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Today: Six Former MS Office Officers In Court Facing State Charges For Assault On Two Black Men; Newsom, DeSantis Considering Debating Each Other; Webb Telescope Spots Cosmic Question Mark. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired August 14, 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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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Moments ago, six former Mississippi police officers had back in court -- were back in court. They've already pleaded guilty to federal charges of torturing two black men. Well, now they're staring down state charges. Prosecutors say the suspects, all of whom are white called themselves the Goon Squad because of the excessive force that they have used.
CNN's Ryan Young. He's following this. He joins us now. Ryan, can you talk us through these -- this next round of charges that these men are facing? And also you spoke us -- you spoke with the victims.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate. This has been heart-wrenching for those victims. They for quite some time, have been trying to get anyone to listen to them about what they experienced on that night. Two hours -- two hours of torture.
When you think about having oil spilled on your body, eggs thrown at you while you recall the inward over and over for quite some time these men were trying to get someone to pay attention. Now look, this is the first time we've actually seen these men in court because that first case was a federal trial. And as you know, you can't get cameras in there.
But this is the state court case. In fact, they can see it on another monitor. This is pretty much wrapped up. You can see the video there of these men walking into court.
They call themselves the Goon Squad. And it was their job to go out and dispense justice the way they wanted to. In fact, at one point, they even tried to sexually assault these men, and they use their tasers over and over again to see who had the most powerful taser. But listen to the men involved in this case and the horror they had to go through a call here this
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDDIE PARKER, TORTURED BY SIX FORMER MISSISSIPPI POLICE: I crawled here to this spot and then they started beating me here and teasing me. And you can see, you know, blood spots and all my blood spots there.
MICHAEL JENKINS, TORTURED BY SIX DORMER MISSISSIPPI POLICE: It hurts. And I'm embarrassed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Yes, that was Eddie Parker and Michael Jenkins. When you think about Michael Jenkins at one point, one of these officers who was admitted to this took out a gun, and they believe they had cleared the gun, they put it in his mouth and they pulled the trigger. He cleared the gun again and put it back in his mouth and pull the trigger.
At that point, it shot through his tongue and exited his neck. That's why he has trouble talking to this day. He'll be dealing with this for the rest of his life.
Now, these charges are moving forward. Everyone involved in this case says they've never seen something like this in law enforcement. And you of course ask the question, what happened to the sheriff?
The sheriff said he had no idea this Goon Squad was operating inside his department. There should be a news conference a little later on so we can figure out some more information. Kate?
BOLDUAN: All right. So, more information to come. A disturbing enough already what is known. John?
YOUNG: Absolutely.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is vowing to retaliate after a Russian shelling killed at least two dozen people, including a 23-day-old baby named Sofia, along with her 12-year-old brother and their parents. This is just part of what the Ukrainian people deal with almost every day.
CNN Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joins us now from Dnipro in Southern Ukraine. Nick, just horrifying stories.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, and it's important when we talk about these things almost every day, John, to not lose sight of the tiny details that are just so mind- numbingly horrifying. Now, yes, you're right. Many instances of shelling against civilian targets over the weekend and just last night, a large supermarket on fire in Odessa when it appears some of the rockets and drones fired by Russia got through. Three wounded in that.
But sticking I think in the mind of many Ukrainians today is what happened in Kherson, a village pretty close to the Black Sea coast as well where seven people died from Russian shelling. A quite rural area. Now, amongst those dead was a family of four.
The youngest Sofia, 23 days old, so just about three weeks old there. Her 12-year-old brother, Artem, was also killed, and their mother and father as well. Now, this comes -- is extraordinarily young victims. This comes after Friday's double missile attack on a riverside hotel in the city, where millions live, of Zaporizhzhia.
[11:35:06]
Very close to the southern counter-offensives from the alliance were two ballistic missiles slammed into what was essentially a children's playground outside a hotel where families were staying. The children had left an hour earlier, but still children now it seems so constantly on the receiving end of these indiscriminate barbaric Russian missile attacks. Back to you, John.
BERMAN: 23 days old, hardly a combatant. Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much for being with us. Sara?
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Former President Trump steals the spotlight and the crowds in Iowa. No surprise there. So, how do his Republican rivals compete? We'll discuss. Ahead.
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[11:40:09]
BERMAN: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is set to debate other presidential hopefuls at the first Republican presidential debate next week. But he's also considering taking part in a debate against California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
CNN's Isaac Govere joins us now. And, Isaac, unless I'm mistaken, Ron DeSantis is not yet the Republican nominee. And unless I'm very mistaken, Gavin Newsom isn't running for president, at least not yet. So, what's going on here?
ISAAC GOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, John, your facts check out there. And look, I mean, this started as essentially a dare from Gavin Newsom, the California governor to Ron DeSantis. He's been banging on Ron DeSantis as having the wrong ideas for a long time now. And trying to figure out his own place in the political world, given that he's not running for president, as he said, probably will not have a chance to even think about running for president until 2028. Maybe beyond that.
