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Mass Shooting in Buffalo, New York; Shooting Inside Orange County Church; CNN Special Report Inside the Mind of Vladimir Putin; Naomi Judd's Life and Music Celebration. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 15, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. We are learning more about the teenager accused of Saturday's racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York grocery store. Here's what we know. Ten peopled are dead and three others are injured after police say the suspect had researched the store in advance, targeting a predominantly black neighborhood.

Two federal law enforcement sources tell CNN investigators are reviewing a 180-page manifesto allegedly written by the teen. In it, the author describes himself as a fascist, a white supremacist and anti-Semite who picked up most of these beliefs from the internet. That includes his fixation with the racist conspiracy theory that claims whites are being ethnically and culturally replaced by non- white groups and immigrants, which is of course nonsense.

People at the scene described the terror that they witnessed. The suspect dressed in tactical gear spraying gunfire at the entry of the store all while live streaming the attack. The family members of people who were killed have now been notified. One of them is being hailed as a hero. The store security guard. He lost his life trying to stop the gunman.

Tomorrow, in honor of that security guard and the other victims, flags on New York State buildings will be lowered to half-staff. CNN's Victor Blackwell is on the ground for us at the scene in Buffalo. Just a heartbreaking tragedy, Victor. I can't imagine the emotions that you're encountering there on the scene.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Yes, Jim, when I was walking up here to this scene earlier today, I met an elderly woman. She was one of three coming to the scene. Her name is was Ms. Suzy (ph), and she said that she came here just to support this community, the people who walked to this grocery store. She said that her own grandchildren were here just on Thursday. She had been at Tops several times before.

And we're seeing that from a lot of people. The crowds have thinned a bit. There was some gospel music and evangelist here for several hours. He has now left, but there are still scores of people who are just outside the caution tape as the investigation continues about inside and outside the grocery store here in Buffalo. Let's turn to the investigation now. And CNN's crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz is following that. What's the latest that you know? SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIMA AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, the

authorities today revealing some new information. First, they're saying that the alleged shooter was here the day before on Friday. They believe casing this out, staking the location out, trying to familiarize himself with the location so they have that information.

We also learned that last year in June of 2021 that there was some kind of mental health evaluation with the alleged shooter. The school called the state police where he lives, and they then took him to the hospital. We don't know much more about that. We don't know what if there was any follow-up.

Also, authorities revealed they know where the weapons were purchased, when they were purchased. So that's a big key here for investigators. And that also interestingly, the magazines that he was using and then the adaptations to this weapon were not legal. So, it will be interesting to see if there are any charges pursued as a result of that.

So, authorities have been working through a lot. We also learned that he's been talking. He made statements to investigators. It's been described to me as just really disturbing, explaining in some detail about why he did this, making it very clear allegedly that he came here to attack the black community and that he specifically was targeting black people at this supermarket here behind me.

So, investigators have a lot of new information. They're certainly working through all of it. And now we wait to see new charges, but also the federal -- the Department of Justice and whether or not they will bring charges. They say they expect to. How quickly will they do it? We could see that tomorrow or certainly in the coming days.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I spoke with the Erie County D.A. who says that there could certainly be gun charges as well, but also terrorism related charges as they start to dig through this 180-page manifesto. Shimon Prokupecz, I'll let you get back to reporting. Thank you very much.

This shooter, as we're told or the alleged shooter, the suspect, authorities say drove several hours to come here, targeted this area because of the high concentration of population of African Americans. Our Brian Todd is in Conklin, New York where this suspect is from, his hometown there, trying to learn more about him. What are you learning, Brian?

[17:05:00]

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, some details that we're piecing together about the background of this shooting suspect, 18- year-old Payton Gendron is his name. The police commissioner of Buffalo, Joseph Gramaglia, told CNN earlier today that the suspect made what he called, what the police commissioner called a generalized threat while he was attending Susquehanna Valley Central High School in June of last year.

And that because of that threat he was taken by state police to a hospital for a mental health evaluation as Shimon just mentioned a short time ago. Separately, a state police spokesman told CNN that a 17-year-old who the spokesman did not name was taken in for a mental health evaluation in June of last year.

