak. So I think it was a strategic decision.

JIMENEZ: And while how he escaped the city remains a mystery. His journey into it is coming slightly more into focus. Officials believe he arrived by bus on November 24th, around 9:00 p.m. The bus initially departed from Atlanta and may have made as many as 13 stops along the way, but it's unclear where he actually boarded.

TISCH: We're getting leads into our tip line, and we chase every lead that we get.

KENNY: We could have detectives sit in front of a -- you know, a monitor looking at video for eight hours to come up with an eight second clip.

JIMENEZ: Police also today sent a water bottle and a cell phone found at the scene to the chief medical examiners office, hoping for a DNA hit.

One crucial detail authorities do have these pictures of the suspect unmasked in the hostel he had checked in two days before the shooting using a fake ID and cash.

TISCH: He's been traveling and walking around the streets of New York City, largely in a mask with his face covered. We had to go through lots of video evidence to get that one money shot of him with the mask down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ (on camera): And we learned that actually part of the reason they wanted that picture with the mask down to be circulated is because they wanted it to be seen outside of New York City, meaning they probably at least had some sort of suspicion that this person might not be in the area anymore.

But, of course, a new chapter of this search begins, and police leadership say they have the resources to help with searches that take them out of state. But, of course, as time continues to go on, the possibilities of where this person could be just grow, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Omar.

So lets go now to the former Boston police commissioner, Ed Davis. He was in charge during the manhunt for the Boston marathon bombing suspects, the Tsarnaev brothers.

Also here, David Sarni, retired NYPD detective, and Kate Schweit. She was a senior official with the FBI who created the FBI's active shooter unit. All right, so you all know more than anybody, anybody a group here. So

let me start with you, Ed. How big -- let me just show you the photo again of the backpack that ABC news had obtained. So this is the photo that they put out the backpack that they say they found in Central Park. They say they believe it is the same one that the assassin wore when he killed Brian Thompson.

So if this is indeed the backpack, how big of a break do you think it could be, Ed?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Hi, Erin. It could be enormous.

It all depends on what is inside there, as a -- as a start, right? Is the gun in there, if the gun is there, its going to tell us a lot about where it came from tracking it back possibly finding out who purchased it or its history.

If there are clothing, pieces of clothing in there that he wore for an extended period of time, even more DNA can be recovered from that, hairs, fibers, fingerprints -- all of those things are likely to be found on a -- on something like a backpack, which is really tight to the suspects body.

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Just the rubbing of the neck could turn skin cells and DNA from that. So they'll also run down with the backpack came from. So there's an enormous amount of evidence potentially there.

BUIRNETT: So, David, can I ask you though on this, you know, so even if it as, as Ed's talking about the back of the neck and you get the skin cells, you get all of that. Then what? And I guess why I'm asking this is, if he hadn't committed a crime in the past how much does that DNA tell you?

I mean, I suppose once you eventually get his name, you can match it to him. But, I mean, now, in this time, trying to identify him. How much does the DNA help if he is not -- if that DNA isn't in a legal system somewhere?

DAVID SARNI, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: Well, here's the issue with DNA. And DNA is a great way of identification of for individuals. But if it's not in the system, it's not in a database we still have data, we still have abilities to test it further. DNA analysis has gotten much better in the present day. There's other ways in which we just don't -- we can get at least a match, maybe there's an opportunity.

We may not get a hit which is a hit. Meaning you have an identified individual in this, but it's in the database we have well have something and you can compare it to other DNA -- DNA evidence or DNA analysis for possible family members that may have been perpetrators in crimes. So there is opportunity there.

Nothing, as far as evidence, is concerned, should ever be taken away or removed. It is always probative until its deemed not. BURNETT: So, so, Kate, let me ask you about then identifying who he is because, you know, when you potential family members things like that. So the clear picture of the suspect's face and we just heard the commissioner of New York police, you heard her describe that as sort of the one money shot that they have. That's it, when he was flirting with the woman checking him in at the hospital.

So that's when that that smiling picture was taken. That picture has been out, though now for more than 30 hours, just to be blunt about the amount of time.

Are you surprised, Kate, that he has not yet been identified?

