Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

SpaceX Says They Triggered Explosion as Rocket Tumbled; Girl & Parent Shot After Basketball Rolled into Neighbor's Yard; Fetterman Shares How PA Senate Race Worsened His Mental Health; GOP's Mace: Republicans Will Not Win If Abortion "Extremism" Persists; Oklahoma Commissioner Resigns Amid Furor Over Racist Remarks. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 20, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:44]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Just in to CNN, SpaceX claiming it triggered its own explosion of that history making rocket, we're going to tell you why.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And another act of senseless gun violence. The look on this six-year-old girl's face speaks volumes. Doctors removing a bullet fragment from her cheek after a basketball rolled into her neighbor's yard and he allegedly opened fire. A manhunt now underway. What the girl's mother is saying about the moments before he pulled the trigger.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: And as violence torment Sudan, the U.S. military is now deploying "additional capabilities" nearby, that means U.S. service members to be in place to secure the U.S. Embassy to prepare for potential evacuation. Civilians desperately trying to flee, as fighting between rival factions is now overwhelming hospitals. We are following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We began with a rocket launch turned a firework show. SpaceX's historic starship exploded in mid-air only minutes after takeoff. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... tower was icing on the cake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Not often you hear applause after an explosion like that, witnesses near the failed launch now saying they saw and felt what appeared to be sand falling from the sky in the aftermath of the explosion. Here it is, whatever it is, spaceship confetti covering a car.

CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now live from the launch site in Texas.

Ed, now SpaceX is saying that they deliberately triggered the explosion.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. We've thought that that has been a possibility all morning since we witnessed this rocket system explode over the Gulf of Mexico this morning. And you saw the video there in the last moments of this flight, several - about three minutes or so into the flight the rocket ship was clearly tumbling. SpaceX says it was losing altitude and now the company is confirming that it initiated what is called the "flight termination system" onboard the booster part of the rocket as well as the rocket itself.

And obviously this had to be done because it was spiraling out of control. They had clearly lost the ability to control the rocket system. And that becomes a much more dangerous situation. Also remember these rocket launches are done with the blessing of the Federal Aviation Administration that gives the clearance to open up the airspace for these kinds of launches.

The FAA says it was - it is looking into and will oversee this mishap and that future flights will be determined and allowed based on ensuring public safety. So clearly, a great deal of work now has to be done to make sure that nothing goes horrifically wrong here in the future.

And as you mentioned, the force in the power of this rocket was stunning to see in person who we're also hearing from people who lived about five to seven miles west of the launch site and the wind was blowing off the Gulf of Mexico inland and residents there were describing several minutes after the launch of the rocket that a wave of - it was "raining sand" for many people inland. That really speaks to the power of all of this, but for thousands of people who came here to South Padre Island to witness this historic moment in-person, it was a mourning they will never forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM TAYLOR, SPACE ENTHUSIAST: It was still exciting. I mean, for crying out loud I got one word, holy smokes. It was crazy. It was beautiful. And I know everybody was excited. I know you were and everybody around was just tickled pink.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:05:00]

LAVANDERA: And so guys now that the euphoria of the moment is kind of over, clearly a great deal of concern about where these test flights go from now on. Elon Musk tweeted just after the launch that they learned a lot from this rocket launch and that they will work to sending up another test flight in the coming months, so a quick turnaround here for SpaceX

SANCHEZ: Ed, I would not be surprised for a second if some of that space hand wound up on eBay. Ed Lavandera from South Padre Island, Texas. Thank you so much, Ed. Brianna?

KEILAR: "Why did you shoot my daddy and me?" That is the heartbreaking question being asked today by this little girl, six-year-old Kinsley White. She and her dad were wounded when a gunman opened fire. Police say it was this man, 24-year-old Robert Singletary, a neighbor.

Witnesses say that he began firing after a basketball rolled into his yard. And today, a manhunt is underway for Singletary.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is at the scene of the shootings

Dianne, tell us what the neighbors are telling you about what happened here.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, first and foremost, they're scared right now. I talked to several neighbors who told me they haven't been able to sleep since the shooting happened, because the shooter Robert Singletary is still out there.

