. >> we begin this hour with cnn national correspondent dianne gallagher, she is outside the courthouse in walterboro, south carolina. we have sentencing today coming up in hour. tell us how these events will proceed from here, including victim statements. >> reporter: that's right, jim. so we anticipate around 9:30 a.m., so about half an hour from now, judge clifton newman will return. i can tell you the attorney general is already here waiting and sort of talking to people about what happened yesterday. once we get into court alex murdaugh who is in custody at this point, we do not anticipate him to be in a suit, necessary custody, he will probably be in a jumpsuit, potentially even shackled coming into the courtroom to hear his sentence. judge clifton newman will make the ultimate decision, the attorneys can plead their cases. he is facing between 30 years as a minimum and life in prison without the possibility of parole as a maximum for those two murder convictions, killing his wife maggie and his son paul. now, we do anticipate to hear victim impact statements. some of what is unfo

dianne gallagher as you know has been covering this from the very beginning she's outfront live in water bro south carolina outside of the courthouse. diane i understand the verdict came in a few weeks ago, a few hours of deliberations what else you understand is happening right here. >> as you can imagine this is a fluid situation, we have seen movement of the cameras inside of the courtroom signaling there is something going on but were focused on the seal every time we are in break. according to the pool at 6:41 p.m. the jury let the clerk of court no that they reached a verdict. we do not know what the verdict is, alex murdaugh facing four felony charges in a series of the murder of his wife maggie and his son paul, as you mentioned three hours of deliberation after lengthy closing arguments in the prosecution, the defense in a rebuttal from the prosecution this afternoon before the judge charged the jury and sent them back. we did know that they were going to deliberate creed we were told until at least 10:00 p.m. tonight that they were not ordering dinner at this point, they did ha

we will go out to dianne gallagher. walk us through what happened in court this morning. it was incredibly remarkable to hear from judge clifton newman reflecting in a measured way talking about this these crimes that murdaugh has been convicted of, but also the person that he saw hymn become. >> amara, we have talked for so long why this particular case is capturing nation, and it is more about the murders of maggie an paul, and as tragic as they are, but it is about the power that this family had for a century as the solicitors and the prosecutors in this country, and about at friendly people, and you were gregarious and friendly, and how did you go from that to this. the junl said that he had argued before him in the past, and he knew him, and he had removed a portrait of his grandfather from behind him where this trial took place. and where he was, so that he could ensure a fair trial. i was astonished at the raw words of the judge before he sentenced him to two life sent sentences for the murders. listen to. this. >> i know that you have to see paul and maggie in the

we are joined by dianne gallagher in charlotte, and this is one of the unusual episodes that before thishat is buster's connection to this? there is no real connection to this, and though there are podcasts and social media rumors around this, and there is new representations to the mother of stephen smith who is the 19-year-old nursing student who was killed in 2015, and ruled initially as a result of the hit-and-run, but the responding officers and others say it does not appear that he was hit by a car based on the evidence at the scene. in 2021, s.l.e.d. released a statement saying that they were reopening the investigation of smith's death based on the investigation of the double murder of paul and maggie murdaugh, and that is the only connection to the murdaugh family that has ever been officially made there, and s.l.e.d. has not commented on what they found that caused them to reopen it. sunday, they said they have made progress in the death of steven smith, but that the investigation is active and ongoing. so this morning, buster murdaugh made a statement ahead of sandy smith. he

dianne gallagher was following the details from charlotte, north carolina.ering, after all of these years, why the push now to exhume smith's body? >> reporter: so, i think that sandy smith, the mother of steven smith, would say that she would have done this years ago if she knew it were possible. and if she had the money to do so. and part of the reason why she's able to try for this right now and, look, her attorneys still have to petition a judge to get permission to exhume his body, is because of roughly $70,000 worth of donations she's been given through a gofundme. much of them coming from the those who followed the murdaugh double murder trial online. millions of people watch that unfold. alex murdaugh was convicted in the murders of his wife and son earlier this month. and, look, there is no direct connection between buster murdaugh and steven smith. aside from the fact they went to high school together. but there has been a lot of innuendo and rumors included on podcasts and social media and much stems from a 2021 announcement from the state law enf

cnn's dianne gallagher joining us from charlotte, north carolina. h family linked to this case despite no connection made by police? >> reporter: so that's important, that no direct connection has been made by police. in part the reason why they're linked to it is because of a statement from the state law enforcement division they put out in june of 2021 where they said they were opening the death investigation into the killing of stephen smith because of new information that was gathered during the course of this double murder investigation of paul and maggie murdaugh. now, look, from that point on, we've seen rumors and innuendo. a lot of it has found its way into documentaries and podcasts and social media where rabid followers of that murdaugh murder trial began to talk about the stephen smith case. buster murdaugh, the only surviving son of alex murdaugh was a classmate of stephen smith and has been at the center of those rumors. he broke his silence today in a statement sent to cnn where he basically said he hadn't been talking about this at al

