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Ukraine Says All Women, Children And Elderly Evacuated From Mariupol Plant; Russians Try To Put Their Stamp On Seized Ukrainian Territory; New Poll Shows Majority Against Overturning Of Roe v. Wade; Getaway SUV Found In Hunt For Escaped Inmate And Jail Officer; Astronauts Cooperate In Space During War On Earth; New Video Shows Corrections Officer At Hotel Night Before She Left Jail With Murder Suspect. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 07, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:07]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington. Jim Acosta is off today.

And we begin with the stunning rescue at the besieged steel plant in Mariupol. After near constant Russian bombardment and numerous failed evacuation efforts, Ukraine's deputy prime minister a short time ago confirming, quote, "all women, children, and elderly civilians" have been evacuated after sheltering underground in the dark for weeks at that destroyed facility.

But as one brutal chapter in this war appears to have ended, another may be about to begin. The mayor of Kyiv warning Russian missile strikes could ramp up in the coming days and hours as Vladimir Putin seeks a win to accompany Russia's May 9th Victory Day. That's a holiday commemorating the defeat of the Nazis in World War II.

And perhaps that's why in some parts of Ukraine a chilling propaganda push is now under way. Soviet imagery has begun popping up in Mariupol and road signs are being changed to Russian spelling. At the same time symbols of Russian military might have taken over Moscow's Red Square ahead of Monday's parade.

On Sunday, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy will be on a call with President Biden and other G7 leaders, and White House says the timing of that call is intentional.

CNN's Scott McLean is in Lviv in western Ukraine.

Scott, what have we learned about this Mariupol evacuation?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to the deputy prime minister, Jessica, it is over. All of the women, the children and the elderly people have been removed. I suppose it's possible that there are civilian men still trapped inside but they said that -- but she said that this part of the evacuation is complete and the order of the president has been done.

We've also gotten word from a soldier inside the plant who said that the evacuation went off without a hitch, without any problems at all, very smooth sailing today. That's been obviously quite different in the past because the first successful evacuation mission actually went out on Sunday and you can imagine how long of a week it has been for the people who missed that evacuation and have been trapped inside under heavy Russian bombardment ever since.

They weren't sure if their second chance would come around. Well, now, it has. Fifty people evacuated yesterday, more today. It's unclear exactly how many, though. And we've also just gotten word from some of the -- from another soldier, a commander inside of the plant because as of right now they're the only ones left. There could be hundreds of soldiers, even hundreds of wounded soldiers still trapped in the plant and they would very much like to have some kind of an arrangement to be able to come out alive because the chances of them fighting their way out of the plant are very slim.

And the Russians don't seem like they are in the mood to allow them to leave. And so a brokered deal is maybe their only chance. And so this commander, Serhiy Volynsky, said he feels like he's in an infernal reality show where him and the other soldiers are fighting for their lives and the rest of the world is just watching. Again, as if it's a TV show. He said that he is hoping for a miracle and that time is running out and that time is our lives.

President Zelenskyy, Jessica, says that he is working on a diplomatic option to try to negotiate the release, working with third party nations that might be influential with the Russians. We don't have any more details as to which countries those might be. But you can imagine if you're one of those soldiers inside you are hoping and praying because the Ukrainian military says that the Russians still have that plant, four square miles, cordoned off. They have it sealed and they have begun shelling it once again.

DEAN: All right. Scott McLean for us live in western Ukraine. Thank you so much for that update.

And joining us now is CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel Leighton, always great to see you. Let's start first the Russian forces are now trying to put their stamp on what's left of Mariupol and the other towns they've seized from erecting a statute of a grandmother holding a Soviet flag to changing those road signs as we mentioned at the top of the broadcast from Ukrainian to Russian.

Do you believe that the Russians are reaching for, essentially, some photo ops here ahead of that all-important Victory Day holiday on May 9th that's coming up?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Jessica, it's great to be with you as well. I think it's more than just a photo op in this case. What you're looking at is changing the culture of a region. The Russians are trying to look at the ethnic composition of places like Mariupol, which has a majority or had a majority of Russian-speakers among its population and they have believed, even before this invasion started, that that population would support them. That hasn't turned out to be the case. And so what the Russians are

trying to do is they're trying to, in essence, obliterate Ukrainian language, Ukrainian culture and the Ukrainian way of life in those areas.