KATHERINE SCHWEIT, FORMER SENIOR FBI OFFICIAL: Not from the fact that the picture is out there and somebody hasn't called and said, hey, that's my cousin Bruce, because I think that its easy for us sometimes in law enforcement or even in the media, to think everybody is seeing everything all the time.

But, you know, if you're at home taking care of you know, a sick kid or you're taking care of your nana who's in hospice and you know, you're on vacation, you're out of the country, you're not going to see it. It takes time to get a picture out and really feel like you saturated the country with it.

So I think that there's still some time to go. And I do think that it's a picture that the pictures that should be shared, they're -- they're fantastic pictures when it comes to law enforcement having to be able to have a great opportunity for a photo.

I mean, I've -- we've arrested bank robbers. We've arrested plenty of people with less than that in pictures. Those are great pictures to be able to put out.

BURNETT: So, Ed, just to this question of knowing -- I mean, right now the New York police are saying they don't know his name. That's what they're telling us.

How long was it before you knew the Boston bomber I mean, I guess how long did it take you to find out their names? But then also, how long from when you knew their names, did you actually admit to the public that you knew their names?

DAVIS: Right, so we had a good photo of them, but it took a good 12 hours before anyone was able to identify them. And frankly, no one identified them and cooperated with the police through the photos alone. Their positive ID came from fingerprints after the shootout. So what happened was they had friends who recognized them but actually tried to cover their tracks and destroyed evidence and things like that.

Those people were prosecuted. So there may be people that recognize them, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to call the police right away.

BURNETT: David, when we talk about that George Washington Bridge bus terminal, a thousand busses a day out of upper Manhattan going out, and obviously, if now that would have been days since he's gone. So it could be anywhere.

But you think it's possible that the NYPD is telling the world that he's out of the city, which they are, they're saying they saw him go in. They didn't see him come out. So they presume he left. That's how they're putting it. But you think, in fact, he may still be in New York City, and in fact, they may think that themselves.

Tell me how that's where you get how you get there.

SARNI: Well, you know what? You don't always want to, you know, lay out your cards. You could put this out as disinformation, trying to lay aside peoples fears or people who might know this individual that he's out of the city. We don't know directly. We believe he is. To put it out there isn't wrong to do. But you know, this also can, in fact work for the police because even though you're saying that doesn't necessarily mean you may believe that.

And let me tell you, detectives are scouring that GW -- called the GW, the train station that that station there, the bus station scouring it for anyone who might have seen him or spoke to him anywhere.

[19:15:10]

And that's the benefit of we at least know where he's been. We may not know where he's gone, but we know where he's been. And let me tell you, that will that will be scoured that will exploit the evidence there exponentially.

BURNETT: And, Kate, in the context of he's on the run somehow and he made plans -- he made mistakes, but he has made plans, right. But we know so far -- one thing that's been consistent is cash everywhere, right? Cash everywhere.

So if it's cash everywhere, then there's a certain finite amount of you know, who knows, right? You run into against the clock here. How long do you think this goes on? And do you think it ends with apprehending the assassin?

SCHWEIT: Yeah, I think it does end with apprehending. I mean, there's a couple of aspects to that, right? I mean, if you get the guys name and you release the name, then he knows that were after him. You know, police lose their advantage of trying to kind of sneak up on him. If he goes back to see family or friends, you know, he might commit suicide.

So as long as we think that we, you know, we can find him and we're catching -- getting closer and closer to him from a law enforcement standpoint, we want to be able to do that and can do it in as short of order. Obviously, you know, a fugitive investigation can take hours and it can take days and weeks and months. But I think that they'll catch up with him. It's a question of having that opportunity to identify him. And that's where we need the public's help.

BURNETT: Kate, David, Ed, thanks very much to all of you. And we do have some more breaking news coming in.

John Miller, some of the best NYPD sourcing out there is on the phone, off set, going to be coming over in a moment. New reporting on that backpack.

And the race to identify the killer. So they are now relying on facial recognition technology, which truly could be a game changer in this investigation. So I'm going to speak to the man whose firm did help id those Boston marathon bombers. We'll talk about exactly how this might work based on that photo that you see there. The money shot says the NYPD.

And tonight, the online reaction to the CEO's assassination as a growing number of executives growing seriously concerned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:05]

BURNETT: All right. Breaking news, right now, there are new details about that backpack that police believe belongs to the suspected shooter. John Miller broke the news on the police recovering that backpack and is now learning how they removed it from Central Park, where it is right now.

