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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Interview With Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD); DeSantis Kicks Off 2024 Campaign In Iowa; War Comes Home to Russia As Drones Hit Moscow; Sources: 11-Year-Old Mississippi Boy Shot By Police Speaks Out; Aired 8-9p ET

Aired May 30, 2023 - 20:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: She was 19 years old when she dropped out of Stanford to found the blood testing startup, Theranos. Eagerly, she played the role of tech boss, private jets, magazine covers, a lot of awards.

She made a point to look the part wearing black turtlenecks in a nod to Steve Jobs.

It all fell apart in 2015 when "The Wall Street Journal" revealed that Theranos was smoke and mirrors. A jury found Holmes guilty of defrauding investors and tonight she begins to pay the price.

AC 360 starts now.

[20:00:31]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Good evening.

On 360 tonight, debt ceiling drama. Closed door meeting going on right now with House Republicans, which could determine if the bill makes it to the floor and if Speaker Kevin McCarthy keeps his job.

Also tonight, an interview with the 11-year-old boy who called 911 for help and got shot by the police officer who responded.

And "Succession" is over, but tonight, Kendall is talking. Actor, Jeremy Strong joins me with behind the scenes look of the show's riveting finale.

We begin tonight though, with some late signs of progress, but also the criticism House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is facing from some members of his own party as he and President Biden race to turn the debt ceiling agreement they reached Friday night into law.

Failing could hurt the economy for all of us, but given how toxic the deal is with some of the more extreme members, every step that Speaker McCarthy takes to pass it could put his speakership in jeopardy.

CNN's Melanie Zanona joins us now with very latest.

So what is the latest you're hearing from House Republicans about where this is headed? MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Well, the House is on the

verge of clearing at least one procedural hurdle because the House Rules Committee is expected to advance a rule, which would allow the bill to come to the floor tomorrow, despite opposition from two conservatives on the panel. So that is a big sigh of relief for leadership.

But they still have to actually pass the underlying bill on the House floor and there has been opposition from both the far left and the far right. So leadership has been working behind the scenes to sell this deal, to whip this deal.

House Democrats are expected to huddle tomorrow with members of their party leadership as well as White House officials, and House Republicans are meeting right now behind closed doors.

We're told Kevin McCarthy, as he entered the meeting, got a standing ovation. People were cheering for him. He said, "Let's have some fun." But we are expecting him to have to make a very forceful pitch for this deal that he worked out with President Biden.

But despite the opposition from his right flank, he is expressing confidence that they'll be able to get it over the finish line.

COOPER: So President Biden calls this a compromise. As you said, progressives are concerned about some things, so are conservatives. Can you just explain top lines of what's in the bill?

ZANONA: Yes, Anderson, first and foremost, this would hike the debt ceiling until the beginning of 2025, which means they won't have to deal with this until after the next presidential election. It also imposes limits on future spending, and they would keep the levels roughly flat for non-Defense discretionary spending.

And then there are a number of other priorities that got into the bill. Work requirements. That's something we talk a lot about that was a key sticking point in the negotiations, what they ultimately agreed to was to impose new work requirements, a new age for recipients of food stamps, but at the same time, they also expanded the exemptions for people for work requirements.

So the CBO estimate that that will actually expand the eligibility for those requirements. So then, a couple other things that got in there is clawing back IRS funding, clawing back unspent COVID money, and they also are going to put an end to the pause on student loan repayments.

So a number of different things in there, but the top lines -- hiking the debt ceiling and limiting spending -- Anderson.

COOPER: And the threats to Kevin McCarthy's speakership. How real are they?

ZANONA: Well, there have been a couple of conservatives who have threatened to use what is known as the motion to vacate, which would force a floor vote, on ousting of the speaker. Dan Bishop said it absolutely should be on the table. Congressman Chip Roy said they need to rethink their leadership structure. They are very upset with this deal making.

And Congressman Matt Gaetz predicted that if a majority of Republicans oppose the deal on the House floor, that it would automatically trigger a motion to vacate because that would violate an agreement that Kevin McCarthy made in his quest to become speaker.

But I will tell you that talking to a wide swath of members, there is not a wide appetite to remove McCarthy at least not yet. And leadership is expecting that they're going to be able to get a majority of their conference on board, which is why Kevin McCarthy says this bill is going to pass and he's going to keep his job -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Melanie, thanks very much.