[15:05:07]

And this is one big way to do that, change the road signs, put up the statues, change the currency, those are the kinds of things that they're doing and they're hoping that that would then seal not only seal their victory over the Ukrainians in this particular city, in Mariupol, and some of the other areas that they've occupied, but also it will convince the world that they should rightfully, in their words, be in charge of this area.

DEAN: Like that's psychological warfare, really. And we got that incredible news that the women, the children, the elderly civilians have been evacuated out of that steel plant but we also have some unusual satellite images that are showing the Russians are excavating the drama theatre turned shelter they bombed in mid-March. And you'll remember that had the world children written on the ground outside. We know that hundreds are believed to have died in that strike. What do you make of that?

LEIGHTON: I think they're trying to hide the evidence. So, you know, if you look at the Russians making a relatively magnanimous gesture by releasing the women, children and the elderly from the Azovstal steel plant after, you know, countless days under ground, then you also have this rather bad look that they had at the theatre there in Mariupol. So what they want to do, I think, is erase what happened there as much as they can.

Probably exhume the bodies of, you know, any graves that are there and move those somewhere else and to make it look as if there's nothing there. And that's, of course, going to be hard to do since the building itself was destroyed, but -- or at least damaged in great measure. So that's I think what they're up to. I think they're trying to whitewash the situation as much as they possibly can at this point.

DEAN: And ironic, though, because we have all of these images. It's almost as if they're admitting that they know exactly what they did, right, by doing this?

LEIGHTON: Yes. Exactly.

DEAN: And sources are telling CNN that the U.S. provided intelligence that helped Ukraine target and also sink a Russian warship in the Black Sea last month. And I want to listen first to how the Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby responded to that. We'll listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: The intelligence that we provide to Ukraine is legal, it's lawful, it's legitimate and it's limited. We give them information, other partners give them information, and oh, by the way, they have terrific intelligence of their own. They corroborate all that together and then they make the decisions they're going to make and they take the actions they're going to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And for obvious reasons the U.S. is very sensitive about being seen as playing a direct role in the killing of Russian generals or the sinking of Russian warships, but do you believe it's fair to say that U.S. intelligence has resulted in Russian deaths at this point?

LEIGHTON: Well, it depends, Jessica, on the precise nature of that intelligence. If it's the exact coordinates of the location of the Moskva or the location of a Russian general, knowing that it's the Russian general there then that would be one thing. It would be completely different, though, if it was a more general description of where something was. And the Moskva was approximately the vicinity of X and Y, that would be different than saying it's exactly there.

So what the Ukrainians probably did, and this is based on, you know, my years of working with other foreign nations in this area, is that they fused the intelligence we gave -- we contributed to the precise targeting of these areas but it's also possible that they were able to achieve that knowledge on their own. So without knowing more it's really hard to say exactly, you know, whether we directly contributed to that or not.

DEAN: And the White House says President Biden and the G7 leaders are going to meet virtually with President Zelenskyy tomorrow. They've said this timing is critical and that it is very much on purpose. How important is that moment, do you think, in sending a message to Putin?

LEIGHTON: Well, it's Victory in Europe Day tomorrow, and, you know, of course, the Russians celebrate it on Monday, May 9th, as being their victory day. And the idea that we are sending that message, meeting with all the G7 leaders and President Zelenskyy, that is important because it shows unity. It shows unity of purpose, it shows unity of effort, and it's sending a message to Vladimir Putin that the West and NATO are united behind Ukraine and that we're not forgetting that Russia is actually the aggressor in this particular case.

You know, the Ukrainian people will certainly tell you that, but we have to keep our memories alive in this area, and make sure that we don't, you know, suffer from short-term memory loss in this case and make sure that we understand that, you know, what we're fighting for here or what the Ukrainians are fighting for is really the right to have a democratic government in Europe and in the center of Europe where Ukraine lies.

[15:10:08]

DEAN: Right, upholding that democracy. Colonel Cedric Leighton, always great to have you, thank you for your insight. We appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Jessica. Always good to be with you.

DEAN: Coming up you're looking live at Atlanta where an abortion rights protest is happening after that leaked draft opinion showing the Supreme Court on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade. We've got some brand-new CNN polling on where the country stands on that issue.

