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Mass Shooting in U.S. Grocery Store; Helsinki's Underground Bunkers; North Korea Reports 296,000-Plus "Fever" Cases. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired May 15, 2022 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to CNN. I am Paula Newton.
Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, another mass shooting in the United States. A gunman opened fire in a grocery store, killing 10 people.
Plus, during a visit by U.S. lawmakers, Ukraine's president asks them to designate Russia a terror state.
And what a win, at Eurovision. A Ukrainian rapper takes the top prize in the world famous song contest.
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NEWTON: And we begin with a troubling story that has become all too commonplace in the United States. Yet another mass shooting. Police say 10 people were killed when an 18 year old white male opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in a largely Black neighborhood.
And they are calling the attack racially motivated. Witnesses are describing a scene that was both horrifying and heartbreaking.
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GRADY LEWIS, SHOOTING EYEWITNESS: From what I saw, I just left off the store and I stopped here and I started to drink my juice and I heard a gunshot that I knew was a gunshot and not a firecracker. So I looked up and I am seeing smoke.
Then I'd seen a guy in a full army suit. He is shooting shots at people. And I'd seen the security guard run in the store, and then I'd seen the guy go in Army style, bent over, just shooting at people. And I heard him shooting at people and then I saw three people laying down.
And I didn't have a phone on me, so I was just screaming for somebody to call the police. And then he came out. He put the gun to his head, to his chin, then he dropped it and he took off his little crew vest. And then he got on his hands and knees and put his hands behind his back and then they arrested him.
It is a shame because there was a lot of people in there.
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NEWTON: Now the suspect, Peyton Gendron, has been charged with first degree murder. Investigators are also reviewing a purported 180-page manifesto written by the shooter, where he describes his perceptions about the dwindling size of the white population. CNN's Athena Jones has more now from New York.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The city of Buffalo, New York, known as the City of Good Neighbors, is now confronting a senseless act of violence.
Something the mayor, Byron Brown, called a day of sadness, when a gunman, a young gunman, 18 years old, a white male from outside of Buffalo, from several hours away, drove into the city to a Tops supermarket in a majority Black neighborhood and opened fire.
He shot 13 people, 11 of whom were Black, 10 of whom were killed. This is a man who arrived in full tactical gear. He was heavily armed with an assault weapon. He had body armor. He had a helmet. He also had a camera that he was using to livestream the shooting as it took place.
CNN has seen video of the shooter pulling in to the supermarket parking lot, saying a few words to himself and then shooting people outside the supermarket, before going in and engaging with the victims that were found inside.
Law enforcement saying that this act is now being investigated as a hate crime and as a racially motivated act of violent extremism. This young man has already been arraigned and has entered a plea of not guilty. We expect another hearing in the next few days. Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, said this in a statement.
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GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): And it is my sincere hope that this individual, this White supremacist who just perpetrated a hate crime on an innocent community will spend the rest of his days behind bars and heaven help him in the next world as well.
Yes, I'm angry. I've seen violence from guns on the Brooklyn subway. Now in the streets of Buffalo, it has to stop.
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HOCHUL: It has to stop.
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JONES: So there you hear a very angry governor of the state of New York, Kathy Hochul, who happens to be from the city of Buffalo. And you also heard there law enforcement, already figuring out what they believe the motive is for the shooting.
And that is based on evidence. We don't know all of that evidence but we do know that there was -- is a purported manifesto that has been posted online, in connection with that mass shooting. So this is clearly being investigated as a hate crime.
And we also know that, in response to this, the NYPD is going to be stepping up the presence of law enforcement at churches, Black churches, around New York City in some ways to sort of calm the community and make sure that folks know that they're going to be protected.
But still, a tragedy, a very, sad, sad, frightening and infuriating day in Buffalo, New York -- Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
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NEWTON: Steve Moore is a retired supervisory special agent with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. He now joins me live from Los Angeles.
And it's good to have your input here, especially with such a chilling crime. You know, officials on the ground laid it all out, just within a few hours, alleging this was a hate crime, premeditated.
CNN has obtained a 180-page manifesto that was posted online, that investigators say they are looking at right now, and that this author believes whites are being replaced.
His beliefs are sourced from the internet and that the author is a self-described fascist, white supremacist and an anti-Semite. You know, it's such a chilling self portrait. The police say it led straight to murderous violence here.
STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it is chilling. And it is horrible. The damage and the pain he's caused is incalculable.
But from an FBI side, I've worked these type of cases before. It's almost becoming stereotypical. They come into a town, they case a location that's hours from their home. They bring lots of weaponry. They use some of the weaponry.
Their intent is to kill as many people of the community they hate. And then, their intent is to kill themselves. And they never quite do that. And, it's almost becoming something, where you can look at the crime and say, well, look for a manifesto, look for the fact that he's cased this place.
He's been at this market before. Part of it is that the FBI and law enforcement have seen this before.
NEWTON: I'm going to lean on your FBI experience here. The FBI's been warning for U.S. that domestic terrorism, that hate driven violence poses a significant risk.
And yet, what do they do to stop these mass murders?
Especially given the fact that these social media platforms are as good as loaded weapons these days.
MOORE: Well, you know, I've been working on white supremacist stuff in the FBI, I started in the mid '80s. I had a guy come down to Los Angeles, shoot a machine gun, a Jewish community center, with 5-year- old kids.
The FBI is looking at these things. They are following them. But the problem is, free speech is free speech. And if they cross the line between saying, you should do this or I am planning to do this, then the law enforcement can act. But prior to that, there's not a law against hatred, unfortunately. And that's where we stand.
NEWTON: We certainly understand. But when it comes to what's at work with these people and they at times follow a certain script or even a profile. So this suspect, 18, male, white. We've seen this profile among school shooters for decades now.
What does your FBI training tell you about why these individuals glorify such violence and how to end it?
MOORE: Well, first of all, somebody who hates a group of people, who he doesn't even understand, obviously, so much that he would go and kill, shoot more than a dozen, kill 10, there's obviously some -- it's not just hate, it's mental illness involved in here.
It is mental illness that manifests itself in hatred. And you, we, as a society, are not monitoring the type of things that weaponize these people. It's standard, where you will talk to these people.
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MOORE: I've interviewed them the day after they've shot everybody and they say, oh, yes. I started getting on these websites. I started getting in touch with these groups.
And that's where you need to decide, as a country, how you want to legislate against that, because, right now, law enforcement can't just say, because your website, because your topics are so heinously offensive, we still can't do -- we can't go in and shut them down because of the First Amendment.
NEWTON: And yet, resignation or, even worse, acceptance does not seem to be cutting edge at this point. We will continue to follow this investigation. Steve, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.
MOORE: Thank you.
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NEWTON: And please stay with CNN. Of course, we will continue to update you on this story, as we receive more information. Turning to Ukraine now and the president is again calling on the
United States to formally declare Russia a terrorist state. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed his case during a meeting on Saturday with a small delegation of U.S. senators led by Republican leader, Mitch McConnell.
At stake is an additional $40 billion in aid to Ukraine. It's expected to pass the Senate this week. Now Mr. Zelenskyy said the visit was an important show of solidarity. Listen.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I held talks today with a delegation of U.S. senators led by Senate Republican minority leader, Mitch McConnell, in Kyiv. I believe that this visit once again demonstrates the strength of bipartisan support for our state, the strength of ties between the Ukrainian and American nations.
We discussed various areas of support for our states, including defensive and financial, as well as tightening sanctions on Russia. I expressed gratitude for this historic to renew the lend-lease program. I called for the official recognition of Russia as a terrorist state.
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NEWTON: Now recent Russian airstrikes on the port city of Odessa are clearly targeting civilians. And city officials are warning residents to stay away from the beaches, because of sea mines floating offshore. We get more now from CNN's Sara Sidner.
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SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are in Odessa, outside one of the malls that was hit by a Russian missile. You can see the extensive damage to this mall. And you have to think about the knock- on effect here.
This isn't just about hitting a civilian target. Imagine that there are many, many people, dozens and dozens of jobs that have been lost because of this.
There are also people who are now terrified, because they have been hitting so many civilian targets here in Odessa, not military targets but soft targets, things like hotels. Two hotels have been hit.
We know a huge apartment complex was hit where several people were killed. We talked to a witness who was there when the missile hit their apartment complex and they said it was so incredibly powerful, that it sent a shock wave throughout the entire building.
We also went down to the Black Sea, a beautiful place here in Odessa, where people come to enjoy their lives, to go to spas, to go and lay on the beach. Well, the beaches have been mined.
