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Stolen Plane That Threatened To Crash In Minnesota Lands On Field; NASA Scrubs Artemis 1 Launch, Mission Delayed For Months; Jackson, Mississippi Restoring Pressure, But Water Still Unsafe To Drink; Unsealed Filing: 11K Non-Classified Government Docs Found At Mar-a-Lago; Farewell Ceremony In Moscow For Last Soviet Leader; Serena Williams Legendary Career Likely Over With U.S. Open Loss. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 03, 2022 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:17]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has got his hands up. He is being arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The person flying that airplane called 9-1-1 and said they were going to steal the airplane and crash it into one of the local Walmart's in Tupelo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negotiators from Tupelo Police Department made contact with the pilot and were able to convince him to not carry out this deed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Artemis launch control, just called a scrub for the launch attempt today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a huge disappointment for NASA.

BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: This is just part of the space business. We'll go when it's ready.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Water coming out now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another day in Jackson, Mississippi; another day of a water crisis for residents here.

ALMA REGINAL, JACKSON RESIDENT: It is scary. It really is, not knowing whether you're going to have enough water from one day to another.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in for another hot day across California.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forty million under some sort of heat alert, 155- plus potential high records expected.

MARIE METCALFE, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: It's pretty stifling, even our AC at home can only do so much when we're in these triple digits.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington. Pamela Brown has the night off and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A pilot threatened a Mississippi community for hours and lands in jail. The bizarre intense drama playing out in the skies over Tupelo.

Police there saying before dawn, the pilot of the stolen plane called 9-1-1 and threatened to crash into a local Walmart.

CNN's Pete Muntean followed the five-hour drama to its peaceful ending.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, this is the best possible outcome after a man who worked at a local airport in Tupelo, Mississippi stole a plane, threatened to crash it into a local Walmart, and then ultimately crashed landed in a nearby soybean field.

His name Cory Wayne Patterson, an employee at Tupelo Aviation, a fixed-base operator at the Tupelo Regional Airport where he fueled airplanes. Police now say that Patterson did have some flying experience. They're not totally sure how much, so the big question is how he was able to start an airplane like this, a twin-engine commuter plane, a Beechcraft King Air C90.

He got on board, police say, around 5:00 AM, made a phone call, local 9-1-1 operators picked up and they heard this threat from Paterson police say that he was going to crash in to one of the local Walmart's.

The plane took off. The tower there not operating yet, it is only operating parttime, circled the Walmart. Police negotiators were able to get in touch with him and then police brought in another pilot to attempt to talk Patterson down and have him land back at the Tupelo Regional Airport.

What's so interesting is that police say he came within hundred feet of a successful landing, but then took off again and flew away to the northwest. That's when police think that Patterson did run out of fuel. They thought the plane was refueled completely the night before. They were able to reestablish contact with Patterson via phone again after he had crashed into that soybean field.

Local eyewitnesses in Gravestown, Mississippi where that field is said the pilot came out with his hands up and he was immediately detained, a harrowing story to tell that he will have to tell in a courtroom. Now, he is charged with terroristic threats and grand larceny -- Jessica.

DEAN: What a story. Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

And for the second time in a week, technical issues have forced NASA to cancel the launch of its massive new moon rocket Artemis 1. A liquid hydrogen leak is to blame for this latest setback to the unmanned test flight.

Let's go now live to Kennedy Space Center and CNN's space correspondent, Kristin Fisher.

Kristin, we know NASA held a news conference a short time ago. What did they have to say? KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica,

they said this was a very large heart hydrogen leak, much bigger than the one that they encountered on Monday.

And so now, NASA needs to fix it, and they have two options. They can either fix it on the launch pad, or they can roll it all the way back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, the VAB, which is four miles away and to move a rocket this big, it can take up to three and a half days to do that.

So regardless, though of where they fix it, they are not going to have enough time to make these repairs before the end of this launch window, which ends on Tuesday.

So that pushes the next launch attempt of the Artemis moon rocket to the end of September at the very earliest. More likely, Jessica, it is going to be sometime in October, if not later. That's also a possibility.

[18:05:02]

FISHER: There is also something else, one other issue that's popped up, because this rocket has been on the launchpad for so long that it is in violation or soon to be in violation of a range constraint. The Space Force runs this range and the rocket, they need it, when it's been out here for this long, they've got to change the batteries on the flight termination system.