John Miller, chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, with us.

Okay, so they obviously took a while to find it. They had to sweep the park a couple of times. How -- how -- where did they find it and how did they get it out?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, yesterday, they did the grid search with the mobile field force came up with negative results. The chief of detectives wanted to them to go back at it, even going over the same ground today. So another team with some more sophisticated assets from the NYPD's emergency service unit, went up there and redid the search and came upon this.

And, you know, along with reporting from --

BURNETT: Looks like its lying in a pile of leaves there, yeah.

MILLER: Yeah. CNN's Mark Morales is -- it sounds like they're using basically an excavator to not just take the backpack, but all of the ground around it. Is there a footprint in there? Is there a shoe print is there a DNA?

BURNETT: That's why you would use an excavator. Not because you're handling it so gingerly, but because you do want to see --

MILLER: Right. And I think -- I think they want to -- they want to collect as much evidence from any place where they can document. He's been, including where this backpack was dumped. Now, the first thing you want to do is, is that the backpack you want to, you know, put on your rubber gloves and open and see what's inside?

BURNETT: Do they put on the rubber gloves and open it right away?

MILLER: No. You know, the instructions were if you found it freeze the area when you freeze the area, notify the supervisors. And you know the detectives.

And then the whole thing was -- all right. We're going to bag this bag. We're going to seal it off from the elements, and we're going to take it to the NYPD's lab in Jamaica Queens --

BURNETT: Which just for anyone not from New York --

MILLER: Who's driving.

BURNETT: -- is nowhere close to Central Park, and with traffic, I mean, that could be --

MILLER: On a Friday.

BURNETT: -- well over an hour.

MILLER: Yes.

BURNETT: That could be two hours.

MILLER: So, you know, that backpack is finding its way to that lab now, and then they're going to get in their Tyvek suits. They're going to put it on a -- you know, a sterile environment. And they will go at first trying to extract whatever evidence may be on the outside of the bag. Still haven't opened it. They're going to sweep it.

BURNETT: Well, we were talking about the DNA, you know, if the back of it would have scraped the back of his neck and their skin cells on it, that would still be there.

MILLER: They're going to swab for DNA. They may process it for fingerprints from, you know, an oily hand that might have touched it.

And at some point, they'll get to opening it. And this is, you know, kind of where the treasure trove may be. Is the weapon inside? Is there, you know, clothing inside? Are there other things he may have handled?

But, you know, the sign that its there shows that as he was fleeing the scene, he had made the mental decision ahead of time. I'm going to start shedding evidence that could tie me to the crime.

BURNETT: Right.

MILLER: If I'm stopped between here and then.

BURNETT: Amazing though, and obviously, not -- not only does no one commit a perfect crime, we've seen that he made errors. It does seem, though, that leaving your gun and all your clothes and all your DNA in a backpack is -- would seem to be pretty stupid thing to do. But he might have. MILLER: But less stupid than getting stopped riding the bike based on a description that came over the police radio and having all that on you.

BURNETT: Yeah.

MILLER: So if he handled the gun with gloves during the shooting, which you can see on the video, he appears to be wearing gloves and he hadn't contaminated any of that stuff. This is the cat and mouse challenge right now between perpetrator and investigator.

BURNETT: Yeah.

MILLER: You know, he thought this through. He took his precautionary steps. He slipped up with showing his face in the hotel. But let's see -- let's see what clues he left inadvertently in this bag.

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BURNETT: So as we await for that, and I think it's important that you're laying out what a painstaking process that is, both logistically and technically, but then there's this issue of, where is he?

So the NYPD says they believe that he left and that he went to that they saw him on video at the George Washington Bridge bus terminal, which is about six, seven miles from where we are five miles from where he was right, that a thousand buses a day. They didn't see him leave there. So they think he left that way.

They have though not ruled out that he left by plane is our latest understanding. Translate that for us.

MILLER: Well, they don't have him on video getting onto a bus. That's not because they didn't look for it. It's that those cameras aren't in places where the buses are. They have them going into the bus terminal.

They get a tip or information that he may have flown out on a plane. You know, they're going to go to LaGuardia, they're going to go to Kennedy, they're going to go to Newark, and they're going to work with the port authority police and scan all of those videos within the time frame. He could have gotten there and look for him there.