. >> cnn's dianne gallagher has more from walterboro. >> i sentence you for term of thes rest of youratural life. >> reporter: two consecutive life sentences for disgraced attorney alex murdaugh for the murders of his wife maggie and his son paul, the end of a dramatic six-week trial. >> mr. murdaugh -- >> reporter: murdaugh spoke in court again saying he did not kill his wife and son. >> i'm innocent. i would never hurt my wife maggie, and i would never hurt my son paul-paul. >> reporter: but judge clifton newman offered a different take. >> it might not have been you. it might have been the monster you become when you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid pills. maybe you become another person. >> reporter: judge newman saying this trial was, quote, one of the most troubling cases of his career. >> i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttimes when you're attempting to go to sleep. i'm sure they come and visit you. i'm sure. >> all day and every night. >> yeah, i'm sure. >> reporter: the prosecutor, again, pointing out murdaugh's lies. >> the lack of remorse, and the eff

dianne gallagher, unclear who that is going to benefit or hurt. appreciate your reporting.e now is cnn criminal analyst joey jackson, and i want to get your take on that juror who was removed this morning. and now you have replacing this juror an alternate sitting in. does that -- how does that impact, you know, the case or does it help the prosecution versus the defense in any way this late in the game? >> it doesn't, amara. good morning to you. what happens is that you have a jury impanel of course always in a jury trial to select alternate for this very reason, and there are others that are dismissed because of misconduct in this case, or because they are sick or other obligations, because the jury goes on too long, and that is why you select a pool so that in the event that you are missing jurors. so in this case, it is not affected at all, because you have an additional one, and the trial is closing up, and could another juror happen at some point in the future, absolutely, and how long will they deliberate, we don't know. but at this point, it will not affect, and ama

dianne gallagher, cnn, walterboro, south carolina. >>> and still ahead, former president donald trumpto take the stage at the conservative political action conference later on today. how the high profile event is highlighting potential fractures in the republican party. next. that actively cools, warms and effortlessly responds to both of you. our smart sleepers get 2828 minutes more restful sleep per night. proven quality sleep. only from sleep number. diabetes can serve up a lot of questions, like, "what is your glucose?" and "can you have more carbs?" before you decide... with the freestyle lib 2 system know your glucose level and wherit's headed. no fingersticks needed. manage your diabetes with more confidence. and lower your a1c. the number one doctor prescribed cgm. freestyle libre 2. try it for free at freestylelibre.us ♪ i got into debt in college and, no matter how much i paid, it followed me everywhere. so i consolidated it into a low-rate personal loan from sofi. get a personal loan with no fees, low fixed rates, and borrow up to $100k. sofi. get your money right. introduc

right now, dianne gallagher is live in south carolina this morning.perty? >> you know, don, they were not allowed to speak to anybody when they were there except for the judge cliffon newman. the attorney general for the state of south carolina and the defense attorneys were there on the property. they got a chance to see the property, perhaps see how far away things are. the media poolers that visited there said they took steps between where paul mur dog and maggie murdaugh's bodies were and there were 12 tepz steps be them. >> on behalf of the state of south carolina, we ask you to return a verdict of guilty. >> the state of south carolina closing out the double murder case against alex murdaugh. >> he was the threat to maggie and paul. he knows there's no vij lanlty o -- vigilante out there. >> reporter: he said he was a thief and liar and killed his wife and son from preventing a decade of financial crimes being discovered. >> he fooled maggie and paul, too. and they paid for it with their lives. don't let him fool you too. >> reporter: waters tel

cnn's dianne gallagher is here outside of the courthouse in walterboro, south carolina. diane, it was really the last just 24 hours here very astonishing moments inside of that courtroom, led this morning by the judge himself. >> reporter: abby, i don't know if people exhaled out here outside of the courthouse watching until judge clifton newman finished speaking directly to alex murdaugh who answered him when was asked questions, but mostly because he has to just sat there and listened. it was a dressing down like i have never seen, going through the family history of the murdaughs, letting alex know that he had to remove that portrait of alex murdaugh's grandfather from that very courtroom where he was just convicted of murder so that he could have a fair trial, letting him know about the power his family has and trying to understand how he could do something like this. you know, judge clifton newman handed down those consecutive life sentences to alex murdaugh while expressing disappointment and bee winderment. abby, he is an extremely respected judge in south carolin

his family now pushing for smith's body to be exhumed and for more we turn to cnn's dianne gallaghermorning to you. the smith family attorney says this is about seeking justice and has nothing to do with the murdaugh's. what do you know? >> reporter: don, the attorneys saying, look, they want a fresh start with a fresh look at stephen smith's body from the beginning the murdaugh name has sort of swirled around the death of stephen smith from witness interviews back in 2015 to the state saying they reopened the case because of information they gathered while investigating the murders of maggie and paul murdaugh. but, those are just rumors. there's never been a direct connection and now buster murdaugh is speaking out about those rumors for the first time. >> what is your emergency? >> i just want -- i see somebody laying out. >> reporter: it's been nearly eight years since the body of 19-year-old stephen smith was found the middle of this country road in hampton county, south carolina. the teen's death gained national attention in june, 2021, nearly six years after he was killed when

