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Police: Walker Was Wearing Ski Mask, Shot At Police During Car Pursuit; Newsom Stirs 2024 Speculation With Florida Ad Buy; Biden Calls For Dropping Filibuster Rules To Pass Abortion Rights. Aired 3- 4p ET

Aired July 03, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:05]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington. Jim Acosta is off today.

The mayor of Akron, Ohio is calling for calm as police release body cam footage showing the fatal shooting -- fatal police shooting of a 25-year-old Black man and here is what we know right now.

Just after midnight on Monday, officers tried to stop Jayland Walker for an alleged traffic violation. Police say he led them on a car chase, fired a shot at them and eventually abandoned his car to flee on foot while wearing a ski mask.

That's when a confrontation ensued. Police opened fire, shooting Walker multiple times. Officers later discovered Walker had left his gun in the car and he was unarmed when he was shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF STEPHEN MYLETT, AKRON POLICE: What was going to be a routine traffic stop, which would probably result either in a warning or a citation being issued turned into a pursuit.

As Mr. Walker turned on to the entrance ramp to Route 8, and the shot is fired that changes the nature of the contact, 40 seconds after the initiation of the traffic stop. A half a mile from the location of the traffic stop, you hear the gunshot and then everything else that I've just discovered.

And again, that changes the whole nature of the traffic stop. It went from being a routine traffic stop to now a public safety issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And with me now is retired LAPD police sergeant, Cheryl Dorsey. She's also the author of "Black and Blue: Creation of a Social Advocate." Cheryl, great to see you. Thanks for being with us again.

Also with us is former NYPD detective, Andy Bershad. And, Andy, let's go to you first. Thanks for being with us also. What was your reaction to this video? This police bodycam video when you first saw it? ANDY BERSHAD, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Oh, thank you for having me.

Well, obviously it is always hard to watch. It's always hard to watch when a job is unwinding like that.

There's obviously an investigation going on. It seems there are a lot of factors, obviously that potentially led up to him for why it got to that point. I'm not quite sure, but that's obviously for the investigation to do anytime we revisit a scene afterwards on camera can always seem horrific.

DEAN: Sure, sure. And Cheryl, the Chief there pointing out that what began as a vehicle pursuit following a traffic stop became a public safety issue when the officers say they saw a gun discharged. Can you explain how that would change how the officers responded?

CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD POLICE SERGEANT: Well, the officers are certainly going to get amped up. Their adrenaline is going to be running and they're going to respond as though this threat may very well be ongoing. And listen, because you know, a suspect that we're pursuing may have a gun and drop it doesn't necessarily mean that officers are expected to lower their expectation of who it is that they're going to confront. Suspects oftentimes carry more than one weapon.

And so all of this is going to play into how this investigation is adjudicated administratively by the Police Chief and understand, he has great autonomy. There are levels of discipline that he can mete out to his officers from a warning to training/retraining and also termination would be the very, you know end of that spectrum.

And so all of this is going to play into that what we are now learning about Mr. Walker's behavior before, during, and after the shooting.

DEAN: And I want to play this video again. This was just coming out in the last hour or so from the Police Department there in Akron.

I want to show this for viewers just joining us. Let's watch this video, again police bodycam video. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty shots fired. The vehicle just had a shot come out of its door.

(POLICE SIRENS WAILING.)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't move.

(INAUDIBLE SHOUTING.)

(GUNSHOTS.)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And Andy, we are listening to that barrage of bullets there at the end that hit Walker some 60 times was the report that we had earlier. That's a lot of bullets. That's a lot of shooting. Is that part Police training to shoot at a suspect that many times?

[15:05:03]

BERSHAD: Well, we train the police to shoot until the threat is stopped from my perspective, from just seeing the video recently as well.

There was a fair amount of officers there, so to break down the rounds, for our officers not too involved in the investigation that's not uncommon. All the officers, we can't measure their level of fear to what they are engaging. It was in the understanding that potentially the victim still had a weapon or had other weapons like the Chief explained before.

I've been involved in shootings, where there's a high rate of rounds fired just from the mere number of uniformed officers that respond to the situation.

DEAN: And Cheryl, we also heard the Police Chief saying that he wants every officer to be held accountable for every shot that they fired. What's your take on the number of times that he was shot?