But I know they did it at the New York airports, and I know they didn't find him there.

BURNETT: They didn't find him there.

MILLER: Yes.

BURNETT: Right. Which is hugely significant.

All right. Thank you very much, John Miller. If he gets more, he comes back, of course. And let's go to Donnie Scott of IDEMIA, a company that provides facial

recognition technology to law enforcement agencies and also help with the hunt for the Boston marathon bombers.

So, Donnie, just trying to understand where we are here. The NYPD is still looking for him. At this point, from what they've told us, he could be anywhere, because if he got in one of those buses and left New York, at this point, he could be anywhere in the United States.

Is the picture that you see here, this one. And the one where he's smiling is there any facial recognition technology that you're aware of at this point that could identify a person from these two images?

DONNIE SCOTT, CEO OF IDEMIA GROUP, WHICH SPECIALIZES IN FACIAL RECOGNITION: Yeah, Erin, great -- great opportunity to be here. Very much appreciate it.

I mean, they've been calling it all night with you the money shot, right? That is a very good image from a quality perspective to match a face to. If you look at any of the leading biometric providers that build facial recognition, recognition technologies, they would say that odds are if that image were in the database, we would match against it.

BURNETT: And what is -- okay. So now let's talk about what in the database means. So first of all, I'm presuming you're talking about in the database of somebody who has committed a crime before, right? And that database you can run that one. Is that what you're referring to?

SCOTT: Yeah. Most Americans may believe that law enforcement has images on everybody in the United States. That's very much not true.

BURNETT: Sure, it's a conspiracy theory on X.

SCOTT: Exactly right. And so, if he happens to not be a resident of New York, who happens to not have been arrested before, odds are he's not going to be in their criminal database or their mug shot repository. And so what's likely happening across all law enforcement is they're looking for this image in their local systems to see if this perpetrator exists in their galleries.

BURNETT: Okay. So there's that. Then there's -- well, and this is the world we do live in, we all have images of ourselves on our drivers license. If you have a passport, the third of Americans who do, that -- it exists there. There are places that someone's image would exist.

How hard is it for them to run against those? I mean, that, I would imagine is a legal permissioning process. Is that not fast?

SCOTT: That's correct. It's a legal permissioning process you. The state of New York does not have access to the DMV database for law enforcement purposes, by statute. And so it requires cooperation and information sharing and a reason and willingness by the respective agencies to be allowed to share that by law and then put the systems and processes in place, that allow them to share that information. BURNETT: So, you know, last night, when John Miller and I were here

speaking, he was saying that some of the recognition technology in some senses, the human eye, and he's still sitting here so correct me if I'm wrong, but the human eye can look at an image like that and say, I know that guy in some ways better than a recognition software, which really is enhanced when a hood goes down or you actually get a full image of a face.

Is that -- is that a concern that you have at this point? I mean, is it -- is it possible that the kind of hits, for lack of a better word, that you would get off those two images that we have are still just way too plentiful to yield a real -- this is who it is?

SCOTT: You know, our job is really to make law enforcement's job easier. If you think about the real basis and use of facial recognition technologies, it's to sift through the millions and millions of images to get it down to a small -- small subset that the expert can use to make the identification.

Face is not a fingerprint. It's not DNA. It's not used for affirmative match. It's used it to get to a small enough number where that expert can say, yes, I believe we have an investigative lead here. What other evidence may we have that can match this person to the crime?

BURNETT: That's really fascinating that you say that. I mean, because, yes, I understand intellectually, of course, what you're saying, right? It's not DNA, it's not a fingerprint. But, of course, this is a human being. Faces everything, right, in terms of recognizing a human being. But so it's important you explain that.

SCOTT: Yeah, it absolutely is. And the other use in this case which -- which many of your experts have talked about is, if we don't know who that person is, how can we track them across the various streams of video that come in from the public.

[19:30:07]

And so we may not know who the perpetrator is, but we can use the same set of technologies to know, that perpetrator has been in these seven video streams doing across this series of time, doing these activities. So whether it's the face, the backpack, the hat, those can also be used with the same technologies to track the perpetrator across multiple streams.

BURNETT: Which is huge point because obviously so much faster than someone sitting there watching it and blinking and missing it, when it happens, you actually find it with the -- with the -- with the print.