josh campbell, dianne gallagher and kylie atwood, thank you to all of you. let's bring in a former member of the fbi's rescue hostage team, rob d'amico. you see that woman walking around at gunpoint, but you also see some evidence that there were perhaps people who were not moving. two dead, two alive, one critically injured. what do you think based on when we know so far happened here? did the hostage-takers go further than what happened in those initial moments perhaps killing or injuring the victims after what we see transpiring on this tape? >> yeah, abby. it was a horrific video. i saw the uncut version yesterday early when our intel analyst sent it to me and it reminded me back of iraq and afghanistan, the freedom of movement that the bad guys were doing. i believe that they were probably injured in the shootout in the car, and i don't think later on anything else happened. looking at that video, i've seen enough of them from over there, i'm actually surprised three are -- or two are alive because the way they're dragging the bodies and everything else

cnn's dianne gallagher is tracking all the latest developments for us and diane police just gave an update. all of the families of those killed have been notified. they have identified all of the victims, and for now they are not releasing the names. that's right. and also bianna was noticeable that they said they did not want to release the ages, either. we are likely dealing with very young children . here is the covenant school at covenant presbyterian church serves pre k to sixth graders. and so three of those six who were killed by that 28 year old shooter, of course, our children . we're talking about young children here. were murdered inside their school, which is inside of a church. now some of the new information that we learned from the police chief there was again as you said, this is a 28 year old white female who they say does live in the nashville area. the chief said that there was a car that helped lead them to identifying that suspect and noting that it one point, although they are still looking into this and investigating this perhaps she had attended the school again. a

i want to get to dianne gallagher outside of the courtroom, and you have been following this case for some time, and what is the reaction there? >> well, silence and some gasps. i wanted to add some context here, and you heard him say, i am sure that you loved your son very much. i am sure that you have to see paul and maggie in your sleep. and then he said, all day and every night. and he said, i am sure that you have to see them in your eyes. and he is known for being even keeled, but as a grieving father, his son died right before this trial began unexpectedly, and he has gone through this listening to alec murdaugh talking about paw-paw and his friend discuss that they had heard him there and identified him there. so he pulled no punches, and we talk about the prominence of the murdaugh family, and the century of them controlling the law as solicitors here, and talking about the portrait being taken down, and creighton waters the gave condolences for his father noting that he had worked with him, and the judge pointing out that they had argued cases before them, and pointing out h

let's go to south carolina where our dianne gallagher is live. you've been covering this trial. w. beyond a reasonable doubt guilty in less than three hours. >> unanimous decision by those 12 jurors taking less than three hours. and what you heard the attorney general talking about there, accountability. the fact that no one is above the law. that's the reason why there were already members of the public lined up outside the courthouse to get to see alex murdaugh get sentenced for killing his wife and son. >> guilty verdict. verdict, guilty. verdict, guilty. verdict, guilty. >> reporter: alex murdaugh, a prominent local family of lourz and solicitors found guilty of murdering his wife maggie and son paul after just three hours of jury deliberations. >> it doesn't matter who your family s it doesn't matter how much money you have or them e. people think you v it doesn't matter what you think how prominent you are. if you do wrong, if you break the law, if you murder, justice will be done in south carolina. >> reporter: the jury was seen with heads down, never looking in murdaugh's

cnn's dianne gallagher takes a closer look. >> god save the state, and this honorable court. >> in an north carolina state supreme court is re-hearing a case it decided just last year. >> counsel, what has happened over the course of the past 88 days since we issued our opinion in this case that would mandate and compel a different result. >> a case itself, which centers on gerrymandering congressional and state legislator maps, hasn't changed. but the political makeup of the court has, flipping from a democratic two republican majority in november. the impact of this judicial redo could stretch far past the tar heel state, where the 14 congressional districts are evenly split between the parties, even shaping who controls the u.s. united states house of representatives in 2024 and beyond. >> it's extremely unusual. i think it's possible though that it may become the new norm. if we've got a purple state like north carolina, where partisanship of a court can flip on a, dime flipped on one election. >> so, how do we get here? in february 2022, when democrats held up for three majority

over to cnn's dianne gallagher joining us. what are you hearing from the family at this point? >> you know, kate, understandably, we have not been able to speak with any of the family members since receiving this tragic update about them being locate and two of them being killed. but i can tell you that cnn speaking with them leading up to this news, that three of the four phrenes grew up right here in lake city, south carolina, an described them as close knit and always like glue. they had left here and lived in other places, but remained the tightest of friends. they traveled to mexico and latavia "tay" washington mcgee who was one of the friends, and her friend who did not want her friend there on the record, but they went to go to brownsville to travel to matamoros for a medical procedure. and they made it to brownsville, but they never showed up friday for the doctor's appointment. they called her mother to say she had not shown up to doctor's appointment. so they were concerned, and they called the phone, but no answer, and so they were posting on facebook, and nobody hea