Joining us right now, South Dakota Republican congressman, Dusty Johnson who helped negotiate the deal. He chairs the Republican Main Street Caucus, which describes itself as a group of pragmatic conservatives dedicated to getting things done. That's what it says on the website.

Congressman, I appreciate you joining us.

You've just come from the meeting of the GOP Caucus, what our members of your party saying and do you think the bill will pass the House?

REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): Well, I don't talk about what happens in Republican caucus meetings, but I would tell you that I've talked to dozens of members in the last couple of days. They've read through the 99-page bill. I think they're excited about $2 trillion worth of savings and they're excited about unlocking American energy with real permitting reform.

Of course, you've got some loud colorful voices opposed to it, but welcome to Washington. We don't let anything be easy around here.

[20:05:07]

COOPER: Well, one of the people, I assume you're referring to as loud and colorful, Congressman Matt Gaetz, he made some comments earlier saying that if the legislation does not get a majority of GOP votes, that would be a violation of the deal that Speaker McCarthy made to get the gavel in the first place and would likely trigger, in his words, an immediate motion to vacate.

Do you actually think that a majority of Republicans will support this bill? It sounds like they're confident they will.

JOHNSON: Yes, sort of a majority of Republicans will support this bill, Other than the $2 trillion for the savings I mentioned, and the unlocking of American energy, it is also the largest ever claw back of funds from the executive branch and the work requirements that Melanie mentioned, which is a big part of growing this economy. You're going to have certainly some Republicans vote no, but the

majority are going to back the speaker and they are going to back this, which is the best debt ceiling deal that Republicans have ever cut.

COOPER: Yes, right now, I think Congressman Dan Bishop is the only one and you're certainly the first one to explicitly say he is considering a push to oust Congressman McCarthy as the speaker.

I think Chip Roy hasn't gone that far, but said as Melanie said that they are going to need to relook at how a leadership structure is in place. Do you expect any others to try to challenge McCarthy?

JOHNSON: Frankly, most members of the House Freedom Caucus are trying to tamp down that kind of speculation. I think they understand that we've got a lot of things we still have to get done in this, the 118th Congress, and having another 15-round leadership battle in the middle of it would not be helpful to actually putting more conservative wins on the board.

But I'd also say this, Kevin McCarthy is not in any way scared of this conversation. Admittedly, the media is talking about it a lot more than members of Congress are, but when the media asked him about, you know, motion to vacate and internal political machinations, he is focused on one thing, avoiding default and cutting this $2 trillion with the spending. We're going to get it done tomorrow.

COOPER: The reaction to the deal seems mostly favorable, certainly to moderates from both parties. As you know, members of the House Freedom Caucus, obviously a complaint, it doesn't do enough cutting; progressive Democrats complaining about the work requirements for government assistance programs.

Is this true? I mean, President Biden calls this a compromise. You're saying essentially, the Democrats gave this away?

JOHNSON: Listen, I don't want to insult the other half of the negotiation. I mean, they were smart people. This was clearly an environment though, Anderson, where President Biden made a major strategic miscalculation in refusing to negotiate for 97 days.

It drifted us really close to the deadline. I think it caused many Americans to believe that he was being stubborn and intransigent, and I think it really -- it put his negotiators in a weaker position than if they just would have come to the table a hundred days ago.

As a result, I think Republicans got a lot of concessions. Frankly, I don't think you can argue the Republicans clearly got more concessions out of this debt ceiling deal than any other deal that's been done.

COOPER: Congressman, I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

COOPER: Congressman Johnson. Presidential politics now and take a look at a church in Clive, Iowa

just west of Des Moines, Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, who recently said he would oppose the debt deal if he were still in Congress speaking there right now, his first official stop in the campaign, part of a three-state swing, which also includes New Hampshire and South Carolina and it follows what was as you might have seen a rough and buggy debut on Twitter last week or heard at least.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is traveling with candidate, joins us now. So what was the governor talking about tonight? What was the message?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, we are finally seeing Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, you can see he is speaking behind me here, wrapping up his first campaign event in person, and voters have indeed been waiting for what he has to say.

And one of those points he made tonight, I'll lower my voice as he's speaking here. He was really speaking out against the debt deal. He said he believes Republicans negotiated too much, they gave up too much in terms of spending. He stopped well short of urging members of Congress to vote against this deal, which of course could lead to a default.