But he has been pushing this idea. And a couple of days ago, Ron DeSantis bid on it. DeSantis is in a situation of his own where his campaign, even people close to him admit has not been going as well as they wanted and is having trouble finding what one of his aides told us was enough oxygen without talking about Trump all the time. And so, they both have this interest in trying to find a way to go up against each other. And it creates this really weird thing where again, a guy who's not running for president, is running against a guy who -- are maybe debating against a guy who is not the nominee.
And meanwhile, the Biden campaign has been looking at this and has been pleased to see Newsom landing some of the punches on DeSantis that they might have to land anyway. And generating a lot of money for them too. So, it's this weird situation that happens in politics where it might be that everybody kind of wins here, but it creates a strange situation along the way. BERMAN: What they ought to do is DeSantis and Newsom do a tag team wrestling match against Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Keep this going as long as they possibly could.
GOVERE: I think the ratings could be -- I mean I think there would be a number of people who might tune in for that.
BERMAN: All right, Isaac Dovere, thank you very much for bringing us up to speed here.
DOVERE: Thank you.
BERMAN: Sara?
SIDNER: All right, John. Former President Donald Trump's appearance at the Iowa State Fair over the weekend proved his grip on Republican voters is still strong. He was welcomed by big crowds of cheering supporters. And skipped all of the traditional Meet and Greet fair events, his Republican rivals, all were taking part in.
I'm joined now by PBS White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez. Thank you so much for being here. And Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. Lynn Sweet.
I'm going to start with you, Lynn. Donald Trump's team flew a banner over the State Fair saying be likable Ron. He brought Florida politicians with him who endorsed him as another jab at Ron DeSantis.
But he wasn't there that long. Didn't do the traditional things. Does this go over well with Iowa voters?
LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Well, for the moment, yes, because his base is intensely loyal to him. What his rivals have not figured out how to do is to break this Trump favorite. Sara, no Republican who's running against Trump has any cure for this.
They're doing their retail campaigning. And as you said, Trump drops in. There's a big wholesale act, and he has a grip as strong as ever no matter impeachment or indictments.
SIDNER: All right. I'm curious, what you think about the other candidates. Nikki Haley, she spent a lot of time probably more than any other candidate in Iowa, New Hampshire, squeezing the flesh, doing retail politics, but neither she nor the others seem to be able to make headway.
Chris Christie, of course, goes after Trump, but many of the others don't. What is the problem here? What is -- why aren't they gaining in any way shape or form?
SWEET: Well, are you tossing that to me?
SIDNER: Yes.
SWEET: If you are -- OK. So, it is because they're doing Mom and Pop grocery store campaigning and they're running against Walmart here. They just haven't figured out how to expand scale-up, Sara. There is no -- there's a reluctance to take on Trump per se.
Though, Nikki Haley has what could be an interesting analysis if she's more forceful that he is just a distraction. That he is not what we need. And it's time to move on without getting into the questions of indictments or impeachments. Yes, that is -- that's dancing on the head of a pen for now but it's a path.
SIDNER: Dancing on the head of the pen. That is a very interesting way to put it.
[11:45:00]
Laura Barron, can you tell me a little bit about what you think about this? This is all of the candidates that were there in Iowa, talking about Donald Trump and the fact that he won't sign up for the RNC pledge to endorse whichever candidate ends up winning the primary. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People ask me sometimes what I think about maybe debating Donald Trump, I tell people, I've debated Donald Trump a thousand times. Just never with the cameras on.
NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first of all, I think President Trump, it's his decision whether he wants to get on the debate stage or not. You have to earn the support of the American people. It's hard to earn their support if you're absent.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): You have to earn this nomination. And you have to show up. You have to debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Laura Barron-Lopez, are they right or are they wrong?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it's a little bit of wishful thinking from those candidates, considering what Lynn laid out, which is the fact that yes, maybe 10, 15 years ago, would voters have been upset about a leading contender not joining the debates. But the Republican base has been reshaped. And Trump controls that Republican base.
And they support him wholeheartedly, despite these indictments, a big section of them. And so whether he shows up to the debate or not, I don't think he's going to impact his grip on the party or his standing in the polls. He could very well counter-program by holding a different event.
He's demonstrated that he doesn't have to campaign the way the rest of the field is campaigning. That he can drop in hold one event, draw thousands compared to maybe 50 that go to a DeSantis event, or less than that that might go to a Nikki Haley event.
So, it's not something that Trump himself necessarily has to do. And regardless of the pledge, the Fox executives have said that they want him to show up to the debate.
SIDNER: Yes.
BARRON-LOPEZ: And that they'd like him to be there. And so far, he's resisted.
SIDNER: And we've heard that on the air them asking over and over and over again, saying he should debate. I do want to ask you one last question. Do you think is a real possibility that we will not see a debate between Donald Trump and any of the candidates as we go forward?
