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Wagner Group Chief Issues First Statement Since Weekend Rebellion; Supreme Court Allows Louisiana Congressional Map To Be Redrawn To Add Another Majority-Black District; Colorado Springs Club Q Shooter Pleads Guilty. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired June 26, 2023 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning. Wagner mercenary group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin released new audio claiming that two factors played into his decision to turn around his march on Moscow. The first factor being that he wanted to avoid Russian bloodshed, and also that the march was a demonstration of protest and not intended to overturn power in Russia. Although he did end up downing three aircraft, two helicopters, and a plane.

Joining us now from Kyiv, Ukraine is CNN Chief International Security Editor Nick Paton Walsh. And here with me is CNN Senior Global Affairs Analyst, Bianna Golodryga. Thank you so much for being here. And thank you to Nick.

I do want to talk to you first, Bianna, about what has been said by Prigozhin because I think the headline here is he said that it was planned that his unit would cease to exist on July 1, which is basically accusing the military of trying to clamp down and get rid of his group that is fighting in Ukraine.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes.

SIDNER: What does that tell you?

GOLODRYGA: Well, clearly, this was seen as an existential threat to Yevgeny Prigozhin. And this came after a directive by Defense Minister Shoigu on June 10, said as much that all control of mercenary groups and private fighters would come under the auspices of the Minister of -- Ministry of Defense. Now, that having been said, what's interesting is that Vladimir Putin had supported that order and dictate from Shoigu.

And U.S. intelligence and my sources tell me Ukrainian intelligence as well, and perhaps even Russian intelligence were aware that Yevgeny Prigozhin was planning to do something in terms of fighting back some kind of resistance. Why there wasn't better preparation on the part of Vladimir Putin on the Ministry of Defense's department, and why they were able to get as far as they did not over -- not only overtake a city of one million people from where the war was being directed itself. SIDNER: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: But also to be stopped just 120 miles outside of Moscow, he said, as you noted that he didn't want more bloodshed. He created what was arguably the worst most damaging day for the Russian Air Force in modern history.

SIDNER: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: And you have 12 dead airmen. And it was really fascinating to see the about-face from Vladimir Putin where he gave clear amnesty to these Wagner fighters. Now, what happens going forward?

What happens with these forces? It was interesting that we've heard from Yevgeny Prigozhin now. We still don't know exactly where he is.

SIDNER: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: We don't know where Vladimir Putin is. We heard from him recently. But again, as this Russian norm, we don't know when these videos were taped.

SIDNER: Right.

GOLODRYGA: And it was pretty ambiguous in terms of what the timing of it and little information out of Vladimir Putin over the last 24 hours.

SIDNER: Right. We're not -- we're not seeing him.

GOLODRYGA: Right.

[11:35:06]

SIDNER: We don't know where he is. He was supposed to be in Belarus and he never showed up there. The question is -- I mean he sounds frightened just from reading some of the things that he has said in the audio. He sounds like he's on the back foot and he's trying to make excuses for what happened.

I want to get to our Nick Paton Walsh, who was there in Kyiv. Nick, the Ukrainians have to be celebrating this because this was a group that was extremely brutal in the war there. And now, who knows what's going to be the result of this?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes. I mean, it does sound from this 11-minute audio message. And it is often that Prigozhin sends audio and not video sometimes rambling this in particular over 11 minutes.

It does sound like he thinks he can continue to keep the Wagner in existence as a legal entity saying that the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, extended a hand and essentially suggesting that they may be able to find a way to continue to exist as a legal entity inside of Belarus. Now, I don't know if that was originally part of what the Kremlin thought was going to happen. And it's not clear, as Bianna was saying if Prigozhin is indeed in Belarus.

But this is, I think, a culmination or another chapter of Prigozhin being a form in the Russian military side. And for months, he's been highlighting what everyone can see, frankly, the catastrophic mismanagement of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So, Ukrainian officials, I think, will hear this and perhaps be interested to learn that Prigozhin is trying to dial down where he is saying this is not a conflict with Putin.

He did originally start out saying his beef was in the -- with the Russian top brass. And that escalated on Saturday morning when Putin accused him of being scum who needed inevitable punishment. But he's now suggesting it could be a way forward. And importantly, pointing out that a plan had been put forward where Wagner could essentially join the Russian Ministry of Defense at the end of the month, but only one or two percent of Wagner fighters chose to do that because they realized it would end their combat effectiveness.

