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Video Shows Russian Warship Listing After Attack; Putin Critic Navalny: "I Am Serving A Life Sentence"; NY Officials Identify Another Victim In Gilgo Beach Slayings; Parkland School Massacre Reenacted With Gunfire As Part Of Lawsuit; MS Sheriff: "I Am Ashamed" Of Deputies' Abuse Of Men. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 04, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Ukraine is taking its counteroffensive right to the Russian Navy. New video appears to show a Ukrainian drone on a Russian warship. And it comes as the U.S. and European officials are worrying the Kremlin is dragging out the war, waiting to see if they get a more favorable U.S. president in the 2024 election. CNN's new reporting is just ahead.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, a significant development in the Gilgo Beach serial killings' investigation. Police say they've identified a woman whose remains were discovered nearly three decades ago. Could she be another victim of Rex Heuermann?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Plus, the GOAT is back. When you can see Simone Biles' next competition? Her first since the Tokyo Olympics.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

New evidence Ukraine is growing its capability to strike Russian targets. This video obtained by CNN appears to show a Ukrainian unmanned sea drone, camera right on top there, approaching a Russian landing ship at a Russian naval base. You see the drone creeps closer and closer, the screen goes black.

That's likely the moment it hit the ship and exploded. Then you can see here later video of that Russian ship being towed near that naval base and it can - is listing notably to the left-hand side.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is live in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

Tell us, are - what are Ukrainian officials saying about this and is Russia acknowledging a Ukrainian strike on one of its ships here?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Russia is suggesting the attack was repelled, but Russian bloggers are talking about how one compartment of the Olenegorsky Gornyak amphibious assault ship was indeed flooded by this blast. Another Russian military analyst calling this attack by Ukraine a quantum leap.

Now, as you've heard before, when it comes to Ukraine attacking mainland Russia itself, there is publicly some bids to possibly make this more opaque with Ukrainian officials saying that this is the result of an unidentified floating object, a bid to make a pun there. But directly to CNN, a Ukrainian security official has said, yes, this was the Ukrainian security services and they hit a large naval ship, suggesting that perhaps as many as a hundred Russian personnel could have been on board when this happened, and significant damage would have been caused by just short of half a metric ton of TNT driving into this ship.

Jim, the reason why this is possibly quite so extraordinary is this is in Novorossiysk, on the other side of the Black Sea. And a part, frankly, of those waters the Kremlin must have thought months ago, literally, were completely inaccessible to Ukrainian attack drones, missiles or anything, frankly.

And so we see this after the attacks on Moscow's glass towers in the Moscow city district. Months ago, the attacks on the Kremlin itself, as a real suggestion that Moscow's own territory is certainly reachable by increasingly ingenious Ukrainian devices, Jim?

SCIUTTO: We see reports of an attempt at a drone attack on an oil storage facility in Crimea. I wonder, do you notice as these attacks are playing out more and more on either Russian territory or Russian occupied territory in Ukraine that that is deliberate as Ukraine's ground counteroffensive has stalled?

WALSH: Yes. I mean, there's two things here. I think there is the bid, certainly, by Ukraine to psychologically hit at Russia by hitting Moscow itself, yes, but also naval ports like Novorossiysk that must have thought they were not an option for Ukraine. That is probably a bid to grab headlines, as you say, because on the ground here, the counteroffensive, particularly in the south, is proving a lot harder, a lot slower, a lot more brutal than perhaps some of the more optimistic analysts thought might indeed have been the case.

But the Feodosia bids to hit an oil depot. That is part of a growing effort by Ukraine to go after Russian infrastructure: railways, bridges, fuel depots, ammo depots that are vital for its occupation here in Ukraine. A bid to see that with those supplies lessened, with that infrastructure damaged, it might eventually impact Russia's ability to hold on, on the front lines, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, looking at this video of the ship there, a ship does not list that heavily to one side unless it was a significant strike.

Nick Paton Walsh in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, thanks so much. Boris?

SANCHEZ: The 2024 presidential election could have major implications on Russia's war. Sources tell CNN that top Western officials are concerned that Vladimir Putin will not change course in Ukraine until after the election in this country, because he wants to see if Donald Trump beats Joe Biden and possibly cuts off crucial aid to Ukraine.

