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Mass Shooting in U.S. Grocery Store; Turkey Voices Concern about New NATO Members; Lebanese Elections. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired May 15, 2022 - 02:00   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. I'm Paula Newton. Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. The FBI is launching a hate crime investigation, after a another mass shooting in the U.S., leaves 10 people dead.

Plus, Russia watchas closely as Finland is set to formally announced its intentions to join NATO.

And in Lebanon voters are headed to the polls, for its first general election in four years, amid widespread discontent.

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NEWTON: We begin with a senseless tragedy that has shaken the city of Buffalo, New York, to the core. Police say 10 people were killed when an 18 year old white male opened fire at a supermarket in a largely Black neighborhood.

Authorities are calling the attack racially motivated. Witnesses have described a scene that was horrifying and heartbreaking.

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GRADY LEWIS, SHOOTING EYEWITNESS: 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.

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NEWTON: The suspect, Peyton Gendron, has been charged with first degree murder. Investigators are also reviewing a reported 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 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. 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.

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JONES: 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.

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 --

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MOORE: -- 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: Ukraine's 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 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. 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: Russia's war on 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 want to join NATO. Neighboring Sweden is expected to make a similar announcement soon.

The move is a major blow for Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has long claimed that the expansion of NATO, in fact, is a threat to Russian security. On Saturday, he told Finland's president that joining the alliance would be a mistake. Finland said the move is aimed at bolstering its own security, not inflaming tensions with Moscow. Listen.

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PEKKA HAAVISTO, FINNISH FOREIGN MINISTER: (INAUDIBLE) to President Putin just to inform that Finland is now proceeding toward NATO membership. Our parliament will discuss this item on Monday.

And it's very likely that there is a very strong majority in our parliament also to support the NATO membership (INAUDIBLE) obligation for the coming week. We have 1,300 kilometer common border with Russia.

We -- the border is peaceful and we want to maintain that border peacefully. It's very important that we communicate with our neighbor.

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NEWTON: Now Finland's decision to join the alliance would effectively double Russia's border with NATO.

And we have already seen some retaliation. On Saturday, Finland confirmed its supply of Russian electricity had been cut off.

Another potential hurdle, on Friday, Turkey's president said he does not view the potential expansion positively. Sweden's foreign minister says she expects to hold a meeting with her Turkish counterpart to address the issue quite soon. In the meantime, Germany's foreign minister says Finland and Sweden have her full support.

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ANNALENA BAERBOCK, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): I want to be very, very clear. It is not NATO that has pushed Sweden and Finland to join but the actions of the Russian president have pushed Finland and Sweden, because they want to continue to live in peace with their neighbors, into this alliance, if they join together, which I would very much support.

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NEWTON: Lebanon is going to the polls for its first general election in four years. We will have a live report from Beirut, coming up.

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NEWTON (voice-over): Listen in, Ukraine's music conquered Europe. Full story of their win at Eurovision, coming up.

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NEWTON: Lebanese voters are going to the polls for the country's first general elections in four years. This is Lebanon's first election, think about this, since the pandemic, the Beirut port blast and a major economic collapse. For the latest in all of this, we are joined by Ben Wedeman, who's live for us in Beirut.

Unfortunately, Ben, you had a front row seat to all of this misery. It has been unspeakable. Many people say it's been avoidable.

How should we interpret these elections?

Is it really a chance for renewal or what some there hvae been calling a power grab by the same old factions that have gotten them into this mess in the first place?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are elections that were scheduled to take place, now. And what we have seen in the last four years, is the emergence of a variety of parties, in fact, perhaps too many parties and political figures, who are calling for reform and change.

We are here at a school in Beirut, where women are voting. It seems to be well organized and they are going ahead as planned. In fact, more people have come out to vote than we were expecting to see, just two hours and 18 minutes into the voting.

But despite all of this, many are feeling the disasters of the last four years are the result of the corruption, negligence and incompetence of the ruling elite and hope that this is an opportunity to start a gradual change in this country, for the better. But many, many people here have very low expectations.

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WEDEMAN (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 -- [02:20:00]

WEDEMAN (voice-over): -- 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.

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WEDEMAN: And certainly, what you heard from Amid (ph) is heawrd from many people here. In fact the U.N. special rapporteur for extreme property issued a report the other day, describing the system here.

He said impunity, corruption, structural inequality have been baked into a venal political and economic system designed to fail those at the bottom. And many people feel that this system has utterly failed them.

NEWTON: Yes, Ben, that father certainly gives voice to the despair that so many are feeling there. Ben, thank you so much, as you continue to follow these elections.

The international song contest Eurovision has declared a winner. You will want to see this. How a group of Ukrainian musicians is lifting their country's spirits, that's ahead.

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NEWTON: Ukraine nation is now rejoicing after its musical band, the Kalush Orchestra, rode a wave of goodwill to win the often bizarre, yes I did say that, Eurovision song contest. We want to get to Barbie Nadeau who's been following this from Rome.

OK look obviously Ukraine's performers were the sentimental favorites here. But give us an indication of how all of this played out.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Eurovision is the quintessential celebration of kitsch and culture here in Europe. It's a big deal. People watch it, people throw parties. People are rooting for their team or for their countries' teams.

Ukraine was an early favorite not just because of the war. Critics say their song which was sort of an unusual combination of Ukrainian folk music and sort of American style rap. It did win the hearts of the critics as well.

The song itself was a lullaby to the mother of the lead singer, which became an anthem for Ukraine. And it made people proud. President Zelenskyy even thanked the group for winning and bringing Ukrainian music to a larger audience.

It was a celebration, of sorts. The people who won, the Ukrainians are very excited they won. The people who lost to the Ukrainians absolutely felt that they lost to the right group. NEWTON: We don't have a lot of time here. But in terms of the votes

and how they came in, I assume that everyone really was happy for Ukraine because sometimes these competitions are quite fierce.

NADEAU: That's right, and they are quite political as well. This isn't the first time Ukraine won. They won in 2004 and they won in 2016 on a protest song about the annexation of Crimea.

Last year for example, the U.K. didn't get a single vote. Many people believe that's because of Brexit. So there are a few politics at play here. But it's really a good time for those people who were there. The celebrations of some of the groups like Moldova really was a crowd pleaser.

They didn't win but they certainly got the crowds on their feet and dancing. There were ballads and quintessential European music. The Italians, of course, won last year. The group went on to open for the Rolling Stones. So this is a big deal.

NEWTON: Thank you for that. We will have to leave it there,

I am Paula Newton, thank you for joining us. "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS" is next. I will be back at the top of the hour with more.

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