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Laura Coates Live

CNN Presents "Manhunt: The Search for the CEO Killer." Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired December 05, 2024 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Breaking tonight, the Republican-led House voted to keep an ethics committee report about Matt Gaetz's alleged sexual predation out of public view. That both raises questions about whether or not the findings of the investigation will ever be made public.

Thank you very much for watching "NewsNight." Special edition of "Laura Coates Live," it starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This does not appear to be a random act of violence.

UNKNOWN: Premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: He came on a bus, which originated in Atlanta.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Pieces of the puzzle, they are still coming together, and we're going to have someone apprehend it.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: They were having a flirtation moment, and he pulls it down and he gives the big smile. The most significant clue to date.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): No matter how perfectly it seems that this was executed, he will have made mistakes.

STEPHEN GUTOWSKI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, GUN SAFETY INSTRUCTOR, FIREARMS REPORTER FOR THERELOAD.COM: UNKNOWN: He's not a beginner but also, I'd say he's not an expert.

UNKNOWN: The threats that we're hearing about, things that the company was worried about.

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR OF THE UNITED STATES: Two words were found, delay and deposed.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Was this retaliation over a health care issue? UNKNOWN: We will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case.

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LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: The manhunt for the CEO killer now at 40 hours and counting. Good evening and welcome to a special edition of "Laura Coates Live" from New York City, where new clues are quickly pouring in and shaping a new picture of the gunman who murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. For the next hour, our team of reporters, profilers, and law enforcement experts are going to be with us to take us inside this manhunt. Their reporting and analysis just a few moments away.

But first, take a good look at your screen because this -- this is who police want to talk to. They believe he is the man behind the mask, the suspected gunman who brazenly killed the leader of America's largest health insurer in Midtown Manhattan. These images are from a hostel on the upper west side of New York City, and it's believed he was staying there.

And in several dramatic developments tonight, we're learning when he got to New York and the flirtatious story behind how his mask came down and with this smile. Now police say he arrived in Manhattan 10 days before the shooting from a Greyhound bus originating in Atlanta. Now we don't know where he got on that bus. It could have been somewhere other than Atlanta. But he went to the hostel after arriving. He checked out for one night on the 29th and checked right back in the next day. Police tell us he used a fake I.D. and paid in cash. And those images minus the mask, police interviewed a hostel employee who says she asked the suspect to drop the cover because she was flirting with him.

That's a lot of puzzle pieces police have been trying to put together and have been able to put together, especially considering how camera savvy this suspect seems to be. But we do have new video. It appears to show him riding an e-bike on West 85th Street around 7 a.m. That was about 15 minutes after the shooting and 30 blocks away. One thing missing here? His gray backpack. Now we know he biked into the park right after the attack with that backpack. So that's why police are carrying out a massive search there, scouring garbage cans and bushes to try to find it. But so far, they have come up empty.

We begin tonight with John Miller. He is CNN's chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst. He is also formerly the deputy commissioner for the NYPD. And Felipe Rodriguez, he is a retired NYPD sergeant and detective. This is pretty unbelievable to think about, all that has transpired in just 40 hours. John, talk to me about these images that have been released of this suspect. I mean, an unmasked suspect is showing now. Yesterday, we were trying to figure out who was the man behind the mask. We're still there. Now, he has been very careful about keeping his mask on. So, this flirting incident could be a major break in the case.

MILLER: It could be the best break they have and could lead to the break that closes it. But they have had video canvas teams, teams of detectives that have been going up and down every street associated with this case, stringing together a snapshot of him passing by here or there. And Laura, I mean, this now goes back 10 days. It's not just the day around the shooting that they tried to reconstruct immediately. And here's what they don't see.

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They got him in McDonald's, they have him in a taxi, they have him at the Hilton hotel on the very first day he's in town, but the hood is up, the mask is up, and they've been looking and searching for that moment where, you know, he takes the hood back and pulls the mask down and just figures, nobody is looking at me here, nobody knows who I am.

That doesn't happen so far, except for that single moment at the check-in in the hotel where he gives his fake New Jersey driver's license and the clerk at the desk is talking to him. And, you know, she looks at the picture and looks at him and says, come on, let me see your face. And he pulls down the mask and smiles for that one moment. And, you know, they have this moment, and that's it. But that's the best clue they have.