So, in case this rocket goes up and something goes wrong, it starts going haywire, they need to be able to terminate it. The Space Force requires them to change those batteries. And to do it, they have to do it in the VAB.

So as of now, regardless of where they make these repairs, NASA is going to have to roll it back to the VAB. They're going to ask the Space Force for an extension, but because this has to do with safety, they don't know yet if the Space Force is going to grant it.

So Jessica, a ton of questions still up in the air, a lot of details to be hashed out, but the bottom line is that this rocket is not going to launch for several weeks at the earliest.

Here is NASA Administrator, Jim Free speaking, at this press conference just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM FREE, NASA: We don't go into these tests lightly, right? We don't just say, hey, we think, we hope this is going to work. The confidence to do another launch attempt today was borne out of the fact that we understood the hydrogen leaks that we had on Monday, those are different than the leak that we had today.

In terms of scale, one was in the same place. But today, it was a different signature and we understood the engine issue. So, we weren't confident coming into today. But as the administrator said, we're not going to launch until we're ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: So Jessica, there is definitely a lot of disappointment here at the Kennedy Space Center tonight. But I just want to put this in perspective for you. This is a test flight, rolling it back to the vertical assembly building -- the Vehicle Assembly Building, excuse me, was always an option.

And NASA Administrator, Bill Nelson said that to put this in perspective, this space shuttle was sent back to the VAB 20 times.

So, this is not uncommon. These things happen when you're dealing with very complicated rocket launches and one other thing that the administrator pointed out, he said the cost of two scrubs is still less than the cost of one failure.

So, at the end of the day, this is not a worst case scenario for NASA, Jessica. Worst case is this rocket, you know, exploding either on the launchpad or up in the air.

This is definitely a setback, and not what they wanted to happen today, but if they had not caught this leak, it could have been much worse.

DEAN: That's certainly true and a lot of perspective there. Kristin Fisher, who has been in Florida for days for us monitoring all of these, thanks so much.

Anger, fear, even exhausted resignation: That's just some of the emotions being felt in Jackson, Mississippi, as that city deals with a crippling water crisis that has been made worse by this week's historic flooding.

As authorities work to restore pressure, bottled water is still being handed out to thirsty and miserable residents who lack clean water for necessities, things like drinking, bathing, even laundry.

CNN's Nadia Romero has more.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, this is day six of the water crisis here in Jackson, Mississippi, but we just received an update from city officials that the water treatment plant has made significant gains overnight into this morning saying that the water pressure is now up so much so that most people in Jackson should have water pressure. That's a big change from what happened here just yesterday and what we saw earlier in this week.

But the problem still remains that this is an old water treatment plant that has many issues, and so city officials like the mayor warning that there could be more interruptions, more fluctuations to come that this isn't a permanent fix to this problem.

And even if you do have water pressure in your home, that water is still not drinkable. Officials say it is unsafe to drink. The boil water advisory is still in effect. That's why the State has set up seven water distribution sites for people in the city to come and pick up free water bottles.

But not everyone has access to transportation or can physically lift those bottles and bring them into their homes.

So, we visited a senior facility where one resident told us that she was so grateful when the Mississippi Urban League showed up with water bottles for her and her neighbors. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REGINAL: It's been frustrating and just drives you nuts not knowing what's going to happen next. I don't know how it is going to happen, when it is going to happen. Anything.

It is scary. It really is. It really is scary not knowing how you're going to make it from one day to another. Then we can't use the water to do anything except take a shower or bath. So, that's hard, and then for washing dishes and stuff, you have to boil the water, and then have to cook.

And when you don't feel like cooking, it throws you off for a minute. So it has been rough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:10:12]

ROMERO: Now, that boil water advisory continues and residents still don't know when they will have safe drinking water that they can use in their homes to cook with and to brush their teeth with.

We are now told from city officials that water restoration groups from Georgia and Florida are coming to the State to help. We know that FEMA has visited -- the administrator from FEMA was on the ground just yesterday and says that those Federal dollars will help the City of Jackson repair issues in the short term, but that long-term fix, there is still no timeline for just how long it will take for the water quality to improve -- Jessica.

DEAN: Just incredible. The largest city in Mississippi, its capital. Thanks Nadia.

Over 40 million people across the western US are under heat alerts this weekend as the power grid gets squeezed.

California's residents now being urged to turn down the A/C, avoid using major appliances and also turn off any unnecessary lights.