SCOTT: Which used to take us days and weeks, is now in minutes and seconds.

BURNETT: It's incredible. And we'll see what that means for when this individual is found if or when. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your taking the time.

And now, our breaking news does continue. The online reaction to the assassination honestly has been shocking if you've been paying attention to it. It has been amazing how many people have praised the gunman had called him a hero, some sort of a Robin Hood figure. A special report is next.

And more breaking news, rebels closing in on the capital of Syria and the Putin backed government that he has put so much behind that has alarm bells going off in Moscow tonight. And tonight, we're on the ground exclusively in Syria.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:06]

BURNETT: And the breaking news, police saying they have reason to believe the man who killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare may have been a disgruntled employee or a client of the insurer. It's the largest insurer in America, revealing evidence such as those words delay, deny and depose, which were actually cut into the bullets that were used.

They say that that could point to this being -- well, they say it firmly points to it being a targeted attack, not necessarily by whom. But it is coming as an incredible outpouring of rage tonight directed at the health insurance industry has been coming out. I mean, you just have to go on social media to see it. Just thousands of messages appearing online and they have rallied behind the killer. Some positioning him as some sort of a Robin Hood figure like this one that reads, quote, prior authorization is required for thoughts and prayers claim denied.

There's so much more where that came from. This murder has struck a nerve across the country.

And Jason Carroll is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soon after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson came the somewhat unexpected, a flood of social media posts like these.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I vividly remember being on the phone with UnitedHealthcare for days and days, nine months pregnant, about to give birth alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a terrible, stressful, mad scramble. We appealed, of course, to UnitedHealthcare and they denied the appeal within one day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were wondering -- I'm just saying my thoughts and prayers were also denied. I don't give (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

CARROLL: Thompson's death has not only opened the door for people to share their pain about how they say they were unfairly treated by UnitedHealthcare, it is also unleashed a torrent of vitriol against the entire health care industry. X posts like this are some of the tamer versions of what's out there.

Today, we mourn the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson gunned down. Wait, I'm sorry. Today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.

Then there's UnitedHealthcare Group's Facebook posts about Thompson, who was a husband and father of two. It reads in part, we are deeply saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Brian Thompson. Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him.

So far, that statement has received more than 90,000 laugh emojis.

No laughing matter to security experts like Philip Klein.

PHILIP KLEIN, PROTECTED UNITED HEALTHCARE CEO BRIAN THOMPSON: There's now a widow and two orphaned children out there. They don't have a father now, and we all need to remember that.

CARROLL: Klein provided security to Thompson in the early 2000, and he has grave concerns about what he's seeing now.

KLEIN: This has sent a ripple through the corporate executive world about security and the security of their employees.

ERIN BRADSHAW, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, PATIENT ADVOCATE FOUNDATION: I am surprised of the backlash just because its such a really sad situation that has occurred.

CARROLL: Erin Bradshaw has some insight into the current climate among patients and insurance carriers. She's an executive vice president at the Patient Advocate Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving health care access.

BRADSHAW: It's an exhausting process, you know, and on top of already being sick, injured or disabled when they are running into a challenge with getting access to prescribed care through their insurer, it just -- it complicates it and creates multiple layers of frustration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unfortunately, sympathy requires a prior authorization, and I have to deny that request.

CARROLL: As frustrations simmer online with dark comments such as may the shooter never be found, my thoughts and deductibles go to the family.

A new Gallup poll found just 44 percent of adults say the quality of U.S. health care is excellent or good. The smallest share since Gallup's tracking started in 2001.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (on camera): So, a lot of shocking comments, a lot of comments from people who are just simply frustrated. But that security expert that you heard from there, Erin, he just wanted to emphasize again how irresponsible and insensitive many of these comments are. We should also note that we did reach out to UnitedHealthcare to try to get more of their perspective on this backlash. They did not get back to us, but we can tell you that CNN has learned they have increased security measures at their facilities around the country -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Jason, thank you very much. It's very sobering.

Glen Kucera, with me now, the president of Enhanced Protection Services at Allied Universal, which provides security for a majority of Fortune 500 companies and will note that UnitedHealthcare is a client of Allied, not though in their executive protection division that would have been the one Glen responsible for covering Brian Thompson or being with him.