Plus stunning revelations from former Defense Secretary Mark Esper claiming former President Trump suggested launching missiles into Mexico. Should Esper have spoken out sooner?

And later the getaway car used by an Alabama inmate and a corrections officer turns up in Tennessee. The clues that suggest their escape didn't quite go as planned and where the manhunt for them now stands.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:06]

DEAN: And you are looking live right now at pictures from Atlanta where an abortions right protest is taking place after a leaked draft opinion revealed the Supreme Court is on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade. So far protests nationwide that we've seen, that draft while not final has sparked those protests not only nationwide but also right outside the high court. And so far they've all been peaceful.

But this week security officers installed an eight-foot-tall non- scalable fence around parts of the Supreme Court building. They also set up concrete jersey barriers blocking the street in front of the court.

Let's take a look at some brand-new CNN polling. It's giving us insight into how Americans feel about this issue. The polling finding only 34 percent of those asked support the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. 66 percent oppose. And when you break it down by party, it looks like this. 88 percent of Democrats, 71 percent of independents and only 37 percent of Republicans prefer Roe v. Wade remain the law of the land.

So with all of that in mind, let's kind of break some of this down. Joining me now is CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Alice Stewart and CNN senior political analyst and "USA Today" columnist Kirsten Powers. She's the author of the book "Saving Grace: Speak Your Truth, Stay Centered and Learn to Coexist with People Who Drive You Nuts."

A great title. Thanks so much for both of you guys being with us.

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: And very helpful during this time.

DEAN: It is. It is. Alice, let's start with you. Are Republicans worried that this issue will not just fire up Democrats but also independents in the upcoming midterms?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's certainly a concern. But you also have to keep in mind that Republicans have, for decades, really worked to galvanize the support of the pro-life movement for cases just like this, to support the life issue but also to support justices appointed at the federal and U.S. Supreme Court level. That train of support is not going anywhere. That is going to stay engaged and really focused on the issue. What we

do expect to see happen is that on the Democratic side, yes, they will be galvanized behind this abortion issue and the fight for abortion. As we look at the video of the protests all across the country, I'm also encouraged by -- you see Students for Life, you see Concerned Women for America, you see a lot of pro-life people also at these rallies.

So we're seeing it on both sides. But what I do think is while the Democrats will be more engaged on this abortion issue, Republicans are really engaged on issues such as the economy, jobs, crime, crisis at the border, pocketbook issues that drive people to the polls, and I think that's going to really create some voter enthusiasm on the Republican side.

DEAN: And just -- we have that 71 percent of independents, that's a really high number that want Roe v. Wade as the law of the land and they tend to swing those elections a lot of times, especially in some of these statewide Senate races.

STEWART: Right. The problem with that, in terms of voting, a lot of people, independents, many voters don't go to the polls just on this issue. Now if this was just go to the polls on this issue certainly it would be a different scenario. Many people go to the polls on pocketbook issues, the economic issues, and we still have gas prices the way they are, inflation continuing at this rate. That's a bigger motivator than this abortion issue by and far when it comes to November.

DEAN: And Kirsten, I want to play you something that former Bill Clinton campaign strategist James Carville said in explaining why he believes Republicans have no reason to fear Democrats on abortion. Let's listen to that clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, FORMER BILL CLINTON CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST: To date they have no fear of Democrats. That's why they do this. Democrats, you got to understand just what a huge event this is in American politics. Democrats have won the popular vote in seven out of the last eight presidential elections. Roe is over 2 to 1 in approval. And Alito and them said we don't care. We're not fair and we don't care, and all the Democrats are going to do is sit around and talk about veganism and pronouns. And to some extent that is a justified opinion that they have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: All right. Veganism and pronouns. What's your response to that, Kirsten?

POWERS: I'm going to have to respectfully disagree on that one. I don't think that that's really -- you know, James Carville is very consumed with, you know, what he complains about as wokism, being sort of the defining characteristic of the Democratic Party, even though I would say that the types of things he's talking about probably will be more associated with activists than any elected officials.

There's very few elected officials that would fall into that category in the Democratic Party. So I do think the Democratic Party has not been as aggressive as they could be around this issue and there has been a lot of complacency. And so the thing is, Republicans were already pretty fired up for the midterm elections.

