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Authorities Investigating Multiple Shooting Over Holiday Weekend; FDA Investigates Hepatitis A Outbreak Possibly Linked to Strawberries; Heavy Shelling in East as Russia Tries to Encircle Ukrainian Troops; Ukrainian Forces Report Advances During Its Counteroffensive in the South; "Julia" Premieres Tonight at 8PM ET. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired May 30, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: More deadly gun violence erupted over the weekend across the country.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Authorities in at least five cities are investigating shootings that left several people dead, others injured. CNN's Nadia Romero has more.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Then let's talk about the mass shootings that happened just this weekend over Saturday and Sunday. So that means we've seen nine mass shootings just this weekend alone. And that's defined as four or more people shot, not including the shooter, in a single incident. And when you take a look at this map, you can see that this isn't a West Coast problem. It's not a state of Florida problem. This is something that we're seeing in big cities and small towns alike all across the country. That's just over the past two days.

But when you add up all the mass shootings we've seen so far this year, we're at 228. More than 225 mass shootings happening across the country, that according to the Gun Violence Archive.

And let's dive into what we saw just this weekend. Let's start with Henderson, Nevada. Police telling us that seven people were shot in an interstate there, and today they say they now have three people in custody saying that it was bicycle gangs. So rival gangs feuding, and that's what led to that shooting. Seven people shot. Now three people in custody facing multiple charges.

And then you can go to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where six people were shot, two of them with life threatening injuries. And what was so sad about this particular shooting was hearing from the town's mayor. The mayor of Chattanooga saying that the majority of people involved were either teenagers or in their early 20s, and he says he's seeing this more often in his city, and that the community as a whole is responsible to make change, to do something about this disturbing trend.

And as I mentioned, this isn't just a big city problem. We also saw a mass shooting happen in Taft, Oklahoma. That's 45 miles outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was during a Memorial Day festival, where families were going out, trying to enjoy the holiday, but instead, seven people were shot, one person was killed. Police say one person has turned himself in for that shooting.

But this is what we're seeing all across the country right now. Mass shootings happening, and a lot of people on edge. Victor, Alisyn, at Barclay Center, right after a boxing match this weekend, people were fleeing, running for their lives because they heard a noise outside that many people thought was gunfire, and people were saying, there's an active shooter. People were running and they were hiding. Turns out it wasn't a shooting, but it really shows just how much people are on edge right now.

CAMEROTA: Yes, and who can blame all of us after these past really devastating weeks. Nadia Romero, thank you.

[15:35:00]

So, the FDA is looking into a possible link between fresh organic strawberries and a recent outbreak of hepatitis A.

BLACKWELL: Officials have identified 17 cases in California, Minnesota and North Dakota that led to 12 hospitalizations. Now the strawberries were branded at Fresh Kampo and H-E-B and purchased between March 5th and April 25th. They were distributed across the country, sold at a number of stores, Aldi, Safeway, Trader Joe's, Walmart. The FDA warns people who froze these strawberries should not eat them.

Well, as Russia continues its offensive, President Biden says that he will not ship any rockets to Ukraine that could reach Russian territory. We'll talk about how this could impact the war, next.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: A top Ukrainian military leader tells CNN that victory against Russia is unlikely if the U.S. holds back supplies of long range artillery. Now, the U.S. says that they're considering several requests from Ukrainians. They want multiple launch rocket systems, but today, President Biden said that there would be limits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not going to send to Ukraine rocket systems that can strike into Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, on the frontlines, Ukraine officials say heavy shelling, which they describe as maximum intensity continues today as Russian forces try to surround Ukrainian troops in the Donbas region. Let's bring in retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. He's our CNN military analyst. Colonel, is Russia gaining the upper hand in this war? COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Alisyn, the answer

is kind of a mixed bag, actually, when you look at how this is actually working. You do see Russian advances in the northeast, and they of course are keeping ground in the south. However, the Ukrainians are holding territory over in this northeastern corner. So not yet, I think, is the answer to your question.

But when you look at the eastern part of the country, the Donbas area, the detailed map gets a little bit questionable because the Russians have taken the town of Popasna, which is right here, and they are also challenging the Ukrainians right here, just to the north of Popasna, which is Severodonetsk. This area is critical right here, major road junctions, and it's also critical to the control of the Luhansk Oblast, which is the Luhansk region that's part of the Donbas. If the Russians get that, they get one of their war aims, and that's one of the critical areas where the Russians at least well claim a partial victory.

BLACKWELL: Colonel let's talk about the southern part of the country. The Ukrainians have begun their counter offensive there. The military official says that they've pushed back Russians forces about 5 miles toward the town of Berysla, just east of Kherson, along with Dnipro. Put that in context, 5 miles, is that substantiative, is it significant here, and how much more work the Ukrainian forces will have to do to make some gains?

LEIGHTON: So, they're going to have a lot of work to do, Victor, because when you look at the area right here. So, this is really what they're looking at. This is Kherson. This is Russian occupied territory right now. The Ukrainians have done a lot of work in this particular area, and that 5-mile gain is significant enough, but it is just part of what they need to do. What they'll have to end up doing is going in this way and this way into from the northwest and the northeast into Kherson. If they have any hope of regaining that city. In order to do that, they're going to have to muster their forces and bring to bear some of the weapons systems that the West has given them at this point.

CAMEROTA: Colonel, if Russia is able -- as you just spelled out there -- to take Donetsk and Luhansk then is the war over? I mean, wasn't that what the, you know, foreign minister said was sort of the pain goal?

LEIGHTON: Well, the foreign minister, and I would assume you're referring to the Russian foreign minister at this point, Alisyn. Yes, they're looking at this part, but remember the Russian war aims have shifted. At first what they were talking about is taking the whole of Ukraine. They wanted to eliminate Ukraine from the map as a viable country.