DORSEY: Well, I mean, it sounds bad, it looks bad. You know, here on the Los Angeles Police Department, we're taught and trained to fire two rounds in rapid succession, and then assess whether or not a threat exists.

I mean, you don't just fire to barrel meltdown, because you think there's a threat. You need to be able to know for sure, for sure, when you let rounds go that the threat even still exists. And so, I don't think it would be unreasonable to question an officer who may have a magazine that holds 15 rounds and have them articulate with some specificity what was the threat level at round seven, eight, 14 and 15.

DEAN: And I want to -- stay with us for just a second. I want to go to CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval, who is there on the ground in Akron.

Polo, I know you were there for the press conference that just happened in the last couple of hours, where the Police Chief spoke. We heard from the family attorney as well.

Walk us through what you learned this afternoon.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the biggest questions we've had since the shooting, Jessica, was this perceived threat that Akron Police officers said was the reason why so many officers fired so many times.

Today, we heard from the Police Chief that during the vehicle pursuit of the incident, on Sunday night, they believe that Jayland Walker fired at least one shot from inside that vehicle.

Now, you can see muzzle flash from an Ohio Department of Transportation traffic camera that is seen from the driver's side of the vehicle, and in addition to that, the body camera that I believe we just played and we may play again, if I'm not mistaken.

You can also hear what sounds like gun -- that single gunshot before that vehicle pursuit eventually turns into a foot pursuit, and that is when about several minutes into this incident, that's when Walker is believed to jumped out of that moving vehicle, and then seconds later, is when officers, about eight of them, according to investigators opened fire.

And as we prepare to play this video, that again may be disturbing for many, is likely disturbing for many, it is important to point out what we heard from the Police Chief saying that 40 seconds into the attempted traffic stop is when that single gunshot was seen and heard from the vehicle and that was a game-changing moment, changing things from a traffic stop to what the chief described as a public safety issue that officers needed to address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty shots fired. The vehicle just had a shot come out of its door.

(POLICE SIRENS WAILING.)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't move.

(INAUDIBLE SHOUTING.)

(GUNSHOTS.)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So almost immediately after the shooting took place, Jessica, we understand that authorities basically handed this investigation over to State officials and they are the ones that are essentially, along with the Attorney General's office working this investigation.

One of the key questions that I also asked the Police Chief today was, what was the most disturbing thing that he saw in that body camera video and he told me that he specifically will be looking at this perceived threat that each one of those officers will be held accountable for each one of the rounds that left their service weapons, which again at this point, we believe that could be dozens.

Preliminary reports suggest that there could have been up to 90 shots fired and at Walker's body according to a preliminary autopsy report, there were about 60 wounds identified on his body, but this is an important distinction as we send things back to you, Jessica, it is still too soon to definitively say that he was shot 60 times.

The Police Chief said what we've also heard from the Walker family and their legal representation that that could have been a mix of both entry and exit wounds aside from some other injuries, so still a lot of questions to be answered right now, but at least now the public has a few minutes' worth of insight into what actually happened after police officers released this body camera video just over five days after the incident took place, which is certainly noteworthy.

[15:10:25]

DEAN: Yes, and we certainly -- we do have more information now and hopefully, we can get more information as this investigation continues.

Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

Also, my thanks to Cheryl Dorsey and Andy Bershad for joining us as well and please stay with CNN for updates on this story. We'll continue to keep an eye out for updates as they come.

Also coming up this afternoon, Gavin Newsom is running for re-election in California. So why is he running ads in Florida? The TV spot that is sparking a lot of presidential buzz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:00]

DEAN: The re-election team for California Governor Gavin Newsom is out with a new political ad, except it's not airing in his home state, it's actually going to air thousands of miles away in Florida on July 4th.

The target: Republican Florida Governor and rumored presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis. And CNN got this exclusive first look at the ad that will start airing tomorrow on FOX.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Freedom. It's under attack in your state. Your Republican leaders, they're banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors.

I urge all of you living Florida to join the fight or join us in California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And joining me now, CNN senior reporter, Isaac Dovere.

Isaac, it doesn't sound like Newsom is running for re-election there. It sounds like maybe he is running for President. What do you think is going on here?