[15:20:01]

And as, you know, viewers hear all the time, this is always a very hard -- the first midterm election after a president is elected they typically don't do very well. So it's already not a great playing field for Democrats. So this has the potential to activate Democrats who were -- I'm sorry. Who were otherwise not activated. And I just don't know if it will be enough to push them, you know, over the line in terms of, you know, the playing field that already exists.

I do want to say, also, that I think Democrats are very animated on the issues, the pocketbook issues, and they understand that people are voting on that. But the more people learn about this, the closer we get to the election and the more they understand the implications of it, I wouldn't be surprised to see that polling shift a little bit.

STEWART: If I can just commend Kirsten on her showing grace there to James Carville at the beginning of that. But also another (INAUDIBLE) on the poll that I think is really important is the -- on the CNN poll the enthusiasm of registered voters, it has gone up on both sides, Republicans and Democrats. Democrats just up 6 percent, Republicans up 9 percent. So we are seeing a little bit more enthusiasm on the Republican side.

DEAN: OK. Before I let you guys go, I want to make sure we get to these new revelations quickly. In a new book by former Trump Defense Secretary Mark Esper, according to "The New York Times" he's claiming that Trump asked him about secretly launching a missile strike on Mexico to, quote, "destroy the drug labs" writing, quote, "They don't have control of their own country. When Mr. Esper raised various objections, Mr. Trump said that we could just shoot some patriot missiles and take out the labs quietly, adding no one would know it was us."

Alice, no one would know it was us. Do you think that's right?

STEWART: First of all, it's wrong, but I don't doubt what Esper says. And it's really disturbing and it's ludicrous to even think something like that let alone say it. There are other revelations that are coming out in this book that are disturbing. The good thing is, fortunately the former president was surrounded by rational-minded people that were guardrails for some of the nonsensical things that he said and suggested.

And interestingly the Trump campaign or team has been asked to comment on this or to verify and they said no comment. So I believe what Esper says, it's just really disturbing.

DEAN: Yes. And Kirsten, there's another quote I want to read from the memoir, it's Esper's memoir where he talks about something that Trump adviser Stephen Miller said after a U.S. Military raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2018, quote, "He claims Miller suggested taking al-Baghdadi's head, dipping it in pig's blood and parading it around to warn other terrorists. Esper says he said that would be a war crime."

We should note Stephen Miller did deny this and called Esper a moron. But are you surprised that we're just hearing about this, that we're hearing about this idea about missiles to Mexico now? Do you think Esper should have spoken out sooner?

POWERS: Yes, of course he should have spoken out earlier. And Donald Trump also suggested shooting protesters, just saying just shoot them in the leg, people who had come to D.C. to protest the killing of George Floyd. So this is very dangerous stuff. And, you know, Alice is saying the good news is there were people around, you know, like Esper to push back on this. But I think we should all be clear that if somehow Donald Trump runs for president again and ends up in the White House again, those people will not be there.

So this is what, you know, we're dealing with. Someone like Stephen Miller will be there. And if you just told me that story and said guess who did this, Stephen Miller would have been exactly who I would have said. So this is the kind of information that, I'm sorry, it's not OK to save to put in a book to make money. This is the kind of information that people should have had when they were going to the polls, in my opinion.

DEAN: All right. Alice Stewart and Kirsten Powers, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

STEWART: Thank you.

POWERS: Thank you.

DEAN: And coming up, the frantic hunt for a dangerous murder suspect and the officer who allegedly helped him escape. Why police say finding the getaway car has put them back at square one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:43]

DEAN: Major developments in the hunt for a missing inmate and the now former corrections officer who apparently helped him escape from an Alabama jail. This orange SUV that the pair used in their getaway was found abandoned in Tennessee just about two hours north of that jail in Florence. And there are more signs that their escape maybe didn't go quite as they planned.

CNN's Nadia Romero is live for us in Florence, Alabama.

Nadia, we are seeing new video of Vicki White the night before her disappearance. What's the latest you're hearing?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, this is a really important development because we had heard rumors throughout the week that she was spotted at a Quality Inn Hotel and then the sheriff confirmed it yesterday. Now we have the video of her, you can see her standing there at the front desk in the lobby. And that Quality Inn is less than half a mile from where she ditched her patrol car on Friday, last week on Friday, eight days ago, when they finally switched out cars and left, and as we know now they headed north to Tennessee about two hours from here where they ditched another car.