cnn's dianne gallagher has more. >> i sentence you for the term of the rest of your natural life. >> reporter: two consecutive life sentences for disgraced attorney alex murdaugh, for the murders of his wife maggie and son paul, the end of a dramatic six week trial. >> mr. murdaugh -- >> murdaugh spoke in court, again saying he did not kill his wife and son. >> i'm innocent, i would never hurt my wife maggie, and i would never hurt my son paul paul. >> but judge newman offered a different take. >> it might not have been you. it might have been the monster you'd become, when you take 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 opioid pills, maybe you become another person. >> judge newman saying this trial was quote one of the most troubling cases of his career. >> i know you have to see paul and maggie during the nighttime when you're attempting to go to sleep, i'm sure they come and visit you. >> all day and every night. >> i'm sure. >> the prosecutor again pointing out murdaugh's lies. >> the lack of remorse and the everless way in which he lies, including here sitting right over there, in this witness

dianne gallagher is outside of the courthouse, and diane, it is not the first juror, and others with covid among them, and walk us through how long you expect the closing arguments to take, and who stepped in to fill that juror's spot. >> well, let's talk about this juror to be dismissed with, because we are down to one alternate juror at this point, and five of the original 12 have been replaced with alternates, and this is a surprise this morning and the judge came in and announced that they had been having interviews with individuals and the juror herself about any discussions that she may have had with other people about the case. now the judge said that the juror denied that she had discussed case, but they had determined with other interviewers that the juror had contact or discussion with others with at least three individuals. it does not appear that the discussion was that extensive, but it did offer the juror offering her opinion on the evidence in the trial. he brought her in the room and dismissed her in the case, and asked if she had anything back in the juror room and s

. >> and we are now being joined by dianne gallagher, and you are at the town where three of them grew, and what you know about the friends, and how this trip unfolded. >> yeah, you know, erica and jim, this is not the news that anybody here in south carolina wanted to hear. the family and friends were holding out hope that it would end up differently, and this is a tight knit group of friends. three of the four grew up together in small lake city south carolina, and we are told by their family that they traveled down to mexico together, because one of the friends was set to undergo a medical procedure, and she did not show up to the doctor appointment on friday according to her mother. then the fbi contacted her on sunday to let her know that her daughter had been kidnapped and that she was in danger, and the fbi simply said f she calls home, you need to call us. her aunt says that she saw a video on sunday where she recognized her niece there by her hair and clothing she was wearing, because, look, this group of friends had been facebook live on way and they were trading off driving

dianne gallagher, cnn, walterboro, south carolina. >>> a michigan man will remain in jail for threats against jewish lawmakers. coming upping how the fbi tracked him down, and we look at what's fueling this rise in anti-semitism. >> conservatives are gathering in maryland for the cpac conference as some candidates and potential candidates make their pitches. a landscaper. a hunter. because you didndn't settle for ordinary. same goes for your equipment. versatile, powerful, durable kubota equipment. more goes into it. so you get more out of it. ♪ ♪ ♪ voltaren. the joy of movement. ♪ when aspen dental told me that my dentures were ready, i was so excited. i love the confidence. i love that i can blast this beautiful smile and make the world smile with me. i would totally say aspen dental changed my life. aspen dental makes new smiles affordable. right now, get 20% off dentures. we do anything to make you smile. [sfx: stomach gurgling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪ when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, ♪ ♪ upset stomach, diarrhea. ♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for f

. >> dianne gallagher, it's remarkable to see after days and weeks of testimony all of a sudden this verdict came down in less than three hours. now letss than two hours we wil find out about the sentence. what are you seeing on the ground? >> reporter: that's right. that sure said it was that key piece of evidence, a video found on paul murdaugh's phone six months after he was murdered that featured his father's voice, putting him at the scene of the crime minutes before the state says maggie and paul were murdered that convinced the juror that alex murdaugh was guilty. you can probably see behind me there are people lined up ready to get in to see the sentencing. alex murdaugh showed no real emotion when the jurors read the verdict. we will hear victim impact statements to see today before the judge does his sentence. >> guilty verdict. verdict guilty. verdict guilty. verdict guilty. >> alex murdaugh, from a prominent local family of lawyers and solicitors, found guilty of murdering his wife and son after just three hours of jury deliberations. >> it doesn't matter who your family

. >> dianne gallagher, we've heard they will be filing for an appeal in the next ten days.ugh's defense attorneys sat down with randi kaye to explain why they decided to have murdaugh take the stand in his own defense. >> the thinking of it at that point in time what is there to lose? they've heard about all of his financial crimes. they really hadn't heard why he committed the financial crimes, and they needed to hear about his drug addiction. by putting him on the stand i think the jury also got to see his emotions about maggie and paul, which are very raw and real. >> joining me to discuss is state lawmaker and attorney who represents about ten victims of murdaugh's alleged financial crimes. good to see you. thank you for joining us. it took the jury just three hours to find him guilty of both murders. the judge sentencing him to life in prison. your reaction? >> honestly, i was surprised the jury came back that fast. i'm not surprised by the verdict. i was thinking we would still be here about this time today waiting on the jury to give us their decision. judge newman d

