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Sherriff: Gunman Inspired By Racist "White Replacement" Conspiracy; PA Senate Candidate Fetterman Suffers Stroke Before Primary. Aired 3:30-4pm ET

Aired May 16, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

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[15:34:48]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Officials believe the gunman accused of the mass shooting in Buffalo was inspired by the White replacement conspiracy theory. Now, this is a baseless belief that white people are being slowly but intentionally replaced by minorities and immigrants.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: The concept was once a fringe theory, but now it's embraced by many Republican lawmakers, and Fox hosts. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: What was once a fringe white supremacist conspiracy theory has now become mainstream.

REP. BRIAN BABIN, (R) TEXAS: We know what the Democrats are up to here. They want open borders. This is exactly their strategy. They want to replace the American electorate.

SERFATY: With a growing number of Republican lawmakers now openly promoting the far-right so called Great Replacement theory.

[15:35:00]

REP. SCOTT PERRY, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: For many Americans what seems to be happening or what they believe right now is happening is what appears to them is we're replacing national born American, native born Americans to permanently transformed the political landscape of this very nation.

SERFATY: The racist anti-immigrant theory that says non-White immigrants are being brought to replace America's white population.

SEN. RON JOHNSON, (R) WISCONSIN: This administration wants complete open borders and you have to ask yourself, why? Is it really, they want to remake the demographics of America?

JD VANCE, (R) OHIO SENATE CANDIDATE: Democrat politicians who have decided that they can't win re-election in 2022 unless they bring in a large number of new voters to replace the voters that are already here. That's what this is about.

SERFATY: The White Nationalist conspiracy theory is detailed in French writer, Renaud Camus 2011 book called The Great Replacement. And elements of replacement theory appear to have motivated some of the most heinous recent mass murders in the U.S. and around the world.

Just this weekend, an 18-year-old man accused of shooting and killing 10 people in a predominantly black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, allegedly wrote a manifesto online, claiming ethnic and cultural replacement of whites. The gunmen accused of killing more than 20 people at an El Paso, Walmart in 2019 allegedly uploaded a document on the internet before the shooting, saying, "This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. They are the instigators, not me. I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by the invasion."

The man who allegedly killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue and 2018 spouted nonsense on social media about Jewish people being somehow responsible for immigrant, "invaders." And the shooter who killed 51 people at a mosque and Islamic center in Christchurch, New Zealand, named his own manifesto, The Great Replacement. The theory has been amplified by voices on Fox News.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Whenever he wants to make a racial issue out of it, ooh, the you know, white replacement there, no, no, this is a voting rights question. I have less political power because they're importing a brand new electorate. Why should I sit back and take that?

SERFATY: And openly defended by name by sitting members of Congress.

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CAMEROTA: Thanks to Sunlen Serfaty for that. And CNN has followed up with a few of those Republicans for more clarification we have not heard back.

BLACKWELL: All right, Scott Jennings is a former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and a CNN Political Commentator, Errol Louis is also a CNN Political Commentator.

Gentlemen, welcome back. Scott, let me start with you. We saw JD Vance, the Ohio Republican Senate nominee, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin there, we just showed the Matt Gaetz tweet, why isn't Republican leadership in Congress speaking out more about this against this theory that we're hearing so much about?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that they are -- if they were sitting here, they probably say that there's a conflation going on between the racist, you know, nonsense that this shooter supposedly believed in, which is that, you know, Jewish leaders are, you know, orchestrating some behind the scenes replacement versus open borders or illegal immigration debate, that's what they would say.

The reality is what everyone should say today, Republican, and I'll speak for my side is that this theory is crazy. It is psychotic, it is racist, and it can infect people. That's not to blame anyone.

I don't know if this guy could pick Tucker Carlson out of a lineup. He seems like a crazy person to me.

But there's only one thing to say on a day like today, and that is to denounce hate, to denounce racism, and to denounce anybody who fans these flames.

And Victor, I heard just if I might for a moment, I heard what you said a few moments ago about these things devolving into political debates, and nothing ever happens.

And I thought it was an incredibly powerful statement. And I think the correct political posture today is to say, denouncing hate is what we should be doing today and not allowing ourselves to get stuck in the mud, is what we should be focused on tomorrow.

CAMEROTA: Yeah, I mean, Errol, of course, Scott's right to denounce hate but Tucker Carlson has a big platform. And many nights, he talks about the White Replacement theory, he's very worried about being replaced apparently, he's a big purveyor of this.