[15:05:06]

CNN's Kevin Liptak is traveling with the President in Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden and the First Lady are spending the weekend.

So Kevin, this is your reporting. Walk us through the details.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN REPORTER: Well, Boris, we know that Vladimir Putin watches U.S. elections very closely. And the concern that we're hearing from American officials, European officials, is that he's watching this election even more closely. And in fact, he's factoring it in to his plans for Ukraine.

Of course, we know that President Trump - former president, Trump, has been very explicit. He does not - he has not said whether he supports Ukraine in this conflict. And he has, in fact, even said that he could resolve the conflict in 24 hours. The concern among American officials is that that could incentivize President Putin to drag this war out for even longer, try and maintain this fighting until next year's election.

Now, we should be clear, this isn't a formal U.S. intelligence assessment. And U.S. officials have been clear in the past that it is difficult to ascertain Vladimir Putin's mindset. But they do really believe that this is factoring in to the conflict and factoring in to the Kremlin's war plans.

And I just want to read you something that a source said: "Putin knows Trump will help him. And so do the Ukrainians and our European partners. So even though we haven't seen anything explicitly to that effect, you have to assume that everyone is thinking it."

Now, the question, of course, is whether Russia is able to maintain the fighting for the next 15 months. We have seen Russia falter on the battlefield over the course of this conflict. But what this really does is put pressure on the Ukrainians to make gains in their counteroffensive, to try and hold out for the next several months to show the Russians that they are serious on the battlefield, and to show the Americans that they can make these gains going forward, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And Kevin, notably, this comes as new polling indicates that now a majority of the American people are opposed to Congress sending more financial aid to Ukraine. Important reporting, Kevin Liptak from Wilmington, thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: Jailed opposition leader and Putin critic Alexei Navalny was sentenced to an additional 19 years in a Russian prison today, but he was not shocked by that decision. Telling his supporters, it is now clear he is serving "a life sentence."

And he goes on to write: "The number from me. It is for you. They want to frighten you, not me, and will deprive you of the will to resist. You are being forced to surrender your Russia without a fight to a gang of traitors, thieves and scoundrels who have seized power."

We're joined now by CNN National Security Analyst, Steve Hall. He is the former CIA Chief of Russia Operations.

Steve, what is the message that Vladimir Putin is sending with this sentence?

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Brianna, I think there's two messages. There's the overt and sort of obvious message, which is that if you want to go against the Kremlin and you live inside of Russia, you want to be some sort of dissidents, like Navalny was and is. But it's not going to end well for you, that you're going to end up spending a long period of time in a prison and you may indeed life - spend effectively a life sentence, because people have a tendency to have dramatically lesser life expectancies inside of a Russian prison.

But the second message is interesting as well and it's not one that I think Putin wants to send overtly. It shows how concerned and how worried he is, especially about folks like Navalny and others who may decide to be dissidents inside of Russia at a time when things are going very, very poorly in the Ukrainian war and at a time when the Ukrainians are attacking Moscow and destroying buildings and also warships on the far side of this - of the Black Sea.

So this is - this shows the level of concern, I think, that is rising inside the Kremlin.

KEILAR: Well, speaking of that Ukrainian attack on a Russian naval ship in a Russian port, what is the impact of that attack? Another essentially psychological move against Moscow by Ukraine?

HALL: Yes, I think that's exactly right. These attacks that we're seeing, these drone attacks, for example, when they hit some of the big shiny buildings in Moscow, many of which are actually empty, but not all of them. But that has a psychological impact.

If you live in, if you're a normal Russian living in Moscow, where the war really hasn't touched you and all of a sudden you see emergency vehicles and buildings going up in flames, that's a psychological impact. I'm not sure how much military impact it has. I'll leave that to the military experts, but it certainly has a psychological one, as does attacks on like the ships that you see in the Black Sea and other locations.

These drone attacks, I think, are primarily psychological, but that's an important part of the war. The real fighting is going on, on the ground as the Ukrainians continue to try to push forward against dug- in Russian defenses.