EDWARD ISAAC-DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, I asked him about it. I said, I talked to Governor Newsom on Thursday afternoon. I said, a lot of people think that this is you running for President, is that what's happening? And he said, no, it's not what it is. He says, look, he's got a pretty easy re-election bid in front of him at this point in California. He faced that recall last year.

But what he says he's trying to do is to raise the alarm for the Democratic Party overall, that their -- what he said to me is, he feels like the right is setting the terms of the debate and that the right is winning and that Ron DeSantis is the poster child for that.

He wants to say to Democrats, we need to reclaim how we're talking about these things. That ad says "Freedom" about 30 times and talks about what it is to be free in a collective way as a country, he says that's how Democrats need to be talking about it and he feels like he has the stature and the liberty at this point, given his re-election campaign to swing a little bit wider.

DEAN: It's really interesting, and you're right, the language there and what you're seeing on the screen with the American flag and everything -- it's very intentional, and we know that he really lays into DeSantis, during a phone call with you, but he also said this about fighting Trumpism long term.

Do you think you'll be putting out more of these ads, targeting other states and their Governors as well?

DOVERE: He was not laying out the rest of the game plan to me, but he did say the rules of engagement have changed. We're just getting started. We have to be more aggressive. We have to bring the fight more to people.

So, I do think we'll see more of that. We've already seen him take some swings at the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, at the Attorney General of Texas.

These are people who have in common, a sort of evolution of Trumpism, not just Donald Trump, but what goes beyond Donald Trump in our national politics and in Republican politics and Newsom is saying that he wants to help, again, not as the nominee for President, he says, but to lead the charge for Democrats in pushing them into being more out front and more aggressive in taking it on.

DEAN: It is interesting to see him taking this different tact, and you have to wonder, you've covered Joe Biden forever and now, as President, as well, if the White House is paying attention to this sort of thing.

DOVERE: Well, the White House is paying attention to this sort of thing. There is no question about it. In fact, the way that I said to Governor Newsom that I was asking him about what he was doing because I said someone said to me in the White House, "What is Gavin Newsom up to?"

So I said, "Governor, what are you up to?" And that's when he said, "No, no, no, I'm not running for President. I'm just doing this broader thing to talk about all these ways that not only Democrats need to change, but how the Republican Party has changed."

Of course, he is the Governor of California, Ronald Reagan was a former Governor of California. He said, all of these things that Reagan did as Governor, about environment, about what true conservativism is and Newsom is telling it and most people is telling it before the last couple of years, Ron DeSantis and other Republicans and Donald Trump have gotten far afield of that, and so he wants to call that out as much as possible, as hard as possible, and really hit Republicans hard about it.

DEAN: All right. Well, we shall see how this evolves. Isaac Dovere, thanks so much for your exclusive reporting. We appreciate it.

And coming up, we have breaking news out of Copenhagen.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS]

DEAN: Horrifying images coming out there, several people dead after a shooting at a mall. Dramatic footage showing the chaos at the scene as people run for their lives. We're going to have a live report for you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:23:38]

DEAN: We have breaking news out of Copenhagen, Denmark where several people have been shot at a mall and we are getting dramatic footage from the scene. Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

DEAN: So traumatic and scary and a rare sight out of Denmark. Police say they have arrested one person in connection with the shooting and on the phone with us now Susanne Gargiulo, a reporter in Copenhagen. Susanne, thanks for being with us. Give us the outline of what we know right now.

SUSANNE GARGIULO, REPORTER IN COPENHAGEN (via phone): Hi, there. Yes. Thanks for having me on.

Well, we just had a press conference by the police about 45 minutes ago. As you noted, they have arrested one person, it's a 22-year-old Ethnic Dane they say. They're still looking for other people. The Police Chief said a manhunt is ongoing because they just don't know if there are any more people involved.

So far, they say there is no indication, but they cannot rule it out. They also can't rule out that this is an act of terror. We have just been watching disturbing footage of people running out single file from the mall. This is just not unlike images you see in these mass shootings in the US, but it is so unusual to see here. I think this is a bit of a watershed moment for us here.

Eyewitnesses have been talking about how they were hiding in backrooms when they heard three loud booms or bangs and gunshots, which is most likely what they heard.

[15:25:10]

GARGIULO: Some people were jumping behind counters, others were hiding in backrooms, and they have been told to wait for police to come and get them out basically, and stay where they are in place. And for people that were outside, not get near. They were then led out single file, I mean, running out of the mall.