And, I mean, put yourself in his head for a second. If I say, no, no, I'm leaving my hood up even though I'm indoors --

COATES: I'm suspicious immediately.

MILLER: That's going to attract attention.

COATES: Uh-hmm.

MILLER: So, maybe he just -- his guard slipped or maybe it was a calculated move to, I'm going to take a risk to attract less attention, but that's the best clue to date.

COATES: Why that's so fascinating to me as well is you're talking about time of the essence if you're doing an investigation in all the work that you've done. Think about that. Oftentimes, you're trying to pick up and capitalize on a mistake they make more than having some, you know, burning message there.

FELIPE RODRIGUEZ, RETIRED NYPD SERGEANT AND DETECTIVE: At this moment, this was the best we got. You know, the ability that he was -- just that little bit of a moment that he was able to put that mask down. The problem is when you look at CCTV footage, we might not have the right angle for biometrics, you know. And the more you pixelate a shot, the more you actually lose the identity. It's all mathematic, pinpoints, certain situations. While it's a good thing to put out to the media and maybe we'll get some good information, that's what we're hoping for, the biometrics, he has never been arrested before, they might not work in this situation.

COATES: So, you seeing his face might not be -- I mean, not everyone is in a database, essentially. So, this could be somebody who now could trigger a database from here on out, but not have any connection to an identity. How does that frustrate the investigation?

RODRIGUEZ: People don't believe it. But identities, they happen. They're stolen all the time, believe it or not.

COATES: Hmm.

RODRIGUEZ: People constantly being -- you can go to the streets of Queens right now and get a passport, social security card. You know, we've seen that in long-term investigations that were done. So, he tried to become a ghost, basically. And the ruse that he used was, let me hide in plain sight. You know, he produced a driver's license which he knew was fake. And every attempt that he made was to make sure that, you know what? We were not able to pick him up on camera.

COATES: Yeah.

RODRIGUEZ: So, it takes a lot of thinking.

COATES: John, he came 10 days before this happened. I mean, on a Greyhound bus. So, we don't know where his original place that he came from was. But what does that tell you that this wasn't something that came -- he flew in today or yesterday, did it that day and moved on out. This suggests some planning, premeditation.

MILLER: So, he's interesting because he's clearly operating on a shoestring budget. He's staying at a hostel, in a room. It's a room for four, but he has got two roommates, him being the third person there. That gives you unwanted face time with two people who are right on top of you in bunk beds. You can pull that curtain in the bunk bed and that'll give you privacy, but it's not ideal. You know, he came up on a bus. He didn't drive, you know, his car or anything. So, you have all that.

But you also have the idea that 10 days out, okay, so he had things to do. The first place he went when he became on the ground in New York City was that Hilton hotel. So, he started his reconnaissance early. It's a massive lobby. It's a massive hotel. It spans half a city block and there's entrances on either side street and the front, and a garage that cuts across.

COATES: Uh-hmm.

MILLER: He walked around that hotel, looked it up and down, and ultimately, and this raises a real set of questions, positioned himself in the one place that was between the hotel across the street, the Marriott Lux (ph), where his target was staying, and the entrance that would be most likely for him to come in if he walked from that hotel. How did he get that information?

COATES: Uh-hmm.

MILLER: That's something detectives are working on.

COATES: Of course. And remember, we know that the victim only came in on Monday. So, he's there at least, what? Eight or nine. Eight or nine is before that actually happens. But then that backpack. The police immediately talked about the backpack being so, you know, easily identifiable. But then he's not wearing it all of a sudden. So, could he have possibly ditched it in Central Park? What does that look like to try to -- I mean, this is, what? Eight or a mile or 800 or something acres wide? It's a massive undertaking.

RODRIGUEZ: What we're seeing is -- once again, everybody keeps saying he's a sloppy assassin. He's -- you know, we look at things from very different viewpoints. From the beginning that I heard that he was heading towards Central Park, first thing I said, beautiful place to change clothing. He already knows that we've already picked up his -- you know, at least his clothing to be able to broadcast over, you know, police radio. So, what you want to do is quickly change out of that.

And the mentality, even for the beginning of the assassination attempt, I was in narcotics, all we did was surveil people constantly. And our motto was, let's see where he puts his head, where the person is sleeping.

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And every night, guess what? Let's make sure we put him to bed. And that's what he basically did. The modus operandi from the beginning was guess what? I'm going to do as much surveillance I have. I want to see how he works, how he lives, and that's going to be my chance to do what I need to do.

