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Car Bombing in Russia; Economic Outlook?; Dangerous Flash Flooding; Violent Police Arrest Stirs Outrage. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 22, 2022 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:04]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: And another American official taking a trip to sure -- sure to anger Beijing. Indiana's governor, Republican Eric Holcomb, arriving in Taiwan on Sunday for an economic development trip. Holcomb is the first us governor to visit Taiwan since 2019.

And thank you again for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

Bianna Golodryga picks up our coverage right now.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone, I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

Ana Cabrera is off.

Today, an investigation is under way after a video of a violent arrest is posted online. Three officers are now-off duty after video shows them punching a suspect in the head and kneeing him several times. At one point, you can hear a woman off-camera yelling at the officers to stop beating him. She's then heard saying, he needs his medicine. But the officers yell at her to back up.

The 27-year-old man was eventually taken to jail, where he is now facing multiple charges, including battery and assault.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is with us now and leads us off.

So, Omar what more do we know about the suspect and the events that led up to this disturbing encounter?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, one, I think anyone who watched that video, it's an ugly scene that you're seeing there.

GOLODRYGA: Awful.

JIMENEZ: But what led up to it at this point, while we don't know those immediate moments, we do know that it started when a gas station attendant nearby called the police for a man who was allegedly threatening that person and spit on that person.

So police were called. They basically found this person at a nearby convenience store. And that's where the video appears to pick up. Now, the Crawford County Sheriff's Office, which is the county for here in Mulberry, Arkansas, just put out a statement this past hour identifying these three officers involved.

The statement said: "These deputies evolved in the video yesterday are Deputies Zack King, Deputy Levi White and Mulberry Officer Thell Riddle. Please refer questions to the Arkansas State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigations. We are cooperating with all aspects of their investigation and will make a statement to the public at a later time."

But, of course, when you when you see this playing out, the actions that are on this video are now the subject of a state investigation that is looking at just the physical aspects, the use of force in this .But, of course, from that point on it will be determined whether any criminal charges could be filed, because, of course, it'll be sent to the prosecuting...

(CROSSTALK)

GOLODRYGA: Yes, I was going to ask you, how is it going to be handled going forward? We have heard from the governor.

Now, obviously this is very disturbing video to watch. There's still so many unanswered questions, though.

JIMENEZ: That's right.

And the central question at the heart of all this, I think even for people watching, but, of course, investigators, is, was this amount of force actually necessary, especially with three law enforcement officers there? So that state investigation will play out. The results of that will be turned over to the prosecuting attorney. And they will make the determination if criminal charges will be filed.

The governor, Asa Hutchinson, is expected to make a statement a little bit later today in the next hour-and-a-half or so. But I should also mention the man at the center of this, the suspect in all this, he was eventually charged with first- and second-degree assault, second- degree battery, a host of other charges as well.

But then, of course, you see some of those charges on your screen there, terroristic threatening, criminal trespass and more. But, of course, the lens is also being pointed at the law enforcement officers who clearly did all of this just to try and apprehend this man.

GOLODRYGA: Omar, you will continue to follow the story for us. Thank you so much.

Well, we turn now to dangerous flash flooding. Right now, a massive storm is threatening nearly 15 million people from the Southwest to the Southeast. I want to show you some video from Dallas. It got a summer's worth of rain in less than just 24 hours, fast-rising water submerging cars and forcing people -- look at this -- to swim to safety.

This scene just one of several dangerous rescues in the area.

I want to bring in meteorologist Tom Sater. Tom, what more do we know about this rain and weather the system will

continue to be impacting so many Americans for this long?

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It looks like, Bianna, there is -- they are in store, that is, for another maybe one to three inches. This could be the wettest August in history.

Why is it, when it comes to extreme weather events -- it seems like this all the time -- we go from one extreme, in this case, one of the worst droughts in history, and then seeing it end with a one-in-100 year rain event?

Look at us. More than half the average summer's worth of rainfall has fallen. Second highest August rainfall. More on that in a minute. And the third most rain in a 24-hour period. Now, when we talk about the amount of rain -- and you can see all the warnings, Fort Worth, Dallas. It looks like it's trying to slide a little bit to the east- southeast, but any more rainfall is just going to aggravate the situation.

This is how much rain had fallen. If you were with us yesterday -- and I was on the air with Fredricka -- the model showed this. They were showing widespread six, seven inches and maybe eight nine or 10 inches could fall. And it was around the Dallas Metroplex area.

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My fear was numerous calls to emergency services, 911 calls, water rescues. And, unfortunately, that's what's happened.

Just northwest of the downtown area, look at this, over 10 inches of rain. But look at DFW, OK? That's where the records come from, 8.72 inches. They are just under two inches from their wettest August in history. They just ended their second driest period in history since the beginning of the year. There are deficits of rain that are eight, 10, even 12 inches, and that's going to wipe that deficit out.