Now the police commissioner of Buffalo says that that evaluation that the suspect was held for about a day and a half and then later released. The state police not giving out information about how long the suspect was held at that time. The police commissioner also saying that that particular threat, which he didn't get into a lot of detail about, but he did say it was not racially motivated.

Some other details that we're piecing together about this alleged shooter's background from here in Conklin, New York, this neighborhood behind me where he lived, we do know -- I talked to the owner of a store here called The Reliable Market not from here. He confirmed to me that Payton Gendron did work there for about three or four months. That he left about three months ago on good terms on his own accord, gave two weeks' notice.

He was known as a very quiet young man, did interact with customers. He worked in the deli and other places inside that market but didn't have a whole lot else to say about him. He was just a very quiet kid according to the store owner who we spoke to earlier today. And we also spoke to neighbors in this neighborhood who are frankly shocked by this, knowing what they know of the Gendron family.

They say, they describe them as nice and friendly people. That the mother was someone who took walks in the neighborhood here every day. And no sign of any racist views in the family. But they too paint a portrait of a very quiet young man, Payton Gendron. One neighbor told me that, you know, whenever you said hi to him, you'd be lucky if you got one or two words from him.

He said that this young man helped an older lady, a neighbor next to their house, take out her garbage every week and mow his parent's grass. Other than that, there's not a lot that people are either willing or able to say about this young man other than they are really shocked by this, given the normalcy that they've described with that family.

But the store owner did tell me one thing. He said, quote, I'm sure he'll pay a huge price for this as he should. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Brian Todd, ending on that note, let's pick that up with the New York Attorney General, Letitia James with us about that huge price. Thank you for being with us. You talked today about this daily diet of hate, as you called it, that this suspect consumed. What more have you learned as investigators are digging through this 180-page manifesto that they believe is connected to this suspect?

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: So there was a 180-page manifesto, which specifically focused on targeting communities of color. He specifically said black people. He had an outline of the footprint of the Tops supermarket. In addition to that, he had the N word which unfortunately was carved into one of his weapons.

Clearly, he was bent on hate. He was focused on a replacement theory, this theory that white individuals will be replaced by immigrants and people of color and Jewish individuals. And all that I am seeing is that individuals need to temper their comments and that there needs to be some standards in journalism.

And we've got to speak about facts and what we need to do is heal our -- heal Buffalo, but also heal our nation as one individual. And that's why it's so critically important that we talk about the history of others and that individuals know about the hate that has been perpetrated particularly on the Jewish community and African American community all throughout the history of this country.

The original sin was racism. And it's important that we speak about it and we speak about it honestly without making others feel guilty or hurting other individuals. And it's unfortunate that this young man will have to pay the price.

BLACKWELL: My apology. We've got a bit of a delay. I didn't want to cut you off there, but this is a landscape in which people are petitioning to ban books that discuss the history of the country. Let me ask you about the social media element here. The governor, Governor Hochul said that she wants to hold the social media companies accountable.

She wants the executives in her office and wants them to look her in the eyes and say that they are doing everything they can to try to mitigate some of this hate that's spread. And if not, they will be held accountable. What more should social media companies have done in this case and what more should they be doing in the future?

[17:10:04]

JAMES: In my office, we've been looking at Section 230, the Communications and Decency Act, which basically provides immunity to the social media platforms. And this is a bipartisan issue. And so, we are speaking to my Republican attorney generals and others all across this nation about what we can do to address hate. As you know, the First Amendment does not protect hate speech particularly when hate speech follows up with acts.

And so it's important that we come to some agreement that the United States Congress change and reform Section 230, the Communications and Decency Act, and that we bring to the table social media platforms that focus not only -- that allow individuals to espouse hate, in addition to that, that have all of these algorithms which focus on young girls and their image.

And in addition to that, that spreads misinformation and disinformation, about the replacement theory, about critical race theory, and about all of these issues, which unfortunately are dividing this country and causing individuals to hate one another as opposed to what brings us together and what are our commonalities. And again, and we all should be reminded that we are children of God and members of the human family.

