Biden's D-Day Message to Russia

Ryan Reynolds
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It's Friday, June 7. What happens when weapons aimed at Russia, say, made in the USA? We start here.

In an exclusive interview, President Biden tells ABC that Ukraine can launch american weapons into Russia on some conditions.

Joe Biden
We're not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia.

Unknown
We'll break down this newsy interview. Prosecutors say he's not just a serial killer. He might have set a grim record.

Aaron Katersky
This is an incredibly chilling document.

Unknown
The disturbing new details from Gilgo Beach, New York. And lots of people talk about smugglers. Our team talked to one of them.

Ryan Reynolds
And this is just how it goes.

Every day, every day, all night, twice.

Unknown
A day, inside the human trafficking operation that is sending migrants north every night.

From ABC News, this is start here. I'm Brad Milkey.

Yesterday, as you know, was D Day and 80 years after allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, the entire world is now facing somber questions about where we stand today. After all, its easy to forget. But Russias steadfastness was a deciding factor in world War two. They were our allies in liberating Europe. But now Vladimir Putins military is invading its neighborhood. The state of Israel, which might not exist were it not for the aftermath of this war, is now being accused of war crimes. And at the center of it all then as now, is the United States.

Joe Biden
What it says to me is how critical alliances are.

Unknown
Well, yesterday on D Day, President Biden, who was in France, sat down for an exclusive interview with ABC News. He spoke to our own David Muir. The headlines have been reverberating around the world since. So let's break it all down with White House correspondent Karen Travers. Karen, one of the most significant exchanges here seemed to be about Ukraine just because of what Europe's going through. What did we learn from the president?

Karen Travers
Yeah, this was a big headline because we haven't heard from the president directly about his recent decision to allow Ukraine to use american weapons to strike targets inside of Russia. And David asked him if those weapons are being used right now inside Russia.

Joe Biden
They're authorized to be used in proximity to the border. We are not authorizing strikes 200 miles.

Karen Travers
Into Russia and that the US is not authorizing strikes on Moscow or on the Kremlin.

Unknown
But, I mean, there's got to be concern about what Russia will say to that, right? Because the whole reason we hadn't been allowing Ukraine to use our weapons when they're firing into the russian homeland is because we don't want the Russians to say, oh, like, the US is basically attacking us. We're now at war with the US.

Karen Travers
The president has been very clear from the entire duration of this Ukraine Russia conflict that the United States would not engage directly with Russia because according to the president, that would lead to world War three. So it is notable that the United States is now taking this step.

Joe Biden
He's not a decent man. He's a dictator, and he's struggling to make sure he holds this country together while still keeping this assault going.

Karen Travers
And Brad David asked him if he was concerned that this could escalate the war by drawing the US in, by drawing the west in in a larger way. Because you see european countries also making this allowance for these weapons to be used to strike targets inside Russia.

Joe Biden
It theoretically could, but it's not likely. Look, the idea that Russia is this juggernaut that is, absent nuclear weapons is conventional juggernaut. You know how many troops they've lost so far?

350,000 dead or wounded without a single american troop being engaged.

Karen Travers
But the United States has been supplying Ukraine with weapons throughout this entire conflict.

Unknown
Hey, and the other foreign story that President Biden, of course, is dealing with right now is Israel's role in its war against Hamas and in Gaza. I mean, President Biden, I can never tell if President Biden is like, publicly breaking with Benjamin Netanyahu or not. I mean, what did he have to say about his relationship right now?

Karen Travers
He's always so careful, I think, to play it pretty straight. You know, even the other day when he was still at the White House, he was asked if Benjamin Netanyahu is playing politics with the war. And he said he's doing what he can right now. And, you know, in this interview, he was asked if Netanyahu is on board with the ceasefire that the president laid out last week. And the president said publicly he is, we have to get to a ceasefire. But at this point, Netanyahu's under a lot of domestic pressure, of course, from some of the hardliners in his own government. There is still no official response from Hamas negotiators and the mediators are waiting on that. The president, I think, was trying to strike optimism that there was still, still the potential for this to go forward. But, Brad, the president was also asked by David Muir, I think a key.