Of course, he has the luxury of not being forced to cast a vote on this, but he did talk about spending. One thing he did not talk about tonight, albeit so far in the first 30 or 35 minutes of his speech is anything about Donald Trump.

For the last several days, he has been sharpening his criticism of the former president saying he simply did not get the job done at the border. He did not get the job done in terms of bringing down the deficit.

We have not heard anything about that so far tonight. He simply said leadership is not entertainment, perhaps a veiled reference to the former president.

But Anderson, the Iowa Republicans in the audience here are hungering for an alternative to Donald Trump. Of course, Donald Trump still has his supporters here, perhaps 30 percent or so of the Republican base.

As you can see behind me here, people are cheering. They are applauding his deeply conservative message. This is the first stop of a two-day swing here in Iowa. He will be going on to New Hampshire, South Carolina as well.

Donald Trump also coming to Iowa two days from now to have a rebuttal if you will against Ron DeSantis.

[20:10:04]

COOPER: Overall, what's been the reaction? We're hearing a lot of applause there -- reaction of people you've been talking to.

ZELENY: So far, the reaction has been really strong. Again, like I said, the Republicans here who are attending here, of course, that's not the full universe of Republican caucus goers who open the primary contest next year, they are looking for an alternative.

For those who are looking for an alternative, they like what they've seen from Governor DeSantis. So looking beyond the botched Twitter rollout, looking beyond some of the hiccups that have come, a lot of the Republican voters we've been speaking to you tonight, want to see if he's strong enough to confront and take on Donald Trump.

They don't necessarily want to see a food fight. In the words of one woman I talked to hear, one Republican voter who said she simply believes the party must move on from Trump. But the question is, are there so many Republican candidates getting into the race now, does that complicate their effort?

But for now, at least many Republicans here like what they see from the Florida governor, and he's just beginning to introduce himself as this right from center candidate -- Anderson.

COOPER: Jeff Zeleny, appreciate your reporting tonight. Thank you.

Coming up next, how Russia is reacting to the drone strike in Moscow and what Ukraine is now saying about it.

Also my conversation with former FBI director, James Comey about Republican claims the Bureau has been weaponized against conservatives. Why he thinks the former president is an existential threat to the rule of law, in his words, and an even greater threat now than he was before.

And then later toward the end of the program, "Succession" may be over but I'm not over it. Kendall Roy, actor, Jeremy Strong joins me for a behind-the-scenes look at the incredible finale, the final episode of the remarkable end of this epic show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:15:15]

COOPER: Well, you no doubt recall the recent drone strike on the Kremlin, which was a stunning an event in and of itself, but now, there has been an even larger drone attack in Moscow. One target was an upscale part of suburban Moscow that is home to oligarchs not far from where Vladimir Putin himself has a home.

Now, this follows days of a heavy Russian strike on Kyiv, and it comes just as Russian forces are bracing for the start of Ukraine's expected counteroffensive.

More on all of it now from CNN's Sam Kiley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Same war, different capital, Moscow hit by a squadron of eight drones.

PAVEL BOZHGO, MOSCOW RESIDENT (through translator): There was definitely a bang as if a huge bolt of lightning had struck somewhere near.

KILEY (voice over): The attack was immediately blamed on Ukraine, which reels daily from Russian air assaults.

SERGEI SHOIGU, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): This morning, the Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack on the Moscow region and I will stress, aimed at civilian targets. In total, eight airplane-type drones were used, all of them were brought down.

KILEY (voice over): Kyiv was coy about its role in this drastic escalation.

MYKHAILO PODOLYAK, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER (through translator): Of course, we enjoy watching and predicting an increase in attacks. But of course, we have nothing to do directly with it.

What is growing in Russia is the karmic payment that Russia will gradually pay more highly for everything it does in Ukraine.

KILEY (voice over): Ukraine is threatening an offensive to drive Russian troops out. Part of its tactics have been increased efforts to destabilize Moscow's forces.

Across border raid by anti-Putin Russian dissidents was backed by Ukraine last week. Frequent attacks on Russian occupied logistic hubs like Mariupol Berdyansk, and now, there is a mysterious drone attack that Russia has blamed on Ukraine.

PUTIN (through translator): Though I'm more worried not by this, but by efforts to provoke a Russian response, that appears to be the aim. They are provoking us to do the same.