COATES: He could be 10 days ahead of every detective thinking what might he have done differently or otherwise. John Miller, Felipe Rodriguez, thank you so much for your expertise.

Look, CNN exclusively speaking with another guest of that upper west side New York City hostel tonight. Matheus is in Toronto providing this video from inside of the hostel, telling CNN's Erin Burnett this when asked whether or not the suspect could have had a gun there. Listen.

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MATHEUS TARANTO, STAYS AT HOTEL WHERE POLICE BELIEVE GUNMAN STAYED: I mean, it wouldn't be that hard. Like if he put on, like, his luggage or something, because there's no metal detector. There's nothing like that. So, I think just go inside, and we'll be all good.

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CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is outside that very hostel where police say the suspect stayed. Shimon, you have seen investigators there throughout the day. What have you learned?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah, so they've been here through the day trying to talk to people who have been staying here. We know from people inside that he -- the -- it looks like the person that they've been wanting to question, the person of interest, was staying on the fourth floor here at the hostel. And it has been a relatively busy day here at the hostel. We've seen people come and go. We're seeing people just arriving. They're wondering why we're here. It has kind of been an interesting story to watch some of this develop. And, you know, the big question, obviously, for police right now is, where is this man? You know, the man that they've been searching for. The last video that they have of him is at West 85th Street, as far as we know. That's the last video that we've been able to obtain. He leaves the park and then he drives off at around 7 a.m. on Wednesday. And so far, we have not seen any other video of him in New York City. We've not seen anything else.

You know, we know that police had been out even as late as around 8:30 or so tonight searching for more videos, still trying to find out where he is and perhaps if they could find more video of him.

COATES: We're just talking to some experts on this in particular and just -- Shimon, a lot of people may not have ever been in New York City. They may not even know Central Park or how big it is outside of maybe what Hollywood depicts. We're talking a loop around about over six and a half miles just to go around it. We're talking about a massive hundreds of acres in the center of the city. So many different avenues you could have escaped. As one of my guests mentioned, even maybe changing clothing. What other details are authorities hoping to find where you are tonight?

PROKUPECZ: Well, movement, certainly. That's one of the big keys, right? The other thing that I think for authorities right now is sort of trying to figure out the weapon that was used. You know, the other thing that's really interesting here is in the video, some of the last video that we've seen of him, he's not wearing that backpack that he used, that he was wearing during the shooting. Where is that backpack and what happened to it? We know that they searched Central Park. Police searched Central Park. They have not been able to find that backpack.

But when you think about a city of this size and with all the cameras and all the people on the street here, it's really kind of crazy to think that someone could elude authorities as this person is right now. And from everything we know, the police have all this footage leading up to this. From what everything we know, you know, they have the footage from inside the hostel. They've tracked him to here. But what happens after? Where is he now?

And that's sort of one of, I think, the most puzzling thing for folks, that they think, okay, so here we are nearly 48 hours since this happened, and with all the video and all the technology in this city, it is kind of hard to believe that police have not yet taken him into custody.

COATES: Shimon, thank you so much. Please stay with us on this. I want to turn to John Miller, though. I mean, the idea of somebody vanishing into thin air in a place like a major metropolis like New York City might be equal parts unbelievable and believable. How about that bike? We know he didn't walk away. What do we know about the search for this bike? Did he purchase it? Did he rent it? What?

MILLER: So that right now is a mystery. What we do know is there is a piece of video, 5:15 in the morning, the morning of the murder, where he is seen on Columbus Avenue walking south, probably towards the subway on the way to this attempt, this killing, carrying what looks like an e-bike battery. So, if he gets on the subway and gets off where we have him getting off at 57th Street, that puts him, you know, a block or two away from his target location.

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When he does the shooting, he runs through the alley by the Ziegfeld Theater and comes out on 55th Street, one block north, and that bike is waiting. So --

COATES: Hmm.

MILLER: -- you could glean from that. And there's still a -- where did this bike come from? That he arrives here that 10 days early, somewhere he picks up, buys a used one, rents one something, comes up with this bicycle, stashes it with all the other delivery guy bikes on 55th Street and there's quite a few, takes the battery with him so it's not convenient to steal a ride away, charges it up at home, places it back on the bike before the murder, gets his water at Starbucks, goes over, stakes out a subject, and has his getaway ready. But where did it go?

