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Nuclear Inspectors Gravely Concerned About Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant; Manhunt Underway for Mastermind of Navy Bribery Scheme; American Frances Tiafoe Beat Rafael Nadal at U.S. Open; White House: Good Idea to Get Both Flu, Covid Booster at Same Time. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 06, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST:

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Nuclear inspectors in Ukraine say they are gravely concerned about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. They say they saw Russian military vehicles, equipment, and personnel inside the plant. And they're calling for a nuclear safety zone.

CNN senior international correspondent Sam Kiley joins me from Odesa, Ukraine. Do these inspectors have any enforcement mechanism, would Russian troops be forced to comply with this nuclear safety zone.

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The short answer to that, Victor, is absolutely not. The only person that could get them to withdraw from that location would be Vladimir Putin. Let's recall that this is an army that has invaded another country in violation of all international laws and norms. His troops have been committing widespread human rights abuses and arguably war crimes. So, a backing off, there is no enforcement structure that could be imposed by the United Nations on Russia to do this, and indeed, Russia has a veto at the Security Council.

What it has, though, is moral pressure, and it also has the ability to raise the alarm and even get some Russian allies, perhaps, China and others who have been sitting on the fence when all of this is being discussed to put pressure on Russia. And as part of that pressure, this is what Rafael Grossi who led that mission into the plant recently told our Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFAEL GROSSI, IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: The mere fact that there is continuity of attacks and shelling, deliberately or not, wittingly or unwittingly, people are hitting a nuclear plant, the largest in Europe. So, I must say that the danger continues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILEY: Now, the danger continues because the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant station is on a front line. We know it's being used as a fire base. We have been able to establish that for ourselves, as CNN, by Russian troops regularly firing missiles out of that location. It's not clear who is doing the shelling around that location, either the Ukrainians, who are blind, it's not them, and it would be very weird if they did shell a nuclear power station that is owned and run by their own people. But nonetheless, the Russians do make that allegation against them.

And it is that threat, that physical threat to the power station and the power supply to it, which drives the cooling system for the nuclear reactors there that is really most exercising the IAEA, the nuclear inspectors. And now behind them, joining the cause for it to become a secured area, but not necessarily demilitarized, interestingly he didn't use that term -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Sam Kiley in Odesa, thank you, Sam.

[15:35:00]

He pleaded guilty for orchestrating the largest corruption scandal in the history of the U.S. Navy, and today he is on the run. Officials say Leonard Francis, a former military contractor known as "Fat Leonard" cut off his house arrest ankle monitor just three weeks before he was set to be sentenced. Francis pleaded guilty to offering $500,000 in bribes to Navy officers to steer work to his shipyards.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is with me now. So, Francis was cooperating with prosecutors in cases against other Naval officers, so what happened?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, this is a case that has gone on for years. Prosecutors began looking at this back in 2013 in what spread across some major cities and capitals across the Pacific. Leonard Francis himself pleaded guilty in 2015, as you point out, to charges of bribery and fraud.

In the intervening seven years, he'd been in federal custody. He'd also been under house arrest because of health reasons, leading up to -- and cooperating with investigators as they continue to investigate. The investigation itself has implicated dozens of Navy officials over the years.

The sentencing was scheduled for three weeks from now as he was under house arrest. And that's when police went to check on him over the weekend. They discovered he wasn't there. When U.S. marshals went in, they say they found his cut ankle bracelet in a portable cooler. Neighbors then told the officials there according to the U.S. Marshals that they had seen moving trucks come to the house over the course of the past several days, indicating that he had been planning this for some time. U.S. Marshals of course are now searching for him. They say they have a few leads in which to look at this investigation.

Prosecutors say that through his company, Leonard Francis, a company based in Singapore known as Glen Marine Defense Asia would essentially bribe Navy officials, according to prosecutors, using gifts such as expensive trips, fancy meals, the services of prostitutes, and in exchange they would direct Navy shipping towards his services, fuel and tug boats. Prosecutor say his goal, his aim was to bilk the Navy out of millions of dollars, and this went on for years. As I said, implicating dozens of Navy officials over the course of this investigation. He had been cooperating on some of it, Victor. Of course, that cooperation now over, and now it's a search to figure out where he has gone.

