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Eight Dead in Overnight Mass Shootings in Philly and Fort Worth; Russia Says, Five Ukrainian Drones Shot Down Near Moscow; GOP Contenders Hit the Trail for Independence Day. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 04, 2023 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Three people shot and killed in Texas just hours after a mass shooting in Philadelphia, dozens of spent shell casings littering the streets.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Russia is striking down several drones they say were sent by Ukraine to attack Moscow. This is just a day after a Russian drone killed three people in Ukraine.

BERMAN: Republican candidates on the trail today meeting voters in key primary states looking to set themselves apart and earn a spot at the first Republican debate.

Kate is off today. I'm John Berman alongside Sarah Sidner, and this is CNN News Central.

We have new video just in of the moments before a celebration in Texas turned tragic. It was one of two deadly mass shootings overnight. In Fort Worth, at least three people were killed and eight others injured. The scene pretty out of control before the violence really began.

So far, we know that 10 of the victims are adults, one is a juvenile.

In Philadelphia, five people were killed, two children injured, after a gunman opened fire at several locations in one neighborhood. When officers arrested the suspect, he was armed with both an AR-15 style rifle and a handgun. He was also wearing a bulletproof vest stock with several magazines of ammunition.

Police say they are working to determine a motive. So far, they have found no connection between the victims and the suspect.

We have CNN's as Danny Freeman and Ed Lavandera joining us right now. I want to start with Danny in Philadelphia. Bring us up to speed on the investigation there, Danny.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, right now the biggest question that police are asking is exactly why did this man start opening fire in this residential neighborhood the night before the 4th July. We still don't have an answer to that question. We still don't know much about the suspect. But I do want to tell you what we do know at this time.

This shooting started last night around 8:30 P.M. Philadelphia police, they got calls of multiple gunshots in the Kingsessing neighborhood. That's in the southwest part of the city of Philadelphia. And police officers responded. They found multiple gunshot victims in the street, and then they heard, John, a lot of gunshots in the area.

So, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, she described how the officers that responded to the scene, they were trying to find where these gunshots were coming from. They actually ended up chasing the suspect through different parts of, really, a small, little neighborhood in that Kingsessing area. They ultimately were able to trap the suspect in an alley and apprehended him and arrested him without even firing a bullet, which is pretty remarkable, because, as you said, the suspect was found wearing bulletproof vest, also carrying multiple weapons and multiple magazines.

But, again, the question as to why and how this all happened still ongoing. Take a listen to what Commissioner Outlaw said about that process that really has been going throughout the evening.

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COMMISSIONER DANIELLE OUTLAW, PHILADELPHIA: We're canvassing the area to get as much as we can to identify witnesses to identify where cameras are located and do everything that we can to figure out the why behind this happening.

At this point, all we know is that this person decided to leave their home and to target individuals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Now, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw initially said that there were six victims, four who were killed and then two children who were injured, but they are in stable condition. That included, actually, a two-year-old, John. But then overnight we learned there was a seventh victim, a fifth person who ultimately did die and was related to this shooting.

And just one other thing I want to mention, John. The things that were found on this person not only included that body armor, not only included multiple weapons and magazines, but also a police scanner, which suggests that this gunman was potentially listening to officers as they were closing on him.

And I just want to note that this was a large crime scene as well. Over 50 shell casings, like I said earlier, spanned a number of blocks, so still evidence to comb through when it comes to the police. And, of course, when we get more updates on potentially what led to this shooting, we'll bring that to you. John?

BERMAN: Yes. [10:05:00]

The presence of the police scanner, I have to say, Danny, fascinating. I am sure we will be hearing much more as the day progresses. Keep us posted.

All right, from Philadelphia to Fort Worth, let's go to Ed Lavandera there. Ed, we saw that video, that chaotic video of the scene from the celebration last night. What are you learning now?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, residents here have been telling us throughout the morning that what was going on out here on the streets last night, it was kind of the pre-July 4th celebration that has become very typical.

This is a neighborhood that always hosts a July 4th parade. In fact, right here behind me, you can see people already lining up to watch the parade. That, as far as we can tell, is still scheduled to go forth this morning in about an hour or so.

But last night, hundreds of people gathered out here last night. You could see setting off fireworks, the remnants of that celebration still littering the ground here. And several witnesses told us then at some point around midnight, shots started firing. People started running for their lives. This is how one witness described those chaotic moments after the gunfire erupted.