Are we going to see them pulled from the front line here? Is that going to weaken Russian positions? That's something that Ukraine is going to be poring over intensely.

We've seen incremental progress over the weekend. Nothing is a departure from what we've seen during these weeks with the first part of the counter-offensive, but there may also have been Russian military recalibration during the past 72 hours to try and respond to the Wagner threat. We know 3000 Chechen fighters were redeployed to Moscow. That may have weakened part of the frontline near Marinka in Donetsk.

All of this is being poured over. But the ultimate takeaway here, frankly, for Ukraine, is there's clear there's chaos inside Putin's inner circle here. We knew Prigozhin was critical but we didn't know that Russia and even Moscow, the capital, could potentially allow for over hundreds of miles a column, the Wagner forces to move towards it no matter how small or shabby they may turn out to have been appalling optics.

And still today, Vladimir Putin releasing pre-recorded speeches. Not circulating himself, whether that's by design to distance himself from the catastrophe or whether that's because he's still working out what to do. We don't know. But the appalling time for the Russian higher command. Sara.

SIDNER: Yes. The madness within the Russian regime is certainly going to help in some way, the Ukrainians as they fight against them. Thank you so much, Nick Paton Walsh.

Bianna, now to you. I mean, what happens next? Because we know what we have seen in Russia. Do -- they either jail people who come up against Putin or they poison them, throw them out of windows. So, Prigozhin right now is hedging his bets. He's nowhere to be found.

GOLODRYGA: Well, I wouldn't take out life insurance on Yevgeny Prigozhin at this point. But it's interesting that Vladimir Putin up until this point had sort of built a foolproof fortress around himself, preserving his power for 23 years. And that has been really focusing on the more liberal opposition groups.

They either left the country, they've been killed, poisoned, or are in prison, like Alexei Navalny. And what's been the big riddle is why he's allowed someone like Yevgeny Prigozhin for months now to not attack him directly, but attack the way this war is being orchestrated, and the leaders of this war. And the position that this puts him in, now let's remind ourselves that Vladimir Putin is still in charge and that this did not end up working in Yevgeny Prigozhin's favor.

SIDNER: Right.

GOLODRYGA: That having been said, he now has to decide does he get rid of these people who are leading the war, and that is Valery Gerasimov, the commander of the war, or the defense minister himself, Sergei Shoigu. You can say objectively that they've done a pretty terrible job but Vladimir Putin has always valued loyalty over even service and discipline.

And so, here we now find him in a dilemma of what happens. And does that make him look even weaker if he gives in to some of these demands from Yevgeny Prigozhin and that is getting rid of these two men that are overseeing this war?

SIDNER: It's such good analysis. The irony of all of this, Putin brought this on himself.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

SIDNER: He invaded Ukraine.

GOLODRYGA: He created his Frankenstein.

[11:40:02]

SIDNER: And created this situation. And now, he finds himself in a very difficult position.

Thank you, Bianna, for everything. And thank you for this. This is your first time on our show.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Great to be here.

SIDNER: We'd love to -- we're going to have you back. All right. Vibe. Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up still for us. The Supreme Court making more big moves today including on the future -- on future elections in Louisiana. We have the details on why Louisiana Congressional maps may be headed back to the drawing board now. We'll be back.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, new this morning. The Supreme Court with a move that could impact the balance of power in Congress. This has to do with the Congressional map in Louisiana. CNN's Jessica Schneider joins us with the latest here. Jessica, what happened?

[11:45:05]

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, the Supreme Court saying that to prepare for 2024, they'll send this case back down to the lower court. This is a move that will likely lead to Louisiana's congressional maps being redrawn. Notably, this will be the second Southern State ordered to redraw maps after black voters said that they were disenfranchised because of the way that the voting maps were configured.

So, the Supreme Court sending this case back down to the lower court. And this is after a decision earlier this month where they did uphold Section Two of the Voting Rights Act. And earlier this month, they ordered Alabama's Congressional maps to be redrawn ahead of 2024. So now, this is involving the Louisiana maps.

And this dispute resulted because only one out of the six voting districts there were initially drawn to be majority black. And that map held for 2022 despite the fact that black voters in the state make up 33 percent of the state's population. So, black voters arguing that they should have at least -- had two of the six districts as majority black so that they were fairly represented in elections.