dianne gallagher, thank you. >>> joining us is criminal trial la lawyer. >> sarah, this is interestingmember of the jury looking up at a door of a shed where paul murdaugh's body was found, what would they have been looking for? how could that affect their view of this trial? >> the visit today, the jury view was critical. it really is in these types of cases, for a lot of reasons. up until now the jury has been hearing a two-dimensional account of intimate details, of people, of the scene, how they were shot, et cetera. today they get a better sense of the spatial relationships, the distance, the timing. the door of the feeding room is critical. there was a lot of testimony about this, and the position of the shooters and the two-shooter theory that the defense is going with, and how maggie and paul were killed. this is something that makes it more tangible for the jury that they take back to the deliberation room, that they can have a better frame of reference, if you will, for all of the evidence that they've had heard, that they can put that the in the context of what they physical

cnn's rosa flores is at the texas hospital where the two victims are recovering and cnn's dianne gallagher hometown in south carolina. rosa, let's start with you. it does sound like this attack was unfortunately over before it even started. what else do we know about the sequence of events here? >> reporter: you know, abby, i just drove from the hotel where these americans were staying to the international bridge where they crossed and it's about an 11-minute drive. now, mexican authorities say that they crossed at about 9:18 a.m. on friday and that that dramatic video of the kidnapping was taken at about 11:45 and that in between that time the americans were lost, they were trying to find the doctor's office where one of the americans was supposed to get a medical procedure. now, in that dramatic video you see how they are dragged and put into the bed of a pickup truck. now, police at that point really didn't issue a statement. that video actually circulated in mexican news outlets throughout friday and there was really no statement issued by police at that point in time in mexico. now, o

dianne gallagher is live in lake city, florida, home to one of the kidnapped americans. what can you tell us this morning? >> reporter: poppy, this is a tight group of friends. at least three of the four grew up here in the lake city, south carolina, area. they were traveling down to mexico we are told so one of the friends, la tavia, they call he tay, could have the medical procedure. she never showed up for her doctor's appointment. then the fbi told her she had been kidnapped and she was in danger. i want to show you some video. it might be hard to watch. cnn has not independently confirmed the individuals in the video are in fact those abducted americans. the incident matches what authorities say happened as well as the photos that cnn has confirmed and geolocated. the aunt saw video that showed her niece being kidnapped. she recognized her hair and dloeting. investigators believe that the cartel likely mistook these americans for haitian smugglers. look, again, these are friends who grew up together here in small town south carolina. they are tight. the sister of on

dianne gallagher has been covering this trial.south carolina, i asked you to return a verdict of guilty against the defendant richard alexander murdaugh. >> reporter: the state of south carolina closing out its double murder case against alex murdaugh. >> because he was the threat to maggie and paul. he knows there's no vigilante out there. >> reporter: the prosecutor slamming murdaugh as a chief and a liar who killed his wife and son to avoid a decade of financial crimes from being discovered. >> and he fooled maggie and paul, too. and they paid for it with their lives. don't let him fool you, too. >> reporter: waters telling the jury the gun used to kill maggie murdaugh has since disappeared but that her husband would've been familiar with it. >> family weapons were used to commit this crime. >> reporter: while recalling all the details data, video and testimony presented to the jury over the nearly six-week trial. >> and after an exhaustive investigation, there is only one person who had the motive, who had the means, who had t

dianne gallagher, thank you so much. . let's bring in joey jackson and misty maris. joey, what stood out to you so far from the prosecution's closing arguments? >> motive, means, and opportunity, jake. that's what they are centering the closing arguments about. while i am not bought into the motive issue with respect to this financial motivation and the world closing in and him feeling that, mr. murdaugh, he needed to kill his family, let's remember that motive is not something the prosecution must prove. prosecutors like to talk about motive because it lets the jury know and identify with the purpose, the basis, the reason why a person may act in the way that they do. so even if the jury does not buy this motivation as to the financial incentive and the world closing in, the prosecution was strong, to your question, on the issue of moneys and opportunity. they boxed him in. what am i speaking about briefly? the timeline. there's a very specified timeline as to when this crime would be committed. initially the defendant said "i wasn't there." guess what, the cell pho

dianne gallagher is right outside of the courthouse in south carolina.what is the latest. >> that is right. what we know at this time according to the poll, the jurors told the clerk of court that they had a verdict at 6:41 p.m. that means that they deliberated for less than three hours on this double murder case against alex murdaugh they went back and the judge charged the jury and sent back to deliberate at 3:50 p.m. this afternoon. we do know there was a flurry of activity. randy k went straight into the courtroom so she can observe what happens there. we just watch the defense attorneys, jim griffin, maggie fox, all of them walked behind me moments ago. they were summoned into the courthouse by the judge. this is what we knew would happen in the protocol that could have happened if the jury had a question about this. we are told at this point that the jury has signaled to the clerk of court again at 6:41 p.m. that they have reached a verdict in the alec murdoch double murder case. he is charged with shooting and killing his 22-year-old son paul and