KILEY (voice over): But this is the first drone attack by anyone on Moscow outside the Kremlin.

Here, Kyiv attacked for the 17th time this month.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

KILEY (voice over): Putin's generals now know that they face attacks on Ukraine's frontlines, and at home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And Sam joins me now from eastern Ukraine. So what is the latest on when Ukraine's long anticipated counteroffensive will start?

KILEY: Well, Anderson, just today there have been yet more border crossings and artillery shelling by Ukraine into Russian -- excuse me -- into Russian territory itself being seen as yet another precursor to an offensive and President Zelenskyy himself has said that the logistics are there, the weapons are there, the men are there, and that he has decided on a date. When that date is, we still don't know.

COOPER: All right, Sam Kiley, thanks. This next item though apparently Russia related certainly has a far

less ominous feel to it. That central figure is a whale, and the key question about is whether or not it's involved in espionage.

CNN's Melissa Bell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The alleged Russian spy was first spotted off the waters of Norway in 2019, a beluga whale apparently seeking human attention it quickly received.

Nicknamed, Hvaldimir, a pun on the Norwegian for whale and its alleged Russian origin, the whale was found to be wearing a harness with mounts for a camera branded, "Equipment of St. Petersburg." Experts believe it may have been trained by the Russian military, which Moscow denies.

Dolphins have long been used by Russian and the US Navy patrolling and detecting explosives beside humans. Since his arrival in Norway, Hvaldimir has been tracked by volunteers who want to protect him.

SEBASTIAN STRAND, ONEWHALE VOLUNTEER: We fear that if he did enough damage to a salmon farm, they may be forced into considering the option of euthanizing him, as we've seen with other cetaceans in Norway.

But by all means, this does not mean that we think the salmon farmers have anything but goodwill towards Hvaldimir.

BELL (voice over): And Hvaldimir has been capturing Scandinavian hearts, a whale that appears more accustomed to humans than his own kind, and now much further south than he should be.

Far from heading back to Arctic waters where he might have found some of his own kind, he is headed south, all the way to the coast of Sweden according to the NGO OneWhale, where waters are too warm and too populated for a whale who may have been used to spy, but is now being very carefully watched himself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[20:20:10]

COOPER: Melissa Bell joins us now. Are there other claims of Russia training marine animals?

BELL: There are, Anderson.

This is a practice that goes back to the Cold War, and what we saw at the time when Russia first annexed Crimea back in 2014 is that they very quickly announced that the Combat Dolphin Program that had been run by Ukraine would now be diverted towards the Russian Navy.

We've also see now some Maxar images that show just after the invasion, some fresh dolphin pens being placed outside that port at Sebastopol, the most important Russian port in the Black Sea. And so the idea is that that was also being done to the Arctic north.

It is a practice also with the US Navy. These are some of the animals that are very good at finding things that are untoward on the seabed and helping in de-mining operations.

What's been happening with this particular whale these last few weeks and months, Anderson, is that he has been heading south much more quickly. Nobody knows if that's because he's looking for a mate or because if he is a well-trained animal that's used to humans is simply seeking out more human attention and that could actually prove his downfall -- Anderson.

COOPER: I feel bad for him. Melissa Bell, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Just ahead, former FBI director, James Comey speaks out tonight about Republican attacks on the Justice Department, as well as which of the many legal threats facing the former president he believes is the strongest.

And later, Emmy Award winning actor, Jeremy Strong is here for his first television interview since the finale of my favorite TV show, "Succession" which wrapped up a four-season run Sunday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:25:35]

COOPER: Top House Republicans including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy today threatened FBI director, Chris Wray with contempt proceedings. It's the latest in an ongoing fight for documents related to their investigations to the business dealings of President Biden's family and part of a wider Republican attack on the Justice Department.

The former president has called for Congress to "defund the DOJ and FBI." Just last week, Florida governor and presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis said that if he wins the White House, he would fire Director Wray "on day one."

It's a fight my next guest knows very well. James Comey was fired six years ago this month as FBI director by the former president.

Just before air, I spoke with him about all of this plus his first foray into fiction, "Central Park West: A Crime Novel."

Congratulations on the new book.

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: Thank you so much.

COOPER: Have you -- I mean, did you know you're a writer? Is that something you'd been interested in?