We have seen at least one person in images being brought out on a stretcher and the local hospital has confirmed to CNN now that three people are being treated for gunshot wounds. They would not say any more about their condition.

This started at about 5:30. So, we're going at about four hours now. All the roads are still blocked, the trains are stopped, the helicopters have been hovering overhead. The highway access has been blocked.

We simply don't know a whole lot more, and this is probably unrelated. But I want to mention it anyway, this is the last day of the Tour de France in Denmark. And the Royal Household were supposed to have a reception to finalize that, and that has also been cancelled as soon as they heard about the shooting.

So, this is what we know at the moment, and obviously, it is still ongoing. So ...

DEAN: And you mentioned that there is an ongoing manhunt right now and that authorities have not ruled out that this could have been an act of terror. What else -- tell us more about that?

GARGIULO: Well, we simply don't know. I mean, we had -- I will say, in 2015, there was a shooting at the same mall, but it was a gang-related shooting and two people were injured. It was a much smaller incident. And I was here at the time, and we're talking to CNN about it at the time, and I just kind of knew immediately that this was definitely not anything major.

I will say that this feels like a big ordeal and the police -- the Mayor of Copenhagen has come out and said that this is a very serious incident. All of the crisis management has been put into place.

We have never seen anything like this at this scale at a mall like this. So, so far again, we simply don't know what is happening. But it does not look very good.

DEAN: And Susanna, look in America, unfortunately, we see this. This becomes all too common, but you are really underscoring how rare it is to see this, that this is not a common occurrence in Denmark.

GARGIULO: No, it's not and people are absolutely in shock. I mean, I didn't mean to bring this up, but I was in that mall myself with my daughter at about three o'clock this afternoon, two and a half hours before the shooting occurred.

This is usually a very busy mall at that time. It's a Sunday, late afternoon. I mean, I'm almost relieved that it was a little bit later in the day or when I was in there, the mall was packed. So you know, this -- we are just not used to this kind of scenery that I mean the footage that I've been looking at is just people running out single file in a panic. It's just not something that happens here.

So this is really something, I think that will -- it will be -- it will have a great impact on us. It is a devastating moment for us, I think.

DEAN: And how haunting for you that you were there just hours previously.

Susanna, thank you so much for making time. We sure do appreciate it.

GARGIULO: Sure thing.

DEAN: Well, it is a jaw dropping headline. "The Indianapolis Star" reporting a 10-year old girl was denied an abortion in Ohio because she was six weeks and three days pregnant. Ohio has outlawed abortion after six weeks, so the child will now have to travel to Indiana to get the procedure.

And this case is putting the spotlight on America post Roe v. Wade. This morning CNN's Dana Bash asked Republican Governor Kristi Noem how her State of South Dakota would have handled a similar situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In this case, it wasn't a woman, it was a girl.

GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R-SD): It's a child.

BASH: A child -- a child, should she had to have that baby?

NOEM: And every single life -- every single life is precious. This tragedy is horrific. I can't even imagine. I've never had anybody in my family or myself gone through anything like this. I can't even imagine.

But in South Dakota, the law today is that the abortions are illegal except to save the life of the mother.

BASH: And you would be okay with that? A 10-year-old girl having to have a baby.

NOEM: No, I'm never okay with that. In fact, that story will keep me up at night. It absolutely will.

BASH: So would you try to change the law to have an exception in this situation like that?

NOEM: It breaks my heart and I have a friend who has got a one-year- old little granddaughter named, Miss Addy. I can't even imagine. What I would say is I don't believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And joining me now, CNN political analyst and White House correspondent for "TheGRIO," April Ryan; and CNN political commentator and Republican strategist, Alice Stewart.

Great to see both of you. Thanks for being with us. [15:30:07]

DEAN: Alice, let's start with you. We were just talking about this story of this -- horrifically, this child who is pregnant, a 10-year- old who was pregnant. Do Republicans risk becoming the party associated with being seen as forcing a 10-year-old child to have a baby?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a long time coming. It had been the work of -- tireless effort by conservatives ever since Roe was enacted.