[15:10:02]

But the psychological piece is incredibly important. And again, that's something that Putin understands because of his background.

KEILAR: Steve, are you worried about escalation here at all?

HALL: It depends on what we mean by escalation. Normally, when we talk about escalation in the West here, we're referring to things like what if Russia tries to make it a broader war against NATO? What about the use of nuclear weapons?

I don't - I'm not terribly concerned about that at this point. It can't be flipped and simply say, oh, that's never going to happen. But right now, Putin has his hands full just dealing with the Ukrainians. It's difficult for me to understand why he would say, hey, I've got this war going on in my region that I'm struggling with. Let's make it a bigger one against more and better armed opponents. So that's - I don't think that's going to happen.

KEILAR: There's a new poll from CNN today showing the majority of Americans oppose more U.S. aid for Ukraine in the war with Russia, at the same time that there's this thinking that Vladimir Putin is looking to outlast the 2024 election. What do you think about how that may affect the war?

HALL: Yes, it's an interesting situation. I mean, I think first and foremost, people should remember that first and foremost in Vladimir Putin's mind is winning this war in Ukraine. He's certainly got his hands full and he's got all of his attention focused on that. But by the same token, it doesn't hurt him and it might indeed provide him some hope when he sees that Donald Trump, who he knows is somebody that he can work with because he did previously.

He knows that Trump is essentially anti-NATO and has spoken negatively about NATO in the past, which has been a key part of making sure the Ukrainians are successful. So Donald Trump is a much better president for Vladimir Putin than really anybody else at this point. And so to hear that Donald Trump is not out of it, despite his legal issues, is a real shot in the arm, I think, for Putin, because he knows he can rely on Donald Trump if he becomes president.

KEILAR: Yes, he's made his preference clear before, certainly it hasn't changed.

Steve, great to have you, thank you so much. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Ahead this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, is she yet another victim of accused serial killer, Rex Heuermann? For the first time, detectives put a real name to a Jane Doe's remains found decades ago on Gilgo Beach.

Plus, six white law enforcement officers in Mississippi have pleaded guilty after torturing two black men.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE PARKER: I crawled here to this spot and then they started beating me here and tasing me and you can see blood spots and all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: The sheriff is now reacting. He says he is embarrassed.

And after stepping away from gymnastics to focus on her mental health, Simone Biles, she's back, when exactly you can see her, that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:56]

SCIUTTO: She was known only as Fire Island Jane Doe. One of the Gilgo Beach murder victims, but now we know her real identity. New York officials say she is Karen Vergata, a 34-year-old whose remains were among nearly a dozen sets of human remains found along Ocean Parkway on the south shore of Long Island. She went missing in February 1996, two months later, her feet and legs were found along Fire Island. Fifteen years later, her skull was discovered in Nassau County.

CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now with more details.

Jean, listen, a case that had remained a mystery for some three decades. Tell us what more we know about this victim and potential ties to this case.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that she was a New York City resident. She lived on 45th Street right here in New York City. We know that her remains were found on the Long Island area. But the timeline of this really, I think, shows the length of time, as you just said, but also the advent of forensic science, because it was in February of 1996 that she went missing. It was then in April of 1996 that there on Fire Island, they found her arms, her legs and her feet, so they found that part of her. Obviously, someone had been dismembered. They had no idea who this was.

And then in 2011, as you said, 15 years later, they found a skull in the Gilgo Beach area. And they were able in 2011 to discern that the DNA from the extremities and the DNA of the skull were of the same person.

Now let's go to 2022, last fall, the brand new investigators for the murders, unsolved, that were on that Gilgo Beach area. Take a listen to earlier today, the district attorney of Suffolk County.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY TIERNEY, SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: In August of 2022, approximately six months after we formed this Gilgo task force, a DNA profile suitable for genealogical comparison was developed for Karen Vergata.

In September 2022, the FBI was able to - was able via a genetic genealogy review, to identify Ms Vergata presumptively as Fire Island Jane Doe.