Now, look, they tell me that this is something that had maybe been going on for a couple of weeks. Ever since he came to live with his girlfriend in a house here in this neighborhood, they told me that Singletary did not like children playing in the yard and he would often yell at them. They said that that's what they thought was happening on Tuesday when a basketball from a game that was being played at that hoop right there rolled into the yard.

They said he yelled at a kid. That kid went and got his dad. The dad came, confronted Singletary. Basically the neighbor said he said, look, don't cuss out my kid. Can you just come to me when you have a problem and I'll handle it.

Well, that's when they said Singletary went inside got a gun and began shooting at that man. That man got away uninjured. Neighbor say Singletary then turned were all of the children. They say nearly a dozen of them along with other parents were standing and started shooting at them. One of those was six-year-old Kinsley White and her father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY HILDEBRAND, HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER SHOT BY NEIGHBOR: He looked at my husband dead in the face and he said I'm going to kill you, and he started shooting with my daughter standing right there beside of him and several other kids around them.

So they took off running and he started chasing them all the way up into our yard and shooting the entire time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Now Kinsley, of course, shot in the face. There are bullet fragments doctors removed from her cheek. She has stitches. Her father Jamie White has several internal injuries according to his wife and he remains in the hospital. Now, officials continue to look for Robert Singletary. Brianna, they say that if you do see him, do not approach him that he should be considered armed and dangerous.

KEILAR: Yes. So scary, we can see the wound here in this photo of Kinsley White and the stitches that she got. Dianne, thank you for the latest there. We know you'll continue to follow this. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes. That poor little girl.

Well, 50 million Americans live in areas under the threat of a storm system that's already proven deadly in Central Oklahoma. Now, the weather that treaded these buildings and spawn at least eight confirmed tornadoes is heading east and south. Rain, hail, damaging winds, flash flooding, more tornadoes possible from Texas all the way to Wisconsin.

It's believed the tornado killed at least three people in Oklahoma yesterday in the small town of Cole, A local chopper reporter had a close call when reportedly hail from that storm damaged his aircraft.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. We got beat the hell up. I have no windshield. The helicopter is beat up. We are trying to make it across valley and land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Goodness, no windshield in a helicopter in the air.

CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers, he's been monitoring all of this.

I mean, pretty lousy storm but - a dangerous one, but also huge, it seems. I mean, the swath that's cutting across the country. Where is it going?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I mean, all the way from - like you said - Wisconsin to Texas. This is a large line of weather that's going to develop, warm air here, colder air behind it. You see the snow up in Minnesota, that's where the cold air is wrapping in behind the storm and that cold wants to push the warm air up and all of a sudden you get the potential for severe weather and even now a new tornado watch that was just issued for the Chicago land area.

Watching a few thunderstorms, these orange boxes here, but also one tornado warning now into parts of Oklahoma. Again, a very unpopulated area, that's the good news. Literally, I was on Google Earth and couldn't find one single house where we're talking right through here, south of Albany. And this is the area.

And Albion is really a very small town in itself, but if one is rotating, more could rotate again this afternoon.

[15:10:02]

Bigger hail down to the south into parts of Texas, could be tennis ball-sized hail for sure. But there's the risk area, the watches have now been posted and they will continue throughout the day.

The earliest part of the storm, where we are right now, I believe is the most dangerous because the storms are not lined up. When they line up, they all kind of fight for the same humidity, the same moisture, the same lift. But when they're all by themselves when they're just starting out, that's when they can be the big dog all by itself and wants to spin and that's what's going on right now.

By later on this afternoon, things begin to move to the east and even by tomorrow, you will see some thunder and lightning through Houston all the way down through New Orleans as well, but not as severe again tomorrow. And today isn't even as severe as yesterday, but already warnings are posted, Jim, so we're going to watch it for you.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I know you're going to keep us on top of it, Chad Myers in the Weather Center. Boris?