Now the sheriff believes that they abandoned that car because they had car troubles that wasn't part of the plan.

[15:30:00]

But we're starting to get more pieces of the puzzle as the ATF, local authorities, FBI, U.S. Marshals all works together to try figure out what happened leading up to the escape and in the days leading up to the escape and obviously where they are now.

Listen to the sheriff talk about the moment when the car was found and what it meant for the two of them on the run. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SINGLETON, SHERIFF, LAUDERDALE COUNTY, AL, SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: The fact that they abandoned this car so quick and where they abandoned it, I think threw them a curve. I don't think they planned for that. I think they, you know, were grasping at straws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: So obviously, a lot has to go right in your favor if you're going to take a man who was serving 75 years in prison and who was facing capital murder charges, get him out of the county jail and flee successfully, that wasn't part of the plan according to the sheriff.

But if only we knew, if only authorities were alerted to that car on Friday when they initially found it in Tennessee, before they towed it, then the authorities would have been faster on the trail of Vicky White and Casey White.

That car was found and authorities in Alabama didn't even know they were missing.

Let's look at the two of them.

Let's start with Vicky White. We've seen her multiple times with blond hair. You saw her with blond hair inside the Quality Inn hotel the night before the escape.

The U.S. Marshals releasing photos of what she could look like if she had darker hair, was wearing a brunette wig or dyed her hair to try to use a disguise. We know she's been using aliases as well.

And let's look at Casey White. We have seen him with hair, without hair, facial hair, no beard. But he has tattoos that aren't going anywhere. He has a sleeve, tattoos on his chest and back. The U.S. Marshal says they're consistent with a White supremist gang

in the Alabama prison system. Confederate flag, southern pride, written on his body.

He's also 6'9", about 300 pounds so he should stick out. Those are the things we need to be looking for.

We also know, Jessica, that Vicky White withdrew about $90,000 worth of cash. So we know they had time to get away. They had a head start. They have cash. And authorities are still looking for them -- Jessica?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Nadia Romero, with the latest from Florence, Alabama, thanks so much.

We want to show you another image as authorities continue this search. U.S. Marshals release this depiction of their height difference. He's 6'9", she's 5'5". So quite the height disparity there.

We have tips coming in from across the United States.

Joining me is Vicky White's now-former boss, the Sheriff of Lauderdale County, Alabama, Sheriff Rick Singleton.

Sheriff, thanks for making time for us.

Let's talk first about the getaway car. We saw it was an orange car. That seems like an odd choice if you're planning to go on the run. You'd almost have to go out of the way to not notice an orange car.

It appears in the new photos that perhaps they were spray painting the car a darker color, maybe a green color. Does that tell you anything?

SINGLETON: You know, I think it's a matter of convenience, something she could afford. She didn't consider something how it would stand out.

Obviously, they tried to paint it, which might have helped disguise it somewhat. But I think it would have stood out, given the paint job they were putting on it.

The fact it was found last Friday -- we didn't have the car positively identified until Monday morning. So that gave them a head start for sure.

DEAN: Have you found anything in the car, any evidence of a struggle or injury or blood, scratches, anything like that inside the car that has helped you?

SINGLTON: No, the car was basically clean. Nothing in it of any value. You know, just -- they just -- (AUDIO PROBLEM)

DEAN: All right. It sounds like we've lost Sheriff Singleton there. We'll try to get him back.

[15:34:07]

Let's take a quick break and we'll try to get the sheriff back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Another sign of Russian cooperation onboard the International Space Station this week, despite Russia's war on Ukraine.

NASA Astronaut Thomas Marshburn handed command of the station over to a Russian cosmonaut on Wednesday, with the Russians thanking Marshburn for his friendship.

I want to bring in CNN innovation and space correspondent, Rachel Crane.

Rachel, I know you've been talking with astronauts on the space station about how the war on earth may be impacting their work. What are they telling you?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN BUSINESS INNOVATION & SPACE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jessica. I had the opportunity to speak with NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkins and also ESA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

Samantha had been to station before. This is not her maiden journey. I asked her how the mood was on station, if it felt different from her previous missions. She said, no, it felt just the same.

It's important to remember that, you know, the International Space Station is really one of the last remaining diplomatic links between Russia and the United States.

