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Senate Democrats Ask FBI to Release File on Gaetz Investigation; Jose Ibarra Awaiting Sentencing for Murder of Laken Riley in Court. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired November 20, 2024 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:33:30]

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Got some new developments on Capitol Hill and I want to get right there to Lauren Fox about Senate Democrats talking to the FBI about getting information that they have on Matt Gaetz. What can you tell us, Lauren?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats sending a new letter to the FBI requesting a series of documents and any witness testimony that they had gathered as part of their investigation into Matt Gaetz. Now, the Judiciary is asking for this information despite the fact that the FBI opted not to charge Gaetz with any crimes.

But here's what they're requesting. They say we request that you provide to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary the complete evidentiary file including all FD-302 forms, memorializing interviews in closed door investigation of former Congressman Matt Gaetz's alleged sex trafficking of minors. As you are aware, President-elect Trump has announced his intent to nominate Mr. Gaetz to be the Attorney General. The Senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees and it is crucial that we review all of the information necessary to fulfill this duty as we consider Mr. Gaetz's nomination.

Now, we should note that Gaetz has said that he conducted no wrongdoing as part of this. He is often touted the fact that he was not charged by the FBI, but this comes on the heels of the Senate Judiciary. Democrats also requesting that the House Ethics Committee transfer its report to their committee, so that members can have an opportunity to look at it, to review it as part of their effort to vet Gaetz as the next Attorney General.

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BASH: Thank you so much, Lauren. And let's go to Athens, Georgia now, where a judge is about to sentence Jose Ibarra after finding guilty earlier today. This is Laken Riley's mother, right now speaking. Let's listen.

ALLYSON PHILLIPS, LAKEN RILEY'S MOTHER: -- sentence without a chance of parole. Jose Ibarra took no pity on my scared, panicked, and struggling child. There is no end to the pain, suffering, and loss that we have experienced or will continue to endure. On that horrific day, my precious daughter was attacked, beaten, and shown no mercy. She fought for a life and dignity, and to save herself from being brutally raped.

This sick, twisted and evil coward showed no regard for Laken or her human life. We are asking that same be done to him. Laken had a beautiful and bright future. She was smart, hardworking, kind, thoughtful, and most importantly, she was a child of God. She had a personal relationship with Jesus, and she loved being the hands and feet of -- his hands and feet in this world. She shared her love for our Lord with others through her mission trips, working with elderly at the nursing homes, and through her nursing career.

Laken was an amazing friend, sister, niece, daughter and granddaughter. Anyone who knew her knew about her loving heart. Laken's life was not the only life taken on that day that Jose Ibarra attacked her. The life of her family and friends was taken too. None of us will ever be the same. This monster took away our chances to see Laken graduate from nursing school. He took away our ability to meet our future son-in-law. He took -- destroyed our chances of meeting our grandchildren, and he took my best friend.

He ripped away every beautiful memory we will ever be able to make with her again. This horrific individual robbed us all of our hopes and dreams for Laken. Your Honor, I'm asking you to please give Jose Ibarra the same thing he gave us when he made the choice to take Laken's life and destroy ours. He showed no mercy on Laken when she was begging for her life. There's no end to the pain and suffering that he inflicted on our family and our friends.

I am asking you to please give this monster life without any chance of parole, so that he never gets the chance to hurt anyone else ever again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is John Phillips, your honor.

JOHN PHILLIPS, LAKEN RILEY'S STEPFATHER: I'd like to thank, your honor, for the opportunity to speak today. I truly appreciate it. I heard in the opening statements from the defense that the loss of a life that was apparently full of promise is tragic. I'm here today to let your honor and the entire world know that Laken's life was not apparently full of promise, but instead was abundantly and exceptionally full of promise, and was a shining deacon in the life of everyone that knew her, that ever came in contact with her.

I'm so proud of Laken and the beautiful person she was. And while I can stand here and try to tell the world the things that made her such a wonderful person, as well as the many things we have all been robbed and deprived of, I think one of her last journal entries dated 12/17/23 says it best. So here we go. To my future husband, as silly as I feel writing this, my old small group leader once recommended it. So here I am.

[12:40:00] To my future husband, I want you to know that I'm thinking about you. I'm working every day to become the best wife I can be by working through my current relationships to best prepare me for ours and our kids one day. I'm focusing on God and what he defines as a faithful Christian life and so that I can best embody those characteristics.

I pray that you know that is with my full faith and trust in God, that I know this relationship has been handcrafted by him. I pray that we continue to glorify the Lord, prioritize him in every aspect of our lives, and raise our family, our future family to be God-fearing Christians as well. I pray God is the center of our relationship as it is a gift from him. I thank him for you before I even know you and can't wait to love you in the best way I know how for the rest of our lives.