SANCHEZ: A warning from within their own party. A sitting Republican congresswoman says the GOP's extreme stance on abortion is going to cost them in 2024.

And Sen. John Fetterman opening up about his battle with depression. The role, he says, his debate with Dr. Oz played.

Plus, the NYPD is searching for the driver of this car seen barreling down a Manhattan sidewalk. All this and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:34]

SANCHEZ: Pennsylvania senator, John Fetterman, is back on the Hill after his treatment for clinical depression. Fetterman tells People Magazine he was "firmly indifferent to living," and his tough Senate race made his mental health worse. The 53-year-old Democrat describes his big debate against Republican opponent Mehmet Oz as something of a turning point.

Listen to this. He says, "I'll never forget the date. It was October 25th. I knew I was going into this debate that millions of people were going to be watching. And it wasn't even just for Pennsylvanians watching, this would be kind of national, it would be living in history. But I was still in recovery from the stroke. It would be trying to run a marathon with a broken ankle."

Joining us now is Dr. Jeff Gardere. He's a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist and Professor of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Gardere, thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. You would imagine that winning such a big Senate race would be one of the happiest proudest moments of someone's life. But that's just not how depression works, right?

GARDERE: Exactly. And what happens with depression is it completely changes your outlook. So anything that is extremely positive now becomes negative. And what we're seeing with Sen. Fetterman is that there is a link between that stroke that he had and possibly with depression. We see that. Depression occurs after a stroke in one in three patients. So what we're seeing here is the possibility that the stroke may have caused the depression or deepened a depression that may have been there, because of the neurotransmitters, because of dying tissue in the brain from the stroke or also that there is a depression that comes in finding out that you are now on a road to recovery, but it is an extremely long road, Boris.

SANCHEZ: So in layman's terms, what happens when someone has a stroke that changes their brain that might trigger a depression?

GARDERE: Well, what we see is there's something called an infarct. And what that is, is dying tissue of the brain, because the vessels of the brain are not getting enough blood. What is theorized that may have happened was an atrial fibrillation that the Senator may have had may have caused some sort of an infarct in the heart or in occlusion of blood in the heart, and it traveled up to the brain, and therefore cause this sort of problem.

And what this may have caused is what we called some sort of a receptive and expressive aphasia. In other words, a sort of a brain damage where the person has difficulties processing and producing speech.

The good news is, through many months, sometimes years of getting treatment for some people, it's much quicker than that. For him, it looks like it's going to take a little bit longer that many people do recover.

SANCHEZ: That is great to hear, Doctor. I'm curious about the kind of treatment that he could receive and how the challenges of serving in Congress might impact that treatment.

GARDERE: Well, I am really disheartened to see how many of the political trolls are looking at every misstep because of not fully being back emotionally and physically from the stroke from his depression and that's absolutely the wrong message that we're sending.

We need to be, if nothing else, promoting individuals who come back from something like this and really praising them. But to your exact question, what we tend to see is they need to get more speech and language therapy, which I'm sure he's getting physical and occupational therapy, as well as counseling, mental health support, and of course for his depression, psychotherapy as well as medications are very helpful.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Some of that criticism on social media is just uncalled for and does nothing to relieve the stigma that there is oftentimes around mental health.

Dr. Jeff Gardere, we very much appreciate your expertise.

GARDERE: Absolutely.

[15:20:01]

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much. Brianna? GARDERE: Great to talk to you again, Boris.

KEILAR: The nation is awaiting the Supreme Court's ruling on the most common method of abortion, the pill Mifepristone. The decision could land at any time between now and midnight tomorrow and it will impact women everywhere even those in states where abortion is currently legal.

The decision comes as state Republicans aggressively restrict abortion. Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, just signed a six-week abortion ban into law and while the right digs in on the issue, Democrats have seen an electoral boost from deep red Kansas voting to protect abortion rights to liberals taking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to the GOP is lackluster midterms.

Now Republican congresswoman, Nancy Mace, is calling out her party for what she calls their extremism on the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): We haven't learned anything if we're going to sign a six-week ban mandating rape victims report to police to get an exception and do it in the dead of night. That is not where the American people are. You can be pro-life and be pro-woman. The two are not mutually exclusive.

