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Russia Accuses U.S. of Kremlin Attack; Jobs Numbers for Last Week; Court Appearance for Atlanta Mass Shooting Suspect; Special Counsel Probing Trump Organization; New Report on Justice Thomas' Grandnephew. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 04, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:44]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A strong denial from the White House. They call Russia's latest claims ridiculous. This after the Kremlin suggested the U.S. directed Ukraine to carry out that alleged drone attack.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Brand-new jobs numbers just in to CNN. What they say about the state of the U.S. economy now just after the Federal Reserve announced another interest rate hike. The third this year.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Captured after a nearly eight-hour search in Atlanta. Police have arrested a man accused of opening fire inside a medical center. At least one person has died. Ahead, what we're learning about the victims and a potential motive behind that shooting.

These major stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: Ridiculous. That is what the White House is calling Russia's baseless accusation this morning that the U.S. directed Ukraine to carry out that alleged drone attack on the Kremlin. Moscow claims that this was an attempt to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement and there is no evidence to support any of these new claims. CNN analysis of this video that circulated online does confirm that an attack or something happened, but it is still unclear where these drones came from.

CNN's Nic Robertson is in eastern Ukraine this morning.

And, Nic, it is notable several cities in Ukraine, at least three, have seen some of the heaviest bombing or shelling from the Russians in months. What do you make of it?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: In the capital Kyiv, a city official said this was the heaviest they'd seen this year. Everything fired at Kyiv, though, shot down. Drones fired in the southern city - southern region as well of Odessa. Fifteen of these unmanned aerial vehicles fired in the direction of Odessa, 12 of them shot down. Three landed on educational facilities. No injuries according to the Ukrainians.

But what was interesting here, that on the tail fins of these drones was written the message, from Moscow, from Kremlin on another one of those tail fins. An apparent reference to the alleged drone strike on the Kremlin itself.

The place that took the hardest hammering, however, was Kherson. Now, this could be because the Russians think that this is a place the Ukrainians will launch a counter offensive from, 539 artillery rounds fired into that city by early this morning according to local officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attention, the air alert is over. May the force be with you.

ROBERTSON: That was the end of an air raid alert here. We just get them regularly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attention, the air alert is over.

ROBERTSON: Sorry, just getting rid of that air raid warning. End of air raid warning.

So, in that city of Kherson, there were 23 people killed, 46 of them wounded. Two of them children. And that was the most intense shelling since the beginning of the war on the city of Kherson. But that may speak more to the possibility of a counteroffensive.

Interestingly, President Zelenskyy meeting today with the Dutch and Belgian prime minister in the Netherlands, in The Hague, speaking about President Putin's war criminal designation at the International Criminal Court, jokingly saying, I think you probably want to see the other Vladimir here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE: Of course we all want to see different Vladimir here in The Hague. The one who deserves to be sentenced for these criminal actions right here in the capital of the international law. And I am sure we will see that happen when we win. And we will win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: But there was a very serious message from President Zelenskyy in the Netherlands as well, thanking allies and partners for support, asking for more weapons, thanking them for tanks, asking for more armored vehicles, and also asking again for fighter aircraft, which, interestingly, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, didn't rule out as a possibility.

[09:05:01]

John.

BERMAN: All right, Nic Robertson for us in eastern Ukraine. Nic, stay safe.

Those air raid warnings that Nic is getting, just a part of life there. And it reflects the reality on the ground.

With us now is retired General Wesley Clark, CNN military analyst and former NATO supreme allied commander.

And, General, you know, it's no coincidence that Nic is hearing those air raid warnings now. Overnight, officials in Kyiv said they've received the most Russian bombings and attacks since the beginning of this year. Kherson, 23 people have died in the last few days in Russian shelling. And in Odessa, there were drone attacks overnight. And one of them apparently had this message written on it that said for the Kremlin. Theoretically for the attack on the Kremlin there.

Why do you think Russia is targeting these cities in this way right now?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think it's an effort to put more pressure on the Ukrainians, but it's also good for Russian domestic morale. And when I look at the video of yesterday's alleged drone strike on the Kremlin, look at the past record of Kremlin activities, Putin's activities, you see this as mostly a domestic thing.