CNN's Chris Nguyen joining me now from Pasadena. That's just north of Los Angeles.

Chris, this is the fourth consecutive Flex Alert that's been issued. Tell us about that.

CHRIS NGUYEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jessica, that's right. California is currently in its longest heatwave of the year. It's been

a very challenging day. The temperature here in Pasadena is currently 102 degrees. Many residents are doing what they can to stay cool.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN (voice over): Across the West, the scorching heat is showing no signs of cooling off this holiday weekend.

METCALFE: Our A/C at home can only do so much when we're in these triple digits.

NGUYEN (voice over): In Glendale, California, residents are seeking refuge at the Galleria Shopping Mall, taking advantage of the free air conditioning.

METCALFE: Getting out to the mall and just getting out of the house to get some sort of cool release is nice.

NGUYEN (voice over): California is in the midst of its longest heatwave of the year, a major concern especially in large cities like Los Angeles, where dark pavement and buildings can easily absorb heat bringing little relief overnight.

NGUYEN (on camera): Skid Row is an urban heat island which is why water is crucial, especially when temperatures hit triple digits.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Free water. Agua gratis. Free water.

NGUYEN (voice over): That's why volunteers with Water Drop LA are checking up on the unhoused and the elderly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you all want water?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sure.

NGUYEN (voice over): Handing out cold water to those who need it.

SOFIA GUADRON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WATER DROP LA: At the core, like we are all people and we should care about each other. We should like love each other and we should look out for each other.

NGUYEN (voice over): The extreme heatwave also testing California's power grid.

In Irwindale, Southern California Edison crews are busy moving transformers and extra equipment throughout the region.

DAVID EISENHAUER, SPOKESMAN, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON: We have all hands on deck ready to respond if there are outages, so that we can get the power restored as quickly and safely as possible.

NGUYEN (voice over): Many Californians bracing for more misery ahead.

CARLA LIZAOLA, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: It is insane it's unbearable to even be home. (END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN (on camera): But, Jessica, the extreme heat didn't keep thousands of fans from coming out to the Rose Bowl this afternoon. UCLA had a commanding lead throughout the game, including the fourth quarter, which is when we saw many people start to leave early -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Chris Nguyen for us in Pasadena. Thanks so much.

Let's go now to CNN meteorologist, Gene Norman, who is joining us to take kind of a broader look at this.

Gene, we just mentioned 40 million-plus people under these heat alerts, some places are going to see these temperatures, 15 to 20 degrees above normal. Tell us more about what we're seeing.

GENE NORMAN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Jessica, it's not just going to be today and tomorrow. This could last for several days.

You know, the heat dome has been meandering around the country all summer long. Well, now it's built back up over the Western United States, but watch what happens throughout the week, it is going to spread eastward across the Central and Northern Plains.

These are the heat advisories and excessive heat warnings that are in effect for at least through Sunday. Some of these may be extended into Monday and Tuesday.

Right now, temperatures already in the triple digits. Bishop, Bakersfield, Palm Springs, Las Vegas at 106 and that's the current temperature right now. Over the next three days, look at how high the temperatures go. Salt Lake City in the triple digits. Sacramento, Las Vegas, Death Valley pretty interesting, 120 degrees.

In the records that they've been keeping since 1911, it has only happened 10 times that they've had 120 or higher in the month of September. Jessica, it's happened six times since 2017. Just another one of the examples of the fingerprints of climate change. This is not the usual heat we would expect in a summer.

DEAN: Quite the data point there. Gene Norman for us. Thanks so much.

High society, but is it high security: An inside look at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. How easy would it have been for someone to get to those top-secret documents that were found on site?

Plus, in the same place that honored leaders including Stalin and Lenin, Russians say goodbye to the last President of the Soviet Union.

And tennis legend Serena Williams leaving the court for perhaps the last time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:19:31]

DEAN: President Biden is asking Congress for $47 billion to deal with the demands of "four critical needs." They are the war in Ukraine, COVID-19, monkeypox, and natural disasters.

Joe Johns is live at the White House tonight. And Joe, this request coming as Congress is set to return to session from recess and as it faces the threat of a government shutdown later this month. Does the potential for that government shutdown complicate this request even more?

[18:20:00]

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Clearly. Now as you know, Jess, this is about four key areas. You stated them there -- Ukraine, monkeypox, COVID, and natural disasters. And September 30th is the day that they have to do this, get it both through the House and the Senate in order to avoid a government shutdown.