COATES: Uh-hmm.

MILLER: As far as I know from the information I received today, they still don't have it. Like the backpack, it's vanished.

COATES: You have to wonder if the detectives and investigators are ruling out the possibility that that 10-day period included somebody else's assistant and navigating the reconnaissance. We just don't know.

MILLER: It's entirely possible. But in their video canvas, which is far from complete --

COATES: Yeah.

MILLER: -- it's an ongoing process, they don't have him with anybody else.

COATES: Wow! Isn't that crazy to think about? Just the idea --

MILLER: Remember, he is walking down the street before the shooting, and he's talking on the phone. He's got to be talking to somebody.

COATES: I want to bring in Mary Ellen O'Toole. She's a former senior FBI profiler. Mary Ellen, so many details coming out, yet so many we still don't know. But this new detail about the suspect pulling his mask down because he may have been flirting with the female front desk attendant, what do you make of that?

MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR FBI PROFILER: Well, the thing that strikes me about any offender, but particularly this person, he's not consistently good at everything that he does. So, the shooting was effective and showed experience, but he made mistakes after that and he made mistakes before that. So, he let his guard down, whatever you want to say, but what he did was he wasn't being cognizant at that point that he could be exposing himself to a camera. Just like he did in Starbucks. It's possible that he left fingerprints, DNA on the water bottle, on the two power bars that he purchased.

So, he's not really cognizant of forensic science. He was good at shooting, but there are aspects of this crime where he's really -- he has made mistakes, and that was certainly one of them.

COATES: That's going to be the trail the detectives are going to have to follow, the series of mistakes maybe leading to a location and identity. One of the things we are seeing is that the writings on the bullet casings, the word depose, the word delay, these are common words in the insurance industry. Does that feel like a kind of signature to you? What do you make of those words being there?

O'TOOLE: Well, looking at that behavior, I have two theories that I would look at if I were involved in the case. Number one, if this were a revenge murder and it was based on the fact that he was upset with the insurance company, because he was practiced with the firearms, he would have known that casings would have come out of the gun, and that it was likely he could not collect those casings. So, he labeled them, but did he label them or put words on them so he could give the police a heads up? This is what the motive is?

And if it was a revenge type of situation and he labeled those casings, then I would expect that he would be a little bit more of an injustice collector in his behavior, which means that he probably had prior contact with the insurance company with emails and letters of complaint and so forth. So, is he really willing to give the detectives that much information about who he is and where to go look for subsequent leads by labeling those bullets?

Now, the other possibility that I think has not really been flushed out is that the bullets are labeled, we know that, they have words on them, but maybe he was trying to mislead the police.

COATES: Hmm.

O'TOOLE: When I've seen offenders injecting themselves into an investigation, whether they send a note or they make a phone call, they put words on casings. It's not always to give them the motive. It can be to mislead the police and say, you think it is revenge, but it's -- you know, it's something else. And so, it's a possibility that that was done, I think, to mislead the police. We don't know at this point, but I'm sure detectives are considering both possibilities.

COATES: Just to look at, I think, spent shell casing of sorts that John Miller has just handed me. I want to just go to you very quickly on this, John, so the audience can really better understand. We're talking about -- Mary, I'm going to come right back to you. What -- this is where they would have written something. This is not -- this is not evidence from this case at all.

[23:20:00] This is but an example to show you.

MILLER: It's the same caliber bullet.

COATES: Okay.

MILLER: So, you're looking at the size and scope. That's a --

COATES: So, look at the size -- I mean, the size. This is not -- it's couple inches. Right? Look at this.

MILLER: Right.

COATES: And so, we are talking about writing would have been here.

MILLER: Exactly.

COATES: And so, knowing this would be (INAUDIBLE) on the ground for someone to look at, to have this precision in this small writing, obviously, attention to detail, Mary Ellen, on this point, and you're right about those theories, I wonder which one will be true, misleading rabbit hole or the motive. The police say that he was also in the city 10 days before the shooting. And then he checked into this hostel four days before. And he used a fake I.D. He had cash to get into the room. The fact that he was there for so long, what can you infer from that?

O'TOOLE: I think there are a couple possibilities, and John has underscored it. I think that that is a very likely theory, that he was doing a lot of recon. And I think he needed to do a lot of recon. And that may suggest that he had not been to New York before or maybe had little experience of being in New York to carry on a murder. So, he may have had a lot of things that he had to do.