And they also managed to target and hit a hotel there, the Russians. And so, there's a lot of concern among the population here, that the Russians aren't targeting military targets, that they're actually going after civilian targets.
And so people are more afraid, they are more concerned when they hear the sounds of sirens. They actually move to take cover, unlike places like Kyiv, which have not been seeing these kinds of strikes in quite some time but still have the alarms going off.
But right now, Odessa, still, in the southern part of the country, on the southern coast, is one of the Ukrainian strongholds in this area. And people have been coming here for safety. And then you have this, missile strikes on soft targets, that have really, really caused a lot of consternation here -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Odessa.
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NEWTON: Meantime, Russia's war in Ukraine is prompting a historic shift in Europe's security map. In the coming hours, Finland's leaders are expected to formally announce that they will announce their support for joining NATO and their intention to join NATO.
Neighboring Sweden is expected to make a similar announcement. Finland's decision has infuriated the Kremlin, since it would effectively double Russia's land border with NATO. CNN's Nic Robertson has our report from Helsinki.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, Saturday, President Putin talked with the Finnish president and told him that it was a mistake to join NATO, because there was no threat to Finland from its neighbors.
Finland, however, has never really trusted Russia and, for decades, has been preparing for the possibility of war. We went to take a look.
Question is, when is a parking garage not a parking garage?
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ROBERTSON: And the answer is, when it's part of a tunnel and bunker network to be used in case of war. And there is one country threatening that war, potentially, the big threat, Russia.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Tomi Rask, Helsinki city rescue department, is going to show us around.
TOMI RASK, HELSINKI CITY RESCUE DEPARTMENT: We're going to see and see that main entrance --
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Twenty meters, 60 feet below ground, cut into Helsinki's bedrock.
ROBERTSON: How quickly can you put this together, in case of war?
RASK: In 72 hours. ROBERTSON: And 6,000 people in here.
How many people can you fit in shelters in the whole of Helsinki?
RASK: Over 900,000.
ROBERTSON: So that's enough for the population plus visitors?
RASK: Yes, yes, it is.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): The government has been building bunkers here since the 1960s, 5,500 in Helsinki, more than 50,000 across the country, enough for 80 percent of the country's 5.5 million population.
ROBERTSON: Deeper and deeper.
RASK. Yes.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): But the scale of it, not the only surprise; some of it is open to the public.
ROBERTSON: What's this?
RASK: For a ball game.
ROBERTSON: This is a bunker with a sports hall?
Oh, my goodness.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Much of it dual use to offset the costs.
RASK: So this is one example of our dual purpose use of the shelter, dual purpose here.
ROBERTSON: So sports, (INAUDIBLE) week, time of crisis, what happens here?
RASK: All the sporting goods are stacked away. All these halls, these sheltering halls are divided by smaller sheltering rooms.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): And not just sports halls, children's play areas, possibly the safest in the world; cafes, even a swimming pool.
ROBERTSON: Just a sheltering hall but with a pool?
RASK: Yes, with an Olympic-sized pool.
ROBERTSON: Olympic-sized?
OK, wow. Wow.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): But everything here with one purpose in mind: glass doors, gas barriers, decontamination areas, even the 2 billion- year-old bedrock more than just blast proof.
ROBERTSON: So if there is a nuclear bomb, the rock itself absorbs the radiation and keeps everyone here safe.
RASK: Yes, that's the idea.
ROBERTSON: And the tunnels as well, they are curved. So they also prevent some of the blast coming through.
RASK: Yes, they take the most of the hit.
ROBERTSON: And now, it's a car park.
RASK: It's a car park.
ROBERTSON: Again.
RASK: Again.
ROBERTSON: That's a quite bizarre feeling.
RASK: Yes.
ROBERTSON: One minute you're preparing for a wall, the next minute you're playing hockey and now it's a car park.
RASK: Yes.
Here, you can see the different layers.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): And before we leave, Rask shows us another shelter just begun.
There is a hole in it, put explosives in, blow it and move forward?
RASK: Yes.
ROBERTSON: Thank you.
RASK: Bye.
ROBERTSON: Cheers, bye.
Here come the traffic. This is what was like on the way out. Absolutely fascinating, intriguing.