So, let's just run through these areas as they were laid out by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget at the beginning of the holiday weekend.

first, on the issue of Ukraine, the administration is then asking for $13.7 billion, most of that for security and economic assistance, but they've also thrown in $2 billion to deal with domestic energy issues.

Now, on COVID, the administration is renewing a request for about $22 billion, renewing it because the last time they asked for this money, the Congress did not act on it. And that, of course, is for a variety of things relating to COVID, including testing vaccines and treatment.

On the issue of monkeypox, it sounds very similar; also vaccines, therapeutics, testing, and research. That number there is $4.5 billion.

And finally, the White House is asking for $6.5 billion for emergency research -- I'm sorry, emergency funding for issues around the country that have occurred as a result of natural disasters.

Those natural disasters, of course, include the catastrophic flooding down in Kentucky, as well as some other disasters in places like California, and Texas, and Louisiana.

All of this, the administration is saying they would like to get done by September 30th, but as you know, this is a midterm year and it could be a complicating factor.

Back to you, Jessica.

DEAN: It certainly could.

Joe Johns for us at the White House, thanks so much.

Were the documents found inside Mar-a-Lago like a "overdue library book" or a national security nightmare? Next, I'll put that question to John Dean, former White House counsel for Richard Nixon and a key figure in the Watergate scandal.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:26:38]

DEAN: Unsealed Court records show that Federal investigators found dozens of classified documents at former President Donald Trump's Mar- a-Lago office. Some of the former President's allies say the materials were never in danger of being compromised, but some were found in parts of the complex not far from where guests typically mingle.

CNN's Brian Todd takes you inside Trump's resort.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From the ornate multi- chandeliered Donald J. Trump Ballroom to gold-trimmed sitting and dining rooms, new focus on the layout inside Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's 20-acre expanse on South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach.

A new inventory says Federal investigators took seven boxes of documents and other items from Donald Trump's office at Mar-a-Lago. Where would they have to go to find them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump's office is right above this Golden Grand Ballroom.

SARAH BLASKEY, CO-AUTHOR, "THE GRITTER'S CLUB": Those areas are private. They're accessible only to the family and then also the staff that keep it clean and that kind of thing.

TODD (voice over): The sheer opulence of the 114-room mansion is what stood out to people we spoke to who have been there and written about.

LAURENCE LEAMER, AUTHOR, "MAR-A-LAGO": Well, it is not like Trump Plaza or Trump Buildings in New York with his name splashed everywhere. It's just gold. It's gold, gold, gold.

TODD (voice over): Gold-plated and wooden crests abound, a room with marbled Middle East decor, busts bookending the fireplace, and the unforgettable billiard room with a portrait of a younger Donald Trump wearing a V-neck tennis sweater.

LEAMER: Mar-a-Lago is a monument of Donald Trump. Why does he have to be there? Why would he want to be there when he was President? Because he needs to constantly be celebrated.

TODD (voice over): There's an elegant outdoor dining terrace, but wherever you dine at Mar-a-Lago.

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, AUTHOR, "THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUMP": They always serve his kind of food. There's a lot of beef on the menu. You don't have to get a salad if you're not interested, and I think there is always plenty of ketchup for whatever he is eating. TODD (voice over): Author, Laurence Leamer has written the book on

Mar-a-Lago and says he has been on the estate several times. What struck Leamer is how close the family quarters are to an often crowded area.

LEAMER: The family quarters is just up the hall from the place where everybody is having dinner. It's kind of extraordinary.

TODD (voice over): All this luxury, accessible to people who can afford steep membership fees.

D'ANTONIO: When he became President, Donald Trump and his children doubled the entrance fee in order to join Mar-a-Lago from $100,000.00 to $200,000.00. I think it's worth noting that those fees are the same today.

TODD (voice over): Including a $14,000.00 annual fee to stay a member. Weddings, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, and bat mitzvahs are often booked at Mar-a-Lago.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Come on inside.

TODD (voice over): The Annual New Year's Eve party, said to be a hot ticket, and there is always the chance of a surprise encounter.

D'ANTONIO: Anyone who has booked a room there might get to meet the former President because he loves to pop in. He loves to hear the applause. It's something he's obviously addicted to.