On the other hand, based on some of his more casual behavior, I think he was probably enjoying himself. I don't think he was working eight to five throughout the full 10 days. So, I think that it could be a combination of things. And again, I think he looks fairly young, so there's an immaturity issue there as well. So, was he doing recon? Yes, he was. Was he scoping out where to get the bicycle and the battery and other things? Yes, he probably was. But was he also doing other things, which is where the videos are coming up.

And I think now what's important is this individual is following this case in the media. He could very well be watching the show right now. And he's very concerned because he knows he screwed up by all the mistakes that he made. So, he's watching and reading about the case where investigators are. So, it may be at this point that he has made the decision that he has to get out of town. But I don't think he has just ignored the media attention on this case whatsoever.

COATES: And whoever is on the phone call may be watching as well. Mary Ellen O'Toole, thank you so much. There is much more ahead tonight as our special coverage continues. Who exactly was Brian Thompson, the millionaire CEO who kept a pretty low profile running one of the biggest companies in this country? Our Whitney Wild is standing by live tonight in his home state with more on that. And it is one of the many shocking questions. Why didn't Thompson have any bodyguards with him? The man who once provided security for Thompson is live with me next.

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COATES: Tonight, a clearer portrait is emerging of Brian Thompson, a 20-year veteran of UnitedHealthcare, a high school and college valedictorian. He was also married and had two children. But he is separated from his wife, and they lived in different homes. CNN's Whitney Wild is live in Minnetonka, Minnesota where UnitedHealthcare is headquartered. Whitney, what are you learning about who Brian Thompson was and what he meant to that community?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Laura, what is very clear in talking with people who knew him, they affectionately called him "BT," is that he leaves behind a legacy of compassion and of leadership. He was a good colleague, a good friend, a good parent. What we learned in speaking with people who knew him in his past and in his present was that he took a lot of time to think about other people. For example, he spent quite a bit of time working with the Special Olympics.

Here are a couple of the people who knew him way back when, when his roots ran through Jewell, Iowa, and today working with him at the Special Olympics.

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TODD COY, PRINCIPAL, SOUTH HAMILTON MIDDLE AND HIGHSCHOOL: If you'd look at his class of '93 classmates, they would all tell you that they knew he was going to strive to be something big.

ADAM HJERPE, BOARD CHAIR, 2026 SPECIAL OLYMPICS AND FORMER COLLEAGUE: You have somebody who was incredibly smart. He was very good at the work he did. He had this attention. He would get into the details. He also had this great energy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Laura, he was so young to have a job that prestigious. He was just 50 years old. Again, the CEO of United Healthcare, working his way up through the ranks here, finally achieving that title in 2021. Laura?

COATES: I mean, you can't overstate the magnitude of a company like that in my home state of Minnesota. I mean, it is so far reaching. And to think that this is the CEO and a father, a beloved family member, what are you learning about his family and, God, how this murder is impacting them? I understand the Thompson's homes were actually targeted with a fake bomb last night? WILD: Right, as if this family hasn't been through enough, right? They had these bomb threats that were called in at Brian Thompson's home as well as at Paulette Thompson's home. They are close together. They are probably a mile apart. But the Maple Grove Police Department, that is a police department that covers that area, said plainly those were swatting incidents, that was a hoax.

But this tragedy has, you know, it just left them completely shattered, Laura. They have declined much media interviews, but they did issue a statement saying that they are completely shattered, saying that Brian leaves behind, again, a legacy of compassion, of love, of generosity. They called him incredibly talented and a wonderful father, Laura.

COATES: Whitney Wild, we can't lose sight of the fact that a human being lost their life as we look to see who this person is who took it. Thank you so much for your reporting. Brian Thompson's widow told NBC News that there had been some threats against him.

But, as you saw in the surveillance video, he left that hotel alone, was walking alone. There were no bodyguards present that we can see. No protection, it seems. My next guest once provided Thompson with security in the 2000s as he actually was rising through the ranks at UnitedHealthcare.

[23:30:01]

Philip Klein is the CEO of Klein Investigations, and he joins me now. Philip, thank you for joining. When you heard about Brian Thompson walking early in the morning alone, no security, was that odd to you?