BLACKWELL: When you talk about being children of God and members of the human family, there has been gospel music here. There have been prayer circles, people from other communities coming not knowing what to do but just wanting to do something. I know that you have focused on trying to comfort the people of Buffalo. What have you been doing here the last several hours that you've been here?

JAMES: So, I've been attending a number of vigils and a number of church events. Right behind me, they are in the midst of an interfaith ceremony. And so I want to greet my Muslim brothers, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE). I want to greet my Jewish brothers, shalom. I want to greet all members of faith, grace and peace to all of you. And to let individuals know that we've got to come together because Buffalo right now is in a lot of pain and it requires healing.

And so, we invite all men and women of faith to come to Buffalo at this point in time because there is a lot of suffering that is going on. Today, when I went to church, I heard about the victims. The pastor told me about his neighbor who was shot down yesterday, who used to clean the streets and plant trees.

I heard from another church member who talked about a senior citizen who went to visit her husband in a nursing home, and then went to Tops to get some groceries. She too was shot down. I heard from a state senator who said his staff member was shot, the bullet went through his neck, and by the grace of God he survived.

I heard about all of the members who worked at Tops who basically had to hide a mother with a child because this sick, demented individual who was filled with hate, basically wanted to shoot at a mother with a child. And so all of these examples and more, again, do not define Buffalo, but because there are so many individuals who are praying, who are gathering individuals, who are holding individuals, and who are here to seek healing in Buffalo.

I believe that Buffalo is a great place for community. And lastly, I held a woman in a church today who was crying and shivering because she worked at the Tops and she thought yesterday was going to be her last day. And she witnessed the carnage and the death and destruction. And so all of these individuals obviously need counseling. The children need counseling. Buffalo needs counseling. We've go to pray for Buffalo and we got to bring Buffalo together as one and our nation as a whole.

BLACKWELL: New York Attorney General Letitia James, thank you so much for spending a couple of minutes with me. Let me bring in now global civil rights activist and leader, Martin Luther King, III. Thank you for joining me. We are seven years out from the massacre at Mother Emanuel in Charleston, South Carolina and there have been several race-based, not just the black community. I remember being at the Walmart in El Paso where that shooter targeted the Latino community as well. These mass shootings based on race. Has it gotten worse over the last seven years?

MARTIN LUTHRE KIN, III, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER: I do not have the statistical data in front of me, but first, you know, my condolences to all of the families who have lost loved ones. But it certainly feels like it has gotten worse.

[17:15:00]

We have chosen as a society it seems to embrace a culture of violence and a culture of hatred. And all that, you know, we've got to learn in my judgment, we may have to embrace and culture of non-violence. We don't do that. We don't believe yet in showing the value of nonviolence. I think my father and his team, my mother throughout her life tried to show us how to live together without destroying personal property.

It doesn't mean we won't have disagreements, but when it gets to the level of this level of hatred that is unacceptable, everyone needs to be speaking out about this thing. This is wrong. This should not happen. And unfortunately, not enough voices are being heard about this tragedy, and these tragedies that keep happening. And unfortunately, tragically, this probably will not be the last one.

BLACKWELL: You know, speaking of voices, we learned from this manifesto this focus on the great replacement theory, this political conspiracy theory that immigrants are brought in specifically to replace white people in this country. This used to be something on the fringes.

It's know something that is spoken by members of Congress, by high profile media figures as well. How do you pushback on that, refute that? That this is not just in the corners or as Governor Hochul said today, in a wholesome where this is on primetime television?

KING: Yes, again, that's exactly what I think everyone has been saying. Now, the way that you push back is you bring community together. The sad part is, we will work and people in Buffalo will be working on, you know, in a sense coming together for a long time, but we cannot forget these incidents. We have to constantly be talking about it.

And then we have to talk about something else in our society, love, forgiveness, healing. We are a sick nation in need of psychological and all kind of counseling. And we are dysfunctionally functional, and yet we've not accepted that. We think we are fine. We are not. We are a sick nation in need of great help.