[19:40:07]

So let's just start with obviously because there, UnitedHealthcare overall is a client obviously you've spoken to people there since the shooting. What more can are you able to share about how they're assessing their risk level right now?

GLEN KUCERA, PRESIDENT OF ENHANCED PROTECTION AT ALLIED UNIVERSAL, A PRIVATE SECURITY SERVICES FIRM: You know, it's a very unfortunate incident. And there are hundreds of CEOs and executives that walk down the streets of Manhattan and other large metropolitan areas without executive protection.

BURNETT: Every day, right?

KUCERA: Every day every single day. I do it myself right and I consider New York and other areas to be incredibly safe. It's unfortunate that this is an incident. It appears it was targeted. This is not an attack on New York City.

The suspect took a bus into New York City, performed the act and it's been reported. Now, he took a bus back out of New York City. So this could have happened anywhere. It could have been in any area. Um, and now I know the UnitedHealthcare is assessing all of those security protocols for their employees, for their facilities, and for their executives.

BURNETT: So, the NYPD obviously has reached out to UnitedHealthcare security team. We understand we have just learned this for their person of interest list, that this would be a list that they would have kept of, you know, people who had sent death threats or complaints or all that, that there would be that. And of course the security team there would have that.

I guess just asking you the very basic question of looking at the situation of Brian Thompson here for an investor conference, right, so that is something that anybody who had a gripe would know about. They would know the time they would know all that, right? Regular people like us wouldn't have known anybody who cared that information was public, right?

KUCERA: Absolutely. BURNETT: Publicly traded company.

Are you surprised when you see that he was just walking alone? I mean, his hotel was really across the street, but he was alone.

KUCERA: I'm sure there's a number of reasons for that. You know, he was not a public facing controversial CEO. He was running a company unfortunately, the there was a lot of risk now, it seems it comes with the health care industry and the insurance industry. But I'm certain he felt that he wasn't a controversial CEO, and that there was no reason for him to require that kind of protection.

There are CEOs of companies all over the United States. Again that have that have that situation.

BURNETT: So the NYPD says the gunman knew when the CEO was going to be walking by, which appears clear, right? I mean, he was waiting, but the speech was scheduled to be at 8:00. He walked by at 6:44 a.m., and the gunman had already gone to Starbucks, got in position in time, was there.

All right. So, how would someone have the knowledge that he had, right? Because I'm not talking about the fact that this was going to happen at 8:00. We already said that. We know that.

I mean, the fact that he was staying at the hotel across the street, not at the Hilton and not at many other hotels right in that area, and that he was walking and not coming by a car, and that he was the Hilton is a gigantic hotel and countless entrances -- that he's going to come on that street and that entrance.

How would someone know all of that?

KUCERA: At this point, we can only speculate, right? Until they catch a suspect and know entirely what's going on, I understand there was a burner phone and maybe he was communicating with somebody else that was giving him the information, but that is highly suspect that, you know, allegedly the perpetrator only waited for five minutes until he came by.

So clearly, you know, well know more of the story when the rest of the facts come out.

BURNETT: So are you getting a lot of calls?

KUCERA: Where -- the phones are ringing constantly. The Allied Universal does services for 80 percent of the Fortune 500 companies.

I run the executive protection group as a part of my enhanced protection services division. We don't do work for all 80 percent of those Fortune 500 companies, but lately, there's been a ton of calls. First was the initial reaction of oh, I have a CEO that's traveling to a certain area that's got a high crime rate. Can you provide services for me? Absolutely.

But now, it's becoming a lot more strategic. You know, within my group, we do social media monitoring. We do threat assessments. And that seems to be the direction people are going. This is an eye opening experience. I have a CEO, you know, basically murdered on the streets of Manhattan.

BURNETT: It's unbelievable and unprecedented even those in New York City, never seen anything like it.

All right. Thank you very much, Glen. I appreciate your time.

And our breaking news continues next. The NYPD's chief detective just revealed that investigators are looking into whether the gun used in the assassination was a veterinary gun. That is the type of weapon used to put down animals without causing a large noise. It's a crucial new detail. We've got more on that next.