This case involving this 10-year-old girl is devastating and heartbreaking. And look, I believe that there should be exceptions in the case of rape, incest, and life of the mother, and from the news accounts, this young girl was raped, I believe that she should be exempt from the State laws and should be allowed to have an abortion in this case.

And we need to put more focus on the people who are carrying out this, the rapists and the pedophiles that are engaging in this type of activity.

But again, the most important thing is this decision of abortion is now in the hands of State legislators and people -- there will be many instances in cases like this that need to be addressed and I think it's important for people to reach out to their State legislators and voice their concerns on how they want these issues to be addressed and legislated at the State level where they should be.

DEAN: And April, there's not much that President Biden can do on this issue. He has said he would support essentially a carve-out of the Senate filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade and the right to privacy through Congress.

That looks like a dead end. I mean, what else can he do?

APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: But you have to remember, the President also said he supports a woman's right to go to one of those Safe States and the child is going to Indiana, and a safe state that's close also to Indiana is Illinois. And I literally just left Kim Foxx, the Attorney General of that state, I also left well -- State Prosecutor, and I also left some other State prosecutors in Georgia, Alabama, as well as Florida.

And these were Black women who are prosecutors. Attorney Generals for the State who are very concerned at this moment. They are feeling the weight of these decisions, as some of them are in questionable states, Republican States where they are caught between trying to deal with what the law says and the right says, but also at the same time, realizing that there are situations like this, a 10-year-old incest, raped, that is not an exemption in this new Supreme Court decision.

And what do you do? Do you sit there and look at what they are talking about if a child or an adult leaves a State that abortion is considered illegal? Do you, when the person comes back, because they're looking at this in their States -- do you deal with the issue of when the person comes back, filing charges, prosecution, et cetera?

So these are still issues on the table for not just legislators, but also for Attorney Generals and prosecutors that the States are wrestling, particularly Republican States are still wrestling with these issues.

So it's not just the legislatures, it's also the State prosecutors in these States that are dealing with these issues, particularly also Black women and Brown women.

DEAN: Right, and they're really creating a patchwork of sorts in terms of State to State now that's been kicked down to the State level.

Let's talk a little bit about 2024, Alice, as we look ahead. It seems a funny thing has happened on the way to a possible Trump-Biden rematch and some polls have suggested Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a frontrunner for the Republican nomination and that seems to be on the mind of California Governor Gavin Newsom who is now running ads in Florida.

Do you see this as Newsom hedging if Biden does not ultimately run? We just had Isaac Dovere on, the reporter who reported out the story. He says that Newsom says that's not the case. But what do you think, Alice?

STEWART: I clearly think that that's probably not factually accurate and the idea of him running an ad in Florida, when he is running in California makes about as much sense as him having dinner at the French Laundry in the middle of a lockdown in California.

He clearly is testing the waters. He is clearly looking at ways to increase his name ID, but the problem is, Florida is a very red state. California is very blue and his policies have high taxes, soft on crime and soft on immigration. That's not going to resonate with the people of Florida.

But I do think Ron DeSantis is on a good path to making a good showing for a potential 2024 -- look, Donald Trump is still the head of the Republican base. He has strong support within the base, but there is some Trump fatigue among some more rational Republicans and Ron DeSantis does come across as someone who can carry the America First policies.

[15:35:09]

STEWART: But he has a style that is conservatism without the chaos that many people are experiencing with Donald Trump and we are ready to see a change because Republicans need to not only a nominate someone who can win in the primary, we need a strong candidate that can win in the General Election and take on the Democrats.

DEAN: And as we wait to see who that will be, and what that primary is going to look like. I want to take a look at the Republican gubernatorial debate in Arizona that really went off the rails. Let's watch a clip from this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd actually like to ask everybody on the stage, if they would agree, we had a corrupt stolen election. Raise your hand.

Did we have did we have this --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to -- I am not going to play your --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got questions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your stunt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why not get high tech people that are going to be on the machines that are Republicans -- a Democrat, Republican, get supervisors, equal amount.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That happens. We have parties looking over election results.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right. They're doing it now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, they are always --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are actually --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This time --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen, I haven't been on a stage with this many women since I've been to a baby shower.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to show up and vote in droves. They're going to have to cheat even harder in order to try to win this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your campaign is a psy-op.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why can't we treat human life in the same way that we would treat alien life that we discovered how an alien -- the only kind of drag I've ever dressed in is a business suit or construction work clothes? I've never aspired to be Elvis Presley.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Okay, April, we'll start with you. Is this the current state of the GOP political discourse? Again, we just watched the debate for the Arizona gubernatorial primary.