And that means that from the school system, we have to start teaching people in a different way. And it's not critical race theory that people are making an issue of and this separatism. Somehow, we've got to come together. It's interesting we can go outer space, go into -- maybe go to Mars, certainly got to the moon. And yet we have not conquered how to live together as brothers and sisters as a human family. That's what we need to be focusing on. And now is beyond the time for us to get focused.

BLACKWELL: You know, there is one detail, as awful as all of the elements of this event are, there is one that sticks with me. It is that in the video that was posted or live streamed as it happened on this site, Twitch, on the end of the gun, the "N" word is there written. I wonder when you heard that, saw that, read that, what went through your mind? That this was the gun that was used to target black people and at that the N word was there on it? KING: The first thing that went through my mind is beyond this being terrible, is, again, there is a huge sickness. This is being programmed. The problem is, we can't reach and define exactly where it's being programmed. They are reporting that this young man came out of a family that did not show that racial behavior existed in this way.

But it is being programmed on social media, all of these platforms and channels. And as I say, enough is enough. America has to wake up and respond universally, not one community, but all communities because this is happening, of course, with the black community significantly, happening with the brown community, happening with, you know, the Asian community, happening with the Jewish community.

We all have got to come together and fight in a constructive way and not a destructive way. Destructiveness is what is destroying our society. Dad would say mankind or humankind has to learn nonviolence or we may face nonexistence.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I've done this, covered these mass shootings, standing in front of a grocery store focused on black people, a church focused on black people, a synagogue focused on Jews, a nightclub that targeted gays, a Walmart targeting Hispanics, and this has happened over and over again in our country and you make the point that we have to figure this out and come together.

[17:20:00]

Martin Luther King, III, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with me. And there's something that the attorney general, Letitia James, Jim, said that she learned about the victims of this shooting and we got some details from New York State Senator Tim Kennedy in which the son of one of his staffers worked here, 20-year-old Zaire Goodman who was shot in the neck by the suspect, the shooter.

Exited -- the bullet exited through the back. Went to the hospital, he survived and how has returned home. So, just one of the stories of the people who were targeted here yesterday. Jim?

ACOSTA: It's just horrific, Victor. And you're absolutely right to point out how this keeps happening over and over again in this country. Buffalo now joining just an awful sad club of other cities to experience this racism fueled violence. It's just terrible. Victor, thanks so much for that reporting there on the scene in Buffalo. We'll get back to you soon. Thanks so much.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

ACOSTA: Coming up, breaking news ahead of Pennsylvania's high stakes senate primary. Democratic candidate and for senate, and current Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman suffers a stroke. What we're learning about his condition, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00] ACOSTA: We have breaking news. Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor and Democratic senate candidate John Fetterman announcing he has suffered a stroke. This happened on Friday, according to the lieutenant governor. This comes just days before the Pennsylvania primary that's on Tuesday. Here are Fetterman and his wife, Gisele, describing what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GISELE FETTERMAN, WIFE OF LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF PHILADELPHIA JOHN FETTERMAN: Hey, everybody. It's John and Gisele. AS you can see, we hit a little bump on the campaign trail.

JOHN FETTERMAN, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF PHILADELPHIA: Yes. It was on Friday. I just wasn't feeling very well, so I decided, you know, I need to get checked out so I went to the hospital.

G. FETTERMAN: I made you get checked out.

J. FETTERMAN: Yes.

G. FETTERMAN: Because I was right, as always.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: As CNN's Den Merica has the latest on how Fetterman is doing.

DAN MERICA, CNN NATIONAL POLICE REPORTER (via telephone): Yes. Hey, Jim. You know, Fetterman just made the announcement saying that he had a stroke that was discovered on Friday and that the stroke was caused by a clot from his heart being in AFib rhythm or in irregular rhythm for too long.

I'm going read directly from his statement on his prognosis. He says, quote, The good news is I'm feeling much better and the doctors tell me I didn't suffer any cognitive damage. I'm well on my way to a full recovery. The doctors have assured me that I'll be able to get back on the trail, but first I need to take a minute, get some rest and recover. There's so much at stake in this race. I'm going to be ready for the hard fight ahead.