Now, if he can get some international traction by blaming the United States, sure, that serves their purpose and distracts them. I think the Russians are quite concerned about the potential of the Ukrainian counteroffensive when it comes, but this is what they can do right now because they've been checkmated so to say - so to speak trying to break through in Bakhmut, in other places. That hasn't worked for them. So, it's back to a terror campaign against somebody else.

BERMAN: I want to show people again. We've been - we've been showing this video. You mentioned it right now, of the drone attack yesterday. I froze it right when the explosion happens. But one other interesting part of this. You can see the viewing stands here for what is going to be the May 9th victory parade. You can see (INAUDIBLE) right there. This is where the Russian military will be marching in just a few days as a display of their military prowess. It makes it all the more interesting, General, that it's Russia that is the one talking more about these drone attacks than almost anyone else in the world right now. Why? What do they get out of publicizing this?

CLARK: Out of publicizing it, they bring - they get sympathy from their population. They get the ability to put more pressure on for their next wave of mobilization. They may get an excuse for not having the mayday parade. That could be a -- this could be a good way of stopping the parade, saying it's too risky. So, they get a lot of things domestically for it and - and it also whips up the right wing of these Russian military blogists and some of the others in the Duma who want even more vicious attacks on civilians in Ukraine. It lets Putin put himself in the middle of the spectrum of Russian opinion. It provides him domestic support. It has to be seen that way. There's no military rational for two drones hitting a dome on the Kremlin. BERMAN: General, I'm showing right now video of an oil refinery fire.

This is inside Russia. And this continues to be one of the types of sites that Russia claims that Ukraine is targeting. I have them up on the map here. That refinery fire down here over the Russian border. There have been attacks also in Crimea with things exploding. Belgorad, again, over the Russian border, and then Moscow, which may be a different animal here.

What's the Ukrainian strategy if they are behind these attacks? What is Ukraine trying to do in this season?

CLARK: Set aside the alleged attack on Moscow. The rest of these attacks, John, are - they're all about hitting the logistics backing for the Russian operation. It's rail lines, it's staging areas, it's fuel supply points and refinery storage and so forth. All of the things that could contribute to Russia's military prowess when the Ukrainian counteroffensive kicks off.

What you want to do is take away their flexibility. The Russians would be unable to maneuver, unable to reinforce, unable to refuel. That would be the aim. Then Ukrainian forces would have a much easier time relatively.

BERMAN: General Wesley Clark, thank you for helping us out this morning. I expect we'll be speaking with you again soon.

Sara.

SIDNER: Within the last hour we received new data on the strength of the jobs market. And 242,000 Americans filed jobless claims last week. That's slightly more than analysts expected and a hint the labor market just might be softening. These numbers coming just one day ahead of the release of the key April unemployment report.

This morning we're also keeping an eye on L.A. The L.A.-based bank PacWest, yet another bank that could be in danger. PacWest shares fell more than 50 percent in after-hours trading on reports that it was, quote, exploring strategic options.

[09:10:05]

This, of course, coming just days after the collapse of First Republic Bank, which was the second largest bank failure in United States history.

Joining me now to break all of this down, CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans.

Let's start with the jobs numbers.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Sure.

SIDNER: What does that indicate is happening?

ROMANS: It's essentially a proxy for layoffs, Sara, and so it shows you that layoffs are starting to pick up a little bit. This is after a year of Fed rate hikes where they've been trying to cool down the labor market. So, 242,000 is that number.

For some context, before Covid, on average it was like 311,000.

SIDNER: Right.

ROMANS: So, rising, but still not the kind of layoffs we were seeing, or the kind of job market we were seeing before Covid. Still a tight job market, but cooling off a little bit.

SIDNER: It's always depressing to hear the word "layoffs" no matter what.

ROMANS: Right. True.

SIDNER: Let me ask you about what exactly this whole debacle now with PacWest we've seen now. This is the third bank, small regional bank.

ROMANS: Yes.

SIDNER: But the third one that could be in trouble.

ROMANS: So, you know, we heard from the Fed chief yesterday that the resolution of First Republic meant that the worst of the banking crisis was behind us. We heard the same thing from Jamie Dimon.

SIDNER: Right.