I pray you know and feel the importance of my love and hopes for our relationship. No matter what challenges we face, I pray that our trust in God and love for one another overrules the obstacle. May our relationship last forever. Your future wife, Laken.

That, your honor, was our beautiful Laken. That, your honor, is just a glimpse of what was tragically and brutally taken from her and us that day. The best daughter, sister, granddaughter, friend, and overall person that you could ever hope to meet. While it's true that none of our lives will ever be the same, we refuse to let this person rob Laken of the hope she gave to her family, loved ones, friends and the world as a whole.

We will proudly carry this hope on in her name, in the days ahead and for the rest of our lives, because together we can all keep hope alive. So today, I plead with this court to protect the world from this truly evil person by sentencing him to prison for life without the possibility of parole for any reason, so that he could never have the opportunity to do this to anyone else ever again. Thank you, your honor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next, your honor, is Lauren Phillips.

LAUREN PHILLIPS, LAKEN RILEY'S SISTER: Your honor, I wish I could truly put into words how much the tragedy that occurred on February 22, 2024 has affected me, but I don't think I'll ever be able to do so. With that being said, I'm going to attempt with the best of my ability to do that for you today.

My name is Lauren Phillips and I have the amazing privilege of living with Laken Riley as my older sister. Laken was and will forever be my most favorite person. She was my biggest role model and I looked up to her in every way. She brought the joy that I needed into my life and never failed to make me laugh. There was absolutely nothing that I wouldn't do for Laken and nothing that she wouldn't do for me.

Laken was my base protector, and I always had this sense of comfort and safety in her presence. We've been inseparable ever since the moment I was born, and I've been lost ever since she was senselessly stripped from our lives by Jose Antonio Ibarra. I now have this hole in my heart and in my life that I know will never be filled.

I had to walk the stage of my high school graduation without my biggest supporter and cheerleader in the crowd. I had to finish my senior year of high school, which most would say is the happiest and most surreal part of your life, it was simply the opposite for me. I had to turn 18 and become an adult without the one person I looked up to there by my side. I had to get accepted into my dream school, the University of Georgia, without my sister telling me how proud of me she is, and finally, getting to live in the same town together again.

[12:45:00]

I now have the burden of dealing with the fact that my best friend and sister will never come home again. She'll never send me another daily good morning text, funny TikTok or silly Snapchat. The true sense of joy I felt when she would randomly surprise me will never happen again. I will never get to hear her infectious laugh or see her light of a smile ever again.

And I'll get to explain to people when they ask me if I have a sibling that I no longer have one. And not just because she passed away, but because she got brutally attacked and murdered. I cannot walk around my own college campus because I'm terrified of people like Jose Ibarra. My parents would never be the same after losing their daughter in this tragic way.

Seeing their heartbreak is excruciating. We were once a happy family of four, and now, there is an evident hole where her presence is forever felt. We are a broken family of three, struggling to find out how to live this life through the silence and emptiness that her absence has left behind. The joy that she brought to our home has been completely replaced with grief. And we are just left holding the pieces of a life that will never feel whole again.

She will not get to be at my wedding and next to me is my maid of honor. I get to deal with explaining to my future children what happened to their Aunt Laken and why they won't ever be able to get to feel her love or be spoiled by her. All of these experiences were and will be stripped of me against my will and I now live in a constant state of fear, anger, and sadness.

I think about how my sister saw exactly what was coming and had no way of preventing it. I think about how scared she must have been and how that man is the only one to truly witness that scene. I am not sure why he did this to my Laken, and I know I will never understand. I've waited for him to have a reason, but as the details of this case have unfolded, I realize I'll never get any peace or closure.

What Jose Ibarra did to my sister is almost unbearable to listen to. I am completely disgusted having to even look and be in the same room as him. That predator is inhumane and is the epitome of evil. I have no doubt in my mind that the monster sitting in this room with us today is the same monster that encountered my precious sister on February 22, 2024, where he proceeded to attack, assault, beat, murder, and attempt to rape her. Jose Antonio Ibarra has completely and utterly ruined my life, and I can only hope and pray that he receives a sentence that ruins his. Thank you.

BASH: We are listening to incredibly heartbreaking testimony from Laken Riley's family as the judge considers the sentencing. We're going to sneak in a quick break. We'll be back on the other side.

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[12:51:20]

BASH: We're going to go back to the courtroom in Athens, Georgia. Laken Riley's father, Jason Riley just wrapped up his victim impact testimony, and we're now hearing from other members of her family.