Now, this announcement comes on the third day that Fetterman had been off the campaign trail. It began on Friday when he was meant to hold a campaign event outside of Lancaster, but his spokesman was forced to, you know, as the event was about to start, take the stage and basically announce that Fetterman was not feeling well and they had to cancel the event.

The same happened for an event on Friday night and then for an event on both Saturday and Sunday. And Fetterman's campaign had been pretty mum about what the cancellation -- what caused the cancellation. You know, polls show Fetterman with a pretty significant lead going into Tuesday's primary, so there was really no sense to him missing three days of campaigning would change the balance of the race.

Now, Fetterman's two top primary opponents have responded to the news with Conor Lamb, a congressman from the western side of the state saying that John and his family are in our prayers and wishing him well of a full and speedy recovery. And then Malcom Kenyatta, state representative, saying that John -- that my prayers are with him and his family as he recovers from this stroke.

Obviously, you know, everyone stopped to go out (inaudible) knew is in the sort of situation, but there are political implications to this as well. Fetterman is likely, you know, to win the primary on Tuesday. And if he does that, he has a grueling campaign ahead of him in a state that will be key for Democrats.

Arguably, one of the best chances Democrats have to pick up a seat in the Senate in November. So, you know, a lot is going on in this announcement. There will certainly be a lot to digest and, you know, obviously everyone is thinking about Fetterman and his family at this time.

ACOSTA: Dan Merica, thanks very much. And we are following breaking news. This just in to CNN. Multiple people have been shot at a church in Orange County, California. We have very limited information, but this is a fresh -- a new mass shooting. A shooting involving multiple people to report to you at this hour.

We are told at least one person has been detained and a weapon recovered in connection with the shooting in Laguna Woods in Orange County, California. We'll bring you an update on all of this as soon as we have it. We'll take a quick break and be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

ACOSTA: We used to think we knew Vladimir Putin, cold, calculating and strategically amassing power. But now as we've seen with this war in Ukraine, his fierce desire to re-create the Russian empire has become an obsession. And the question is can he be stopped. CNN's Fareed Zakaria goes in search of answers for a brand new special you need to watch, Inside the Mind of Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST (voice-over): Suddenly, Russia began to look like the United States.

UNKNOWN: Today, we are opening the first McDonald's in Moscow.

UNKNOWN: It's very nice. I like it.

UNKNOWN: Big Mac is big Market. Coca Cola, Coca Cola.

ZAKARIA (voice-over): Almost overnight, new freedoms, capitalism, western values. It all looked great from the west. To Vladamir Putin, it was a catastrophe.

DAVID SANGER, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESOPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: Vladimir Putin views the breakup of the Soviet Union, as he said himself, to be the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century.

ZAKARIA (voice-over): But it wasn't just geography to Putin. The breakup he said tore millions of Russians away from the country they loved. The country in which they belonged.

DAVID REMNICK, EDITOR, THE NEW YORKER: Tens of millions of Russians, Russian speakers, were, quote unquote, abandoned and ripped away from us. It didn't have to be. The Soviet Union was our common past.

[17:35:00]

ZAKARIA (voice-over): The most painful separation for Putin --

ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Of all of the former parts of the Soviet Union, Ukraine mattered the most.

ZAKARIA (voice-over): Ukraine, the loss Putin never got over. Part not just the Soviet Union, but also the czar's empire.

GATES: Because it had belonged to Russia for 300 years.

ZAKARIA (voice-over): Putin's brutal assault on Ukraine may be the fulfillment of his greatest dream. The world sees an unprovoked blood bath. Putin sees a chance to restore the core of the Russian empire.

GATES: I think that down deep in Putin, there is this sense of extraordinary humiliation over the collapse of the Soviet Union. Because it wasn't just the Soviet Union, it was the Russian empire.