ROMANS: And this morning we wake up to a regional bank stock that's been cut in half overnight and the company confirming it is exploring strategic options, which is sort of an SOS in Wall Street terms. It's looking for a buyer. It's looking for a capital raise and not really getting a lot of bites here so far.

The - PacWest, in a statement, saying this. The bank has not experienced out of the ordinary deposit flows following the sale of First Republic Bank and other news. What that means is nothing has changed here for the bank. It really hasn't. Nothing is different here. There's no news. There's no reason why the stock is down. The stock is down because investors are hunting around for the weak gazelle in the herd and they're looking at some of these banks and they are - and they are selling those shares. This one in particular, you can see PacWest shares, this is even before the overnight - the overnight slide. We'll see if that slide holds into the opening bell.

But this has been a tough go for PacWest and for some other regional banks as well here simply because of a lack - or a loss of confidence in the banking sector.

And you've got the big wigs like Jamie Dimon and the Fed chief trying to restore that confidence -

SIDNER: Saying everything is - right.

ROMANS: But investors, at least so far, are saying otherwise.

SIDNER: When they see evidence that there's a problem, it doesn't matter what you say, right?

ROMANS: Yes.

SIDNER: Christine Romans, thank you so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, today, this man, Deion Patterson, he is going to make a first court appearance in Atlanta. He is the suspected gunman accused of opening fire at a medical center yesterday. One person was killed, four others were injured. And after the shooting, Patterson evaded police, leading to a nearly eight-hour manhunt.

It all started yesterday about 12:08 p.m. at the North Side Hospital medical building in midtown Atlanta. He allegedly opened fire in a waiting room. Then around 12:30, as you see, he was spotted near The Battery, that's where -- near the Atlanta - where the stadium where the Atlanta Braves play. That's about ten miles north of the city. And then after that hours-long manhunt, he was spotted again by an undercover officer at a condo complex and police say that he was finally arrested around 7:45 last night.

CNN's Nick Valencia is in Atlanta following all of this for us.

Nick, let's start with the now. Now what's expected when he's about to appear in court?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey there, Kate.

Deion Patterson is currently being held in the Fulton County Jail here behind me. And I spoke to the jail this morning. They tell me that he is expected to make his first court appearance at 11:30, but they did say that he maintains the right to waive that first appearance. That has not happened yet. We have not gotten any official word on that. So, we do expect him to show up here so far at about 11:30 this morning.

Meanwhile, we are hearing from the suspect's mother this morning. She sent a statement to our affiliate here locally, WANF. And in that statement she starts by apologizing to all those affected by yesterday's tragedy. Just an absolutely terrifying day here in Atlanta. And she went on, in her statement, to focus on the mental health of her son. I want to read part of that statement, which says, this mental health is real. And when we say it's real, from the medical standpoint, it is real. And when someone is saying they need help, or you see that they are acting out of sorts, they need help. Help them, just don't disregard them. They need help and I am trying to be the advocate for my son. He was turned away.

Police have not yet released a motive on why Patterson is alleged to have opened fire at that medical facility. But according to our affiliate, WSB, the mother told them that he grew agitated after he was denied access to a prescription for anxiety called Ativan. He then went on to open fire, injuring four people, killing one person. And this, I mentioned a terrifying day in the city. So many people affected by it, including our family, Kate. You know, the person that was killed, Amy St. Pierre, she was a friend of our close friends. And she was in the same mother's group as my wife. She was a mother herself, two small kids. I spoke to her friends this morning who tell me that she was just a magnetic person, she was energetic and everyone here that knew her is mourning her loss and thinking the best for those victims that are still in critical condition.

[09:15:05]

One, we understand, is in stable condition.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Nick, I had no idea. I am so sorry. We're looking at her picture, Amy St. Pierre, right here. Just 38 years old. I am so sorry to hear about that. How does -- how is your wife doing?

VALENCIA: Yes, you know, there's a lot of connections and similarities, you know?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

VALENCIA: My wife, I think, you know, I spoke to her this morning, she was saying, you know, you could really just swap out her for Amy. You know, Amy had showed up for a doctor's appointment. You know, you have small kids, you know how many doctor's appointments you go to.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

VALENCIA: So, they're all reeling. She had a connection to Emory. She had a connection to CDC. My wife is an epidemiologist. She works in the public health community here. You know, this is a tragedy that's deeply affected everyone here and our household as well, Kate.