TODD (on camera): The authors we spoke to who wrote books on Trump and Mar-a-Lago say it is there that people go to do business with Donald Trump, more so than at the White House or New York. It's at Mar-a- Lago, they say where you want to go to close a deal with him, where he has always felt the most comfortable.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: So, what does it mean that the search of Mar-a-Lago found dozens of empty file folders? Sensitive documents mixed in with newspaper clippings and clothing. The inventory of what FBI agents seized there shows a chaotic tangle of mishandled material and also leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

[18:30:16]

Joining me to talk about all of this, John Dean, former Nixon White House Counsel. John, it's wonderful to see you on this Saturday night. Thanks for joining us. I'd like to start first with what the Trump lawyers - how they describe this conflict over these documents. They describe it as similar to a dispute over 'an overdue library book', just very casually. What's your reaction to that description?

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, when I first heard that, I thought, well, where would he get the library card? He got the library card, if that analogy works and it doesn't, but he got the library card from the American people, because he doesn't need any clearance to get top secret information. But the American people took away that library card last November and told him to get in everything he's borrowed under that card by the time he leaves, so he knew that well in advance.

So it's - the other problem and the reason it doesn't work is library books do not contain the nation's top secrets and an elaborate system around them to protect those secrets, a system and a process that he just totally chose to ignore, so it just doesn't work. It's like calling the argument that was made by that lawyer, the equivalent of a Clarence Darrow argument, it just doesn't fly.

DEAN: Doesn't work, yes. What do you make of federal investigators finding these dozens of empty folders that were marked as classified? We're looking at some of the photos while I'm talking and some top secret documents mixed in with more mundane items like news clippings. What do you make of kind of what they found and how they kind of found this mixture of information together?

JOHN DEAN: The intermingling of material was certainly covered under the warrant that they were searching under, because it wanted to know where the material was located, if it was classified material or national defense information. And that's exactly what they found. They found clothing. They found his passports in his desk drawer.

So the empty folders, don't tell me a lot, because Mr. Trump was always so chaotic and disorganized, that I don't think he'd ever get anything back in the right folder, so this is just not surprising. That doesn't necessarily mean they're missing or they have been somehow taken out and I'm sure the FBI is now getting them all back in order.

Most of these documents, Jessica, are well-indexed, so they know what he had, when he had it and they can probably get it back in the right folder if they want to.

DEAN: And know how to organize it back. I know on Friday we heard from Trump's own appointed attorney general, Bill Barr. And he said that the demand for a special master is a red herring in all of this. And then he went on, we've got that clip, let's listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BARR, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY GENERAL: The driver on this from the beginning was loads of classified information sitting in Mar-a-Lago. People say this was unprecedented. Well, it's also unprecedented for a president to take all this classified information and put them in a country club, okay? And how long is the government going to try to get that back? They jawboned for a year. They were deceived on the voluntary actions taken. They then went and got a subpoena. They were deceived on that, they feel, and the facts are starting to show that they were being jerked around.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: And again, pointing out that was former President Trump's own

attorney general. But John, what do you make of his comments and what do you think the viewer should be taking away from what they're hearing from him?

JOHN DEAN: I think that Bill Barr gave a very blunt summary of the law and the situation. He's right on. These are not Trump's documents to take anywhere. They were the government's and the whole idea of a special master is just trying to stir up trouble, and delay and confusion. And hopefully, the judge who probably would respect Barr, she may have been processed by Barr's Department of Justice, hears what the former Attorney General had to say, because he's actually just bluntly stating the law and the facts and that I don't think it should be elevated to anything other than what he said.

DEAN: And I before we let you go, we've talked about how unprecedented this all is. You obviously lived through key figure in Watergate, which at the time was also unprecedented. If you can just zoom out for a second and give people kind of your thoughts on just what we're seeing, kind of give us the view for from up top kind of pulling back out and just kind of make sense of what we're seeing right now and how significant it is.

[18:35:06]

JOHN DEAN: Yes. I actually had above top secret clearance and I can remember when the agents came to me and my secretary and gave us our briefing before we could get that higher clearance, above top secret. And the point they wanted to make is when you're dealing with some of this intelligence, you've got to remember that it's human sources that are involved.

And while you're reading the document, it isn't going to tell you the name of that source, the fact that that material is in that document, a sophisticated counter intelligence person can tell you where it comes from and how they got it. And such they told us it's not only true with human sources, but we have electronic sources. This is back, of course, 50 years ago, it's only gotten more sophisticated.