JULIA IOFFE, FOUNDING PARTNER, PUCK NEWS: He has seen the collapse of empire once. I think in his mind, he is rebuilding what was lost in 1991.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And CNN's Fareed Zakaria joins us now from London. Fareed, I'm so glad you did this special. It looks fascinating. I remember those clips, you know, of the Soviet Union collapsing in this new Russian federation emerging. And it just feels like we were blinded to this possibility that Putin would just go in this direction in ways that confounded word leaders and foreign policy experts and so on. But you went searching for answers behind all of this.

ZAKARIA (on camera): Yes, you know, one part of it, I mean, there's so much in such a rich documentary, but some part of it, honestly, what I came to conclude, Jim, was there's an element of accident, if you will, bad luck both for Russia and the west.

You know, when Yeltsin, the first Democratic elected president in Russia turns out to be dead drunk, corrupt, essentially almost physically unable to complete and continue do his job, he starts turning to his successors and he turns to five different prime ministers.

And finally gets to Putin and, you know, finally, I mean, a sense the clock runs out, the music stops, and Putin is left in the seat. One wonders how history would have looked if any one of the other ones had taken power. Because Putin was quite different from all the others. The others were kind of bureaucrats.

Putin was a KGB officer and he had the KGB skills of deceptions, of the belief in a deep Russian state and the belief in the power of Russia. And that made him different. But part of that deception was, he didn't let that on when Russia was weak, when it needed western aid, when it needed loan forgiveness. You begin to see the real Putin only when the debts are paid and oil prices start to skyrocket.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. And now he's driving a hard bargain with the entire world the way he's behaving these days. It's difficult to see how you can put together a global response to rein him in. But, you know, that leaves me to my next question, Fareed, because both Finland and Sweden are on the verge of joining NATO. This has gotten Putin's attention. It's gotten Kremlin's attention. Does their membership change anything for Putin and his obsession with Ukraine or does it just add to the west's impression that he's miscalculated? What's your sense of it?

ZAKARIA: You know what, I think it's clearly in a sense an escalation on both sides, but Putin has only himself to blame. I mean, in an ironic sense, Putin went into Ukraine partly because he wanted to weaken NATO, right? He wanted to deliver a blow to NATO. Well what he's done is energized NATO, has given it new purpose. Has given it new vigor, every -- basically every country in Europe is increasing their defense expenditures.

The Germans are close to doubling their defense expenditures. And now as you say, Sweden and Finland are joining. Now, you know, it's important to understand, Finland is a country with a very strong defense budget, lots of training, lots of preparation. They've worried about being in the shadow of Russia for a long time.

So, Putin faces two formidable new powers that are now in a formal alliance to defend themselves against Russia, exactly the opposite of what he was trying to achieve. So, you do begin to wonder, you know, when will he realize that really this has all been a massive miscalculation? Nothing is going according to plan.

ACOSTA: Right. And you wonder at what point does this become unsustainable for him.

[17:39:57]

You know, there's wishful thinking, magical thinking I think in the west that perhaps it will become unsustainable and it all just collapse under him. But, you know, his record has shown he's been able to really survive this remarkable period that he's led in Russian history. We're also learning about the Russians looting Ukrainian grains supplies, one of the most important grain producing countries. What are the consequences of that? You know, he really could wreak a lot of havoc globally from an economic standpoint, couldn't he?

ZAKARIA: That's already happening. We have a massive global food crisis that is unfolding. Russia and Ukraine together, by some estimates, account for almost 10 percent of the calories consumed all over the world and they are totally offline for the most part. Ukraine is totally offline because Odessa is the port where they get the grain out and they can't do it.

So, I mean, there is a series of crises that have only just begun that are consequence of this crisis, but I want to come back to the thing you started with, Jim, you know, this hope that a lot of people have that somehow he'll be toppled.

You know, we looked into this. It really feels like wishful thinking. Most people don't know, but in 2016 after the cholera (inaudible) in Georgia, in Kyrgyzstan, places you know, that were deposing their strong man, Vladimir Putin decided to create his own personal army answerable only to him, something like 400,000 people, National Guard, commanded by his former personal bodyguard.

They're the only people who are allowed into Moscow. They are the only people who can essentially do whatever they want inside Russia including fire on Russian citizens. So, this now looks like a Roman emperor who has his own praetorian guard to protect him from enemies both external, but internal as well.