And they are really dependent on one another onboard this floating laboratory. The Russian side controls the propulsion, where the U.S. side controls the power. So truly reliant on one another.

And they've been able to corporate in space much better than we've been able to corporate here on earth.

[15:40:05]

Now the astronauts I spoke to said they did understand the magnitude of what they were doing in space, how symbolic this cooperation was.

Especially in spite of the fact that Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, he's been tweeting out rather threatening statements saying that Russia might pull out of the International Space Station partnership.

NASA, of course, maintains there's no immediate threat of that happening.

But when I asked Jessica and Samantha about their concerns, if any, about the Russians ordering their astronauts onboard to take any kind of aggressive action, they said they were not concerned.

Take a listen to what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SAMANTHA CRISTOFORETTI, EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY ASTRONAUT: Yes. No, we do not worry about that. The reason is that we have, I think, an instinctive understanding of the community we are part of.

I think we all understand what we do here is valuable, that the space station is valuable. And that, even in times of conflict, you have to preserve bridges. You have to preserve some areas of cooperation. And, you know, the best conduit for that is just the space station.

JESSICA WATKINS, NASA ASTRONAUT: We are a family up here. We have dinner with our cosmonaut colleagues. And we understand the shared mission, the shared goal. And we'll all work together to do our best to accomplish that and do so successfully, safely, and efficiently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: And, Jessica, I just want to point out that Jessica Watkins, who just spoke, this is her maiden journey. And it's a milestone journey here. She's the first black female astronaut to be on an extended stay on station.

She'll be up there about six months conducting research and maintenance onboard station.

And she's also part of the astronaut class that NASA has selected for Artemis. That is a return to the moon. NASA said it will be the first time that a woman will land on the moon. So Jessica is in the running for that prized seat to fly to the moon.

I asked her if this taste of space got her excited to potentially be that person. She said she's certainly enjoying her time in space and she would love it as much as possible -- Jessica?

DEAN: All right, Rachel Crane for us. We certainly wish her the best.

Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

And coming up, we just got this new video of former corrections officer, Vicky White, at a hotel the night before she allegedly helped a capital murder suspect escape from jail. We'll talk to the sheriff about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:47:09]

DEAN: We're just seeing new video of former corrections officer, Vicky White, at a hotel the night before she allegedly helped a capital murder suspect escape from jail.

The sheriff of Lauderdale County, Alabama, Sheriff Rick Singleton, is back with me.

Sheriff, thanks for hanging with us.

He's now joining us over the phone. I want to ask you about Vicky White's mother, Pat Davis. She told our

affiliate the morning Vicky left was like any other morning.

Did her mother know she stayed at a hotel the night before the escape?

SINGLETON (via telephone): I'm not sure if she was aware or not. You know, I haven't spoke to her about that specific issue.

DEAN: And does that say anything to you, that someone is close, perceivably as her own mother, was left in the dark about all this?

SINGLETON: Knowing Vicky, I think she had a great relationship with her mother, and I know her mother is very distraught. My guess would be that Vicky did not want to see her that morning knowing what she was about to do. But that's strictly just opinion on my part.

DEAN: I want to pick up where we left off a little bit earlier this hour. We were talking about the orange SUV that was found that belonged to Vicky White.

It was discovered in Tennessee a few hours after the pair went on the run from the Alabama correctional facility. I know you believe they likely had mechanical trouble and that's why they abandoned the car in the middle of traffic.

Is there any evidence that someone else helped them at that point, or also, too, that was certainly probably unexpected for them they had to take a different tract than they expected to?

SINGLTON: I mean, obviously, someone either assisted them or they stole a vehicle up in that area.

I know they've been checking to see of any stolen reports. I've not been advised if they discovered any stolen vehicles in that area or not. They either left on foot or someone had to give them a ride.

At that time the BOLO from law enforcement had not been put out because we were not aware they were missing.

DEAN: Is there any evidence you were able to collect from the car?

SINGLETON: No. The car was cleaned out. There wasn't anything left in the vehicle. They apparently took everything they had with them.

DEAN: You said that the other inmates confirmed the nature of the relationship that White had with the inmate. What did they tell you about that relationship?

SINGLETON: Well, on Saturday, after they left on Friday, some of the inmates said that they had a special relationship. And so we sent investigators to talk to them.