PHILIP KLEIN, CEO OF KLEIN INVESTIGATIONS, PROTECTED UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO BRIAN THOMPSON: It was baffling, to be honest with you. You know, you get at somebody in the number one healthcare organization in the United States of America, who is a corporate executive, a high-ranking one, as a matter of fact, just sitting on the board of directors, and he has no protection around him, that is just baffling. I don't understand it. We still don't understand it.

It could have been one of two things, according to the teams that we've listened to today and, of course, the news media giving us information. One, it could have been a personal choice. He may have not liked living in the bubble. And that's what we call somebody that is in the middle that we are protecting. It's called the bubble. We're around him. Even when he goes to the restroom, we're still right outside the door. You know, that sort of thing. Or UnitedHealthcare chose not to provide security for him.

I don't know the answer to that. I'm not going to speculate on it. But it is highly unusual for the CEO of a multi-billion- dollar corporation not to have people around him. It's just -- again, it's baffling.

COATES: That might be so counterintuitive to people, to think that, you know, security, many people think are relegated, maybe it's a high-profile athletes or entertainers or people in Hollywood. But the idea that there would be some vulnerability for people in such high- profile positions, I think, is becoming quite apparent to people at least this evening. And when you look at that video, the hour of the day, the landscape of Manhattan, just how vulnerable was he to any attack?

KLEIN: Any attack. It could have been a person that had him targeted. It could have been just a street vendor. You just -- you just never know. I thought Mary Ellen kicked it out of the park. You know, I love Mary Ellen every time she's on television. It's just I'm intrigued by her.

But one thing I haven't heard from a lot of people, two things. Number one, when the event happened. The event happened at 6:30 in the morning. A lot of people say, well, you know, between 6:30 and 7. A lot of people say, well, why is that important? Well, that shift change for the New York Police Department. So, there's not a lot of street officers on the street at that point in time.

Second, I believe, just from what I've listened to from newsreader reports and intel net reports, I believe that this man had his schedule. I think this man knew his movements. I think he posted up what, five, 10 minutes before he walked out of that other hotel and walked around the corner and was in front of the Hilton. You know, I think that that's important. And the last thing that I heard your other guest talked about is the gun --

COATES: Uh-hmm.

KLEIN: -- and the positioning of gun, and then how the gun jammed. You know, he did have a suppressor, he did have a baffler on that gun from what we've seen in the videos that have been supplied to all of us out here in the field, and the gun jammed because of the recoil of the -- of the action on it and the baffler, and not only that but the -- but the -- but the silencer, let's just call it what it is, a silencer, and it did not set off any of the monitors in the city area that listened for gunshots that would have put police in the area immediately.

COATES: Wow.

KLEIN: So, it just seems like the perfect storm.

COATES: Well, Philip, I mean, we don't have much time, sadly, but let me ask you, how many bodyguards should have been around him? What would that detail have looked like to secure his safety?

KLEIN: If he or his company had hired our firm, we would had 10 agents around him at the minimum.

COATES: Really?

KLEIN: And that would have been -- that would have been an advanced team in front of the hotel. But we would have never moved him like that. We would have moved him out of his hotel through the back entrance, put him in a small motorcade, brought him over to the back entrance of the other hotel. You know, that's how we operate. COATES: You're saying other CEOs would have that, Philip? I mean, you're saying CEOs of companies. That would be something like a government official. They would have that level of detail.

KLEIN: Yep, because he's fixing to give a speech in front of stockholders that are not being monitored and are not being checked. So, I would make sure that on my team, if I was the detail leader, I would make sure that we would have had the room secure, number one. But number two, we would have brought him through a back entrance because it's that important. You're talking again about a very important man in this country.

[23:35:00]

COATES: Philip Klein, wow, thank you so much.

KLEIN: Thank you. Have a great evening.

COATES: You as well. Up next, the manhunt. From facial recognition cameras to bullet tracing, we're going to take you inside the real- time efforts to track this gunman down. Callahan Walsh of "America's Most Wanted" standing by with his insights on the search for the CEO killer, next.

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COATES: The NYPD looking for the equivalent of a needle in a city haystack. The gunman, if he's still in New York, is just one of eight million people who are in this city right now. So, where and how do you even begin to search?

[23:39:57]

Tonight, CNN's Brian Todd has had an inside look at the high-tech, highly-sophisticated methods being used.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN is told there's facial recognition technology being used. The NYPD's Joint Operations Center is being utilized to deploy field teams and analyze the video coming in. Law enforcement experts tell us, another resource police have will help them trace and possibly match the bullet shell casings left at the scene, a shell and a live round with the words "delay" and "depose" written on them, reflecting popular phrases in the insurance industry.