RYAN: Was it a debate or was it some kind of level of dysfunction in a party that's trying to sift through who they are in that State, particularly?

At the end of the day, it makes me wonder about civics and rule of law and government. If any of these people understand it. We go from a man talking about, "I haven't been on the stage with this many women since a baby shower," and then you have another candidate talking about overturning an election that was certified, and that it wasn't the appropriate count.

We're still dealing with this. We have the January 6 Committee on Capitol Hill dealing with this very issue. It's fact. Joe Biden, whether people like it or not won the election.

And the concern is, you have people who want to have these high offices speaking like this, not just the fact that they're speaking like Donald Trump, trying to say that the election was fraudulent and supporting things like January 6th, but you also have people who are making light of the process that is in jeopardy in this moment.

Democracy is in jeopardy. I'm not talking about Democrat or Republican, I'm talking about the institution as the Founding Fathers put in place.

DEAN: And Alice as the Republican, I would like to give you a quick, quick moment to kind of give us your thoughts. Is that the state of the discourse right now? Quickly before we go.

STEWART: No, I think any talk that anyone running for office continues to spread the falsehood about widespread election fraud is just doing tremendous harm to the election process.

We need to instill confidence in the process and focus on issues that voters are concerned with, certainly jobs, the economy, and inflation and they'd be much better served to focus on pocketbook issues instead of past grievances.

DEAN: All right, April Ryan and Alice Stewart, always great to have you both here. Thanks so much for joining us on this Sunday.

RYAN: Thanks. Happy Fourth.

STEWART: Thank you.

DEAN: And coming up: A shocking story coming to us out of Egypt where two swimmers died in a shark attack at a Red Sea resort. We're going to bring you the latest on that. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:58]

DEAN: Two swimmers are dead after being bitten by sharks in Egypt's Red Sea, that's according to Egyptian state-run media. Video shows one of the victims being carried by a group of people who saw that attack and rushed in to help.

The deadly attacks happened off the coast of a popular beach resort town, and officials pulled everyone from the water and then closed the beach after those attacks and have called for an investigation.

Shark attacks are rare in Egypt. There hasn't been a death caused by a shark bite since 2018.

In Michigan, a tragic accident in Battle Creek's Field of Flight Air Show has claimed the life of one person. The video we're showing you now captures a truck racing two planes before it spins out of control going up in flames Saturday.

The custom-built shockwave jet truck was part of the show and equipped with three jet engines capable of speeds over 350 miles per hour.

Dramatic smoke and fire can be seen just before that truck loses control, but that is part of the pyrotechnics and not related to the accident, we're told. The FAA and local fire department are now investigating.

It's been a scary few days for newlyweds, Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian, who opened up about Barker's recent hospitalization. The Blink 182 drummer said he'd gone in for a routine endoscopy, but developed excruciating pain and has been hospitalized ever since.

On his Instagram page, the 46-year-old says, "During the endoscopy, I had a very small polyp removed right in a very sensitive area, usually handled by a specialist, which unfortunately damaged a critical pancreatic drainage tube. This resulted in severe life-threatening pancreatitis."

The pancreas controls your insulin and pancreatitis symptoms can be very serious like fever, chills, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. It can also lead to multiple organ failure. But Barker is expected to recover.

Coming up: A preview of CNN's "Fourth of July" concert special featuring amid using acts like, Journey, Deff Leopard, Willie Nelson, and our next guests the Doobie Brothers. We will get a preview, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:49:40]

DEAN: The United States of America is turning 246 years old tomorrow and CNN is throwing a big party.

"The Fourth in America" celebration starts tomorrow night at 7:00 PM Eastern and it features coast to coast fireworks displays and musical performances from Willie Nelson, Santana, Journey, Machine Gun Kelly, and legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, the Doobie Brothers.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

[15:50:08]

DEAN: Doobie Brothers, lead singer Tom Johnston and guitarist, Pat Simmons are joining me now from Birmingham, Michigan. Great to see you guys. We're excited to see you tomorrow night.