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MIKE VALLE, WITNESS: I felt like it was going to get out of hand because my friends were telling me, like, every year, usually it gets out of hand and stuff, like stuff that always happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: What he's referencing there is that two years ago, there was another shooting in this exact same area. On the same night, the night before July 4, eight people were shot. No one died in that shooting, but that was a shooting that erupted after an argument.

Investigators here in Fort Worth say they're still trying to figure out exactly who the gunman was and what was behind the motive here in this situation. Those witnesses were also telling us they believed that multiple people were firing weapons.

We have not gotten confirmation of that from Fort Worth Police, but in all, 11 people were shot. Three of those shooting victims have died. So, we'll continue to monitor the conditions of those other shooting victims throughout the day today, but another chaotic and deadly situation unfolding here on the streets on this holiday of July 4th. John?

BERMAN: All right. Ed Lavandera in Fort Worth, Danny Freeman in Philadelphia, our thanks to both of you.

And, Sara, I do want to know where Danny -- Danny was in Baltimore as of last night covering a different mass shooting, had to go to Philadelphia to cover this one. That just tells you what's happening.

SIDNER: Yes, it's so sad, like right before the holiday as well, when people are expected to be out and about and enjoying themselves.

All right, joining us now to talk all about this extreme gun violence that we've seen is former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis.

All right, Ed, thank you so much for coming on on this July 4th. I want to talk to you first about Fort Worth. We just heard from our reporter, Ed Lavandera, there shooting overnight. We just heard from somebody who said, look, this has happened before. It's something bad, quote, always happens in this neighborhood. Do you think there's a continued threat because they are going to have their July 4th parade and the person that is responsible or persons has not been caught?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Good morning, Sara. Thank you very much. There most definitely is a continuing threat. We all know that July 3rd, the night before the 4th, and July 4th, are unfortunately times of the year when we all prepare.

I had a conversation with the prosecutor earlier this week, and we were remarking that we have to stay on our toes this weekend because about -- this holiday season, because of what usually happens.

It's a bizarre situation, some of these celebrations that I've been to over the years. There's so many fireworks going off that people with ill intent use it as cover and can get away with shootings and get from the scene because there's so many explosions occurring all over the place that attention is not drawn to them. So, I mean, that's just my theory, but I've seen it happen over and over again in 35 years.

SIDNER: Yes, you and me both living in several cities, where people are shooting in the air while fireworks are going off, and a lot of people can't really tell the difference, especially on July 3rd and 4th.

I want to go to Philadelphia now. We're hearing from the commissioner there, Danielle Outlaw, I've sat down with her before, who is extremely frustrated about the gun violence that has erupted in Philadelphia now and before.

But what does it tell us about the suspect. He or she had a bulletproof vest, an AR-15 style rifle, a handgun, and this is an interesting point, he was listening to police scanners, apparently, as he is doing this. What does it tell you? I mean, certainly it says he had some sort of motive, but what does it tell you about him?

DAVIS: Well, first, Commissioner Outlaw did a tremendous this job. I know Danielle. She got all the information out there early this morning. We know what's happening there to the degree that we can understand it at this point in time.

What this individual did was prepare for this. The bulletproof vest, the police scanner show that this is not a mental health issue.

[10:10:05] This is someone who had plans, who had logic in their process, and someone who really wanted to kill as many people as they could.

Multiple magazines from an AR-15, a handgun for close in self- protection, and these tactical advantages that they're trying to get over the police by having a scanner, it's troubling. It shows an ongoing problem that we're having trouble dealing with here in this country.

And it also shows police that they really have to be on their toes when they're responding to these things because people are targeting them, too.

SIDNER: Yes, certainly. If we don't know the motive, we know that it was premeditated with all the things that the suspect in Philadelphia had on him.

I do want to ask you about what police can do, because we've already seen six mass shootings so far this past month. There were different motives, different circumstances. But what can police do with these breaking out all over the place? How do they handle it?

DAVIS: Well, there's a few things that they can do. Certainly, after a shooting, they have to drill down into this and understand what happened. And they're doing that right now by looking at social media and analyzing and exploiting the telephones that this individual uses and trying to get an idea of what drove it so that we can use that evidence to do preventive in the future.