How much do you think that has allowed it to permeate mainstream politics?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, that is the function of Tucker Carlson as he takes these odious fringe ideas, and he imports them into the mainstream.

And he always, you know, does it with like the sort of the QT, I'm just asking questions. I'm just wondering, or, you know, my vote is being diluted and so forth.

And it stacks one lie on top of another and that's, of course, what conspiracy theory is, is one lie stacked on top of another, playing to the worst instincts.

You know, media leadership, just like political leadership requires an element of responsibility of taking seriously one's obligation to tell the truth and speak the truth even if it's not a politically convenient, even if it loses you a few viewers, even if it costs you a couple of ratings points.

[15:40:08]

Not everybody believes that, though, what they do is they sort of play to the worst instincts of humanity for a momentary gain, it's folly on one level.

It's despicable as far as the outcome and the outcome is now here for all of us to see.

There's a word -- there's a reason that the word demagogue is an ancient word. This is a problem of human nature.

People with a lot of power with a platform, with a voice using it for all of the worst reasons.

BLACKWELL: Scott, you said that today is the day to condemn hate, and you're right, it is the day to do that.

But what's the day that we talk about how to stop doing this often when we have conversations with Republicans and Democrats in many respects, the day after, it's like today is not the day for that, specifically on the question of guns in this country.

Now is a time to support the community we here, but what's the day that we talk about how to stop this legislatively?

JENNINGS: Yeah, you know, as I've been sifting through the news stories about this particular shooter, and I think there's a lot we don't know about this person yet.

One of the things that just continues to jump out at me, Victor, is the fact that apparently, and allegedly, I guess is according to the reporting, he had made some noise last year about being violent at school, shooting up a school and that people knew about this, that there were notifications about this, and I just -- what -- we talked about this a few years ago.

The idea that if someone makes a specific threat, a violent threat, that somehow that could get taken into account, as we monitor their future behavior and the fact that this person, obviously that just fell right through the cracks.

To me, if I were in a position of authority, that's where I'd be trying to figure something out is how can somebody go from possibly engaging in a school shooting to obviously engaging in an actual shooting just a few months later, and it was never followed up on?

That's what I want to know more about, because it strikes me, that's the fastest and most obvious thing to look at is you're trying to prevent these kinds of things from happening in the future.

CAMEROTA: Well, here again, I mean, obviously, it's just common sense, it makes such sense to, if you have threatened your school with I think the police called it a murder suicide plot, that should be flagged somewhere, Errol, but this guy passed a background check.

This 18-year-old, you know, the gun shop owner sold him the gun as far as we know legally, because somehow that's not in an important database?

LOUIS: That's right. It's not a small tweak that's needed. It's a really a reconceptualization of all of this.

We have 21st Century Communications Technology, 21st Century weapons, like, apparently, some of the weaponry that was used, he can live streaming at the same time globally, which is an amazing amount of technology.

And we have sort of second -- we have 19th Century laws and traditions and policies. We've got to sort of, this is what leadership requires. We've got to make a match between what it is we want and the enormous

power that we give to all of our citizens, including those who are evil or demented, or misguided, or calling out for help, frankly.

You know, we blew it this time. And there needs to be something other than the usual heart, you know, thoughts and hearts and prayers or whatever it might be.

We've got to sort of do some serious governing, some serious legislating, to try and fix this problem before it happens again.

CAMEROTA: Yeah, tragically, we blow it a lot. Errol Louis, thank you very much. Scott Jennings, thanks so much. We really appreciate you both.

OK, this is just in, police have revealed a potential motive in the mass shooting at that church in Laguna Woods, California. Officials say it's believed the suspect was upset about political tensions between China and Taiwan.

The suspect was identified earlier today a 68-year-old David Chou. He's a U.S. citizen, who immigrated from China years ago. One person was killed, five others were injured in that attack.

Authorities say churchgoers tackled and hogtied the suspected gunman then waited for the police to arrive. The gun man is being held -- the suspected gun man is being held on $1 million bond.

All right on the eve of the Senate primary in Pennsylvania, Republican candidate Kathy Barnette takes a swipe at Mitch McConnell. What's that strategy? That's next.

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CAMEROTA: Voters are heading to the polls for primaries tomorrow in several key states including North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania, the state's Democratic frontrunner John Fetterman is currently hospitalized after suffering a stroke. Despite that, he says his campaign will not slow down one bit.

