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Funeral for Navalny Today in Russia; Testimony in "Rust" Trial; Van Jones Looks at Tennessee Politics. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 01, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Move there.

I'm joined now by CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto, author of the upcoming book "Return of Great Powers: Russia and China and the Next World War," which I can't wait to get my hands on.

Jim, that chanting that we heard during Matthew's report as he was filing it from those people who really are risking so much to be there, how do you explain it?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It's a true act of courage in that country. You know what struck me watching that video, John, is that their faces are not covered.

BERMAN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Those people who came out to show support to Navalny. In that country, Russian authorities will take note. They will -- they will take names and faces. They have the ability to do so through facial recognition. That's an enormous risk, that show of support. Many thousands of people coming out chanting his name.

You know whose faces were covered, as we saw in Matthew's report there, the covers of the security services. What does that show you about courage in that country? Those people are taking the risk and those security services, they're covering their face. And we've seen that oftentimes when security forces their attack peaceful protesters, arrest people, their faces are covered. Not the faces of the people making that show of strength.

And that's a remarkable thing given the price of that in Putin's Russia. Of course, Alexei Navalny, attempted murder, his supporters say, by the Russian authorities and then being sent to that penal colony, where he died. But many other thousands of Russians, they spent a lot of time in prison for doing exactly what we saw this morning there.

BERMAN: I'm so glad you pointed that out, Jim. That had not occurred to me, the faces of the security are cover.

SCIUTTO: Yes. BERMAN: The faces of the mourners or not. Including two who spoke to Matthew live on the air. Kate and I were watching. I think our hearts both skipped a beat when those people had the courage to speak to Matthew in English about why they were there and what they were doing.

Matthew's signal was blocked for over an hour.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERMAN: And right now it appears to be jammed or blocked as well. How do you explain that?

SCIUTTO: Listen, Putin and Putin's Russia does not tolerate dissent. And they deliberately try to stifle it any number of ways. And one being that they don't want the Russian people -- large numbers of the Russian people who have satellite dishes to be able to see this event. They did allow those protesters to go there, those supporters to go there, but they don't want that image seen by many hundreds of thousands, millions of Russians.

And let's remember, this -- this is something that we see in a whole host of steps that Putin has taken over the last 20 years. Anyone who challenges him -- and think of the names, Alexei Navalny died in a Russian penal colony. You have Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in quite a mysterious plane crash for leading that coup. You have other Russians who challenged Putin elections. Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was seen as a political threat, either jailed or exiled. And then you even have those outside of Russia who dared to challenge Putin's candidates, think of like a Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine who was poisoned all those years ago for challenging the pro-Russian candidate there, or an Alexander Litvinenko, who died in London from radiation poisoning. Again, someone who challenged Putin.

Putin does not tolerate opposition, political opposition, protests. And many of those who are brave enough to stand up to him pay with their lives. It's a fact. And the signal is one piece of that strategy of keeping the Russian people from being able to see these shows of courage and these shows of opposition.

BERMAN: And the question going forward will be for what. I mean martyred for what, to achieve what, Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERMAN: One of the reasons I'm excited to read your book is, what do you think the future is? Do you think Putin is at risk in Russia?

SCIUTTO: So, the Prigozhin brief uprising showed that there were some willing to challenge him, even those close to him. And Prigozhin wouldn't have challenged him if he didn't sense weakness. Obviously not enough weakness because that -- that uprising failed, it stopped, and Prigozhin ended up dead, and the Wagner group somewhat exiled in its own right. So, he still has strength. But it's not clear that its -- it's forever lasting. We just don't know. I mean it's -- it's a brutal regime because it needs force to rule, right? And it's proven very lasting to date. But when you speak to folks in U.S. and western intelligence, they

don't view that as endless. The thing is, folks from the outside don't have a very good track record of guessing or assessing how long regimes like this can survive.

BERMAN: Yes, criminology not an accurate science.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BERMAN: Jim Sciutto, great to have you on this morning. Thank you very much.

Kate.

SCIUTTO: Thanks, man.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Today, friends and family are gathering for the funeral of Laken Riley, the nursing student murdered while out jogging at the University of Georgia.

And, becoming emotional on the stand as he recounted that horrible day that "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on set. Why the assistant director admitted that he was negligent when he is not the one on trial here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:39:29]

BERMAN: You are looking at pictures from just moments ago as Donald Trump arrived at a Florida courthouse. That is his motorcade at the federal court, where there will be a hearing today, a crucial hearing in the Mar-a-Lago documents case. One when we could learn when this case will be scheduled. As of now it's on the docket for May, but it's going to be pushed back. Jack Smith's team wants it to begin in July. Donald Trump's team has counted for August. But in either case, it could begin as early as this summer, and we could get that date etched, at least a little bit in stone, shortly.