But when it comes to the drought, here's the problem. It is so dry, it's not absorbing the rain. It's just like hitting concrete and asphalt. It is the driest in history for San Antonio for this year, second for College Station, third San Angelo, and then Dallas its fifth driest.

So, when you look at this much rainfall, sure, the ranchers, cattle ranchers, farmers, want this because they were having to make some tough decisions. Without any rain. It's not going to help the grass grow. But now all that run-off will continue as another three, one to three inches could fall.

That would make it the wettest August in history. So warnings still in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Now they're extending eastward. Watch what happens now into Louisiana, parts of Mississippi. When you look at the setup of the rain, it is almost identical to what happened a few weeks ago with historic flooding from St. Louis into Eastern Kentucky. And we all saw that damage. It's a stationary front. It is not moving. But we have just copious

amounts of atmospheric moisture coming in from the Gulf. And it's riding into that front. So when that moisture hits that front, it just triggers thunderstorm after thunderstorm moving over the same area.

So now the concern, still in Dallas, OK, then over toward Tyler, areas to the east, but watch it move across Louisiana, parts of southern half of Arkansas and in toward Mississippi. This is going to continue to be a problem, not just in Dallas for the afternoon or additional rainfall. But what now could happen in the next day or two, as the computer models that were almost accurate yesterday are dropping incredible amounts, another eight, nine, 10 inches in north central areas of Louisiana towards Central Mississippi.

It's going to be a long day.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we know Louisiana is prone to flooding as well. And thank you so much.

Now we want to go -- Tom, thank you.

And now we want to go to Ed Lavandera, who is still in Dallas, where the rain continues to fall.

Ed, we saw those images of people swimming to safety. What more have you learned there?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, it has been an excruciating 24 hours here in the Dallas area.

We are standing along 635 in southeast Dallas County. This has been one of the areas of Dallas that has seen the most intense rainfall over the last 24 hours. I have seen on some of the local weather reports as much as 10 inches of rain that has fallen in this area.

And this is a highway that parts of it were -- have been closed for several hours this morning during rush hour traffic. You can see the higher parts there. The interstate is back up and running. But you can get a sense of just how fast-moving the water is here. This is a residential neighborhood back over this way.

A creek running through here. You can see the floodwaters moving rapidly through here. This is supposed to be a very low-level creek that runs through here. And it has changed dramatically, Bianna. This is making its way underneath the highway.

And in this particular area around here, there are so many homes and roadways that have been clogged up and flooded out because of the intense rainwater -- rain that we have seen here throughout the morning and the overnight hours. Some first responders are saying that many of the people they're encountering have simply been caught by surprise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP

LT. JOSEPH MARTINEZ, DALLAS FIRE-RESCUE DEPARTMENT: I have been doing this probably, the swift water team, for about 11, 12 years. So it's probably one of the second or third worst that I have seen.

I know, at nighttime, one time, it started late at night, kind of the same thing, caught people off guard. But I think everybody wasn't anticipating this much rain this fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Unbelievable. Our thanks to Ed Lavandera and Tom Sater.

Texas needed the rain, but not this much and not this fast.

Well, we turn now to the economy and a gloomy prediction for the road ahead. A majority of economists now expect a recession by the middle of next year. That's what we're learning from a new survey.

And CNN's Matt Egan is here with details.

So, Matt, we keep talking about this very confusing economy we're in, some good news, some bad. This seems to be a bit puzzling. Why are so many economists worried about a recession next year?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, there is a lot of pessimism out there in this survey.

This is from the National Association of Business Economics. And check this out. They -- 19 percent say that the U.S. economy is already in a recession. That is a staggering figure. Also, a whole bunch more think, in the next few quarters -- yes, that's up -- that's 53 percent.

Together, 72 percent say the U.S. economy's is either in a recession or headed there very soon. Now, we should caution that just because economists are saying, that doesn't make it so, right? They don't have a crystal ball here.

[13:10:00]

Also, just because they're talking a recession doesn't mean it would have been be a deep recession like the Great Recession. Maybe this would be a mild one, but not just the economists worried, investors too. As we speak, the Dow is down about 500 points, around 1.5 percent, again, on concerns about the economy.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, recessions are common. But what's a bit of a head- scratcher is that we typically don't think of a recession when you have got an employment, jobs market as hot as it is right now.

EGAN: Exactly.

There are a lot of positives about this economy, despite these recession fears. You have to start with this historic jobs recovery, unemployment rate 3.5 percent. We haven't seen that since 1969. Falling gas prices, down 69 days in a row, that is a huge positive, and also really strong corporate profits. The companies are making money. They don't really have a reason to lay off workers. There are some negatives, though, out there. Of course, inflation

might be peaking, but it's still high, near a 40-year high. We also have paychecks that are shrinking if you adjust for inflation. That is why people are really hurting. And the big one is the Federal Reserve is aggressively trying to get inflation under control.