But, frankly, the strategies that we use around field interrogation stops and stop and frisk of suspicious people have been severely limited lately, in some cases, rightfully so. But that strategy of putting officers out there and being on the lookout for people who are suspicious is a tried and true method of getting these guns off the street. And it's been hampered lately because of the backlash against police.

So, it's something that we have to think about, especially in high crime neighborhoods where there's a lot of shooting happening. The police can be more active, but they've pulled back a little bit right now.

SIDNER: Ed Davis, thank you so much for joining us on this 4th July. John?

BERMAN: Sarah, overnight, Russia claims it foiled a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, shooting down, they say, five drones. Video posted to social media shows a small cloud of smoke after reports from the Kremlin that these drones were neutralized. CNN has not verified the video.

Also this morning, Vladimir Putin made his first post-revolt remarks to his global allies. Putin thanked China and Iran for their support as questions over his power linger.

On the frontlines, there is brand new video just into CNN of a building smoldering in Kharkiv as Russia intensifies its assault in Eastern Ukraine. Ukraine's army says that 180,000 Russian troops have now been deployed to the eastern part of the country.

CNN's Ben Wedeman live this morning in Eastern Ukraine. Ben, let's start with this drone attack that Moscow alleges happened overnight. What details are there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We understand that four of those five drones, John, were brought down by air defenses outside of Moscow, the fifth brought down by electronic warfare methods.

Now, according to the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, the target, she said, was an area that contained civilian infrastructure and an airport. And, in fact, one of Moscow's four airports had to divert, according to the TASS news agency, 14 flights early in the morning. That airport is now up and running in normal normally once again.

Now, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry also said -- she said that these drones -- she said Zelenskyy sent these western-supplied drones which were bought with funds from the west. Therefore, it is, in her words, international terrorism.

Nobody was hurt. There's no reports of any damage caused by this incident as well. The Ukrainians have said that they -- well, they basically have no claim of responsibility as far as this incident goes. John?

BERMAN: All right, Ben. And we're also getting word overnight, this coming from Ukrainian military officials. They say that the Russians have deployed this enormous number of troops toward the east, upwards of 170,000 split into two parts there. What are you learning about that?

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WEDEMAN: Well, this is according to the spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the eastern part of the country. They say that it's divided between two areas, the Kupyansk-Lyman region, north of here, and in and around the city of Bakhmut. They say 180,000 troops, Russian troops, have been deployed in these two areas. Keep in mind, 180,000 is more than twice the size of the entire British Army.

Now, this was just mentioned yesterday on state T.V., but it's understood that the Russians have deployed thousands, tens of thousands of forces in this area because the expectation is, was, that the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian counteroffensive would be focusing on those areas.

And we've heard from other commanders that the Russians have dug very deep defenses in those areas where they anticipate that the Ukrainians will be focusing their counteroffensive efforts. John?

BERMAN: It is a very high number of Russian forces there, if it is true. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much for being with us. We do have a programming note. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sits down for an exclusive interview with CNN's Erin Burnett to discuss everything from Ukraine's counteroffensive to the armed revolt inside Russia. That is tomorrow night at 7:00 P.M., only on CNN. Sara?

SIDNER: Israeli police say a driver intentionally slammed into pedestrians in Tel Aviv, then jumped out and started stabbing people. The terrorist attack, they say, was stopped by an elderly bystander who had a gun.

Several GOP candidates now are spending the 4th July on the campaign trail mixing politics with parade. That's ahead.

Plus, a high-speed chase involving a big rig on a Texas highway. What happened when police finally caught up with that driver.

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BERMAN: So, the Republican presidential contenders are on the trail today at 4th July events in key primary states. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking part in a parade in New Hampshire. You can see him moments ago in Wolfeboro in the Lake Winnipesaukee region there.

The race is on for candidates to try to break through the crowded Republican field. They all want to get to the first debate stage. I say they all do. Donald Trump doesn't really care. He has indicated he will not go to the first debate.

With us now is Senior Editor for The Atlantic Ron Brownstein and PBS White House Correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez.

Ron, I mentioned all the candidates are out today. One candidate who was not out campaigning on the 4th July is Donald Trump, which might speak to how he has the advantage of running a very different type of campaign in this Republican field.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I think 4th July parades are the benefit you get in New Hampshire for the weeks you spend there in New Hampshire in January, where you can't feel your toes. So, I do not begrudge any candidate in 4th July parade.