[09:40:01]

In the meantime, today, a Georgia community will gather to say goodbye to a 22-year-old nursing student, Laken Riley. Riley was killed last week while jogging near a lake on the University of Georgia campus. The man suspected in her death has been charged with murder and is currently behind bars. He entered the U.S. illegally, which has sparked a national debate about border security.

Just in, Elon Musk sued OpenAI and its CEO for breach of contract. Musk says that OpenAI, which runs ChatGPT, diverged from its mission to develop artificial intelligence for the, quote, "benefit of humanity" by cutting a $10 billion deal with Microsoft and keeping new coding secret. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but left in 2018 to set up his own AI company. OpenAI has not responded to CNN's request for comment. So it is lights out for the lunar lander. Odysseus, the one that fell

but couldn't get up, has now run out of battery and will not be able to power backup for at least a couple of weeks. It did send back one more picture from the moon's surface with the earth shining in the background.

One of the world's most dangerous and expensive climbs just got a little pricier. Hikers who want to summit Mount Everest this upcoming season will have to rent and wear tracking chips. Officials from Nepal say the trackers will help improve search and rescue efforts if anything goes wrong. That's sort of reassuring.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Can I go back to Odyssseus? What does that say --

BERMAN: It fell and it can't get up. Help, I've fallen and can't get up.

BOLDUAN: That was what I was going to say and you make me back -- you make me laugh like that. What -- what does this mean. Like iliad (ph), Odyssey (ph). What comparison can we make here?

BERMAN: I don't know. I know that 50 years ago we landed men on the moon and brought them back home, but -- but now we send this -- you know, a small model airplane up that fell over.

BOLDUAN: This just proves that robots are not as good as humans.

BERMAN: That's what I say.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. All right.

Let's move to this.

They are back in court today with more testimony in the trial against Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. She is the armorer, you'll remember, on the set of the movie "Rust." Now, yesterday, jurors heard some very emotional testimony from the film's first assistant director, David Halls. Now he said from the stand that he was negligent in checking the gun that was then used by Alec Baldwin and killed Halyna Hutchins.

CNN's Josh Campbell has much more. He's been following this trial for us and he's joining us now.

Josh, it was emotional in that courtroom yesterday. What's expected to happen today?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very emotional. We've been hearing from various witnesses, various experts. The trial will resume today. And if it's anything like yesterday, we will expect to hear more striking testimony. That testimony from Halls specifically, as you mentioned, he was the first assistant director on the film, could be seen as potentially beneficial for both the prosecution and defense. Again, all of this comes down to negligence being accused by Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. And what the first assistant director said is that just prior to Alec Baldwin being handed that gun, both Halls and Gutierrez-Reed did what's called a weapon safety check. This was a vintage revolver that was being used in the film and so that would actually require opening up the gun and looking to see what type of rounds were actually in the gun. And this is really striking to hear, knowing that what happened later, the film's cinematographer was actually killed, also testifying that they only partially looked at what was inside that gun.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID HALLS, FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, "RUST": I was negligent in checking the gun properly. I don't recall a full rotation. And my recollection is seeing three to four rounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, if she had done a full rotation, you would have seen every cylinder in that, right?

HALLS: In retrospect, I would like to think I would have. I did in proper check of that firearm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now Halls himself had previously pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor weapons charge. But again, there's been this accusation that there was this culture of unsafe practices on that set. Halls testifying in court yesterday that he didn't do a full check of that gun. Of course you just have to think, you know, we know, based on earlier testimony, the live round of ammunition looked much different than a dummy round. Had they just turned that revolver a little further, that could have possibly prevented this entire, fatal mistake.

BOLDUAN: And that's sad -- that's like such a sad fact of just how easy it would have been to stop this from happening.

CAMPBELL: Yes.

BOLDUAN: We were showing video of David Halls is getting so emotional on the stand. What was happening in that moment?

CAMBELL: Yes. So, he was actually asked about the chaotic moments in the aftermath of that shot ringing out. I mean you can imagine, you're on a movie set where live rounds of ammunition or not supposed to be, and you have a gun that goes off during a rehearsal when it wasn't even called for the gun to be fired. And then to have someone go down -- two people in fact. We know that the cinematographer was killed, another man was injured. He -- Halls testified about what happened just after that shot.

Listen.

[09:45:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID HALLS, FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, "RUST": It was my recollection that I might have been the first person to her. She was on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you say?

HALLS: Are you all right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she respond?

HALLS: Yes. She said, I can't feel my legs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Yes, just really emotional testimony. And, finally, it's worth pointing out, there was some potentially beneficial testimony in Alec Baldwin's favor yesterday. Halls testifying that he never saw Alec Baldwin rushing crew members to hurry and film these shooting scenes. That was, of course, part of video that we previously reported where we actually saw Baldwin saying, let's go, let's go, let's go. Halls testifying that he thought that that was just the actor in this moment telling the crew, I'm ready, not creating this unsafe practice that prosecutors have alleged.