ACOSTA: It is so fascinating. Fareed Zakaria, we'll be watching. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. And make sure to tune in tonight as Fareed looks to experts for answers on why Vladimir Putin is trying to destroy Ukraine and if he can be stopped. Inside the Mind of Vladimir Putin. It's going to be fascinating. It begins tonight at 8:00 p.m. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:00]

ACOSTA: Breaking news. Multiple people have been shot in a church in Laguna Woods in Orange County, California. I want to go straight to CNN's Camila Bernal. Camila, this is a brand new shooting. Just getting this information a little while ago. What more do we know? What can you tell us?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim. Yes, unfortunately, another shooting this weekend. And as you mentioned, the Orange County Sheriff's Department saying there are multiple people injured. They also say that they have arrested one person and they have recovered a weapon, but we don't have a lot of other details.

I do want to read one of the tweets that the sheriff's office put out where they say, Deputies are responding to reports of shooting at a church on the 24000 block of El Toro Road in Laguna Woods. They say multiple victims have been shot and they are promising more details to follow.

As I mentioned, one person has been detained. There are emergency personnel at the church that are already trying to do everything they can to help the victims. But again, we do not know exactly how many people were injured. We do not know if any of those have died at the moment, but there is one person in custody.

So we are waiting for the sheriff's department to give us more information. But unfortunately, this is just not the news that we were waiting for this weekend. Another shooting and another act of violence in this country, Jim.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. And you know, Camila, because you are with us on the weekends quite a bit, we just seem to have this happen in this country weekend after weekend after weekend. And this is just another tragic and awful example of that. Camila Bernal, following this breaking news in Orange County, California. Multiple people shot at a church there in Laguna Woods.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department is asking for the public to be patient as they try to gather as much information as they can. And of course, any new information that comes in we'll get to you, of course, and we'll stay on top of what's happening in Buffalo at the same time. Another quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:00]

ACOSTA: Tonight, on a brand new episode of Nomad, Carlton McCoy returns to his hometown, but this time, he's viewing D.C. through a new lens. Follow Carlton's humble roots to master sommelier and renowned chef and see a different side of our nation's capital. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARLTON MCCOY, CNN HOST, NOMAD WITH CARLTON MCCOY (voice-over): My neighborhood was a tough place to grow up in, but there were a lot of positives. We had a strong connection to our community and culture. And part of that meant enjoying D.C.'s signature dishes. D.C. Smokehouse has some of the city's best.

(On camera): So (inaudible), this is like a very D.C. thing.

NATALIE HOPKINSON, PROFESSOR, HOWARD UNIVERSITY: D.C. food is very American, but it's also influenced by like really every part of black (inaudible). So, that's what makes it delicious.

MCCOY (voice-over): That's Natalie Hopkinson. She's a Go-Go scholar and pioneer of Don't Mute DC, an organization dedicated to keeping black culture alive in the Chocolate City.

MCCOY (on camera): (Inaudible), it's ground, more coarse and (inaudible), which has a lot more texture and ton of spices and it's smoked.

HOPKINSON: Great.

MCCOY: And it's like super unique to here. And funny, I was like, how do you have something that's like this delicious and like no one knows about it. HOPKINSON: And nobody knows about it. That's part of the beauty of the

Chocolate City, I think. One of those things that is beautiful, delicious, chocolate bubble that is D.C.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: I didn't know he was a fellow local. Be sure to tune in. A brand new episode of Nomad with Carlton McCoy airs tonight at 10:00 right here on CNN.

And country music fans are paying tribute to legendary singer Naomi Judd today in Nashville. The celebration at the original home of the Grand Ole Opry will feature tributes from family and friends along with never-before-seen performances.

[17:54:58]

Naomi Judd died by suicide two weeks ago, one day before she and her daughter were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of fame. Judd was public about her battle with depression. She was just 76 years old. Our thoughts go out to her family. They're in Nashville as they celebrate her life.

That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Pamela Brown takes over the "CNN Newsroom" live after a quick break. Have a good evening.

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