And the breaking news, Putin's close ally in danger. Rebels are closing in now on the capital of Syria. And tonight, we are on the ground in Syria with an exclusive interview, exclusive interview with the rebel leader.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:51]

BURNETT: The breaking news, we've got new details about the gun used by the suspected shooter. Police revealing just moments ago that they are looking into the possibility, as you look here, that the assassin used right there -- let's pause it -- that gun in his hand as a veterinarian gun. That's a larger firearm. It's used on farms and ranches.

Police are also revealing they're talking to Brian Thompson's family as well as people he worked with and local law enforcement in Minnesota. They're saying so far they don't have any indications that the killing had anything to do with his personal life.

Back with me now, the former Boston police commissioner, Ed Davis, and former NYPD detective, David Sarni.

Okay, obviously, you know, this is at this point, moving very quickly here on this Friday night.

Ed, can I just start with you? This gun and we were freeze framing it. There you know, we've heard about it, that there were a couple of jams, right. That might have had to do with the silencer so far, but now this new reporting, a larger sort of rifle used to put down animals on farms. What -- what sort of what would that actually reveal about this killer that he would have had such a gun?

DAVIS: Hi, Erin. They certainly have been a number of theories as to why that that gun had to be cocked so many times and frankly, this is a valid explanation for it. If this is a specialized weapon that's used on a farm, it wouldn't -- it wouldn't need to be automatically able to fire after each round. It would be something that you could do a single shot with. And it appears as though that's what's happening here. Now that would lead one to believe that there may be some nexus to

rural areas of the country. And this is either someone who's been aggrieved by the insurance company or maybe even an activist that is making a statement about business.

BURNETT: Right so, you know, David, this is obviously new information, but can I just ask you your instinct on how hard it would be to obtain something like this and I guess to state the obvious, I don't want to say a normal person because were not talking about a normal person, but it isn't obviously the first, second, or even third or even 15th kind of thing you'd think of in terms of a gun, right? It is very specific, right?

[19:50:02]

SARNI: Definitely very specific, and accessibility is always deals with firearms. And that's why when this video came out, everybody was already making perceptions. And the benefit of this is when you start researching this and start doing the work, you find out more nuances about this firearm. We thought it was jammed as former commissioner said.

This is an unusual type of firearm to bring, but it comes back to accessibility. Someone had access to this. Did the shooter have it? Did he obtain access from someone else? Did he steal the gun from a location and there is some sleight of proficiency in utilizing the firearm.

So is he the one that owned that gun? Because that gun is, you know, usually when it comes to firearms, the gun usually floats from place to place, person to person. Usually when it comes to a illegal firearm, this might be something that he possessed or he obtained possession of it from someone else.

BURNETT: You're right. And I guess is it is it possible to you know, it's different in terms of obtaining it than it would be some other sorts of guns?

And let me ask you, in terms of the motive, because there's been so much discussion and I know anybody watching has been discussing the possible motive here.

We are hearing that you know, law enforcement in Minnesota at this point. They're saying they don't see any indications of a link to his personal life they have been talking to the family. They're there -- now, it seems that were hearing more about a possibility of a former client or a patient.

What do you think about motive at this point?

DAVIS: Well, it's a very good question. I think everyone is struggling with this part of it. He's left clues. The writing on the unspent ammunition is a major clue. He's trying to make a statement there.

When someone does something this outrageous, they oftentimes will try to explain themselves in a -- in a -- in a small way. And that's what leads me to believe that there's a bigger agenda here. It's not just that one individual.

He's making a statement about the industry, which is why I think that either, you know, he -- he may have worked in the industry or he may actually be someone who just is a -- an activist.

BURNETT: David, your thought on motive?

SARNI: I leave everything open to chance. We don't really know until we get the totality of circumstances with these cases. This is a good clue. This is something that you can look at and determine.

But we -- I look at these things, and you put these to the side until you get everything together. Because that's the thing the reality is the only one who knows why he did the shooting right now is the perpetrator and that's what were looking to do.

And if he clarifies that the reason why he did this is that is the reason for what he did with dropping the rounds. This is what we're looking to do. We're going to find this. He will be found. There will be identified eventually.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much. I appreciate that.

And next, breaking news, rebels claim that they have now taken another city in Syria. This situation moving incredibly rapidly, catching Putin's close ally by surprise. CNN on the ground in Syria with a major CNN exclusive tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news rebels closing in on the Syrian capital of Damascus this hour. The lightning fast offensive stunning the world, catching Putin's ally, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad completely by surprise.