CNN's Jessica Dean is outside the hospital where Fetterman is recovering. Jessica, I know you spoke exclusively with Fetterman's wife. So what did she tell you about how he's doing?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she said he's doing great but he's very anxious, Alisyn, to get out of the hospital.

But what we do know is that he's going to be here at the hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and not at his election night event tomorrow.

He's got to get more rest. We do know that Gisele Fetterman will be speaking at that event tomorrow. She told me that this all happened on Friday, she noticed a very small

thing that he did that made her concerned. Listen to her talk about it.

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GISELE FETTERMAN, JOHN FETTERMAN'S WIFE: We're on our way through an event and I just noticed a second of change in him, and it's scary that it's that quickly that you could have missed it, right? If I wasn't paying attention, I would have missed it.

But I noticed a small sign his mouth just moved just slightly and my gut just -- I knew something was up, and we immediately -- we were in town, luckily very close to Lancaster and -- to the hospital and came straight here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So just a tiny little thing, Alisyn, that she noticed in terms of the political implications. She really didn't want to get into that.

She said, family comes first. His health comes first and she knows that he will do just fine.

On Tuesday, he is considered the frontrunner, so we will see how politically this plays out tomorrow, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That's remarkable. I mean, she might have saved his life just by knowing him so well and picking up on that subtlety.

That's incredible. All right, so now tell us about the Republican primary in Pennsylvania?

DEAN: So the Republican primary is very interesting and that it is really tightening here at the end. We know it has been between Dr. Mehmet Oz, of course, the TV Star, David McCormick, who was a former Hedge Fund Operator, CEO.

Oz had been endorsed by President Trump and now we're seeing a Kathy Barnette really surging as this anti-establishment outsider.

She even talked today about Mitch McConnell and her thoughts on the Senate Minority Leader. Listen to this.

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KATHY BARNETTE, (R) PENNSYLVANIA SENATE CANDIDATE: I think Mitch McConnell has served his time of usefulness and I think it's time to turn the page when I am in the Senate.

And if that -- if I have the opportunity to make that vote on our leadership, my vote will be no to Mitch McConnell.

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DEAN: She also wouldn't commit, Alisyn, to backing whoever the GOP nominee is if that is not her.

Again, Pennsylvania, absolutely critical in the Senate, it could very well determine who holds the power in the Senate after these midterms.

So this is a very key rate of weight race to watch. And also, I will former President Trump's endorsement play out here as well.

All things people are keeping an eye on as we head into tomorrow.

CAMEROTA: Yes, all fascinating, Jessica dead, thank you.

So a major symbol of Western culture now leaving Russia, McDonald's is closing shop in that country.

This is a move that will cost more than a billion dollars. We explain next.

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CAMEROTA: McDonald's is pulling out of Russia after 32 years of doing business there.

The fast food giant says it's ending its iconic relationship with Moscow citing the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

CNN's Matt Egan is here. So Matt, was it hard for McDonald's decision?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this is really the end of an era.

I mean, during the height of the Cold War, the thought of a McDonald's in the heart of Moscow was sort of unthinkable. And then in January 1990, it became a reality when McDonald's became the first American fast-food chain to enter the Soviet Union.

And it became a big success. They open hundreds more and really became a symbol of these better relations between the West and Russia.

But now that's over in March, McDonald's sort of reluctantly announced they were temporarily suspend their stores, they said they would have to close them temporarily.

Now, they say that they're going to sell them altogether. They're citing the humanitarian crisis caused by the war and also what they called an unpredictable operating environment.

Now, this won't be cheap. McDonald's has warned it'll take a charge of up to $1.4 billion because of this.

This is not some tiny market for McDonald's. I mean, together Russia and Ukraine represent about 9% of McDonald's revenue. They have 60,000 employees and McDonald's say now they're going to de

arch in Russia which means that the remaining restaurants they can't use the McDonald's name, the logo, the brand --

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CAMEROTA: How about the food, can they have a Big Mac or no?

EGAN: I don't know if -- well, they want people to call it the Big Mac, because that's part of the McDonald's brand.

And now this is, I think, symbolic of this, you know, greater divorce between the West and Russia.

CAMEROTA: Matt Egan, thank you.

EGAN: Thanks, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Really interesting story.

All right, any moment, we expect officials in Buffalo to give an update on the supermarket mass shooting, and the Lead with Jake Tapper is going to start after a very short break. Stay with us.

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