COMEY: I've always loved to write. I wrote in high school as a journalist, college as a journalist. Actually, the last piece of fiction I wrote before this was, I remember the date actually, it was the night I was writing in my room when a serial rapist and robber kicked in the front door my parents' home.

I was a senior in high school and I was working on a piece for a literary magazine, and it was the last fiction piece I wrote before this -- nonfiction kicked in the door literally.

COOPER: Given the career you've had in the FBI, and when you see the former president, now the frontrunner again for the Republican nomination. How big a threat is that?

COMEY: A very serious threat to the rule of law, almost an existential threat if he were to become president again. He's tried to take a flame thrower to the FBI, to the Department of Justice to stop them from investigating.

COOPER: You believe Donald Trump is an existential threat to the rule of law.

COMEY: I do, yes. I think were he to become president again, I don't think America has ever seen and is ready for what he would try and do to the system of justice.

COOPER: You know, the Justice Department has sent a very strong message about what happened on January 6 with their prosecutions, their investigations and prosecutions of some of those responsible.

When you hear the former president talking about pardoning, you hear Ron DeSantis talking about looking at pardons. What do you think?

COMEY: It's disgusting. It's an attack on the rule of law. I mean, if anything this country should be able to agree upon, it's that we need to send a message, never again. You can't ever interfere in our constitutional processes by force.

You can protest, you can march, you can do what you want, but don't you dare. That's the message that has to be sent with those prosecutions. And the idea of undercutting that message makes no sense at all.

COOPER: Many in the House in Congress say that the FBI has been weaponized and it's going after conservatives, that it is politicized. Do you believe any of that is true?

COMEY: I don't believe any of it is true. I never would have expected it. All of us who have become more familiar with the way a cult operates in the recent years, so it makes sense in the light of that phenomenon. But I never would have anticipated it years ago.

COOPER: So what happens if the Republican Party which has a long proud history, if many of its members are talking about, you know, prosecuting the director of the FBI, defunding the FBI. Really, some of them are talking about defunding the FBI, what does that say about the Republican Party?

COMEY: I don't know what the Republican Party is anymore and I don't know what its future is. I think the American people need to hand it, especially at the presidential level a series of losses until they figure out who they want to be because they're not a party that's consistent with the values of the country

COOPER: In terms of the potential charges, potential cases that the former president is facing, which do you think is the strongest or has the greatest likelihood of actually moving forward and having an actual effect on him? Charges --

COMEY: Based on what I can see from the outside, which I know is an imperfect view having been on the inside, the Mar-a-Lago documents case strikes me as the one that is the biggest threat to him.

COOPER: Because it's so clear? I mean, because it's not getting inside his head. Its actual actions that are documented.

COMEY: Yes, it is a fairly narrow range of conduct, right? It isn't thousands and thousands of people marching on the Capitol, for example, or a chaotic series of maneuvers after an election. It's focused, and it should be easier not easy given the nature of Donald Trump, I'm not sure he even knows his own mental process at times, but easier for a prosecutor to prove his mind, his state of mind about that series of events.

COOPER: Let's talk about the book. Talk about how you went about this?

COMEY: Well, I was nudged by the editor of my second nonfiction book who said, hey, you write narrative really well, you write stories really well. And I kept saying, look, these aren't stories, this is my life. And he said, but you could you write crime fiction. You want to try it.

[20:30:18]

COOPER: And I just got a copy of it. So, I have not been able to read it yet. It is a very a female prosecutor prosecuting a mobster.

COMEY: Yes. It's about a prosecutor named Nora Carlton in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, who is taking on a mobster, trying to put him away after he has been elusive for a long time. And the case she is bringing collides with another case involving the murder of a former governor, and it leads to a series of twists and turns that are both interesting and kind of fun.

COOPER: You have a family member who is a female prosecutor --

COMEY: Yes.

COOPER: -- prosecuting Ghislaine Maxwell.

COMEY: Yes. My --

COOPER: Is she -- so, is she the model for your daughter? Is she the model for this?

COMEY: Yes. I originally imagined it as a -- a guy as the prosecutor. And then, literally, while I was putting this together, she was prosecuting Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's co-conspirator in abusing lots of young girls, in the very same courtroom where I, when she was four-years-old, had prosecuted John and Joe Gambino.

And that crossover just made it obvious. It's got to be a woman as the protagonist. And so, Nora Carlton was born, and she is a lot of my daughter. She is a lot of all four of my girls who are tall, strong, smart women.