And someday, the prime minister and president are going to declare the official government position that Finland should join NATO. And then, within a few days early next week, parliament will vote on it and then it will go to NATO. And it will be up to them -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Helsinki, Finland.
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NEWTON: Lebanon is going to the polls for the first general elections in four years. Coming up, we look at whether widespread discontent with the political elite will achieve real change.
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NEWTON: Voting is now underway in Lebanon, for the country's first general elections in four years. A lot has happened, of course, since then; the 2019 uprising, the economic crisis and, of course, the Beirut port explosion.
There is widespread discontent with the establishment. But the desire for change is yet to yield tangible political results. CNN's Ben Wedeman has the story.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a musical litany about all that is wrong in Lebanon: no water, no food, no internet, no work, no fuel, no safety, no money.
This video clip, put together by activists, sums up the deep skepticism so many feel, as the country, deep in crisis, goes to parliamentary elections.
And none are more skeptical than the residents of the impoverished city, Tripoli. Samir (ph) says he'd rather sell his lemons, than waste time voting for any of the plethora of candidates.
"None of them is any good," he tells me. "Once the elections are over, they will come with knives and start slaughtering everyone."
A bit of hyperbole perhaps. But the sentiment is clear.
WEDEMAN: In October 2019, tens of thousands of people crammed into this Martyrs Square, the heart of Beirut, demanding change. But since then, in Lebanon, the only change has been for the worst.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Briefly, there was hope. Three years ago, anger over corruption and mismanagement ignited hopes that finally the rickety sectarian system, erected after the civil war, could be replaced by something reflecting the will of the people.
Then came coronavirus. The already ailing economy went into freefall. Four in five Lebanese now live in poverty. The currency has lost 90 percent of its value.
And this: the Beirut port blast of August 2020, killing more than 200 people, wounding thousands. Yet the political class that oversaw these catastrophes hangs on.
The Shia militant group, Hezbollah, has held massive election rallies, an attempt to show it still enjoys widespread support, hoping to maintain its coalition that holds a parliamentary majority. Others led by former prime minister Saad Hariri, the leader of the
Sunni community, are boycotting the vote. A fifth of the candidates claim to represent voices for change. But they are divided, disorganized and underfunded.
Analyst Lynn Zovighian wonders if the few reformers, who might win seats in parliament, can force the political elite to listen.
LYNN ZOVIGHIAN, POLITICAL ANALYST: The power is tone-deaf. And the changemakers are catching the pulse of the people.
But to will those very few who end up in seats of legislative power, will they be able to exercise change?
WEDEMAN (voice-over): To so many, however, it is all a theater of the absurd. Last month, Amid Dundeshin (ph) and his family boarded a boat, hoping to reach Cyprus. It sank. His three children drowned. More than 30 people are still missing.
"I wanted to live," he tells me, "to see my children grow up. My son said, 'I want to be a pilot.' My daughter wanted to be a teacher. Your dreams are for your children. They killed my dreams."
He says he will not be voting -- Ben Wedeman, CNN, Tripoli.
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NEWTON: North Korea is reporting nearly 300,000 of what it calls "fever" cases just days after reporting its first outbreak of COVID- 19.
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NEWTON: Now state media say there were 15 additional deaths between Friday and Saturday evening, bringing the death toll now to 42. It is unclear if or how many of those deaths were caused by COVID. The entire country has been under lockdown since Thursday.
The COVID outbreak could be disastrous for North Korea. Its health care system is dilapidated and it's not known to have imported any COVID vaccines.
The international song contest, Eurovision, has new winners. How a group made up of Ukrainian musicians is lifting their country's spirits. That is ahead.
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NEWTON: Even in the midst of war, Ukraine has something to celebrate, as its entrant rode a wave of goodwill to win the often madcap, yes, crazy Eurovision song contest. Listen.
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NEWTON (voice-over): Kalush Orchestra's song, "Stefania," paid tribute to the frontman's mother, who lives in a town overflown by Russian rockets. President Zelenskyy posted congratulations, saying, "Our music is conquering Europe."
Eurovision is a must-see TV extravaganza for most people in Europe, as votes often aligned with the country's alliances. Belarus and Russia were banned from competing this year. And there were no big watch parties in Kyiv, which was under a curfew during the broadcast.
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NEWTON: That does it for us for now, I'm Paula Newton, "CONNECTING AFRICA" is next. I will be back at the top of the hour with more news.
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