cnn's dianne gallagher is out front. >> what is your emergency?y eight years since the body of stephen smith was found in the middle of this country road, and manhattan county south carolina. the teams death gain national attention in june 2021, nearly six years after he was killed, when the state law enforcement said they're open an investigation into his death, based on information relating to the death of paul maggie murdaugh. >> i like murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife and son, earlier this month. >> the rest of your natural life. >> and investigators never revealed what information they glean from the murdaugh murders investigation, there resulted in his case been opened. -- spearheaded by smith's mother, sandy, and two attorneys. the first goal? examine smith's body. >> we think we have good cars to show why, a set of eyes on this would be beneficial. it has to start with a fresh new look at the body. initial report says the nursing student died on july 18th from blunt force head trauma, originally said to b

rosa flores from houston, dianne gallagher is in south carolina where three of the missing people grew up. these are close friends we're told. what more do we know about them? i know you've been speaking with the families. >> reporter: you know, erica, these four families of these americans who were abducted just absolutely terrified right now by what has happened, two of those families have identified the four americans as la dave i can't washington mcgee, woodard, brown and their friend eric. they are a tight-knit group of friends, three of the four grew up in the lake city, south carolina, area. we're told they traveled down to mexico together because one of those friends, tae mcgee, was set to have a medical procedure there. her mother says that on friday morning she never showed up for her doctor's appointment and then on sunday the fbi told her that her daughter had been abducted and was in danger. she says the fbi said if your daughter calls, you need to call us right away. now, mcgee's aunt says she actually saw a video on sunday where she recognized her niece being kidnapped,

cnn's dianne gallagher has more. >> what are emergency?e someone laying. >> it's been nearly eight years since the body of 19 year old stadium smith was found in the middle of this country road in south carolina. the teen's death gained national attention in june 2021. near li six years after he was dead when the state line forsman division announced it was opening an investigation into his death, based upon information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of paul and maggie murdaugh. >> verdict, guilty. >> alex murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and son earlier this month. >> for the next of your natural life -- >> investigators never revealed what information they glean from the murdaugh murders investigation that resulted in this case being opened. today, new private efforts and launched to uncover the circumstances, spearheaded by swiss mother sandy and two attorneys. the first goal, exhuming smith's body. >> we have cause to believe that -- fresh eyes. a fresh new look at the

about the woman who pulled the trigger that, according to police, cnn national correspondent dianne gallagher is working the story for us. she's on the scene, diane as we await an update momentarily from police. what do we know at this hour? wolf. we just got a notification from police on the identities of the six people who were killed this morning in the covenant school in nashville, tennessee. i want to read their names to you, um evelyn decals. halle scruggs, william kenny, all of them just nine years old cynthia peak 61. katherine coons, age 60 and mike hill age 61. according to police. all six of them were killed by a 28 year old woman who they say may have been a former student. they say they were received calls at 10 13 am about the shooting at according to police, that woman was armed with at least two assault rifles as well as a handgun. they say that she entered through a side door they believe and got to the upper level of the school, which is inside covenant. presbyterian church there in nashville. about 200 kids attend this school. it is preschool through sixth grade that they s

cnn's dianne gallagher is out front. >> let's hear emissions? of this country road and hampton county, south carolina. the teens death gained national attention in june 2021, nearly six years after he was killed, when the state lawn forsman -- opened investigation into his death based on information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of paul and maggie murdaugh. >> frederick, guilty. >> alex murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and son earlier this month. >> for the rest of your natural life -- >> investigators have never revealed when information they gleaned from the murdaugh murders investigation that resulted in his case being opened. today, new private efforts lash to uncover the circumstances, spearheaded by smith's mother, sandy, and two attorneys. the first goal -- exhuming his body. >> we think we have good cause to show why a fresh side of eyes on this would be beneficial. it has to start with a fresh new look at the body. >> initial reports that the nursing student died on jul

dianne gallagher on the scene for us.ght now from attorney and legal affairs correspondent areva martin. areva, thanks for joining us. so we all just heard part of the defense's emotional closing argument. do you think that actually resonated with the jury? >> what i think was the most important argument the defense made is look, if he was -- alex was trying to distract from anything, whether it was his financial issues, whether it was the allegations of financial crimes, he would have done what he subsequently tried to do, which was to have someone try to kill him so that his son buster could recover insurance proceeds. i think that's a very powerful argument for any juror sitting there having a hard time believing that this man is so monstrous that he would kill his wife and his son. here's an alternative theory. yes, he may have done something crazy, but that crazy was to try to kill himself, hire a hit man who turned out to be like a distant cousin to try to kill himself rather than kill the people that he loved the m

more now from cnn's dianne gallagher. tragedy at another american school, three children and three adults. staff members shot and killed at the covenant school in nashville, tennessee, in what police are calling a targeted attack by a heavily armed 28 year old former student, nine year olds. who were killed. evelyn. dick house. william kenny. halle scruggs. three adults. mike hill. a custodian age 61. cynthia peak. to my understanding of substitute teacher age 61. and catherine coots. age 60 police say the suspect was audrey hale is the nashville area residents who they say is a former student of the private christian school, located at covenant presbyterian church, which serves preschool through sixth grade car near the scene helped identify hail and police say they are currently going over writings left behind by the shooter. we've also determine there were maps drawn other school in detail of surveillance entry points, etcetera. we know and believe that entry was game to shooting through. one of the doors is how they a