BOLDUAN: I am so sorry, Nick. Thank you, though, for sharing that. It does - just, you could swap - you could swap Amy out, it could be - it could be any one of us, and that's why it is so terrifying, no matter -- it happens way, way, way too often. Thank you so much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, a person of interest is identified in connection with a series of stabbings near the UC Davis campus. What police are saying about this latest development.

Plus, new details on this, a CNN exclusive, former Vice President Mike Pence testifies before the grand jury investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol. It was a marathon session. We'll have details straight ahead.

And for the first time the world has a vaccine to protect against a common respiratory illness. Who will be eligible for it and when will doctors have it in stock? That's all coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:20:50]

BERMAN: On the radar this morning, a Mississippi man is in jail, charged with threatening to kill U.S. Senator Roger Wicker. Court documents show that William Sappington went to the home of Wicker's cousin last week looking for the senator. He allegedly told the cousin, you tell him I'm going to kill him, referring to Wicker. Sappington now denies he said that, but the FBI says in their conversations with him he seemed to think Senator Wicker was his last resort to get justice for what he saw as a wrongful arrest in 2014. CNN has reached out to Sappington's attorneys for comment.

Police in Davis, California, say they are questioning a person of interest in connection with three stabbings that happened in the last week. Two of the three people who were stabbed died. The third person is in critical condition. A police spokesperson says the person of interest was not detained and is cooperating voluntarily. The University of California at Davis has been closing all campus facilities before 8:00 p.m. and is urging students not to travel alone.

Jamie Foxx has posted to social media for the first time since he was hospitalized in Atlanta three weeks ago. It's still not clear exactly what kind of medical complication he suffered. He did post a message on Instagram. It said, quote, appreciate all the love, feeling blessed. Nick Cannon will now step in to host the upcoming season of Foxx's game show "Beat Shazam."

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, there could be some important new testimony today in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents probe. Sources are telling CNN that prosecutors, they want to know how surveillance video at Mar-a-Lago was handled after Donald Trump and his team received subpoenas last summer for the material. Here's who this key witness testimony could be coming from today.

Matthew Calamari Jr., he's on the left. He's the director of security for the Trump Organization. His father, Matthew Calamari Sr., on the right, is executive vice president and chief operating officer. Both will go before a grand jury today.

CNN's Paula Reid is following this. She's joining us right now.

So, Paula, what can you tell us first - what have you learned about why Jack Smith, the special counsel, is interested in this security footage?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, this footage is critical to understanding what happened to these classified materials once they were sent down to Mar-a-Lago. We've previously reported that on some of this footage you can see Walt Nada, a junior Trump aide, and another employee moving some boxes that we now learned contained classified material, out of storage. Now, they've also questioned Nada about exactly what transpired there, who asked him to move those boxes, because, remember, they're not just investigating the possible mishandling of classified materials. They're also looking into whether anyone tried to obstruct this investigation. So, that's why it's critical now to make sure that they have all of this security footage.

Now, we know that this interest has spurred another round of new subpoenas and they've already questioned some other Trump Organization employees about this particular issue. But this is a significant development. If there was any issue with this security footage, that would definitely be an advancement in this investigation.

BOLDUAN: So, then what are you hearing about those two men I was just talking about, the Calamaris? How do they relate to all of this?

REID: Kate, when we learned this yesterday through our reporting, I was really struck because Matthew Calamari Sr., he's the chief operating officer of the Trump Organization. He's an executive vice president. He has been with the organization for decades. And during that time he has mostly overseen security. This is one of former President Trump's closest and most trusted advisers. And as you noted, his son also works there. He officially oversees security as the director of security. So the fact that both of these men will be testifying before the grand jury is significant. And we've learned that among the things Calamari Sr. is expected to be asked about is a text message that he allegedly received from Walt Nada and any conversations that happened offline after that text message.

But these are significant developments in this investigation. The fact that Special Counsel Jack Smith and his investigators have gotten this deep into Trump's inner circle is really remarkable. And people ask me all the time, Kate, is this investigation going to wrap up anytime soon? And this new reporting from Katelyn Polantz and myself, clearly the answer is no.

[09:25:00]

BOLDUAN: It's so interesting.