COOPER: Did you have to get permission from your daughter before you --

COMEY: I only got -- asked permission, but I showed her the draft, and she had feedback, including things I had screwed up, putting your office on the wrong floor. But, it made it a labor of love and ways that I had not expected. So, I didn't need to think about me. I was thinking about my kids while writing this story, and that made it special for me.

COOPER: And you've already written another book.

COMEY: Yes. Second book. I was the General Counsel of the world's largest hedge fund for a few years right before the FBI. And so, I'd like Nora to go to that venue, still be a crime novel, but introduce people to that world in the way that the first book, this one, introduces them to the criminal justice in Manhattan.

COOPER: James Comey, thank you so much.

COMEY: Great to be with you. As always.

COOPER: Appreciate it.

COMEY: Yep.

COOPER: James Comey's first crime novel is now available. It's called "Central Park West".

Coming up, an 11-year-old shot in the chest by a police officer after he called 911 to get help for his mom, says he was convinced he was going to die. Thankfully, he is a survivor. He is talking to CNN's Nick Valencia ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: The 11-year-old Mississippi child shot in the chest by a police officer after he called 911, is speaking out about the ordeal. Aderrien Murry was shot in the chest 10 days ago when the officer asked him and others in their home to come outside.

He was hospitalized with a lacerated liver, broken ribs, and was put on a ventilator because of a collapsed lung. We learned today his family is taking legal action against the police and the city. CNN's Nick Valencia spoke to Aderrien today. Here is his report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADERRIEN MURRY, 11-YEAR-OLD SHOT BY POLICE: God will do what he said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As he laid in his mother's arms bleeding out from a gunshot wound, 11-year-old Aderrien Murry was so convinced he was going to die. He began to pray to God and sing gospel songs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURRY: How can you lie? Like, I'm going to die. Tell my whole family, to my teacher. I say I'm sorry for what I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: On May 20, Aderrien's mom told him to call 911 for help after the father of one of her other children showed up at their Mississippi home at four in the morning. Nakala Murry said, when the Indianola Police responded, she opened the door to an officer who already had his gun drawn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURRY: He say (inaudible), then I came running inside the living room. I do not remember. I heard the big bang. (inaudible) holding my chest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Indianola Police say the officer was Sergeant Greg Capers. Murry says he shot Aderrien in the chest, seriously injuring the boy. CNN has made repeated attempts to get comment from Capers, but he has not responded.

Aderrien's mother says he developed a collapsed lung and suffered fractured ribs and a lacerated liver due to the gunshot wound. He spent days in the ICU at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, needing a ventilator to breathe.

More than a week since the shooting, he is remarkably in good spirits, but says sometimes when he is alone with his thoughts for too long, he has nightmares.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURRY: Sometime, I can see myself laying inside the coffin. (inaudible) I sometimes think people are watching me. But, my main thought is my death.

NAKALA MURRY, MOTHER OF ADERRIEN: I'm so overfilled with joy to help my child. I don't have time to be angry. I trust in the law, that they will make the right decision. My main concern is my son right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VALENCIA: The Murry family and their attorney, Carlos Moore, have filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Indianola, its Police Chief and several officers, including Capers. They're seeking $5 million in damages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLOS MOORE, MURRY FAMILY ATTORNEY: That anyone who has ever been a victim of excessive force deserves to be compensated is Aderrien Murry. He trusted the police. He called the police to come to the aid of his mother and he turns around and get shot by the cop he called to rescue them.

VALENCIA: If that officer was here sitting right here across from you, what would you want to tell him, Aderrien?

MURRY: Why did he do it? I could have lost my life. How could you? I want you terminated for what you did to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Nick Valencia joins me now from Mississippi. What's the employment status of the officer tonight?

[20:40:00]

VALENCIA: Sergeant Greg Capers, Anderson, remains on paid administrative leave. Meanwhile, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, they've taken the lead on this case. And there was body cam footage of this incident. They have that in their possession, but tell me that they're not going to release it until their investigation is complete.

Incidentally, earlier this evening, the Indianola Board of Aldermen convened a special meeting to talk about that body camera footage. It was held in Executive Session. No action was taken. But, I did talk to the mayor earlier, and he told me that he doesn't support the firing of Sergeant Greg Capers because he says he doesn't have all the facts yet, which include watching the body cam footage for the first time.

