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Oregon Grocery Store Shooting; Mississippi Mayor Urges Residents to Flee; Growing Pessimism about Republicans Winning House. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 29, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:33:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A Sunday afternoon trip just to the grocery store turned deadly for shoppers in Oregon. Just such a sadly familiar story there.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: It really is. Investigators say two people were killed, at least one injured, when a gunman open fire in a Safeway grocery store in the city of Bend.

Our Brynn Gingras has been covering this tragedy. She joins us now.

Just, as Jim said, just one of many all too familiar mass shootings, really in all of these places people expect to go to be safe.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, listen, there's a police chief out there who said, when's this going to stop? I think that's a question everyone's asking and it's on their minds. And there's ongoing investigations this morning for shootings in New York, Houston, Detroit. It's just a weekend of gun violence. And that horrific scene in Bend, two people were killed. One employee said they were closing up the deli department, ready to go home, when they had to run for their lives.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATHER THOMPSON, WITNESS: And all of a sudden I heard anywhere from five to eight shots. I thought it sounded like backfire. Of course, you know, you're a little stunned. And then, less than a minute later, there were 10 to 20 shots. And then another 10 to 20 shots. And by that time, I went inside and told my dad to get away from the window.

ROBERT, SAFEWAY EMPLOYEE: It was loud enough to make me and three other employees run into a walk-in refrigerator and close the door and stay there. We stayed hidden until the authorities arrived.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Rapid gunfire. You guessed it, that gunman armed with an assault rifle. Moved through the store. And witnesses estimate, as you heard her say, firing dozens of shots. Authorities found the gunman's body. A shotgun was found nearby his body.

The motive for this shooting still a little unclear at this point. The FBI and local law enforcement, they're conducting a search of the shooter's home. Hopefully they'll find some answers there.

Let's go to Phoenix, Arizona. Two officers were hit with gunfire while responding to a call where two people were killed. Those officers, luckily, are expected to be OK.

And the Washington Commanders' rookie running back, Brian Robinson Jr., a victim of gun violence as well over the weekend.

[09:35:01]

He was shot twice in the leg, according to police there. They think he was the victim of an attempted robbery or carjacking. Two suspects fled the scene. A gun was found nearby that scene.

And Robinson is expected to be OK. The team says his injuries are not life-threatening. He'll get back on the field soon.

And we're just actually learning more details about what happened over the weekend here in New York City. Sixteen people were shot, at least five fatally, across 13 shootings in New York City from Friday through Sunday. The NYPD has just given us that update this morning.

So, guys, just a horrific weekend all across the board.

HARLOW: Look at all of that in just a weekend.

Brynn, we appreciate the updates.

GINGRAS: Yes.

HARLOW: Well, turning to Mississippi, where a state of emergency has been declared as rainfall is expected to cause severe flooding. Officials first predicted the Pearl River would spill over its bank and reach 36 feet by tomorrow. The river is now expected to crest at some point today.

SCIUTTO: Yes. We've seen so much of this 100-year floods, 1,000-year floods.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: You've heard the mayor of Jackson, the state's capital and largest city, urgently warn residents about the danger coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KHOKWE ANTAR LUMUMBA (D), JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI: If you are capable of getting out now, get out now. Get out as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCIUTTO: CNN's Nadia Romero, she is live in Jackson.

Nadia, tell us how bad it looks there.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim and Poppy, we just heard from the deputy director of the county's emergency operation center asking him about the waters and what we're seeing. And he says that he's cautiously optimistic that we may have seen the worst of the flooding.

And so this is the northeast side of Mississippi. This is a neighborhood that constantly sees flooding time and time again. They saw record flooding back in 2020. We spoke with some of the neighbors here and they said you really just have to watch the waters. They're so used to this, right?

So, if you look at the water here, we're on this one driveway, this is where the water line was at about 6:00 this morning. You can see, it started to recede back here. We put down an unofficial marker, this trash can lid. This is where the water was at the top of the hour. You can see just how quickly it is now as we get back to this water.