Unknown
Question is Benjamin Netanyahu listening to you?

Joe Biden
I think he's listening to me. They didn't, they were going to go into Russia, into Rafa, full bore, invade all of Rafa, go into the city, take it out, move, move with full force. They haven't done that.

Karen Travers
This is something we've heard many times from the administration in recent weeks, that this is not the full scale operation in Rafa that the administration has been, been warning about, that they haven't seen that yet. And they take that as a sign that the Israelis are listening to the caution signs and the warnings that the administration has been giving. But there are still significant operations going on there. There are still these precision strikes. And it's not as if the Israelis have backed off in a way that perhaps the administration would like to see at this point.

Unknown
So domestic, even though they were in France together, some domestic stuff covered here. Were there any other key takeaways for you here?

Karen Travers
You know, the first lady is there with the president in France. She was there for the D Day ceremony early Thursday morning. She was in Delaware on Wednesday, Brad. She flew and made that trip from Delaware to France because she has been spending the week in Wilmington at the trial for their son, Hunter Biden.

Unknown
Right.

Karen Travers
So that is looming large for the Biden family right now. He has this ongoing felony gun trial. And David Muir asked the president if he had ruled out a pardon for his son. And the president did not go into much detail. He just said simply, yes.

Unknown
Will you accept the jury's outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is?

Joe Biden
Yes.

Karen Travers
This is significant. Hunter Biden is facing three felony charges related to his effort to obtain a firearm back in 2018 while he was allegedly addicted to drugs. He's pleaded not guilty. But this is something that is, you know, really bringing up a lot of bad things for the Biden family about what they were going through at the time. And, you know, as I say, notable. The first lady was there for several days this week and now in France with the president. It's quite a week for them.

Unknown
And this is the thing with presidential pardoning power. Right. It's pretty absolute when it comes to federal crimes. And if Hunter Biden is, in fact, convicted, can you imagine? That would be mighty tempting to say, yeah, I'll just pardon my son. No big deal. All right, Karen Travers covering this all. Thank you so much.

Karen Travers
Thank you.

Unknown
Over the last decade and a half, investigators on Long island in New York were finding increasing evidence that a serial killer was on the loose. Bodies of several women had been discovered in the south shore town of Gilgo beach. Last year, a man named Rex Heuerman was arrested for several of these killings. But yesterday, investigators claimed hes responsible for even more, blaming him for a string of murders that they said could even perhaps make him this countrys most prolific serial killer. ABC senior investigative reporter Aaron Katersky has been tracking all this for us. Aaron, we should warn listeners there are disturbing details in here, but what exactly did they find?

Aaron Katersky
They found two additional victims, first and foremost, and they charged Rex Heuermann with killing these two women, Sandra Costia, who was killed in 1993, and Jessica Taylor, who was killed in 2003. And Brad, this significantly expands the timeline of the alleged Gilgal beach serial killer. And it expands the alleged killing beyond Gilgal beach because Sandra Castilla's remains were found in the Hamptons, not believed initially to have been connected to Rex Heuerman, but to another killer.

Unknown
I've had the privilege of prosecuting so many compelling cases, so many important cases.

This is certainly different from any other case I've ever done.

Aaron Katersky
And authorities said they've been able to link Heuermann through advanced DNA technology, but maybe more importantly, through what they called a planning document they found on an electronic device seized from his home.

Unknown
Wait, a planning document that they say was what for how to do a murder.

Aaron Katersky
A blueprint, as prosecutors called it, for hunting and haunting unsuspecting young women, plotting to kill them, and reminders for what to do next time.

Unknown
The document indicates that the person would want access to the victims and also make sure that he does not get caught.