we have more now on the day's events and the investigation from cnn's dianne gallagher. tonight as a grief stricken city unites to mourn the six lives taken on monday, and yet another school shooting . we're learning more about the victims who were lost tennessee's governor, bill lee, speaking tuesday night to a hurting community, revealing this is very personal for his family specifically for his wife , maria woke up this morning without one of her best friends. cindy peak. cindy was supposed to come over to have dinner with maria last night after she filled in as a substitute teacher yesterday, coming in cindy and maria and catherine koontz. we're all teachers at the same school and have been family friends. for decades, scruggs on posting a heart wrenching tribute today to the nine year old reading. in part, i have often longed for a daughter in halle embodied all of those things i'd want in my own little girl. she was incredibly smart, feisty enough to keep up with her three brothers and my four boys, mike hill, beloved custodian at the covenant school, is survived b

they're dangerous to cnn correspondent dianne gallagher. she's at fort campbell in kentucky. diane, do we know anything about the circumstances of this crash? according to the 101st airborne division. these two blackhawks crashed during a routine training mission happened in trigg county, kentucky. that's about a 40 minute drive from where i am right now standing just off post, they said, according to the kentucky state police that the blackhawks crashed in what they described as a field in a wooded area county is relatively rural. but again, there are still service members and their families who do live out there. it's not far from the base. there were witnesses who heard and saw the crash and said that they could tell something was unusual. two helicopters came over. pretty low and all of a sudden, soon as they got over the house, something pop loud bang and everything. shut down. it's all of a sudden so we jumped. the truck came over here. that's what we've found two helicopters. it's just absolutely tragic. the governor of kentucky, andy bashir, tweeting out his condolenc

cnn's dianne gallagher is there as investigators try to uncover why this training mission went so wrong. media outlet for campbell , the home of the 101st airborne division in morning nine of their own killed when two black hawk helicopters crashed over neighboring trade county, kentucky after a routine training mission late wednesday night, i would like to express our deepest sympathies to the families of our fallen soldiers . debris from the helicopters can be seen in photos from near the crash site, where investigators from an aircraft safety team out of fort rucker, alabama, will now be tasked with determining the cause of the crash have something very similar to the black boxes that we see on the larger aircraft. and we're hopeful that that will provide quite a bit of information of what what occurred. cnn learning there were originally four aircraft on the exercise, with one stopping to refuel, leaving one black hawk flying ahead. of the two helicopters that crashed. one had four service members on board. the other five, brigadier general john lewis, saying thursday that the crews

cnn's dianne gallagher has more. tragedy at another american school, three children and three adults, staff members shot and killed at the covenant school in nashville, tennessee, in what police are calling a targeted attack by a heavily armed 28 year old former student, nine year olds. who were killed. evelyn. dick house. william kenny. halle scruggs. three adults. mike hill. custodian age 61. cynthia peak. to my understanding of substitute teacher age 61. and catherine coots. age 60 police say the suspect was audrey hale is the nashville area residents who they say is a former student of the private christian school , located at covenant presbyterian church, which serves preschool through sixth grade car near the scene helped identify hail and police say they are currently going over writings left behind by the shooter. we've also determined there were maps drawn out of school in detail of surveillance entry points, etcetera. we know and believe that entry was game to shooting through. one of the doors is how they

cnn's dianne gallagher is joining us now from fort campbell, kentucky, with the latest diane what doe know this hour? well, abby we expect to and for basically aviation investigators from fort rucker to be here, a safety team to look into why this crash happened and what happened, according to brigadier general john lucas, who spoke here on just a few hours ago. what they know at this point is around 10. pm central time. so 11 p.m. last night eastern. there were two helicopters, one with five service members on board, the other with four service members on board. that crashed over katie's kentucky that's trade county while flying with the general described as a multi aircraft formation with night vision goggles. this is a routine training mission, they said. he also added that these are essentially met about medevac versions of the blackhawk variants of the black hawk. at this point, they are trying to determine exactly again. what caused this to happen. witnesses who were there in trigg county described hearing a pop and then the helicopters falling, saying that this something that

we want to take you to nashville now, and cnn national correspondent dianne gallagher. diane you've learned some additional details in the last few moments about audrey hale and their knowledge of guns. boris bianna talked to the police this morning and they told me that they still do believe, as the chief had initially mentioned that the shooter had some kind of firearms or weapons training, and the chief initially said that because of actions that happened when they first arrived there on scene monday morning because the shooter began shooting through an upper window on another story at police when they arrived, but it was the actions of that shooter that led them to believe that perhaps they had some kind of weapons training today, nashville police tell me they still do believe that although they are working to determine when that training may have taken place, and where, and to what extent as well, whether it was just basic firearms training or something more remember, they found seven different firearms in the possession of this shooter, and they noted that they ha