And they were complaining that he got special treatment. That he would get privileges that other inmates didn't get. He would get extra food on his plate and all this was coming from Vicky White. That was their complaint. [15:50:02]

But we followed up on it. And we found out from that information that she was, in fact, in touch with him during the time between 2020 and the time he was brought back to our facility in February of this year. They were in touch by phone several times during that period.

DEAN: Right, so this was a long-standing relationship.

And it is so interesting to hear you talking about this because you were in this incredibly unique situation where one of your own employees is involved in this crime.

How have you been dealing with that yourself? This has to be -- I would assume, it is the first time you've had something like this happen.

SINGLETON: Absolutely. You know, it's been a difficult week, a challenging week, you know, a discouraging week.

You know, ultimately, as a sheriff, I'm responsible for the jail. And this is on my shoulders. And you know, I want to see that we get Casey White back behind bars.

And I want to see Vicky White brought in so we can understand exactly what she was thinking.

DEAN: And quickly, before I let you go, I know you've made an appeal for Vicky White, if she's still alive and out there, to come home.

Do you have any reason to believe that Casey and Vicky are not still together? Do you think they're together at this point?

SINGLETON: I don't have any evidence to the contrary. We've had no information as far as, you know, one of them being spotted somewhere without the other.

We've had no information they've been spotted period, confirmed, other than this vehicle up in Tennessee.

DEAN: All right, Sheriff Rick Singleton, thanks so much for talking with us. Good luck.

SINGLETON: Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

DEAN: And we have new school surveillance video that shows the destructive power of a tornado that hit the Wichita, Kansas, area last week.

Look at that. The video offering several viewpoints of the school under the wind's assault.

From outside where the winds pick up a lone car left in a parking lot, debris seen catapulting through the air in front of the building, and also on the school's playgrounds. And you see this camera here inside showing the storm sweeping through

the lunchroom moving those tables and blowing out windows. Due to the damage, that school will have to close for the rest of the year.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian hate crimes have surged in the United States, increasing 164 percent early last year in 16 of the nation's largest city.

This week's "CNN Heroes" salute Michelle Tran, whose nonprofit Soar Over Hate has provided more than 25,000 personal safety devices as well as self-defense classes to Asian-Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE TRAN, CNN HERO: The day of our distribution, the line surpassed four blocks around the neighborhood where people waited almost two hours to obtain a personal safety device from us.

To make the noise, you pull out the pin, and it scares people away and alerts people around you.

It was simultaneously heartbreaking but also motivating to see so many people come out. I think it highlighted the need and the fears that many folks like me are experiencing right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.

TRAN: Stay safe. Bye.

I hope that our work saves lives. That's our only hope moving forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:53:26]

DEAN: To learn about all the ways Michelle and her organization are working to combat Asian hate, you can go to CNNheroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:58:12]

DEAN: Get ready for an epic road trip across South Korea on the next "NOMAD," with Carlton McCoy.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLTON MCCOY, HOST, "NOMAD" (voice-over): The genius of these lies in the time it takes to ferment them. For the most special ones, it will be at least four years until they're ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the 2016 vintage. So this is very balanced. MCCOY: OK. That looks pretty gnarly. I'm going to be honest with you.

(LAUGHTER)

MCCOY: That's got a lot of personality, you know what I'm saying?

(LAUGHTER)

MCCOY: I'm used to having the process, you know, in the jar.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It fills your mouth.

MCCOY: That was a big piece. I'm going in deep.

I think initially, it's very salty. But I think when the salt dissipates is when you get like the umami.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

MCCOY: It has really bright notes, almost like citrus fruit, but it's very savory as well, like meaty, almost like mushrooms. It's beautiful.

Are you happy with it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm happy with it.

MCCOY: You loved it, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: A brand-new episode of "NOMAD," with Carlton McCoy, airs tomorrow night at 10:00 right here on CNN.

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, are getting the royal snub from Buckingham Palace for the queen's Platinum Jubilee next month.

The couple and their children will travel to London for ceremonies celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 70 years on the throne. But they, along with Prince Andrew, are not invited to join the queen on the palace balcony during the kickoff to those festivities.

[15:59:48]

A royal spokesperson telling CNN, only royals who carry out official duties will be allowed on the balcony. Meghan and Harry stopped taking part in those duties when they split from the royal family in 2020.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean, in for Jim Acosta today.