Aaron Katersky
Brad, this is an incredibly chilling document that prosecutors spelled out in court records. There's a section for pre prep and what you would need and where you would need to go. Recon video cameras in a pick zone for video cameras, and a holding area and a table and a crossbar. And then there's a section that's called dispose of the following tools and devices, drop cloths, wipes and towels. And there's even a section called body prep where Heuerman allegedly reminds himself to wash body inside and all cavities to remove trace DNA to remove marks from torture.

Unknown
Wait, if we're talking about now 20 and 30 years as the potential window here in a much wider geographical area, I mean, are they giving a number as to how many murders they think he could have committed if indeed it was him.

Aaron Katersky
They didn't ballpark a number because they say that they're not going to reveal what they think, only what they can prove in court. And they say they can prove that Heuerman, despite his not guilty pleas, has killed these six women.

We know at least five of them were sex workers. And prosecutors said Heuerman had solicited those workers and made the killings almost mirror the torture pornography that prosecutors said they found all over his electronic devices.

Unknown
Wow. And again, he's denied any wrongdoing in any of these cases so far. But clearly, a lot more details to come out of this case. Aaron Katersky, who's been tracking this for years now. Thank you so much.

Aaron Katersky
Disturbing, indeed. Thanks, Brett.

Unknown
Next up on start here, how freely are human traffickers operating in Mexico? Well, our team was invited to come watch them. The eye opening scenes after the break.

People who disappear without a trace.

The most notorious murder cases in New York. Pure evil and the most devious killers.

Ryan Reynolds
There's a hannibal lecter feel to him.

Unknown
For chilling true crime stories, follow the true crimenyc podcast wherever you listen.

Unknown
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Unknown
This has been one of the most consequential weeks for immigration policy since President Biden took office.

Joe Biden
I'm moving past republican obstruction and using the executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border.

Unknown
His decision to ban the practice of processing asylum claims from people who cross the border illegally dramatically affects the kind of standing principle that's long been the case for the US that if you make it here, we will at least consider your claim before turning you away.

Joe Biden
A migrant is less likely to pay a criminal smuggler thousands of dollars to take them on a dangerous journey, knowing that if, in fact, they move in the wrong direction, they returned around quickly.

Unknown
But will it affect the game plan from the people who come here? And perhaps just as importantly, will it affect what's become a booming human trafficking industry that gets them here? Well, recently, ABC's foreign correspondent Matt Rivers cut some unparalleled access with one of the most infamous human smuggling operations in the world. Matt's based in Mexico City. He's here with us now. Who are these guys?

Ryan Reynolds
Yeah, so they are kind of a specialized group of people who work within one of Mexico's largest cartels, and they specialize in what's called long haul migrants. That's what they say. So these are people from India, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Brazil. People who come from faraway places, in addition to people from the more traditional migration countries, places like Guatemala, Honduras, central american countries, who are willing to pay a bit more for a service that these smugglers provide. So the people who are being smuggled by this particular subset of this cartel generally are paying somewhere between ten and $20,000 from the beginning of their journey to the end of their journey, which would entail getting sent across the border wall. The role that organized crime plays in migration, and especially over the last couple of years, Brad, cannot be overstated. Quite simply, when we're talking about the numbers of people that we're talking about right now, millions of people coming to the United States over the past couple of years, the only way that happens is with organized crime facilitating it, they are making more money than ever. It's difficult to put an exact dollar sign on it, but some us government estimates have put a number of around $13 billion a year.

Unknown
Wow. So then, you know, we talk so much about the why, why people are coming, why the policies work the way they do. But you really focused here on the how. Like, how does this work?

Ryan Reynolds
What we're talking about here is a transnational organized crime endeavor. So if you're a migrant from India, you start your journey in India, you're gonna take a series of flights to get to one of several typical places in this part of the world where you can then continue your journey north. So it's not that it's just one organization doing everything. It's links in a chain that bring people from other parts of the world to Mexico. When you get to Mexico, you are working with groups of people who are either working directly for a cartel or working with the permission of a cartel and kind of kicking those profits up the line to get you to the border.