But, yet, look. Donald Trump has as big a lead in national polls as we have seen this far from the first voting among candidates in either party. And in particular, he is recreating and even accentuating his coalition from 2016, in a field with, what, about 10 candidates. He's drawing over 50 percent of non-college Republicans in polls, still only at around one-third of Republicans with a college degree. But as in 2016, those white collar Republicans who are skeptical of him are not unifying around any one candidate.

DeSantis may have more ability to consolidate the rest of the party than anyone we saw in 2016, but he certainly hasn't achieved that by any means yet. He's had a lot of stumbles. So, Trump, I think, feels that any time he spends with the other candidates gives them more visibility, and he is going to behave like a frontrunner who is probably not going to engage unless he feels that it's entirely on his benefit.

BERMAN: Laura, I was talking to our friend, Scott Jennings, last night, who suggested that right now, for Ron DeSantis, his problem isn't so much Donald Trump. The problem for Ron DeSantis is everyone else running. So, how does Governor DeSantis differentiate himself from the others or eliminate them from a political sense as these months go forward?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, PBS NEWSHOUR: That's interesting that Scott says that because seeing the moves that Ron DeSantis has made in recent weeks, he really appears laser-focused on Trump and trying to appear more conservative and to the right of the former president.

We've seen him issue immigration policies where he mentions the word, invasion, multiple times. We saw recently this video that his campaign promoted that was just staunchly anti-LGBTQ, anti-transgender. And he is essentially trying to say that, he not Donald Trump, is someone who is going to take away rights from these minority groups and that he will do it more effectively than the former president.

And the former president's defense to that is look at the Supreme Court that I created and that the justices that I put on the bench and the results of that, which we've seen, which is Roe v. Wade being overturned in the more recent decisions this past week on affirmative action and on a weakening of LGBTQ rights.

BERMAN: Ron, if there's one thing that Jan Brady taught us is that it's not easy being in the middle. And right now, Ron DeSantis, to an extent, is in the middle. So, how does he navigate that? Laura is right. I mean, Laura -- I mean, DeSantis has been punching up, as it were, but how does he move forward?

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BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, Laura is 100 percent right on the broader point as well, which is that DeSantis has chosen to run at Trump almost entirely from the right, right? I mean, you can think of Trump as a Mac truck driving down the far right lane of American politics. By and large, Ron DeSantis is trying to pass him on the shoulder to his right rather than all this space on the other side of the party.

And, look, they may be right that there is no way to separate Trump from this enormous blue collar following that he has in the party without seeming even more vitriolic on some of these issues that motivate many of those voters and peeling some of the way. The problem is you also need a broad coalition in the party to beat Trump. You need more of those college-educated voters.

And unlike 2016, when Trump support was broad across the party, John, when he was as strong among moderates, as he was among conservatives, today, his support leans right in all polls, one of the most consistent attributes in polling. So, DeSantis is potentially leaving a lot of center right voters on the table available for these other candidates by choosing to run at Trump so hard from his right and squeezing himself into such a small space in the overall political spectrum.

BERMAN: So, Laura, if there is that other space there, which of the candidates, other candidates, is distinguishing her or himself there.

BARRON-LOPEZ: In that other space that could potentially pull these center right voters that Ron is talking about, I mean, I don't really see that many. We see candidates like Will Hurd, like Chris Christie, that are trying to create a totally different path separate from the Nikki Haleys, Tim Scotts of the world, who are much more in line policy wise with Ron DeSantis, with former President Donald Trump.

But whether or not that works, especially in a primary that's -- I don't think it's going to because of where the base is at. But they are the candidates, Will Hurd and Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson that are trying to appeal to more middle of the road voters to some of those Republicans that haven't voted Republican in the last few election cycles and that actually broke off in those swing states and voted for President Biden. But they have to survive the primary first, and right now it's looking like they're not going to.

Laura Barron-Lopez, Ron Brownstein, Happy 4th to both of you. Great to see you both.

BROWNSTEIN: Happy 4th, guys. Happy 4th.

BERMAN: Sarah?

SIDNER: He's considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Roger Federer sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN. What he told us about his record-setting career and life after retirement.

Also to Israel now, Israeli police say an armed elderly man ended a terror attack in Tel Aviv. The latest on the violence breaking out in the wake of a large military operation happening in Jenin, in the West Bank.

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