And, John, all of this is significant because the Supreme Court's ruling upholding Section Two of the Voting Rights Act, this really could lead to minorities. Other disenfranchised voters getting a chance to challenge maybe more voting maps in court as we move forward and move toward the 2024 election. John.

BERMAN: It is very interesting to see a second Southern State now have to go back and redraw those maps. Jessica, also today, something from the court on a case that had to do with what was the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC. What happened here?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, John. So, this was a case where individuals, just a handful of members of Congress, they were trying to sue to compel an executive branch agency to turn over documents about the former Trump hotel right here in Washington. So, this is a case where those members were suing individually rather than having a full committee subpoena for the documents.

A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court had actually signaled that they would hear this case, but now the justices are wiping away a lower court opinion and just saying we're not going to hear this case, it's essentially moot because of a few factors. You know, Trump is out of office. He no longer owns that hotel. And it's also likely because the individual members of Congress are no longer seeking these documents.

So, John, the Supreme Court will not hear this case. And that sort of still leaves this question open for future litigation, whether or not -- aside from a committee, whether these individual members of Congress can actually sue to get documents from another -- from an executive branch agency. So, that question is still open. The Supreme Court will not hear it anytime soon. John.

BERMAN: Right. Unanswered for now. Jessica Schneider, thanks so much. Great to see you. Kate.

BOLDUAN: A guilty plea just in. The gunmen accused of killing five people at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado, he now faces -- they now face five consecutive life sentences. The deal reached with prosecutors. That's next.

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[11:52:31]

SIDNER: This just into CNN. The suspect accused of killing five people and injuring 19 others at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs has just pleaded guilty in court. 23-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich faced over 50 charges stemming from the 2022 massacre. Aldrich faces five consecutive life sentences.

CNN's Josh Campbell is joining us now. Josh, was the guilty plea expected this morning?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Sara, it wasn't a surprise because the evidence was so overwhelming in this case, with multiple witnesses. And of course, just to remind our viewers. This defendant is accused of inflicting terror in the community of Colorado Springs last November after going into an LGBTQ club, and opening fire indiscriminately with an AR-15.

Of course, authorities say that that could have been so much worse because -- but for a U.S. Navy sailor who grabbed the barrel of that weapon, there was a U.S. Army veteran who then took down that shooter, he had multiple extra magazines of ammunition on him. But of course, sadly, five people were killed in that attack, over 40 additional were injured.

Now, the suspect just entered a plea of guilty. I want you to hear him addressing the judge. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MCHENRY, JUDGE, COLORADO FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT: There's five counts of murder in the first degree. How do you plead?

ANDERSON LEE ALDRICH, MASSACRE SUSPECT: Guilty. I intentionally and after deliberation caused the death of each victims listed in those counts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, as part of that plea, they also had to agree to five consecutive life sentences. The shooter here also agreeing to plea to additional counts of attempted murder. And then of course, finally, we have to focus on the victims as well.

As you and I speak right now, Sara, the family of those victims are in court giving what's called the victim impact statement. We should have a sentencing here very shortly.

SIDNER: This was considered a hate crime. Is there any sense the DOJ is going to get involved in this case?

CAMPBELL: No. It's such a good question. These are state charges right now that the shooter is facing, but we are waiting to see whether the federal government actually does get involved because we know based on the investigation or reporting that the suspect had posted online about his antipathy, his hatred for the LGBTQ community and so, that's one question we're still waiting to hear. Whether the federal government will get involved.

We've seen that in a number of instances where the feds will file hate crime charges. Obviously, when you're talking about murder that could carry the death penalty. So we'll have to wait and see on that front.

[11:55:09]

SIDNER: Josh Campbell, thank you for following this story. And thank you for your reporting there from Los Angeles.

CAMPBELL: You bet.

BOLDUAN: Five consecutive life sentences he's going to go against.

SIDNER: Yes. And he even read the statute and said, yes, I'm guilty of this.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SIDNER: All right.

BOLDUAN: There you go.

SIDNER: You don't see that every day.

BERMAN: Meanwhile, we are still waiting to hear from President Biden who has not spoken publicly --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- since this whole revolt in Russia. And he does have a public event schedule, so will he speak there?

BOLDUAN: That's a huge question at this hour. Thank you all so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is next.

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