BLACKWELL: Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon, thank you, Oren.

It's the greatest upset in the history of the U.S. Open. Am I overstating that, maybe. We'll tell you more about the big foe who took out Rafael Nadal, next.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my time. Why not me, with a breakthrough at the U.S. open.

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BLACKWELL: Stunning, just stunning upset last night. One of the biggest stages of course, America's Frances Tiafoe ended Rafael Nadal's run at the U.S. Open.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCES TIAFOE, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: I felt like the world stopped. I couldn't hear anything for a minute. I was like, oh, my god, like he was shaking his hand, I don't even know what I said to him. Like I was just like, it was such a blur. And like I was already tearing, so I could barely see him, and like my team. I was like, everyone's up and it was just wild.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: He has roots in my home state of Maryland there at the Maryland Tennis Center. His father worked there as the maintenance man and he and his twin brother would sleep there overnight.

Patrick McEnroe is an ESPN tennis commentator, former professional tennis player. He's also the host of "The Holding Court" podcast. Patrick, before we get into the story, it was just really good play, like Tiafoe was just good.

PATRICK MCENROE, ESPN TENNIS COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, Victor, you and I spoke last week when the U.S. Open was really the Serena open. So, now that Serena is out, it was an awesome run by her, you are seeing some young American talent step up and try to take the baton from Serena. I'm not sure anybody can do that. But obviously Coco Gauff, she'll play tonight against Caroline Garcia, and Frances Tiafoe, Victor, as you pointed out, played the match of his life, and it was not a fluke at all.

Was it Rafael Nadal at his absolute best? Not quite, but he was awfully good, and he wasn't going to go down easily, and Frances Tiafoe in years past may not have really been able to finish off a guy like Rafael Nadal, but he was able to do it in that fourth set. Boy, it was impressive. He had the crowd behind him.

From the time I first saw him play, Victor, as a 15-year-old kid, I said to myself, this kid's got it. He's got the charisma. He's got the excitement, the exuberance for the game. He loves being out there. He's extremely passionate, and he loves to put on a show.

But what he realized on his first couple of years on tour, if you want to be one of the leading players in the show, you got to put in the hard work, and that's exactly what he's done in the last two years to put himself now in a position where you can make an argument, Victor, that he's got a shot to be playing for the U.S. Open title come Sunday afternoon.

BLACKWELL: He's exciting to watch because he chases shots, which a lot of players do not. I mean, he chases down the ball. He's not won a major yet. He's now headed to the quarter finals.

[15:45:00]

And you say that he could be playing for the championship. Let's walk through his story, though. When I mentioned at the stop where he started, if you look at that trajectory, it is an amazing narrative aside from great play.

MCENROE: Well, I'll tell you what it is, it gives us all some faith, doesn't it, Victor, that there's still that American dream can still happen. And that's how it happened for Frances, and as you said, his twin brother. His dad worked all night as the head maintenance guy at a junior tennis facility, JTCC, it's called, which has done a great job over the years developing young talent. While his mom was working two jobs as a nurse, Frances and his brother would hang out at the club. After a couple of years, the head of the club said, wait a second, it looks like you might be interested in playing. Because Frances would be out hitting against the wall or picking up the small rackets.

So, sure enough, that started his journey, and it's been an unbelievable journey. I mean, he's just such a great kid. He's got a great team around him of professional people, and he was very emotional, Victor, talking on the court after beating Nadal because his parents were able to be there. His twin brother who's also a very good junior tennis player as well were able to be there. So, he says he's not just doing it for himself but for them.

And again, he's found that balance now of being a showman while also being just a tough, hard-nosed worker, and it's just so cool to see all of his talents come to fruition. And he's got a tough one coming up against Andre Ruble, that's a tough Russian who's also very, very tough. They played last year, Tiafoe won that one. I expect another very tough, physical match, I think Frances can win it.