And they use everything from satellites to laser beams to all kinds of things now that make these much more sensitive that - because we have capabilities the - our enemies don't even know about. So they said this is very precious material. It could cost lives, it could cost billions of dollars, if it gets released, then therefore, you have to follow a laid out process and you can do this and that with a document. You can't do this and the other with them.

So I was always impressed with the whole system. This was - the Secret Service at the Nixon White House used to go through the White House at night and look for any secret - top secret or secret or confidential material that was lying on anybody's desk. And they came to my office and said, listen, this was out, we want to return it to the person. Here's where it came from and we'd like you to give them a little talk. So it was sort of policed internally in that era and I suspect that followed in later presidency. So Trump is just so ignoring the rules, that it is blatant and when

other people ignore the rules as he have, they've paid consequence, they have gone to jail for this. Reality Winter, who decided to leak one page, spent four years in jail. General Petraeus, who wanted to collect information for convenience in a black book found himself really disqualified as a future president, because of the way he handled classified information.

So this is very serious and Trump wants to treat it as a - an overdue library book to make his followers think this is just a little deal. In fact, it's a big deal, Jessica.

DEAN: Yes. You've underscored that and really helped us understand it. Thank you so much, John Dean, we appreciate it.

JOHN DEAN: Thank you.

DEAN: Russia saying farewell to the last leader of the Soviet Union today as Mikhail Gorbachev was laid to rest in Moscow. Next, a look at his life and legacy with the man who wrote the book on Gorbachev, Professor William Taubman. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:42:22]

DEAN: Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader who oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union was laid to rest in a quiet funeral today. Russian President Vladimir Putin was not there. He paid his respects Thursday, but was a no-show for the public service at Russia's historic House of Unions this morning. CNN Fred Pleitgen has more now from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Jessica. What you can see here is that this is obviously a very solemn ceremony that's taking place here. We're in the House of Unions in the Hall of Columns. It's a very famous hall here in Moscow. We are close to the Russian parliament. We're also very close to the Kremlin as well.

And as you can see, there's just many people who are coming here, many ordinary Russians to pay their final respects to Mikhail Gorbachev, of course, one of the great leaders of the 20th century. Now, one of the people notably missing is, of course, the Russian president is Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin saying that he simply has a very busy schedule and therefore no time to be able to come here to this ceremony. And that really is a reflection of not only the way the Russian government, the Russian President views Mikhail Gorbachev and his legacy, but it's also reflective of quite a lot of Russians as well.

For while, of course, Mikhail Gorbachev very much celebrated in the west, credited with being pivotal in bringing down the Iron Curtain, bringing unity to Europe and freedom to so many Eastern European country for a lot of Russians. They believe that their lives got a lot more difficult, a lot more uncertain, after the Soviet Union fell apart. And they also felt that Russia was humiliated on the international stage for a number of yours.

Now, what happens after the ceremony is that Mikhail Gorbachev will be buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, also a very famous one here in Moscow. He'll be laid to rest next to his wife, Raisa, whom, of course, he loved very much until she passed away in 1999. Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Fred, thank you. And as you just heard Fred talking about there, Gorbachev is seen as a hero to many in the West, but was a divisive figure in his own country. Some Russians praising him for opening up Russia's economy, others resenting him for the Soviet Union's collapse.

For more on his complex legacy, we're going to turn now to Political Scientist and Author of Gorbachev: His Life and Times, William Taubman. It's great to see you. I know you wrote a fascinating piece in Politico remembering Gorbachev and you open it by writing, "Mikhail Gorbachev was a decent man - too decent to be the leader of his country." What did you mean by that?

WILLIAM TAUBMAN, AUTHOR, "GORBACHEV: HIS LIFE AND TIMES": If you look at the history of Russia, it's pretty bloody. Years of rule by czars and by Soviet commisars, Stalin exterminated millions, maybe 10s of millions of innocent people.

[18:45:07]

Even the other Soviet leaders didn't hesitate to use force and violence. This is what I mean by an indecent history. And along comes Gorbachev, a man who wants to democratize Russia, who wants to reduce force and violence if not eliminate it both within the Soviet Union and around the world. It was a bad fit, one might say, and he accomplished a lot for a while, but then things began to fall apart.

I just might mention one of the things that I heard people say, people who don't like Gorbachev. They said, he didn't listen and he changed his mind. Just imagine that. The notion that a leader must not change his mind - no, I'm sorry, he did listen. He listened. So a leader who listened and changed his mind was not the kind of strong leader that many Russians wanted.