Aderrien, though, is very clear about what he wants. He wants that officer terminated. This shooting, Anderson, has forever changed his life. Prior to the shooting, he wanted to be a police officer. He says, though, now he is scared of police. Now, he wants to be a doctor, though, because he credits them in part for helping save his life. Anderson.

COOPER: Nick Valencia, appreciate it. Thank you, Nick.

Coming up, for four seasons, I've been obsessed with the HBO show "Succession" and Sunday was the finale to end all finales. Actor Jeremy Strong joins me to take us all behind the scenes of that last show and what he thinks happens to the three main characters now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: So, my favorite TV show came to an end Sunday, "Succession" concluded a brilliant four-season run in HBO with its highest rated episode since the show's debut, according to Warner Bros. Discovery, which also in CNN.

If you're unfamiliar with "Succession", it's an incredibly engrossing look at the battle between three siblings to succeed their larger than life kind of monstrous father who is head of a major media conglomerate. It's a tragedy, really, on an epic scale that also feels deeply personal because the writing and the acting is so strong. It's also at times very funny.

It's won a number of Emmy Awards, including for acting, which includes my next guest, Jeremy Strong, who plays Kendall Roy. He joins us tonight for his first television interview since the finale. We warn you, there are many, many spoilers ahead about what happens in the finale.

So, are you glad it's over? Because, I mean, you -- from everything I've read about you and heard you say, you are very deeply -- you embodied the character. I mean, you're intensely into your character. Are you glad that you're no longer Kendall?

JEREMY STRONG, ACTOR, "SUCCESSION": Yes. I mean, look, I think it was -- it's been the role of a lifetime. It's been an immeasurable gift to get to sort of run the gauntlet with this character. It was heavy. I feel a responsibility to serve the writing and embody what the writers are asking the character to go through.

COOPER: So that -- but that heaviness, I mean, it's incredibly heavy until the last episode I saw Kendall smile.

STRONG: Yes. Yes.

COOPER: We'll talk about this scene.

STRONG: Yes.

COOPER: But -- does -- is it heavy then when the cameras aren't rolling, and you're back home, and you're going out to the grocery store?

STRONG: I think in the eight months when you're filming, you sort of go on airplane mode a bit in your life, and you take on the material, and it kind of takes over where it hangs over you.

COOPER: Right.

STRONG: I mean, the show was always -- it's Shakespearean. It was always heavy as the head that wears the crown.

COOPER: Yes.

STRONG: And there is a sense of that heaviness, especially with his character.

COOPER: The final scene where Kendall is -- walks toward the water and his security guy, who was his father's security guy, is following him, when I was watching it, I thought you were going to run to the water and jump over and attempt to kill yourself. You didn't do that. But, I read that you actually, you as a character, felt that way, and you actually did take that way.

STRONG: Yes. I did. I did try and go in the water. One of the incredible things about working on something for seven years since we started the pilot and just having 40 hours, a canvas of 40 hours of storytelling, is just your instincts for the thing become a part of you, and are very alive.

And your job is to give the writing heart and nerve and sinew and density and weight and all that stuff. And then, at a certain point, I think something, if you're lucky, something kind of ineffable happens, and you enter into it.

And the character has just been put through so much, has been through so much hell, really, from the Chappaquiddick incident to, in a way, almost the most heartbreaking thing to me is the revelation in this final episode of this moment when he was nine-years-old, at the candy kitchen --

COOPER: Right.

STRONG: -- where his father says one day this will be yours, and the sort of curse of that, that sentence of that. So, I felt that this is an extinction level event. I didn't feel though --

COOPER: For your character.

STRONG: -- come back from what happens to him.

COOPER: That -- I mean, what do you think happens to each, because I've thought about this a lot after the episode, like, where does Kendall go, what happens to Kendall later on in his life? What is the rest of his life? Like, what is Shiv's life like? What is Roman's life like? Roman clearly, I mean, the way he was looking at that martini --

STRONG: Yes. Scary.

COOPER: -- seems like alcohol is good.

STRONG: Yes. I think so. I think that there is a real vortex that he is going to get.

COOPER: And Shiv, that extraordinary, non-handhold --

STRONG: Yes.

COOPER: -- Kevin Costner is also like, I mean, it was incredible.