And as a great victim, I want Ron DeSantis to know what rape victims have to go through. We will not win the popular vote in '24 if we continue down this path of extremism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: David Chalian is here to break all of this down for us.

I mean, David, we don't yet know where the Supreme Court is going to land on this, but we have a pretty good idea where voters are.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. On the abortion medication piece, specifically, Brianna, take a look, this is a Pew Research survey that came in the beginning of April here, 53 percent, a slim majority of Americans believe medication abortion should be legal. Only 22 percent, one out of every five Americans believe it should be illegal and about a quarter of Americans say they're not sure.

KEILAR: And what about overall on abortion.

CHALIAN: So now you have to start asking specifics on this. So we took a look at a six-week abortion ban. This is from last summer AP-NORC poll, 74 percent of Americans say allow an abortion to be illegal at the six week mark only 25 percent say no. This is how unpopular broadly nationally what Ron DeSantis just signed into law in Florida.

Fifteen weeks is something Lindsey Graham has proposed as a piece of federal legislation, 53 percent of Americans say allow abortion to be illegal - legal at the 15-week mark, 45 percent say not allow. Again, this is from last summer. And then if you look overall at how Americans feel about the Dobbs decision last year from the Supreme Court. It's wildly unpopular. Two thirds of Americans, 67 percent, oppose what the Supreme Court did last year by overturning 50 years of precedent, only a third of Americans are in favor of it.

KEILAR: That's a huge number. I wonder if Republicans should be paying attention to what Nancy Mae said if they have an eye toward, say, a general election.

CHALIAN: Yes, I mean, Nancy Mace is keenly aware of all the numbers we just ran through. And if you look at sort of the patchwork now that is America on this issue, because the Supreme Court returned it to the States, you can see here in purple where it remains legal her home state, South Carolina.

One of them - she is from a battleground district. So she obviously does not represent Republicans everywhere and all Republicans, but she does represent somebody trying to win over independents and thinking about that general election context.

KEILAR: Yes, those numbers that you walk us through, she really has to deal with all of those. David, thank you ...

CHALIAN: Yes, sure.

KEILAR: ... so much for walking us through that. Jim?

SCIUTTO: The U.S. is now deploying service members near Sudan to help with a potential evacuation of the U.S. Embassy there. We're going to have the latest from the region next.

And NATO's chief making a surprise visit to war-torn Ukraine. Could NATO membership be on the table?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:22]

SANCHEZ: One of the four Oklahoma officials allegedly heard on a secret recording talking about lynching black people and killing journalists is now out of a job. Mark Jennings resigned from the McCurtain County Commission with a handwritten letter dated Wednesday. Oklahoma governor, Kevin Stitt, has called on all four officials heard on that recording to resign after journalists released parts of it. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this were back in the day (inaudible) you take a damn black guy and whoop their ass and throw them in the cell, I'd run for (inaudible) sheriff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, well, it's not like that's no more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. Take them downhill to a mud creek and hang them up with a damn rope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just can't do that anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got more rights than we got.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Gary Tuchman is live in Idabel, Oklahoma for us.

Gary, tell us more about Mark Jennings and the three other officials that Gov. Stitt called on to resign.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we have heard from two of those officials including that Former County Commissioner. He had a hand written note explaining his resignation. I'm going to read it to you.

"Effective immediately. I, Mark Jennings, do hereby resign as McCurtain County District II Commissioner. I will release a formal statement in the near future regarding the recent events in our county."

What that means, whether he's going to apologize or complain, we just don't know.

Now, two of the other people, the Sheriff Kevin Clardy and the sheriff investigator, Alicia Manning, we went to the Sheriff's Office, we talked to a sergeant there and asked if we could speak to them. We were told they were not in the office but they are still working.

[15:25:00]

And then the fourth person, jail administrator, Larry Hendrix, he works right across the street from us here at the jail. We went to the jail and we met him at the entrance.