DEAN: Right. It is amazing and quite ironic. It's what we value in leadership so many times. We also know that today's service had the elements of a state funeral, but it was not actually a state funeral like we saw with, say, Boris Yeltsin or even Joseph Stalin. We pointed out that President Vladimir Putin wasn't there. What do you make of that messaging of how that came together?

TAUBMAN: The thing that strikes me is that this funeral was, in a way, the last major demonstration of Russian people, not only in favor of Gorbachev, but lamenting his passing and regretting the whole Putin era. In other words, these days, the regime doesn't allow demonstrations, anything more than two people standing on a street corner, they view as a demonstration, and they try to break it up. But here they had to allow thousands of people peacefully, quietly,

many of them weeping to come and pay their final respects. It was a tribute to Gorbachev, but it was also a demonstration against Putin.

DEAN: And Putin is called the breakup of the Soviet Union, the greatest geopolitical disaster of the century. What do you think Gorbachev would make of how Russia is being governed by Putin today especially, of course, in light of what we're seeing in Ukraine?

TAUBMAN: I think he would be appalled. He'd be disgusted. He'd be disheartened. He'd be saddened. He'd be frustrated. Putin is reversing everything that Gorbachev tried to accomplish, both at home and abroad. Gorbachev, I hope that when Putin invaded Ukraine, Gorbachev might have been beyond understanding. He might have been so sick and so frail that even if they told him what had happened, he wouldn't have been able to understand. That would have been a comfort. That would have spared him the news that would otherwise have been a disastrous news as he understands things.

DEAN: Mm-hm. William Taubman, thank you so much for your expertise and for sharing all of that with us. We sure do appreciate it.

TAUBMAN: Thanks, my pleasure.

DEAN: Did the tennis world just witnessed the great Serena Williams final performance? Last night's defeat at the U.S. Open may have been her last match. We'll have a live report from New York. That's next.

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[18:53:05]

DEAN: Tributes continue to pour in tonight for Serena Williams. Her legendary tennis career is likely over after losing in the third round of the U.S. Open last night. This afternoon former President Barack Obama posted this note to social media writing: "Congratulations, Serena, for your heart, skill, intelligence, dedication and grace. Few athletes have inspired more people both in and beyond their sport." CNN's Don Riddell is joining me now live from the U.S. Open venue in New York.

Don, she has forged an incredible legacy on and off that court and to watch her last night was an amazing experience.

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, it certainly was, Jessica. I feel very lucky to cover some of the top sports events all around the world. It was a real treat to be here last night and it was an absolutely unique occasion. Of course, we didn't know it was going to be the end of Serena Williams' career and there were moments during that match where it looked like she could have extended her run.

The atmosphere was just electric. It was packed to the rafters. The applause and the cheering was absolutely thunderous. I take my hat off to her opponent, Ajla Tomljanovic, for being able to somehow block all of that out and put in one of the performances of her career to beat Serena Williams and the crowd. But now, we're looking back on this extraordinary career and this amazing legacy which will surely never be touched by anybody who comes afterwards.

What Serena has achieved both on and off the court is extraordinary, it is historic and she, I think, is now coming to terms with the fact that this is it. She had said going into this tournament that she was going to be evolving away from tennis. I think the fact that she went out in the third round and the fact that she did come up short will make it easy for her to walk away. Retirement is not a word that she's very comfortable with using, but I think because of the way it ended, I think she knows it's time and she certainly addressed that afterwards.

[18:55:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERENA WILLIAMS, WALKING AWAY FROM TENNIS AFTER FINAL U.S. OPEN MATCH: It takes a lot of work to get here. Clearly, I'm still capable, but it also - it takes a lot more than that. I'm ready to like be a mom and explore a different version of Serena. And technically in the world I'm still super young, so I want to like have a little bit of a life while I'm still walking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Last night, everybody was making all the noise for Serena Williams. Tonight, she'll be doing that herself. She's going to be celebrating with a night of karaoke with her friends and her team and I'm sure that will be a pretty wild occasion. Back to you, Jessica.

DEAN: She has certainly earned some fun tonight. All right. Don Riddell, thanks so much for that update. We appreciate it.

NASA's mission to the moon is on hold. The space agency scrubbing today's scheduled launch of the Artemis I rocket. We're going to have the latest on what's next. That's just ahead.