So, this street was really difficult to pass over the past couple of days. If you had a pickup truck, you could make your way slowly through here. But a lot of the neighbors were concerned about going through this water, not knowing what was underneath because it's so dark and murky. Now we're seeing more people take their chances and drive their trucks through this water.

We spoke with some neighbors here who told us about their expectations for this flood and how they were just bracing for more bad news.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAWN MILLER, JACKSON RESIDENT: Yes, it's a little bit concerning. You worry about it. You -- you know, you cut the power off. You're leaving the house. You - you pretty much have to pick up and leave. You no longer have a home. So, you're relocating. You don't know what to expect with the unknown. So, you in the blind for a lot of stuff and you've just got to come back and hope for the best.

MICKEY HOLDER, JACKSON RESIDENT: We put sandbags all around the house. All we could do. You know, the home and the stuff inside now is material things. We can't worry about material things. We can replace them. As long as I got my kids and my wife out, nothing else matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: Yes, nothing else matters. I heard that time and time again from speaking to neighbors right here in this community that say that they were trying to evacuate their families largely because Entergy (ph) started shutting off power yesterday afternoon. It's Jackson, Mississippi. It's hot. It's humid. So it made temperatures and conditions very uncomfortable in their homes. Also, they were concerned about their food spoiling.

So, the power is still out in this neighborhood and they're hoping that it comes back on quickly so they can assess the damage and move on.

Poppy. Jim.

SCIUTTO: Goodness. And I hope they listen to those warnings.

Nadia Romero, thanks so much.

We do have new reporting this morning that Ukraine is preparing the battlefield for potentially significant counteroffensive against Russia. I'm going to ask Petro Poroshenko, the former president of Ukraine, about that strategy, its prospects. That's coming up.

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[09:43:33]

SCIUTTO: New this morning, two senior U.S. officials briefed on the intelligence tell me that Ukraine forces have begun what are known as shaping operations in southern Ukraine. This to prepare the battlefield for potentially significant Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The U.S. believes the long anticipated counteroffensive will include a combination of air and ground operations. Neither Ukrainian nor U.S. officials are revealing the main targets.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have been making advances around the key southern city of Kherson, crucial to the control of Ukraine's southern coast, as well as access to the Black Sea.

Also this morning, the battlefield moving dangerously close once again to the nuclear power plant, Europe's largest in Zaporizhzhia. Overnight, at least nine people were killed when a nearby town was shelled.

Joining me now is the former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko.

Mr. President, thank you for joining us this morning.

PETRO POROSHENKO, FORMER PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: It's a pleasure. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: So, first on this potential counteroffensive. Do you believe Ukraine has the capability and the forces necessary to gain back Russian-controlled territory?

POROSHENKO: First of all, I'm proud, for the last eight years, the process of creating a Ukrainian new armed forces based on the NATO standard was started by me as a supreme commander in chief in the year 2014. And this is the long-awaited counteroffensive operation.

[09:45:03] It was started today at 7:00 a.m. with shelling and missiles attack.

And this is first time since February 2022 when such a concentrated of Ukrainian troops with a western artillery and with a western HIMARS and western missiles was collected together for this counterattack. And I think that we demonstrated that Ukrainian forces using as General Hodges (ph) said, 200 percent efficiency. And we just want to remind you in the year 2014, me as a supreme commander in chief, at least two-third of the occupied Donbas. And if you -- first of all, we are very much grateful for the United States because all the artillery, all the ammunition, all the missiles and all the HIMARS is supplied by you and myself is what I think that we also preparing for this counterattack. And we supply 11 armed personnel vehicle. My charity foundation, there are lots of drones, lots of the special equipment, and this is make the activity of Ukrainian forces significantly more successful.

SCIUTTO: OK.

POROSHENKO: It looks -- looks at the military history. We have three times when exactly at this place, Ukrainian forces provided against Nazis, against all others, very successful operation. We learn it. We understand how to do that and we will win.