They are slamming the brakes on the economy. And history shows that, when they do that, there is a real risk of an accident. They don't really have a choice here. They have to address inflation. They're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, Jay Powell is hoping for a soft landing. But that's looking harder and harder as these inflation numbers continue to come out.

EGAN: Exactly.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you so much, Matt.

EGAN: Thank you, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: We appreciate you joining us.

Well, it happened inside Russia, in the capital. A car bomb kills the daughter of a prominent Putin supporter. Just how the Kremlin is now blaming Ukraine and many are now fearing an escalation. We're live in Moscow.

Plus, the judge who approved the Trump search warrant revealing new details on the effort to release more documents. Why he says he has good reason to keep at least some things secret.

And officials say one of the deadliest forms of cancer in the United States is back on the rise. We will tell you more up next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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GOLODRYGA: Russia is blaming Ukraine for a car bombing that killed the daughter of an influential Russian ideologue.

According to state media, Russia's Federal Security Service says the attack on Darya Dugina was prepared by Ukraine's special services and carried out by a Ukrainian woman on Saturday. But a senior Ukrainian official has dismissed the allegations, saying Russian propaganda lives in a fictional world.

Meantime, Alexander Dugin is calling for victory against Ukraine in response to his daughter's death.

We will get more details now from CNN's Frederik Pleitgen live in Moscow.

Fred, what more are we hearing from the Kremlin? FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

So the Kremlin, really after only a day of investigation at that site where the vehicle was blown up and then crashed and obviously engulfed in flames, killing Darya Dugina, they came out and said that this Ukrainian woman whom they claimed works for the Ukrainian special services came to Russia with her 12-year-old daughter, moved into a complex where Darya Dugina lived in order to try and see the sort of daily routines of Darya Dugina, and then went to the same festival that Darya Dugina and her father were at on Saturday, then conducted that bombing.

And, of course, we see some of the aftermath there of that destroyed vehicle, which then burned out, and then managed to escape to Estonia afterwards. That's what the Russians are saying. They put out a video, the FSB has, the Russian intelligence services.

Now, you have already mentioned that the Ukrainians strongly deny that they were behind all this, saying that Russia lives in the fictional world. The Ukrainians actually came out very early in the game and said they have nothing to do with that. The Ukrainians really hinting that they believe this could be some sort of inside job.

It's very difficult to tell, but the Russians certainly very quickly coming out. And I think this is something that really could be a big issue for escalation between Ukraine and Russia, the way that the Russians are talking right now.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And President Zelenskyy had been warning about escalation even prior to this assassination.

Fred Pleitgen in Moscow, thank you.

Well, as we mentioned, Kyiv is on high alert over fears that Russia could ramp up its airstrikes.

CNN's David McKenzie is in the Ukrainian capital.

And, David, President Zelenskyy was already warning residents of Kyiv to brace for more airstrikes ahead of Ukrainian Independence Day. That's Wednesday. Now, this week also marks six months since the invasion began. Does this car bomb just ratchet things up even further there?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it does.

Certainly, Bianna, there's a heightened level of alertness here in the capital, Kyiv, and in several key cities around the country both far and close to the front line.

Here in Kyiv, they are saying there should be no large gatherings, no real celebration or commemoration of this very important anniversary, 31 years since Ukraine gained independence from the former Soviet Union. It gives you a sense of the level of alertness from senior civilian and military leaders here in the country. As you said, President Zelenskyy said that they expected possible

strikes on -- missile strikes on key decision-making centers. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We should be aware that Russia may try to do something particularly disgusting and particularly violent next week. That's our enemy. But Russia was doing something disgusting and violent every week during those six months constantly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: A key city in the northeast is going to extra steps, Bianna, saying that there needs to be a curfew for at least 36 hours, people off the streets, because of those fears -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, it's the city of Kharkiv, the country's second largest.

David, let's turn to another area of concern. And that's the continued shelling around the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia. We're hearing that the international nuclear inspectors say that they are still in talks to visit the plant.

[13:20:05]

Is progress being made there?

MCKENZIE: Well, the head of the IAEA, Bianna, said that some progress is being made. But he didn't go into very -- specifics.

There's still this major stumbling block, I think, which is that the Russian military and authorities have no urge to demilitarize that zone, both in the nuclear power plant itself and the area around it, because this is a key area, right on the front line with Ukrainian forces, on the River Dnipro in the south of where I'm standing.

And so while there is ongoing discussions, that threat remains, and there's still no evidence of inspectors making plans specifically to get to that site and ensure it's safe -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, this isn't just the largest plant in the country. It's the largest nuclear plant in all of Europe.