Thereafter, in October of 2022, using a buccal swab from a relative of Karen Vergata, we were able to definitively identify her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now, the District Attorney is not at all discussing this brand new victim, Karen Vergata, with Rex Heuermann at all. It appears as though it's a separate investigation. But Jim, here's what's interesting. Obviously, there was a dismemberment here and there were 11 other victims in that area. Three of them have been charged to Rex Heuermann. But there are many that were dismembered and their parts were found in various areas of Long Island, of the beaches. And so there is a similarity right there.

[15:20:00]

So do you have to two alleged serial killers going on?

SCIUTTO: Right.

CASAREZ: This is far from over.

SCIUTTO: Mm-hm. Or the possibility of a change in methods, we discussed that with Brianna a couple hours ago.

CASAREZ: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Just horrendous for the families to learn all these details.

Jean Casarez, thanks so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: Next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, six white police officers have pleaded guilty after torturing two black men in Mississippi for nearly two hours. We are hearing from the victims.

Plus, a reenactment of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is underway. We're going to take you live to Parkland to tell you the reason why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:21]

KEILAR: The haunting sound of gunfire is returning to Parkland, Florida. Ballistic experts firing about 140 live rounds of ammunition at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a reenactment of the 2018 massacre that killed 17 students and faculty members. This is part of the civil lawsuit against Scot Peterson, the former school resource officer who remained outside for nearly an hour during the rampage. He was found not guilty of criminal charges back in June.

CNN's Carlos Suarez is joining us now from Parkland, Florida on this story.

Carlos, walk us through what has unfolded there today.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, we know that the reenactment is still taking place at this hour. Earlier this afternoon, we heard sounds that resembled a gunfire coming from the building where this shooting happened. Now, the families of the victims believe that this reenactment is going to show that there's no way that former school resource officer Scot Peterson did not know where these gunshots were coming from on the day of the shooting back in 2018. We're told that at least 140 rounds of live ammunition will be fired here today.

Now, back in June, Peterson was found not guilty on criminal charges for his inaction the day of the shooting after his attorneys argued that Peterson did not go inside of the 1200 building because he thought that there was more than one shooter and he did not know exactly where the sound of gunfire was coming from.

Now, before the reenactment got underway earlier today, nine members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, they toured the 1200 building alongside some of the family members. They all got a look at the three floors where the 17 students and staff members were killed and 17 others were hurt in that shooting in 2018.

Now, after that tour, the lawmakers met with several of the family members to discuss school safety improvements, including a piece of school safety legislation, as well as securing additional funding for mental health services and school resource officers.

Here now is South Florida Congressman, Jared Moskowitz. He talked about meeting the families as well as the tour of the 1200 building earlier this afternoon and here's what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): There's nothing more powerful than visualizing what happened in that building and I'm hoping that it breaks the walls down and we figure out where we can mitigate this from happening not just in schools, but in communities with an understanding that there's still going to be disagreements and there's still going to be things that I want done that they won't do and there's things that they want done that I won't do.

But that should not impact us from the things that we know we should be doing for parents and for families and for teachers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: And so the reenactment we expect will take a few more hours to finish up here outside of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School campus in Parkland, Florida. We're told that the entire reenactment is being recorded as part of a civil lawsuit by the family members against Scot Peterson and others, including the Broward Sheriff's Office. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Carlos, thank you for that report, live for us from Parkland, Florida. Boris?

SANCHEZ: In Mississippi, the sheriff of Rankin County says he is ashamed after five of his former deputies pleaded guilty to torturing two black men. The deputies and a police officer from Richland are all white and some refer to themselves as the goon squad. They were accused of torturing two black men for nearly two hours and then shooting one of them in the mouth in a mock execution. In the sheriff's own words: "This is why people don't trust the police."

CNN's Nick Valencia has been following this story for us.

Nick, some of the details of this story are just brutal.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the details aren't lost on us that this happened in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols when the nation's attention was gripped by police excessive force. And yet these deputies admitted to doing some of the worst things that we've ever heard of, repeatedly beating and torturing two black men with the intention of getting away with this by covering it up.

In fact, the federal prosecutor says this wasn't just organized.

[15:30:03]

It was premeditated and done so under the banner of law.