BARRON-LOPEZ: Potentially, if he decides to not show up to this first one, then -- and it goes well for him, then I think that we could expect that he may very well decide what is the point of going to future debates if he's able to maintain this double-digit lead in the GOP primary polls.
SIDNER: Lynn, do you agree? I think I see you shaking your head.
SWEET: Well, I do. I remember when I was in Des Moines in 2016, there is a debate he decided to skip it. He held his own event that same night. Split screen. Loses nothing. Gains something.
There is nothing for him to gain at this point in being in any debate because he will be asked questions maybe he doesn't want to answer. He -- it's just is -- I cannot think of a reason other than good government, good civics, good participation in the time-honored tradition for people to debate in primaries in general. But all that is not what he's about. He has been asymmetrical in his candidacy, and he remains debated in a sense or for others, not for him.
SIDNER: They will tear each other down. I'm sure he's thinking. And he just stays out of those high polling numbers. Lynn Sweet, Laura Barron-Lopez, thank you so much. Kate.
BOLDUAN: Coming up for us. NASA's Webb Telescope has spotted a literal cosmic question mark. What is it? We'll be back.
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[11:53:11]
BOLDUAN: We as mere mortals often look to space for answers. Why are we here? Are we alone? And now, we may need to consider this. Is space just toying with us? NASA's Webb Telescope has spotted a literal cosmic question mark deep in the galaxy.
CNN's Tom Foreman has uncovered the source of this mystery. Thomas, tell me.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I like the way you said are we alone? I really liked that. Look there. You see the little box down there which was made big off to the side there? See that question mark in the middle? That's what the Webb telescope found and they don't know what it is. They don't think it's a star. Remember all the stars we can see with our eyes are in our own Milky Way galaxy, they don't think it's that. And they think it could be billions of miles away and yet there it is. A question mark floating out in space, Kate.
BOLDUAN: John Berman -- John Berman --
BERMAN: I got to show you -- I'm got to show you because come, come, come, come, come.
BOLDUAN: John Berman needs his glasses because he can't see the question mark appearance.
SIDNER: Yes.
BERMAN: It's this.
FOREMAN: Yes. There. That's it.
BERMAN: This is talking about right there. That's --
FOREMAN: Question mark in space.
BOLDUAN: John --
BERMAN: Yes.
FOREMAN: So, that --
BOLDUAN: You need to -- from down there.
SIDNER: Yes.
BOLDUAN: You do the entire presentation if you would like.
BERMAN: Oh, well. That's where -- well, just in case you're wondering, it's on the lower part of your outer space right here.
FOREMAN: Yes.
BERMAN: And then this is the push it, right there.
SIDNER: But how do they find it? I mean --
FOREMAN: So, you're asking, what is it?
SIDNER: Yes.
FOREMAN: If you don't know what it is, what is it? What they think it might be is two galaxies, very far away, that are tangling with each other. May be merging into one galaxy. And in doing so, they just happen to form to shake. Well, could --
BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE)
FOREMAN: Well, could scientists figure this out? Yes, they could if they wanted to. But it's just kind of an anomaly.
You know that thing out in Arizona, that's literally called The Thing? It's a roadside attraction. They have a sign.
SIDNER: Yes.
[11:55:00]
FOREMAN: I think this is kind of fitting in that category of The Thing. In that, it's interesting. It's fun to look at, but the people from Georgia Tech and MIT and Caltech are not rushing out there to say, let's investigate. It's just a curiosity.
But it's kind of a great curiosity. It's like this intergalactic game of Jeopardy. That just sprang up out of nowhere.
BERMAN: I want to know more about two galaxies mushing together to make one galaxy.
BOLDUAN: No, I'm sorry.
SIDNER: Galaxy entanglement.
FOREMAN: It happened on Earth --
BOLDUAN: I think it was called galaxy entanglement --
FORMAN: Hey, ours is going to do this.
BOLDUAN: -- which I am very --
FOREMAN: Yes.
BERMAN: To our -- our galaxy is going to get fresh -- (INAUDIBLE)
FOREMAN: Ours is going to do the same thing.
BOLDUAN: When?
FOREMAN: In four billion years, we're supposed to combine with the Andromeda Galaxy.
SIDNER: OK.
FOREMAN: So, Alexa, set a reminder.
BOLDUAN: This is the thing you never actually know if Tom is actually telling the truth or gaslighting me, which is why I love him so much.
SIDNER: Tom Foreman, thank you so much for all your fun.
BOLDUAN: Thank you, Tom.
FOREMAN: Good to see you all.
BERMAN: And thank you all for joining us. We'll be here in 400 million years to cover Andromeda merging with the Milky Way.
BOLDUAN: Or will we? A question mark.
BERMAN: Or will we?
SIDNER: A question mark.
BERMAN: This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "INSIDE POLITICS" is up next.
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