The night that we spent with this particular group, group was in a part of the northern mexican desert, a little bit south of the border wall.

We get there, we drive to this little village in the middle of nowhere. There's a couple dozen houses. Maybe there's actual mexican people living there. And also a lot of these houses are being used as safe houses over here. I mean, you can see the trash left behind underneath the table. I mean, there was a few dozen people that were staying in this old, abandoned house. You walk in here, you can see some people left behind, some clothes. The migrants are coming there. They're spending a night or two or three. The cartel makes sure that they have made the proper payments that they're gonna make, and then they're brought to the border.

Unknown
Then they're all cash, or how are the payments made?

Ryan Reynolds
No, a lot of it is digital. Sometimes it can be prepaid debit cards. It's rarely cash. It's oftentimes the family members of the migrants back home that are actually providing this money as they go along.

Unknown
Hey, your bike is too big.

Ryan Reynolds
I actually had a chance to talk to one of the smugglers who's kind of dressed in that classic way where he's got the balaclava on, hiding his face, he's hiding his eyes. We had to distort his voice. So this is the first group that's gonna go to the border, and then you're gonna come back and pick up more people.

Joe Biden
Exactly.

Ryan Reynolds
And this is just how it goes.

Every day, every day, all night, twice a day, two or three times a day. Once they are deemed to have paid, then it's the final push towards the wall. We saw women and children get put into suv's that have been hollowed out so that all the seats have been removed.

Then you can fit 30 people who are sitting quite literally back to back, legs spread apart.

Joe Biden
Turn around, turn around, open your legs.

Ryan Reynolds
Sit in the middle, taking up every single inch of space, like, as if.

Unknown
It'S livestock, for lack of a better phrase, you know?

Ryan Reynolds
And they're literally using livestock trailers.

Unknown
Three lines. Three lines.

Ryan Reynolds
We watched as roughly 30 single men were quite literally shoved into a horse trailer designed for two horses, and they were shoved in there so much that the smuggler who was putting them in there literally had to push the door closed. Like, if you had a trunk that was too full of stuff on a vacation. That's what it felt like. And you're talking about human beings here. Some of them in the middle, I'm sure, had trouble breathing. That's how crammed in there they were. But that is how these smugglers are treating these people. Because that. It's crude, because we're talking about human lives here, but that is the most efficient way to transport the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time. And that's what these smugglers are trying to do.

They're driving through the desert for a couple of hours. They look for different parts of the border wall. They don't always go to the same section of the wall. They go to different parts where they know border patrol isn't. But the cartel only sees its responsibility as getting these people to a hole in the border wall. Sometimes they use a ladder to go up and over the wall and they say, hey, congratulations, you're here. Walk across there, you're no longer our problem.

And what they'll actually do is, and we got our hands on some of these videos, is the cartel actually videos each migrant going across? Why?

Joe Biden
Why?

Unknown
Why?

Ryan Reynolds
Because then it's like a proof of performance thing for their bosses. They say, hey, boss, look, that guy who you told me he paid the right amount of money to get here, well, look, here he is crossing over. Check Mark. That guy has now been cleared. We can move on to the next person. So it really is a business operation for these cartel members to get people across the wall.

Unknown
So from the perspective of the migrants you just described the scene, that is difficult, it's dangerous, it's degrading. Like, there's no dignity here. So why is paying these guys the only way to do it at this point? Or, like, why do this?

Ryan Reynolds
I mean, basically, it's the only way to do it at this point because each one of these groups controls a different slice of the border. And if you try and get through this part of the border as a migrant and you're just going to try and get there on your own, you are very much putting your own life in your hands. Because while these smugglers will tell you that they treat migrants with respect and that they don't treat them as commodities, they are ruthless businessmen. And if you are in this business as a businessman and you are letting migrants simply walk through your territory without collecting some sort of fee, then you're not a very good businessman.