Paula, great reporting, as always. Thank you so much.

Let's talk more about this. Joining me right now is former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Elliott Williams.

Let's start right here What do you think of the fact that the special counsel is now looking to how the Trump Organization handled the surveillance footage. What - what does that say to you?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It seems quite clear that they're looking into obstruction of justice. I think there's two buckets of crimes possibly being investigated here, the actual mishandling or possession of documents in violation of law, but also obstruction of justice after the fact. And I think what they will be trying to get at today is, number one, any conversations leading up to, any moving or mishandling of surveillance footage, but also conversations afterward, as Paula have noted. All of those could go to this question that someone tried to falsify or conceal a record as a means of getting in the way of an investigation. BOLDUAN: Elliot, to go down this road, is this just good due diligence

in an investigation, or do you think there's some inkling, some tip, some suggestion that something was tampered with?

WILLIAMS: I mean, yes and no. It's - I mean certainly it could be due diligence. But the simple fact is, you ought not use a grand jury just for a fishing expedition to try to find new crimes. BOLDUAN: Yes.

WILLIAMS: More often than not what they're doing is following up on leads or information they had. And it would seem that they had some evidence or indication, maybe not something they could get into court or bring a whole case around, but some evidence or indication that some file or some footage or some box was moved as a means specifically knowingly, which is the language in the law, knowingly to get in the way or impede or disrupt the investigation.

BOLDUAN: Elliot, CNN is also reporting that Jack Smith, the special counsel, he was sitting in on the testimony -- Mike Pence's testimony to the grand jury.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Does that just further indicate to you how critical and important the Mike Pence -- what Mike Pence says, what he can present, what he can answer to, is to the case that they would be building, or does it say something else?

WILLIAMS: No, absolutely it's important. It's not uncommon for the boss, the U.S. attorney or the division head, whoever it might be, to sit in on a really high-profile or important witness interview, one, to supervise his folks, two, to help tie the information together. He's overseeing probably lots of people. And this is clearly a critical witness given his proximity to the person being investigated in the former president. It also might just be a sign to the witness of how seriously the office takes the interview. So, it's not abnormal, but it's a big deal when the boss, the big boss, sits in on an interview like that.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. It's great to see you, Elliot. Thank you.

WILLIAMS: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, this morning, the controversy surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' relationship with a GOP mega donor is getting bigger. "Pro Publica" is now reporting the Texas billionaire paid for Justice Thomas' grandnephew to attend two private boarding schools. The exact amount is unclear, but that tab could have been more than $150,000.

CNN's senior Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic joins us now.

What else is "Pro Publica" saying? This is on top of many other things that have come out about this relationship between the Supreme Court justice and Mr. Crow, this huge GOP donor?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SENIOR SUPREME COURT ANALYST: That's right. Good morning, Sara.

You know, the latest "Pro Publica" reporting, quite extensive as it is, adds to the picture that we're seeing of how much Harlan Crow financially benefited Clarence Thomas and his family. You mentioned the earlier reporting of the lavish trips that he had financed for the justice on, you know, private jet, super yacht to these wonderful places across the globe.

This new reporting involves a young man who's now in his 30s, who, when he was a child, this grandnephew of Clarence Thomas lived with him and his wife, Ginny, and they had him in their home and they sent him to school locally and then to these boarding schools. And what "Pro Publica" has reported is that Clarence Thomas got at least, as they documented, $6,200 they found on a bank statement that had been paid for this young man's education. As you said, that they have thought that that total amount could end up exceeding $150,000.

Harlan Crow has responded by saying, you know, he's - that he's been passionate about education. He wanted to help the unfortunate. Clarence Thomas himself has not responded to any questions from CNN. But this - the important part is this larger context of the justices themselves not wanting to have any kind of formal code of ethics, really being reluctant to list various things on their financial disclosure forms as - as we saw this week, Congress is holding hearings on this. And I think in the past, Sara, the justices have hoped that this would just die away. I don't know if that's going to happen this time, Sara.

[09:30:01]

SIDNER: Perhaps the drip, drip, drip of all the things coming out may force them to do something that they've been asked to do.

Thank you so much, Joan Biskupic, we appreciate you, live there from Washington.

BISKUPIC: Thank you.