To analyze the shells, experts say, they'll use the ATF's NIBIN system. NIBIN standing for National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, which helps them match shell casings with other crime scenes.

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TODD (on camera): Former FBI official Katherine Schweit says one key resource for law enforcement is the alleged gunman circle of family and friends. Even though we don't know his identity yet, she says, someone in that circle likely knows about his grievances with UnitedHealthcare and could well step forward to help law enforcement. Laura?

COATES: Brian Todd, thank you so much. I want to bring in Callahan Walsh. She is the co-host, of course, of "America's Most Wanted." Callahan, police are deploying massive resources all across the city to try to track down this killer. What is the likelihood that he is even still here?

CALLAHAN WALSH, CO-HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Well, it is possible that he's still in New York City. And NYPD is bringing all resources to bear to help track him down, whether he's in the city or not. You know, since 9/11, there has been an outpouring of resources for NYPD. I think they have over 18,000 CCTV cameras alone, not to mention the network of security cameras and ring cameras that they'll get access to as well.

They're going to be tracing this guy's every movement. We know now that he came into the city a lot -- 10 days ago, being in the city a lot longer than we initially thought. You know, a lot of people would think he would come into the city just prior to this incident, and then make his way out again. He was in the city for 10, you know, doing his homework, really preparing for this.

And so, law enforcement has a lot to work with right now. They're bringing every resource that they can. Of course, bringing in federal agencies as well, too. And I think it will be just a matter of time before this guy is caught.

COATES: I mean, this town, huge. The idea of all the technology available, if this person isn't already in some kind of a database, we've got a picture of somebody that they believe to be the suspect, if he's not already in a database, how useful is all the technology?

WALSH: Well, it's going to make it more difficult, right? So, if they're able to pull fingerprints from the shell casings or the live rounds that were left there at the scene, if they're able to pull DNA from the power bar rappers and the cups that he supposedly left, but there's no match to those DNA or those fingerprints, it's going to be very difficult.

Of course, they can bring in familial DNA, but that takes a little bit longer to process. There also has to be a match in a database somewhere from one of his family members. So, they're really going to be taking a look at everything that they have, including the weapon that was used.

It's a very unique pistol. I believe it's a Station 6 by B&T. It's a rare gun. And so, tracking down where that gun was purchased from, maybe how they're able to pinpoint the shooter as well. Again, it's a unique gun. There's not a lot of them made, maybe about a thousand or so. There's a very short list of gun owners of the Station 6. And so, using every little piece of information they can is the way they're going to break this case wide open. COATES: Distilling that information down and the amount of, you know, manpower that was going to go into this, really just stunning, to think we're 40 hours in. But now you've got this huge thing that a lot of cases don't get, these America's most-wanted or even cold cases. You've got a smiling face. You've got the actual image of this person. That is so significant and could be the most significant they have out there.

WALSH: That's the biggest piece of information that we have right now. And according to those at the hostel, he kept that mask up all the time. And so, it is pretty amazing that we were able to get this one shot of him with his mask down.

And that's what we do on "America's Most Wanted." We show the faces of these wanted fugitives and use the power of the public to bring them to justice. The public is our force multiplier in this. Law enforcement, again, as I said, is bringing all resources to bear, but it's likely the public that's going to be the reason this guy is captured.

Somebody knows who he is. Somebody knows where he is. And if they provide that information, there is $10,000 reward at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised if that number increases over the next couple of days if he's not caught. But it's likely that member of the public, somebody out there, is going to be able to recognize him and turn him in.

COATES: I may not even know what they now know to be so relevant. It's important to think about having to clear out the tips that are coming in from the really relevant ones.

[23:44:58]

But, you know, the NYPD, Callahan, they've only briefed the public once. Why is that?

WALSH: Well, you know, law enforcement keeps their cards very close to the chest, right? And we on the outside of these investigations don't always see the full picture. And that's why it is important for the members of the public to provide information. Even if that information that that individual thinks is insignificant, it could be the key that unlocks the door to justice. It could be that one missing puzzle piece that law enforcement needs to break the case wide open.

And so that's why it's so important for if anybody has seen something, something suspicious, knows something, to provide that information because law enforcement is looking at this investigation as a whole picture, and they know more than we do right now. And so that piece of information really could be key. Anybody out there that has information, I beg them to come forward.