And so I think as a migrant, if you are going to go to the border wall and you don't use the services of organized crime. At this point, you are absolutely risking your life. So she's basically saying here that the trip that she's about to make is worth it, even though it's so difficult, obviously, that what's going on in Peru, where she comes from, it's not worth staying there. So even though this is so bad, it's worth it for her to keep going. We did have a chance to speak to some of the migrants who were there before they were put in the horse trailers or the suv's. And we met this one gentleman from Senegal. He had paid about $10,000. He said he's now in major debt as a result. Why is this trip worth it to, you know, he basically says life was really hard and sense, and he said this was the only way that he could do it. And it was brutal to watch him try and navigate this world because he didn't speak any Spanish and the smugglers weren't speaking any French or something. Yeah. And so how did they communicate? He was very worried he wasn't even gonna make it. He was visibly nervous that he had gotten this far in his journey, and because he couldn't communicate with the smugglers, he was afraid that he wasn't gonna be allowed to get to the next step.

Unknown
So, I mean, at the end of the day, the policies we've been talking about this week, do any of them have an impact on, like, what is next for this phenomenon and for these groups?

Ryan Reynolds
Speaker one, that's a great question. And what I can tell you for certain is that there's so much money being made that no matter mexican immigration enforcement, no matter new policies from the Biden administration, no matter us anti smuggling efforts, sure, those will make a dent. But as long as the demand for migration exists and as long as corruption exists in Mexico, these groups, these organized crime groups are going to continue to do whatever they possibly can to continue to push people north because, simply put, there's too much money to be made for them to stop. So 300 people now per week, and that's just here.

But this is happening all the border. All the border, right? Yes. When we were talking to this smuggler, he said that it is much more lucrative than the drug trade because you don't have to invest as much money. If you're going to ship fentanyl across the border, for example, you have to invest money to make the fentanyl. Then you have to ship the fentanyl, then you have to sell the fentanyl to get the profits. When it comes to migrants, they are paying for the right to be delivered to the United States. If these people get caught by migration, the cartel is not giving them refunds. So for the cartel, it is a much more lucrative business and one with less risk than drug trafficking, which is why people say that human smuggling could overtake drug trafficking in terms of profit in the next couple of years.

Joe Biden
Wow.

Unknown
Just great reporting and sort of shedding a light up close as to what these, like, these are notorious cartels. And the fact that they invited you along shows kind of the impunity with which they're operating. Matt Rivers in Mexico City, thank you so much.

Ryan Reynolds
Thanks a lot, Brad.

Unknown
Okay, one more quick break. When we come back, a lot of their countrymen didn't even know they were playing as they pulled off one of the biggest upsets in history.

One last thing is next.

Unknown
Laney Wilson, now streaming on Hulu, the story you haven't heard.

Lainey Wilson
I experienced a lot of heartache. I'm a tough woman, but it's not easy.

Unknown
Laney Wilson.

Lainey Wilson
It's taken me a really long time to even get to this moment.

Aaron Katersky
And the CMA award for entertainer of.

Karen Travers
The year goes to.

Unknown
Lainey Wilson.

Lainey Wilson
Hey, y'all, it's Lainey. I cannot wait for you to see my special stream.

This has been a wild ride, and you'll get to ride alongside me on this journey.

Unknown
Lainey Wilson, Bell bottom country now streaming only on Hulu.

Unknown
And one last thing. 5 seconds left in the game. You believe in miracles? Yes.

What are the biggest upsets in sports history? The miracle on ice has to be near the top of the list. Maybe when Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson or tiny appalachian state beat mighty Michigan on the football field. Well, yesterday, David beat Goliath. In the world of cricket, fans are saying it might be the biggest upset in the history of the sport.

Unknown
The Stars and Stripes are flying high and proudly in Dallas, Texas.