SCIUTTO: Mr. President, does this indicate, and, as you know, there have been some in the west who have said now's the time to negotiate, perhaps now's the time to talk cease-fire. Does this indicate that Ukraine has no intention to sue for peace, negotiate for peace at the current status of the front lines?

POROSHENKO: You cannot find out any nation in the world who wants peace more than we Ukraine. Only me was (INAUDIBLE) of my friends, of my closest person ten times during the last three weeks. And with this situation, definitely. You should take into account that Putin understands only one language. Language of strength. And this counterattack is definitely improving and strengthening our position. But for cease-fire, we need to have several factors.

Point number one, this is the threw (ph) away the Russian forces from Ukrainian soil. Point number two, immediate releasing of the hostages. Thousands of Ukrainian hostages are keeping by Russia, by prisoners of war. And then we are ready to discuss the security matter, to provide what kind of security guarantee Russia need because Ukraine don't need security guarantee for us. The only acceptable way is the full membership of Ukraine in NATO.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, Petro Poroshenko, we wish you and your team safety in the midst of the ongoing war there. Thanks so much for joining the program this morning.

POROSHENKO: Thanks a lot.

HARLOW: Well, new CNN reporting this morning that House Republicans now seeing a smaller majority in their future potentially after the midterms. What does this mean for Leader Kevin McCarthy's hopes to secure the speaker gavel? That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:23]

HARLOW: Welcome back.

So, Houses Republicans, at least some of them, growing pessimistic about their chances of winning a significant majority in the midterms. Last week's special election in New York's 19th Congressional District was the latest sign of trouble. Democrat Pat Ryan defeated Republican Mark Molinaro in a swing district considered a bellwether for the midterms.

SCIUTTO: CNN's Manu Raju joins us now from Capitol Hill.

And, Manu, with the normal caveats about sometimes flawed polling and the fact that we're still a couple months out, Republicans looking at this and saying their advantages, at least clear advantages, have disappeared. What are they telling you?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. I mean they're looking at the map. They're looking at the environment. And it's a much different environment than it was, say, a couple months ago before the Supreme Court ruling on Roe versus Wade overturning Roe. It's something that has energized Democratic voters and Republicans are seeing some shifts. The special elections that you mentioned, as well, that perhaps that their hopes of winning a landslide majority could be narrowed.

Initially, last year, Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader, bullishly predicted maybe a 60-seat gain in a chamber where they need to pick up five seats at the moment to retake the majority. Now some of the Republicans believe that they're looking at maybe a 15 to 30-seat gain, potentially even a single-digit gain, and that essentially would have a significant ramification for the way Kevin McCarthy could push through his agenda.

This is what one top Republican who's retiring, Fred Upton, a veteran Republican, told me last week. He said, I expect a narrow majority for the GOP that may not be all that much greater than what Nancy Pelosi has today. Will be very hard to have any sense of a governing majority.

[09:55:04]

Now, the reason why the margin is significant is that Kevin McCarthy first needs to secure the speaker's gavel. We already know that there are a handful of Republicans who will not vote for him. He needs to get 218 votes to do just that. If he does not get that, he may have to cut deals. He may have to figure out another way to get the speaker's gavel. We'll see how that shapes up.

Also, passing an agenda, getting legislation through, dealing with things like avoiding a cataclysmic debt default, something they will have to deal with in the new Congress, and something that they will have to potentially deal with, get support within their own conference to get, those are big questions that he will have to face going forward.

Now, Republicans are still confident and optimistic that they will actually get the majority here thanks to the map, thanks to historical trends, thanks to redistricting. But, nevertheless, still concerns that perhaps doesn't look as good as it once did even as they're still confident they'll get to the majority.

Guys.

HARLOW: Manu Raju, I think that Fred Upton quote says a whole lot. Thanks very much for the reporting.

So, today's scheduled launch of the Artemis 1 project delayed. Our next chance to see this critical moment is Friday. Coming up, more on the several issues that caused today's launch to be postponed.

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