cnn national correspondent dianne gallagher is in nashville . diane i know you're learning that police believe audrey hale actually received weapons training. that's right. bianna so the metro nashville police department telling me today that they do believe that the shooter had some kind of firearms training, but they're not sure exactly when or where that would have taken place, or to what extent that weapons training may have gone to, the police chief mentioned on tuesday that they thought that this may be the case because when police arrived , he'll shot at them through an upper window, and the chief noted that they thought that perhaps there's been some training to teach how to shoot from above and also the type of the firing of the weapon. and the fact that hale had backed up away from the window to avoid any sort of return fire again. that is something they say they do believe indicates that there is some form of weapons training that hale had. we do know that, according to police purchase at least seven weapons between october 2020 and j

cnn national correspondent dianne gallagher is at fort campbell.oren liebermann is at the pentagon for us, diane to you first. so this is a tragedy for the area for the country. what our army investigators saying about how this happened? so beyond that they are still looking into that we have investigators from aircraft safety teams attached to fort rucker, alabama that are coming to essentially look at the scene to determine not just what happened, but perhaps why this crash happened, according to the deputy commander of the 101st airborne division, which all nine of those service members who were killed were a part of they say that basically there was one black hawk that had four service members, and it won blackhawk that had five service members, and they said that the crews were training on a flood on flying a multi ship formation with night vision goggles. he also noted that the helicopters were medical evacuation variants of that black hawk helicopter. said that initially there were four aircraft as a part of this training mission and that on

cnn national correspondent dianne gallagher is already there on the scene for us, diane what are you hearing from the community? just ahead of this vigil, which begins? what in about a half an hour or so from now? that's right, wolf and look, this is the first citywide vigils that they have held for those six victims who were killed on monday morning. inside the covenant school. you can probably hear sound check happening right now. nashville of course, is the music city and we expect quite a bit of music through morning to happen today . here in the public park in the center of the city of nashville. you can probably see behind me. we've got the media role here we have up here is where we're going to see the different speakers. we're talking state. federal and local officials, john cooper expected to speak. we're also expecting the chief of metro nashville police. and, of course you mentioned first lady jill biden will be in attendance as well. we anticipate many religious leaders. this was a school inside a church. this is also deeply impacted the christian community here in nashvi

cnn's dianne gallagher has more. the investigation into who killed 19 year old steven smith is heating up with state investigators calling his mother's attorneys tuesday with an update on her son's case. this is not a hit and run that this is something more and something different. and that sled is actively investigating this as a homicide . smith's body was found in the middle of this rural hampton county south carolina road in july. 2015 highway patrol investigators at the time said there was no evidence he had been hit by a car, but a pathologist who performed the autopsy said smith was the victim of a hit and run the nursing student with dreams of becoming a doctor died from blunt force head trauma. sandy smith has said she feared her son was targeted because he was gay. he was openly gay young man. in an area that state where it's not popular to be an openly gay man. and it probably had to do with one of his relationships , friendships or something that , um he was involved with tuesday brought the first real up

and we start our coverage today with cnn's dianne gallagher. diane, what are you hearing from investigators? alright now pamela. investigators are trying to determine exactly what happened. the sequence of events that led to this tragedy and why why this 28 year old woman who they say lives in the nashville area would have gone and killed . students healed. children killed teachers at this school. according to police. three children were killed and three staff members were killed at the covenant school about 200 students total who attend this private christian school as you mentioned from preschool to sixth grade. they serve their they got that first call at 10 13 am and they say that by 10:26 a.m. two police officers had reached the upper level and, in their words engaged with the suspect killing her now, according to police, they are trying to determine how that 28 year old woman got inside the school. they say she entered through a side door. but according to the chief of police, all of the doors were locked. she then made her way up to what

cnn's dianne gallagher is joining us now live with the latest diane tell us about these new developments. so look, this is the first real update that we have received from state investigators since they announced that they were opening that investigation into the killing of stephen smith back in june of 2021, if you remember, they said the reason they were opening that investigation was because of information gathered during the course of a different investigation. into the murders of paul and maggie murdock. now look, there's never been any official connection made between the murdoch family and stephen smith's death. sled has never explained what information they gleaned. but in this conversation with an attorney for stephen smith's mother yesterday, they said that they, too, believed that he had not been hit by a car and was not the victim of a hit and run this mirrors what highway patrol said at the time. now look, there are a lot of questions about the murdoch connection here again. no suspects no one's ever been arrested. no one's ever been named as a suspect in stephen smith's dea

cnn's dianne gallagher is live at fort campbell. diane what more are you learning about this tragic accident? so alex. there is an aircraft safety team that is on their way from fort rucker , alabama to investigate what caused this crash, according to the deputy, commanding the deputy commander of the 101st this morning, there were two blackhawks one aircraft had five service members on it. the other had four service members on it. that crashed last night just around 11 p.m. eastern time over trade county, kentucky. it is a neighboring, more rural county here to fort campbell right over katie's kentucky, he said that they were running a quote. i'm so sorry. here they were running. essentially these routine training missions. it was a multi formation. we were told that there were four different aircraft there in the training mission initially, but that one of them had stop up to refuel and another was ahead of the two that crash they were using night goggles. these were also medevac variants of the blackhawks. now they say that they