David McKenzie, thank you.

Well, with us now is Tikhon Dzyadko. He's the editor in chief of TV Rain, which until the start of the war was the last remaining independent TV channel in Russia, is now operating from outside of the country.

Tikhon, always great to see you.

So let me get you to respond to this extremely quick FSB investigation for some context.

(CROSSTALK)

GOLODRYGA: But I want to put some context out there with this graphic to show our viewers of some of the yet-to-be-solved murder cases in Russia dating back decades.

All of them have one theme in common, in as that they were all Putin critics. Here you go from the left, Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in 2015, two human rights activists Natalia Estemirova in 2009, and journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006.

So, given that, and given that it took less than 48 hours for the FSB to conclude this investigation, what do you make sense of their finding?

TIKHON DZYADKO, EDITOR IN CHIEF, TV RAIN: Well, of course, it's very unusual for FSB to find the killer so quickly, in just less than 48 hours.

And, of course, it is very important for them to tell the people who killed Darya Dugina. And it's important for them to tell everyone that Ukrainian -- Ukrainians did this.

On the one hand, it could be Ukrainians, of course. But on the other hand, it could be some people in Russia who, for example, want the situation in Ukraine to escalate and who is expecting from Russian government more terrible action.

But, for the FSB, for Russian special services, it's also, of course, very important to say as quickly as possible that they found the killer, and that's why they did it so quickly, and that's why it looks strange.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, it looks strange.

And you're right. There's so much we still don't know. It could be the Ukrainians. But there's a lot of question and speculation as to what they would gain out of this targeted attack. President Putin has already responded to Darya's death. And he called her a person with a real Russian heart.

We know there's pressure on him internally within the country from people like Darya's father, ultra-right nationalists to step up this war and actually call it just that, because it's still being identified as a special military operation. Do you think that this will exert and put more pressure on Vladimir Putin to do just that? Do you expect any sort of significant change on the war front here?

DZYADKO: Well, I think that the figure of Alexander Dugin, the father of Darya Dugina, is a little bit exaggerated.

Of course, he's one of the ideologues of the so-called the Russian world, of this conservative extension of Russia and of rebuilding the Soviet Union. But he's not the -- he's not the person who takes part in taking decisions. And, for example, he's not a counselor of Vladimir Putin, et cetera,

et cetera. So I don't think that he could influence on Putin in his decisions. I think that the plan of Putin now is the same as it was six months ago. He doesn't think that Ukraine and -- that Ukraine exists as a country. He doesn't think that Ukraine is a country.

And he -- I think he's dreaming of taking back Kyiv and Lviv, cetera, et cetera. So I don't think that anyone could somehow change his plans. And the question is whether he's going to, for example, use a nuclear weapon or not. But we don't -- we don't have the answer.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

Do you think there's a real possibility that he would, Tikhon?

DZYADKO: I -- no one knows, because the situation is so unpredictable.

No one knew that Ukrainian army would be able to fight so bravely against Russians. A lot of people thought that Ukrainian -- Ukraine will fall in three days or in four days. And now we see that, after six months, Russian army did not succeed very, very much, I would say.

[13:25:06]

And, of course, Vladimir Putin is annoyed by the fact that, six months after the beginning of the invasion, Russian forces did not even take the whole Donetsk region. That means that everything is possible. But I think I'm the last person who would predict something, because, for example, I was sure that the invasion would not start.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, I was with you.

DZYADKO: So, I don't think...

GOLODRYGA: You weren't alone. You weren't alone on that prediction.

DZYADKO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: But it does seem that the tide is shifting a bit and that the Russian forces there are more on the offensive.

Let me just ask you quickly before we go.

DZYADKO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: We heard that warning from President Zelenskyy. There are curfews in effect in Kharkiv.

Are you concerned about these two important dates this week, one, the anniversary, I believe it's 21 years since Ukraine's independence, and also the six-month anniversary of this invasion? We know Putin and the Russian leadership really values anniversaries and big dates. Do you expect to see any escalated provocation this week?

DZYADKO: I think it's possible. And I think it's possible on Wednesday, the very day of -- the day of

independence in Ukraine. And I think Putin, he likes some symbolic things. And anything could happen.

But I -- as long as I understand, the Ukrainians are being well- prepared to it. And I don't think that anything terrible would happen. But Russian army could try to do something.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, actually, 31 years, I believe, independence there in that country.

DZYADKO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Tikhon Dzyadko, thank you. Always great to see you. Appreciate your time and perspective.

DZYADKO: Thank you so much. Thanks.

GOLODRYGA: Well, time is running out for the Justice Department to decide what it thinks Americans should know about the Mar-a-Lago search.

Now we're learning more about where the judge stands on keeping this investigation transparent.

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