COATES: You know what sign you see in most areas in New York City? If you see something, say something. Callahan Walsh, thank you so much.

WALSH: Thanks for having me. COATES: Still ahead, anger and hate at the healthcare industry. It's hitting new levels tonight. A look at the national conversation that's taking place and the concerns that may be going way too far, next.

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[23:50:00]

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COATES: Well, the killing of CEO Brian Thompson has struck a nerve in this country. I mean, have you seen some of the stuff people have been saying online? It has exposed just how angry folks are at America's healthcare system.

Just a sampling of the comments: My thoughts and prayers are out of network. Another, as they told me when they were denying to cover my medication, sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. And then there's this one: I can't seem to find the room to care over my daughter's $60,000 cancer treatment. Thoughts and prayers.

Now, it should come as no surprise that people are mad at healthcare companies, very mad, UnitedHealthcare included. There are many horror stories of denied claims that have led to suffering for patients and their families. But there are some people, as we speak today, who are now openly celebrating the CEO's murder and even advocating for more death. One person writing, America needs to gun down about 50 more CEOs in cold blood before we can say we are actually progressing as a country.

Is this really where we are with gun violence in this country and in this instance, specifically? Look, you can be mad at this system, all of its flaws, and the people who run it. That, I understand. But advocating from murder as a way to solve the problem or seek revenge as a means of, what was the word? Progress. It's just wrong. Full stop. Stop.

Joining me now, emergency medicine physician, Dr. Amy Faith Ho. Dr. Ho, thank you for joining. Are you surprised at all by just how dark some of the commentary has been around Thompson's death and, frankly, the healthcare industry more broadly?

DR. AMY FAITH HO, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN, INTEGRATED EMERGENCY SERVICES: You know, I wish I was more surprised. I'm with you, I do not think we should condone this. This is a tragedy. Someone had lost his life. But I'm an emergency physician. So, I see people when they're at their lowest, when the system has failed them.

And I'm frankly not surprised they feel abandoned, they feel exploited, they feel lied to when it comes to the healthcare system, and especially insurances, because of the things you mentioned: denials, prior authorization, narrow networks, the cost of health care. It has been going on and bottling up for a long time.

COATES: We do bring people at their most vulnerable points down to their knees, and then money becomes a part of the healthcare process. We talked about this for years and you well know about this. But this just shows you -- I mean, the celebration of a murder, openly advocating for more of it and at that level, not of a health care provider, but the insurance industry, that takes it to a whole new level.

HO: I think it's that people just feel so lied to.

COATES: Hmm.

HO: Healthcare is for the healthy and the wealthy is the saying, and healthcare insurance was supposed to help make it more affordable and accessible. And so, people paid their premiums. And when they needed healthcare to be there for them, they found that insurers were taking every tactic to not pay because ultimately, the insurance's fiduciary responsibility was to their shareholders and not to the patients.

And that's the exploitation that I think patients feel, and then they're already in a situation where they're sick and they need care. And so, you add that to the vulnerability. And, frankly, they are just sick and tired, literally, of dealing with the system.

COATES: We don't know the motive behind this attack. We do know that there were certain words found on the bullet casings that reference common terms in healthcare grievances or the healthcare industry. But even if this motive is never identified in this way, do you think that this tragic incident is going to reshape the way the healthcare industry is responding to the anger?

HO: I hope it does. I think the anger has been going on a very, very, very long time. I think UnitedHealthcare is certainly one of the largest insurance companies and, frankly, one of the ones that's known for its denial rates and, you know, prior authorization and some of the other coverage comments that you've had.

[23:55:02]

I hope it does show how badly we need a rehaul in healthcare. I do not think it should happen from the murder of individuals. I think it really puts the onus on us and on congressmen to look at what is healthcare reform in America.

COATES: That's going to be the question for so many. We think of it as this big umbrella term of healthcare, but the nuance, the devil in the details, how it impacts individual people, it's got to be a part of the conversation when there is this level of anger and response, and we are still wondering what the motive in this tragedy really is.

Dr. Amy Faith Ho, thank you for your work in helping to bring attention to those who are suffering every hour of the day based on their own health care needs as well. Thank you.

I want to thank you all so much for watching this special edition of "Laura Coates Live." We've been live in New York City. "Anderson Cooper 360" is next.

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