Unknown
If you don't know anything about cricket, don't worry, I got you. All you have to know is that while cricket matches are famously long, there's this shorter version called t 20, where each team is on a pitch count in the span of a couple of hours. Batters try to rack up as many runs as they can. Well, this year, the US is hosting cricket's t 20 World cup. Dozens of matches are being held in New York, Florida, Texas, also throughout the West Indies, down around the Caribbean, stadiums have been built for this. Now, the US, you'll be shocked to know, is not a cricketing powerhouse. But because we're hosting, our team got a free entry. Well, yesterday in Dallas, Team USA was up against Pakistan, one of the best teams in the world. The US started on defense, and it quickly became apparent that these Americans came to play.

Unknown
Trafalgar, he has been on target today. He's given away absolutely nothing.

Unknown
Reminder, fielders in cricket don't wear gloves. And these american players were throwing themselves at these cricket balls, catching them barehanded.

Unknown
That is absolutely sensational. Magnificent catch. Full length. Full length to his right.

Unknown
And the thing you got to remember here is that while the Pakistan team are all pros, Team USA has kind of been cobbled together. A lot of these guys were born in families from cricket obsessed countries like India, Trinidad, Australia, and they lead kind of semi pro lives over here. One of our best players, Sirab Netra Valkar, has a day job as a software engineer at Oracle. Well, when they got their chance to bat, they quickly started catching up. Wow.

Unknown
What a shot that is. That's gone for six. That is outstanding work from the skipper. That is a magnificent stroke.

Unknown
And eventually pushed this match to overtime. In baseball, you'd call it extra innings. In cricket, they call it. I love this. A super over. And to everyone's shock, the USA won.

Unknown
The red, white and blue of USA has overcome the 2022 finalists.

Unknown
Our guys looked like a calm group of professionals. The Pakistanis looked flustered, and the T 20 Cricket World cup had its miracle moment. And if the miracle on ice featured kids from Minnesota and Maine, this moment inspired a generation of kids whose parents are from India, Pakistan, the West Indies. Now it's names like Monong Patel and Nosthush Kenjige that have been etched in american sports history.

Okay, after watching these highlights, I think I love cricket. Like any sport where you get to say stuff like googly and sticky wicket and golden duck with a straight face, like, these are all real terms. This must be the game for me. USA. USA. Hey, I should also mention if you are fascinated by this Gilgo beach case, our New York station WABC has a whole podcast called eyewitness to Gilgo beach. They just put out a bonus episode about these new developments. You can check that out. Eyewitness to Gilgo beach. Start here. Is produced by Kelly Torres, Jen Neumann, Brenda Salinas Baker, Vika Aronson, Cameron Chertavian, Anthony Ali, Mauro, Milwaukee, and Amira Williams. Ariel Chester is our social media producer. Josh Cohan is director of podcast programming. I'm our managing editor. Laura Mayer is our executive producer. Thanks to Lakia Brown, John Newman, Tara Gimble and Liz Alessi. Special thanks. This week to Chris Berry and Armando Garcia. I'm Brad Milke. I'll see you next week.

Unknown
In the 1980s, everyone wanted to be in the Brat pack except them. Now director Andrew McCarthy reunites with fellow brats Demi Moore.

Karen Travers
Why did we take it as an offense as opposed to brat?

Unknown
Because we were young. We were afraid. We were brats, you know?

Unknown
Amelia Westevez, Ali Sheedy, Rob Lowe.

Unknown
I'm not gonna say we were the Beatles or any of this. Well, we didn't film Shea Stadium 1985.

Ryan Reynolds
I think we could have the original.

Unknown
Documentary brats, streaming June 13 only on Hulu.

Biden's D-Day Message to Russia

Primary Topic

Episode Summary

Main Takeaways

Episode Chapters

1: Opening Remarks

2: Ukraine's Use of American Weapons

3: Potential for Escalation

4: Biden's Domestic and International Challenges

Actionable Advice

About This Episode

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Transcript