And just moments ago, the rebels are claiming to have taken a third city, the city Daraa in the south.

[19:55:05]

The rebels are attempting to close in on Damascus, both from the north and from the south. This is by far the biggest threat to Syria's authoritarian president, Bashar al-Assad, who has been firmly and fully backed by Putin in over a decade. Jomana Karadsheh has this exclusive. She is the first western journalist on the ground in Aleppo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swift advances that have stunned the world and took the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad by surprise, reigniting a civil war many thought was over.

We've come to Syria to see for ourselves what's happening here on our drive across towns left battle scarred by a decade long war, signs of the regime's hasty retreat. ABU MOHAMMAD AL-JOLANI, LEADER OF HTS: The seeds of the regime's defeat have always been within it.

KARADSHEH: In an undisclosed location in Syria, we sat down for a CNN worldwide exclusive with the man leading the offensive Abu Mohammad al-Jolani and his group broke away from al Qaeda years ago. Now, he leads the armed rebels who appear closer than ever to toppling the Assad regime.

AL-JOLANI: The Iranians attempted to revive the regime, buying it time and later the Russians also try to prop it up, but the truth remains, this regime is dead. It was Iranian proxies on the ground and in the skies, Russia, that saved Assad.

But Russia is bogged down with its war in Ukraine and Iran is scrambling its most powerful proxy, Hezbollah was decimated by Israel. It appears Assad's patrons have abandoned him.

In Syria's second city, Aleppo, they're erasing every sign of the 50 years of the Assad dynasty's ruthless rule. We're the first Western journalist here since the city fell.

One of the first things that people did when rebel forces took over the city of Aleppo was toppled the statue of Bassel, a symbol of the Assad regime. This is an area where there were fierce battles with regime forces and since then, in the past few days, there's been an airstrike that killed many people. You can still see the aftermath of that. The blood on the floor here.

Some forced out of their homes years ago, are beginning to return.

Did you ever imagine this moment possible?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had a lot of dreams about getting back to Aleppo, but we didn't actually believe that this moment is going to be true.

KARADSHEH: Euphoria of victory lingers in the air, but the apprehension is also palpable in this ancient city, home to minorities who have endured persecution at the hands of jihadists.

Since the takeover of the city by the Islamist dominated rebel forces, they've been really keen to send this message to the Christian minority of Aleppo that they will be safe and that they have nothing to fear. The pope appointed Catholic bishop of Aleppo, knows the threats all too well. Extremists have tried to kill him in the past.

Father Hanna Jallouf says many terrified Christians have already fled as the rebels advanced, but he and other priests will not leave.

We reassured our faithful that, God willing, everything will be okay, he tells us. Overall, the security situation has been under control. It allowed us to assure people no one will come near our churches and properties.

Rebel leader al-Jolani, who once vowed to bring strict Sharia rule to Syria, says those days are behind him.

AL-JOLANI: There must be a legal framework that protects and ensures the rights of all, not a system that serves only one sect, as Assad's regime has done.

KARADSHEH: People listening to this are going to wonder why they should believe you. You are still a specially designated global terrorist by the United States with a $10 million bounty on your head your group is a proscribed terrorist organization by the United States, by the U.N., by the E.U., and others.

AL-JOLANI: I say to people, don't judge by words, but by actions. I believe the reality speaks for itself. These classifications are primarily political, and at the same time wrong. I define a terrorist as someone who intentionally kills civilians, harms innocents or displaces people.

KARADSHEH: But the U.S. and others would say is that you were parts of groups that did exactly that.

AL-JOLANI: Personally, I have not done these things. The situation must be understood in its historical context. I didn't go to Iraq with those intentions. I went to defend the Iraqi people.

When I returned to Syria, I didn't want to bring what happened in Iraq into Syria. That's why there were disagreements between us and ISIS.

KARADSHEH: Al-Jolani is already preparing for a post-regime Syria, the revolution rises from the ashes and this time it seems its flames are consuming the house of Assad.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Aleppo, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Just absolutely incredible that she was able to get that interview, sit down with someone that the U.S. has a $10 million bounty on his head and have that incredibly important interview. Jomana Karadsheh there.

Thanks so much for joining us.

"AC360" starts now.