CONNOLLY HUTH, LAKEN RILEY'S FRIEND: Good Afternoon. As I stated in my testimony, my name is Connolly Huth. Laken Riley was my roommate for two years, my devoted and loyal running partner for two years, and my best friend forever. I stand before you looking at you through eyes that have seen, ears that have heard, and a heart that has felt emotions no body and especially no 22-year-old should have to.

On February 21st, my life was complete. I woke up on February 21st at 7:30 a.m., walked out of my bedroom door to streamers hung outside of my bedroom from the top of the doorframe to the floor, balloons blown, decorations taped, and gifts presented precisely on my kitchen island. Laken did it. It was my 22nd birthday.

She had a 5:00 a.m. nursing clinical, yet she woke up at 4:30 a.m. to make me feel loved and appreciated, because that is who Laken Riley was. I went to dinner that night with my roommates and my family, and ended the night with my roommates, and especially Laken showering me with love.

It is clear and evident that this defendant, Jose Ibarra, has never felt this type of love and appreciation. I've been impacted by this brutal, cowardice and preventable tragedy in every way, shape and form. I no longer have a best friend that I relay every thought or worry to. I no longer run every day. I lost my partner, and I lost the joy of what running was before Laken was taken from us. I cannot imagine running when I constantly am looking over my shoulder in public, wondering if I am next.

I live with a -- I live with excruciating guilt every day that I was not accompanying Laken on this run and that it was her and not me. And I hope and pray that it will never happen again to anyone. Along with this, the crime that this monster committed, ruined one of the most special places in our friendship. Lake Herrick was Laken and I's safe space. We loved to go on running adventures throughout the park together. We had a code called Dock Time. Dock Time consisted of either ending our runs or taking a calming walk to the dock at Lake Herrick. Here we would sit in silence, play music or talk while sitting on the dock, simply enjoying each other's presence. All it took was a text saying, I need Dock Time and we were on the way to debrief whatever we needed to discuss. Now, when I think of this beautiful spot, I think of the tear and horror my sweet best friend had to endure at the hands of this monster. I think of all the things I have to do now to remember Laken. At times, I forget how she laughs or how she sounds, and I have to resort to looking through my camera roll of hundreds of videos I have, videos where I talk to my future kids and introduce them to their Aunt Laken in college. To talk to my friend, I have to drive 20 minutes to her grave, and sit and talk to her with no response, screaming at the sky.

When I want to remember her, I have to go to my closet and pull out her clothes I was given and smell them to remember how she smelled. As I stand up here today, I'm wearing one of Laken's shirts. This shirt has sat in my closet for months, not because I'm saving it for an occasion, but because I cannot afford to not remember these -- things like this about her.

[12:55:00]

I sit in therapy week after week trying to heal February 22nd and life after. When I hear emergency vehicle sirens, I'm triggered. I sat that day and watched dozens of emergency personnel drive by as I sat helpless. My roommates and I had to draw our own conclusions that the pinnacle of our house was no longer here when we watched a coroner drive by us after sitting at the fields for two hours with no answers. Our fears were confirmed when we received a university-wide email that alerted students, faculty, and staff that a female was deceased.

I lost faith in humanity the day that my kind, selfless, beautiful, smart, loving, and perfect best friend left this earth. I will never understand why it had to happen in the first place, but more importantly, why out of all people, it had to be her. The world lost a girl who would take the clothes off her back for her family, friends, and even strangers, who studied and devoted her life to Christ in nursing, so she could save lives and make a difference in this world.

Laken cannot be replaced. If you had the ability to bring her back out of all this, I would give up every earthly possession I have to see her infectious smile, hear her contagious laugh, and her infamous love you girl, and I would hug her neck, but you cannot. Laken made this world and more specifically my world, better.

My first two years of college when I did not know Laken, I went home all the time. My last two years of college, you had to drag me home. That was because Laken was my person. So your honor, I wish to proclaim the maximum sentence for the defendant as I will never be the same, her loving beautiful family will never be the same, and this world will never be the same.

I hope this sentencing sets a precedent, so it stops with Laken and fails to happen to anyone again. Laken was a hero and a warrior. She died a hero and a warrior. And she's a hero and warrior to all of us. Laken was my source of light, joy, and unwavering happiness. So when her life was taken, so was the part of me that knew how to truly feel those things again. Thank you, your Honor. BASH: We've been listening to Victim Impact Testimony first from Laken Riley's family, and then you just heard from her friend, her best friend, her roommate in college. We're going to continue to monitor this, squeeze in another quick break, and "CNN News Central" picks up our coverage when we come back.

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