Despite the fact that the illegal immigrant accused of killing an Iowa college student stated he blacked out and woke up with the dead woman in his trunk, Friday's CBS This Morning attacked the President for “accusing undocumented people in this.” Correspondent Adriana Diaz talked to a woman who worked with the accused murderer, Cristhian Bahena Rivera.
Speaking of the stabbing death of Mollie Tibbetts, the reporter sympathetically wondered: “Do you think he did this?... You want to believe it wasn’t him.” Diaz grumbled at Trump for talking about the crime: “What do you think of the fact that the President is accusing undocumented people in this?”
Accusing undocumented people? Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but just one person has been accused. And here are the details that Mr. Rivera has reportedly conceded:
After his arrest, Rivera allegedly told investigators he approached Mollie, running behind and alongside her.
The suspect says he remembers her pulling out her phone, telling him she would call police if he did not leave her alone.
Then Rivera claims to have "blocked" his memory. He told investigators this is something he does when he is upset, KCRG reports.
When he came to, Rivera alleges he was in his car with headphones in his lap. That's when he said he knew there was a woman in the trunk. He said he looked in the trunk and saw that Tibbetts had blood on the side of her head. He carried her to a cornfield, where he left her.
Diaz glossed over this, only noting that Rivera “told investigators that he left Mollie's body in a cornfield.” Instead, she narrated the unidentified woman's unhappiness with Trump: “So, you're saying you don't agree with [his comments] because there are bad people in all races?”
On Thursday night, the NBC Nightly News became the first program to move on from the Tibbetts murder, skipping the story. (NBC's Today returned to it on Friday.) The CBS Evening News featured Diaz covering the story, but did NOT use the clip in which Diaz suggested Trump was “accusing undocumented people” for the killing.
A transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more:
CBS This Morning
8/24/18
7:07:19 to 7:09:51NORAH O’DONNELL: The funeral for Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts will be held on Sunday after an autopsy confirmed she was murdered. A preliminary report confirms the 20-year-old died from multiple sharp force injuries. Tibbetts disappeared more than a month ago while jogging. Drone footage from our Des Monies affiliates KCCI shows the area where her body was found. Adriana Diaz has new details on the undocumented immigrant who lived nearby and is charged with her murder.
ADRIANA DIAZ: Good morning. We're told Tibbetts injuries were stab wounds from a sharp abject but we don't know what. There are also many questions about the suspect but we've learned he entered the U.S. as a minor. He has a seventh or eighth grade education and he's a father. During the five-week search for Mollie Tibbetts, her accused killer, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, reported to work every day at this dairy farm, acting normally. That’s according to his co-worker who asked us to conceal his identity. “Someone who would have done something like this would have been nervous” and not able to eat, she said.” "He seemed like nothing was wrong." Do you think he did this?
[Speaking in foreign language ]
DIAZ: You want to believe that it wasn't him. She says Rivera, who is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is calm, not violent and a good father. She said the suspect has a 3-year-old daughter with his ex-girlfriend. They were at his hearing this week. Allan Richards is his lawyer. Has he expressed any kind of sadness?
ALLAN RICHARDS (suspect’s attorney): I think he's like anybody else. It's hard to understand what happened out on that road.
DIAZ: In the affidavit it says he told investigators that he left Mollie's body in a cornfield.
RICHARDS: I'm reserving judgment on that issue until I see the interrogation interview, which I'm assuming they have.
DONALD TRUMP: She was killed by a horrible person that came in from Mexico, illegally here.
DIAZ: The case has reignited calls for stronger immigration laws.
TRUMP: The immigration laws are horrible.
DIAZ: What do you think of the fact that the President is accusing undocumented people in this?
[Women replies in Spanish.]
DIAZ: So, you're saying you don't agree with that because there are bad people in all races. Rivera's lawyer disputes he's undocumented but didn't show us any proof. He says his client is innocent until proven guilty. The community is still reeling. One woman said their innocence is gone.