STRONG: No. It's terrible. She is sort of -- it's a great capitulation and the patriarchy has triumphed. And it's not for me to say how the show should end.

[20:50:00]

It's for Jesse Armstrong, for the grace of him, went all of us, this whole time, and his writing and the depth of it and his insight into human nature. I think he feels that people are kind of stuck in to doom to repeat themselves.

COOPER: Yes. I mean, you imagine Shiv and Tom in some sterile palatial penthouse somewhere, living their lives with their unhappy child, her -- she kind of unhappy mother, and Kendall. I heard Jesse Armstrong say, I think in the after show, that maybe Kendall will start a company or something, but he'll never quite.

STRONG: This will be the defining moment of his life and sort of the stain that marks his life, I think, yes, in that moment. One of the great joys of working on this show, in particular and making movies, is the sort of discoveries you make in situ. And so, the collaborative nature of the medium, we had a great deal of latitude and freedom to follow those instincts and impulses, and --

COOPER: In the scene when you were actually shooting.

STRONG: Yes, yes.

COOPER: I want to share the scene. You're in Barbados, and it -- you -- I mean, there is incredible emotionally charged family reunion has occurred, and they have anointed you. You are going to be the one to take over the company. I just want to show this.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

COOPER: I mean, it was such a -- it was a beautiful scene. It was incredibly beautiful. And so, I just found it so touching. And so, you think going into it and there is this momentum going into the last few minutes of the show, and --

STRONG: Yes.

COOPER: -- it's heartbreaking.

STRONG: I find it heartbreaking. It's very sad.

COOPER: It's such a tragedy.

STRONG: Yes. And there is a kind of unadulterated happiness that they have with each other. And you see -- you can sort of glimpse an alternate --

COOPER: Yes.

STRONG: -- thing for them.

COOPER: I just want to share the scene of -- the critical vote is taking place, and Shiv walks out of the room, and you need her vote in order to take over your dad's company. STRONG: Right.

COOPER: Let's just watch this.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

COOPER: I'm the eldest boy. That was written?

STRONG: Yes.

COOPER: I mean, that was --

STRONG: Yes.

COOPER: -- that scene, that box within a box in that box like building --

STRONG: Yes.

COOPER: -- I mean, there is just so much going on in that.

STRONG: Yes. Well, this is a moment where there is a writer's strike, right? And so, it feels important to say that none of this show -- this show doesn't exist without --

COOPER: The writing is incredible.

STRONG: -- the writing is everything. It's everything. That's all scripted, every word. But, it's really -- it's a show about the underneath, as I think Shiv says to Tom in this episode. It's about the underneath of these people, of their struggles, the underneath of the country. And that's the profundity of it. And -- but, I think this scene, it's brutal for me to watch. It's just -- it's that Greek idea that character is fate. I think from the very beginning, this was going to happen.

COOPER: Well, thank you for being here and for your performance over the last seven years.

STRONG: Thank you so much.

COOPER: It brought so much just joy and thought and emotion into so many people's lives in mind, in particular.

[20:55:00]

So, thank you.

STRONG: Thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: Really appreciate it. A quick programming note, tonight on CNN Primetime, Pamela Brown speaks to the former inmate, current prison consultant, about what life behind bars will be like for disgraced tycoon Elizabeth Holmes, who began her 11-year sentence today.

Her company, you will remember, Theranos, was built on technology that she claimed would revolutionize healthcare and save lives. Big name investors bet millions of dollars on her pitch and a company that in the end was built on empty promises. Again, that's coming up tonight at nine right here.

Up next for us, why the holiday weekend won't be forgotten anytime soon for some cruise ship passengers? More than that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Off the coast of South Carolina, a chaotic end to a cruise over the Memorial Day weekend. Take a look, as rough seas during a powerful storm pound the Carnival Sunshine as the ship made its way to Charleston from the Bahamas. Passengers called it terrifying, some feared they wouldn't survive, one telling CNN he blames Carnival for sailing into those conditions asking, "Why would you sail into the storm with 80-mile per hour plus winds? I mean, who does that?

What were they thinking?" A video posted online showed flooding in hallways and cabins and other damaged. Luckily, everyone made it through. OK. According to reports, some passengers and crew members needed minimal assistance from medical staff.

That's it for us. The news continues. CNN Primetime with Pamela Brown starts now.