But when you look at the area right here, this is the Donbas region, the Russians have occupied a major portion of this area since 2014, as we know. But they will have achieved, if they take this area, this area right in here, this pocket of Ukrainian control, if they take that, and this is in the Luhansk Oblast, if they take that they will have achieved a partial war aim. If they take this area right here from Lyman, Sloviansk and down

through this part of the Donbas, then it will be a major war aim that the Russians will have achieved. Is the war over at that point in time? It depends on what the Ukrainians want to do next and what the Russians want to do next. So, I believe the answer to that question is no at this point in time. But at some point, both sides are going to be exhausted. It depends on which side gets there first and how quickly one side can recover as opposed to the other.

I think the war aims are going to continue to develop and the Russians will not deviate from the path of actually taking control of the entire country as far as a war aim is concerned. I don't think they will be successful in doing that, but I think that's what they want to do.

BLACKWELL: Colonel Cedric Leighton, thanks for helping us to understand it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Victor, absolutely.

[15:45:00]

CAMEROTA: So, today in the U.S., we honor the servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. This is a day President Biden describes as always, a mixture of pain and pride. More on how the day is being marked just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:00]

CAMEROTA: For decades, beloved culinary icon Julia Child inspired chefs at home and in professional kitchens with her unmistakable voice and her lighthearted approach to cooking.

BLACKWELL: The new CNN film "JULIA" explores how to change the way Americans think about food, television, and roles of women in public life. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIA CHILD, CHEF: I'm going to try and flip this over. It is a rather daring thing to do. You'll just have to have the courage of your convictions, particularly if it's sort of a loose mass like this. Well, that didn't go very well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If she made a mistake, she was not remotely rattled.

CHILD: I didn't have the courage to do it the way I should have. But you can always pick it up, and if you're alone in the kitchen who is going to see?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She felt that making a mistake was a good thing just so that she could then show you how to fix it.

CHILD: Any time that anything like this happens you haven't lost anything because you can always turn this into something else. We'll pretend that this was supposed to be a baked potato dish.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Joining us now is award-winning chef, author, TV host, and restaurateur, Lydia Bastianich. Thank you so much for being with us. Listen, I think that clip in just a minute, and we see here, you with Julia, friends for a very long time. Just what made her special is that the cooking wasn't intimidating it was fun in many ways.

LYDIA BASTIANICH, CHEF, RESTAURATEUR, AUTHOR AND TV HOST: Absolutely, Victor. What you saw there that was Julia. You know, she sort of went for it, and she wanted to connect to the viewer, to express, to teach, to show how she fell in love with food. And how it changed her life. And she wanted to share that with the viewer. And she was quite open about it.

CAMEROTA: Do you have a particular memory about cooking with her or a really special dish?

BASTIANICH: Oh, yes. We had a few -- quite a few memories. But I think the particular one is, you know, she first came, we met, she came to my restaurant, Lydia, where I was the chef. And she was interested in risotto. This was in 1981. And she was interested in making risotto. She came twice. She came with James Beard. You know, these two big towering figures. I was sort of impressed. But then you kind of relax with Julia. She was inquisitive. She was sincere. You can sense that right away. And ultimately, we became friends. She came over the house and I gave her a lesson in risotto. And you just love --

CAMEROTA: What is your secret to risotto?

BASTIANICH: Well, it's about the technique, it really is. You know, how you do the rice, how you toast it, how you add the liquids and all of that. And she got that, and then my whole family, of course, wanted to be there. So, we set up a whole family table, and my husband plays the accordion -- played the accordion. And so, he came out at the end like we did at home. She started singing Italian songs with us. And it was just marvelous.

BLACKWELL: You know, I watched the documentary and it is wonderful. It's rich. Charlie Gibson said during her time when she was on ABC that she had the fastest fork because she loved food.

BASTIANICH: She loved food. She did. You know, she came from a family that was kind of reserved family, American family. And there wasn't much cooking, she said I guess they had the Kitchen-Aid, whatever, the helper that could do the cooking. So, when she went in love with Paul to Paris, I mean what else can you ask for? And she started cooking. She started eating first. The infamous sole, Dover sole and that sort of got her hooked. Then she went on to the Cordon Bleu school, and she really took it in and loved it. And found this great pleasure in cooking, in eating, and in sharing food. CAMEROTA: And she somehow made French food, which of course, can be

intimidating, accessible.

BASTIANICH: Exactly, that's what exactly what she is, but on TV. That's why she came across so well. Because she was in there all times chefs want to show what they can do, what they can accomplish. But she was not about that. She was about teaching the viewer there were things she knew and how simple it was really. And even if you make mistakes, you can correct them. You know, food is very correctable. You know? Except if you put too much salt in.

BLACKWELL: Well, listen, I have seen the film. It is about love and food and confidence and finding yourself in the world. It is great. And Lydia, thank you so much for spending a couple minutes with us.

BASTIANICH: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

CAMEROTA: It's so great to talk with you. And be sure to tune in for the CNN film "JULIA" it airs at 8:00 p.m. tonight. And we'll be right back.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Cities across the country are marking Memorial Day in honor of the men and women who have served this nation. Bands and drill teams marched down Constitution Avenue in the National Memorial Day Parade. This year's grand marshal is a member of the Tuskegee Airmen.

CAMEROTA: Later today President Biden laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Today is also the seventh anniversary of the passing of his son Beau, who was an Iraq war vet. Let's take a live look now at the Lincoln Memorial. Lots of people turning out there. And of course, we want to wish you a very relaxing and peaceful Memorial Day.

And "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right now.