Tom, I'll start with you. You all have been playing together for five decades now. You're on a 50th anniversary tour. You have a new album. How have you managed to keep it together for so long and be so successful at the same time?

TOM JOHNSTON, LEAD SINGER, DOOBIE BROTHERS: Just continuous work. Who is down the road is quite a bit, and we've been in the studio as much as we can. And the rest of the time, I mean, skipping the pandemic, most of the time, we just keep in touch, get together and rehearse that sort of thing.

DEAN: And still like each other after all these years.

PATRICK SIMMONS, GUITARIST, DOOBIE BROTHERS: Like brothers.

JOHNSTON: Like brothers.

DEAN: It's amazing. Tom, this is the first summer of concerts and live music. You mentioned the pandemic, since the pandemic struck, tell me what kind of energy you guys are feeling out there right now?

JOHNSTON: A lot of people are really happy to be out. That's the feeling I'm getting. They're really into the shows, very excited, dancing, singing, having a ball.

DEAN: Yes, just probably excited to get out, be together, hear live music again.

Pat, Michael McDonald, a key member of the band back in the 70s, before leaving to launch his solo career, but now he's back with you guys, I understand for the anniversary tour. What's that been like to have him back on the road with you?

SIMMONS: It's been great. You know, it's kind of -- we've always stayed in touch, and you know occasionally played together anyway. But, you know, this is kind of a really great show for the audience, because they get to hear all the songs say they really want to hear, I think.

DEAN: Yes, and what kind of energy are you getting from people now that they're out post-pandemic?

SIMMONS: I think people are thrilled to be out doing things again. You know, it's still a cautionary, you know, approach to everything. But you know, people are, you know, getting out there and just having fun again, and this is a great holiday, a great time for people to get together. So, you know, we're all fortunate to be here doing it.

DEAN: Yes. And what's the song that people want to hear the most?

JOHNSTON: Oh boy.

SIMMONS: Oh my song, of course.

DEAN: Or they get the most excited about?

JOHNSTON: There you go. I like that. That's good.

SIMMONS: Anything by Willie Nelson. DEAN: Right, right. Right, right. And you guys, Tom, had been touring

most of your adult lives, and here you are 50 years later. Do you want to just keep going and going? Or is there ever an end time for either of you?

JOHNSTON: That's something that you don't think about. When you get there, you'll know it. That's the way I look at it. Right now, we're having a great time doing what we're doing and we'll just keep doing it until we look at each other and say, "You know what? I'm done." I guess. Right now, we aren't there.

SIMMONS: We feel like we'll be adults any day now.

JOHNSTON: Yes.

DEAN: Yes. And Pat, what about you because it had to be -- you know, for people who -- this is what you've done for years, it has been on the road, been with people singing, performing, and then to shut it down for the pandemic and be back out there. It had to be quite, you know, an experience for you to be off the road that long and then be able to get back on.

SIMMONS: I fixed everything that was broken in my house.

DEAN: You and everybody else. Yes.

SIMMONS: All the stuff that I've been looking at for years that needed doing, I think I got it all. But it's -- you know, it was weird. You know, because we're so used to getting out and playing and we still did things you know, we kind of experimented really. We did some recording together, you know, isolated recording from our various studios, putting music together and trying a few new things.

So in a way it made for some other kind of creativity.

DEAN: Yes, it is a different outlet.

All right, Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston. We look forward to seeing you guys tomorrow. Thanks so much for being with us tonight.

JOHNSTON: Thank you.

SIMMONS: Thanks for having us. We'll see you there.

DEAN: Okay. The CNN Concert Special, "The Fourth in America" airs tomorrow night at seven. Make sure to tune in.

We will be right back.

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[15:59:34]

DEAN: And incredibly scary moment earlier today at the Formula One British Grand Prix, a collision on the first lap flipping one car and sending it skidding before rolling and smashing into the fence -- look at that.

The race was then suspended as emergency crews checked on the drivers involved. The driver of the flipped car, Zhou Guanyu was amazingly not injured later tweeting: "I'm okay. All clear. Halo saved me day. Thanks everyone for your kind messages."

Alex Albon was also involved in that crash and an incident right after. He was cleared of any major injuries, but sent to a hospital for precautionary checks. The race restarted.

[16:00:15]