BLACKWELL: Looking forward to that, looking forward to also Coco Gauff, as you said, now in the quarter finals, youngest American woman since 2009, I believe it was to make it to the quarter finals. Patrick McEnroe, always good to talk tennis with you.

The stock market is falling today, but the good news is that gas prices are too. There's something here. There's something to celebrate. The latest on both, next.

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BLACKWELL: Another fall and winter virus season is approaching, and Americans should get used to getting COVID booster shots. Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted that going forward, Americans may need to get a single annual COVID-19 shot every year. The White House COVID response team is encouraging Americans to get the next COVID booster and the flu shot. And Dr. Ashish Jha says it's a good idea to get both vaccines at the same time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ASHISH JHA, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Annual flu vaccination campaign kicks into high gear later this month and into early October. We expect millions will choose to get their COVID-19 shot at the same time. Or over the course of the fall when people go in for routine checkups. The good news is you can get both your flu shot and COVID shot at the same time. It's actually a good idea. I really believe that's why God gave us two arms. One for the flu shot and the other one for the COVID shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, quick check on the markets after a three-day holiday weekend. The big board here, Dow is down about 175 points. Coming into today, though, the Dow has been down five of the last six days dropping nearly 2,000 points in total. The sell-off started after Fed Chairman Jay Powell signaled a tougher stance on inflation. CNN's Matt Egan is at the New York Stock Exchange -- instead of being here with me. Matt, help us understand what's going on?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Victor, it's been a wild roller coaster ride here on Wall Street this summer. You know, markets plunged to a bear market on recession fears back in June. Stocks raced back until Jay Powell's big speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, about ten days ago. Powell warned that the Fed is nowhere near ready to declare victory on this war on inflation, and he conceded that means real pain for main street and for corporate America.

Investors and everyone is worried, is the Fed going to go too far here? Are they going to raise interest rates so high that it causes a recession?

Now as you mentioned, the Dow is now down, this would be the sixth loss in the past seven days losing more than 2,000 points over that span. That translates to about a 6 percent loss down another 180 points as we speak. The Nasdaq is down seven days in a row. If it closes in the red -- and it looks like it will -- that would be the longest losing streak since November of 2016. Investors are going to be listening closely in the coming days to top Fed officials including Powell himself. Markets want to know will the Fed be able to eventually slow the pace of the rate hikes. We'll see -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Matt, we need some good news. I think gas prices has it for us. What do you know?

EGAN: Yes, gas prices, you know, this incredible streak of declining gas prices continues. Remember, the national average topped out at $5.02 a gallon June 14th. It is down every single day since then. That is 84 days in a row. It's now $3.78 a gallon to get regular gas. That is not cheap, but it is down 30 cents in the past month. Drivers in 14 states, including North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas, are now seeing an average of $3.50 or below. Victor, that is certainly some much needed good news.

BLACKWELL: Indeed, it is. Matt Egan. Thank you, Matt.

[15:55:00]

A new video first obtained by CNN shows one of Donald Trump's die-hard supporters giving unauthorized access to an elections office in Georgia. Why this is so important. We'll explain just ahead.

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BLACKWELL: Justin Bieber is suspending his tour again. He says the latest leg took a toll. This is the second time he's taken a break since he suffered partial paralysis in his face. It's caused by Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. In an online post today, Bieber said he returned to the stage after consulting with doctors.

[16:00:00]

But then after six shows, quote, the exhaustion overtook me, and I realized I need to make my health the priority now. He says I'm going to be OK, but I need time to rest and get better.

And this Brazilian man survived 11 days at sea floating alone in a freezer. Look at this. He's a fisherman who can't swim. He says he went on a three day fishing trip in the Atlantic when his boat sank. He was somehow able to survive in this cooler without food, without water, without sleep. Glad he's back on dry land.

And "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.