BOLDUAN: Josh Campbell, thank you so much. And that trial continues.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Donald Trump just arrived at court where we could learn very shortly when the trial over his handling of classified documents will begin.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:42]

BOLDUAN: On this week's episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper," CNN political commentator Van Jones, he returns to his home state of Tennessee ahead of Super Tuesday to take a deeper look at how the state's politics has changed dramatically.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hey, hey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey. Hey.

JONES: (INAUDIBLE). How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice seeing you. All right.

JONES: It is so good to see you.

When we were little, you -- I'm taller than you now. I wasn't always taller than you. You were bigger than me and were my protector.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't remember being that much taller.

JONES: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dear Lord, we thank you for this food that we're about to receive. Thank you for letting Anthony and Angela have a safe trip over here. And let them have a safe trip going back. Bless this food. Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amen.

JONES: So, when I when -- when I lived here, Democrats ran the state. I come back and it's run completely by Republicans. What difference does that make just living here in Tennessee, having the Republicans in charge?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With Memphis, you know, the Democrat run Memphis, but the state, you know, Republicans run the state. Values are a little different. Like now, the gun issues. Anybody can go -- just go get a gun. That's how our governor made it. So, you don't have to have a license or anything. You can just go get a gun. And I -- that's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. And it affects big time because you always hear about shooting every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Van Jones is here with us now.

Van, you also, as part of this, you went to the state capital building, which -- what was it like being back nearly 40 years after you worked as an intern there? How does it fit into this whole conversation of what you were looking into?

VAN JONES, CNN: Well, it just -- it's amazing to me. It's still a beautiful, majestic building on the outside, but it's a lot uglier on the inside. And, you know, when I when -- when I was there, the house majority leader then became the speaker of the house was an Arab American, a Lebanese Christian. Nobody made a big deal about that. Jimmy Naifeh served. There's no -- that wasn't -- you know, the identity politics or foreign -- that wasn't what was going on in that building.

Now it is just one party control, the Republicans, and they don't even really give the Democrats the right to speak. That's one of the reasons why those two young Justins just, you know, walked up to the front and just started speaking. They had been silenced and muzzled.

It's night and day. It's night and day. And it was amazing to go back to a place that launched me into my career, which was really, you know, I tried to bring everybody together. That was the Tennessee way. That's out the door now.

BERMAN: You know, the fact that he was an intern there 40 years ago, I'm trying to do the math in my head. So, you were an intern when you were like four there?

BOLDUAN: He's Benjamin Button. He's Benjamin Button. He ages backwards.

BERMAN: I don't -- I don't understand how the math there works.

BOLDUAN: This is part of our issue with Van Jones.

BERMAN: So, but you -- you brought up -- you brought up what we all just watched over this last year in Tennessee with the two young Justins, as you called them. What's some of the backstory there?

JONES: Well, as my cousin Capal Kirkendoll (ph) was talking about in -- in his mom's home, there have been horrific shootings, not just mass shootings, but also daily individual shootings in places like Memphis. And a movement came together, bipartisan, multiracial, to get the state to do something simple, like passing red flag laws. And they were -- they were just gunned down. And -- I mean not gunned down but they were stopped from being able to move that forward. And just out of frustration, they -- they spoke out of tun and got expelled. And so that -- that put this whole thing on the global radar.

Anyway, yes.

BOLDUAN: Talk -- yes, talk to us about the -- kind of the whole hour.

JONES: Yes.

BOLDUAN: What -- going back, taking a deep dive, was -- what surprised you?

JONES: Yes, look, it was -- I hope people tune in, 8:00 on Sunday. We go deep. We talked to red state voters, blue state voters. We talked to rising stars on both sides. We talked to the Justins. We -- and you get a sense of what happens in a state when one party takes it over and its going hard right. Or you could go hard left. But in Tennessee it's hard right.

The most surprising thing to me was, at the grassroots level, everybody's the same.

[09:55:03]

People are decent people. They're honest people. They just want their communities to be better off. But somehow, by the time it gets up to the state legislature, it has been so weaponized that people cannot even speak to each other. And you -- and we -- and I think we do a good job of showing that process of weaponization of issues and the division of a state. A state that was, frankly, much -- a much more moderate, bipartisan state and is now an extreme right-wing state in the way that it governs, but not necessarily in the way that the people on the ground interact and operates.

BERMAN: It will be interesting to see, and the history of it's so fascinating because I remember what -- you know, Al Gore, Jim Sasser, they were the Democratic senators from Tennessee. I remember what a big deal it was when Al Gore lost his home state in 2000 and everyone said, hey, there's something going on here.

JONES: Something going on.

BERMAN: Now you can find out what exactly. What happened here.

JONES: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Van Jones, thank you so much.

JONES: OK.

BERMAN: The all new episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper,: one whole hour, one whole story, airs this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

BOLDUAN: Thank you all so much for joining us today. We have made it through the week, at least some of us.

This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Jim Acosta, don't go anywhere, it's up next.

BERMAN: Have a great weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)