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Uvalde School District Fires Ex-DPS Officer After CNN Report; Florida Residents Frustrated with State, Federal Response After Hurricane Ian; President Biden Increasingly Concerned Over Putin's Nuclear Threats; Breast Cancer Deaths Decline, Still Racial Disparity Persists. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 07, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:32]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, the Uvalde School District has fired a newly hired officer after it was revealed that she also responded to the Uvalde school massacre in May. Yesterday a CNN report identified Crimson Elizondo as one of the state troopers who arrived at Robb Elementary within two minutes of a gunman entering the school and killing 19 children and two teachers.

Our colleague, our CNN amazing reporter Shimon Prokupecz has been following all of this. And I say this because you were there on the ground right when this happened demanding answers, demanding accountability and now we have some more.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We, you know, our team keeps going back there because there are still so many questions and the families are so frustrated because they're not getting those answers. And in part, you know, there are all these investigations going on. But yet no one is telling them anything. And so we have started really digging into what happened there with the police response, the failed response, and as we're digging through some of this information we learned about this officer who was under investigation for her actions on that day as part of the DPS investigation, the Department of Public Safety investigation.

She was one of the first officers on scene there at the shooting. Within minutes of getting the call, hearing a call of shots fired, she was there. And what the Department of Public Safety found was that she didn't go in. She wasn't wearing her tactical vest. She didn't have her long rifle. So they start this investigation and during that time she resigns from the Department of Public Safety. And what we have learned just to give you a timeline is that back in around -- sometime around July or so, as she's under investigation, the school district police start asking questions about her to the DPS and they start asking about for a background check.

So it's apparent that she applies for a job with the school district. So she applies for this job on July 26th. They request for a background check July 27th. The DPS asked for a release from her because there are indications that she's under this investigation so they need a release. And then August 1st we're told that the school district confirms that they received this information that she is under investigation. And then by August 29th she resigns from the DPS and then sometime after that she's working for the school police. We don't know how she was hired.

HARLOW: Right.

PROKUPECZ: What did they did, what did they miss, the school police. We don't have a full accounting from the school district. We may get some more information today. There are some rumblings about something happening but certainly this is raising all kinds of questions there at school district and in the community.

HARLOW: Someone who left one position with questions and why she was brought on to protect the school and ultimately does not.

PROKUPECZ: Yes. And the other questions of course are those comments that she made. You know, the school district is being very cute here. They're trying to say, well, we fired her because of these comments she made about not going inside the school. But they don't talk about the fact that they miss the fact that she was under investigation. So we'll see. Maybe today, they'll finally do that. But they still need to account for what happened here and how it is they hired her.

HARLOW: You're pressing. And what your team is doing is so important for all of these families who lost their children and their loved ones. Thank you, Shimon, very much.

At least 131 people are confirmed dead as a result of Hurricane Ian. And for those who survived but lost their homes, really lost so much, their frustration is growing as they are searching for help.

Our Leyla Santiago spoke with some of them. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the line for help. Help for people like Mary Fernandes.

MARY FERNANDES, FORT MYERS BEACH RESIDENT: Pretty awful. We lost our mobile home and everything in it.

SANTIAGO: She arrived really hoping to talk to FEMA in time to make it to a scheduled surgery she's been waiting for two months for. On top of that, in a week, she has to leave the place where she's staying.

FERNANDES: We just have to wait and see and hope that they can give us something and we can go stay somewhere. We have no home.

SANTIAGO: In line in front of her, Susan.

SUSAN TADEY, FORT MYERS RESIDENT: My roof is gone. The shed's gone. The lanai is gone, and my car got flooded.

SANTIAGO: And way behind them, Mary Broomfield.

MARY BROOMFIELD, HARLEM HEIGHTS RESIDENT: The sad part of that is I have yet to see a government official or anyone that come -- came into our community.

SANTIAGO: It's a one-stop shop set up by FEMA. Here, you'll find the federal government, state agencies, insurance companies. You'll also find long lines under the hot sun, as well as overwhelming emotions and needs of all kinds, mounting frustrations.

BROOMFIELD: My patience is gone. People in my community, they lost everything.

[10:35:04]

SANTIAGO: FEMA says it will open other disaster recovery centers like this one in Fort Myers. Nearly 2800 FEMA staffers supporting Ian's response efforts across the west coast of Florida where Ian hit. But still, some of these people feel they've been left behind.

BROOMFIELD: I don't have to live on Sanibel or Fort Myers Beach to be one of the people that they care about because to me that seems like that's all they care but at this point.

SANTIAGO: We went to Mary Broomfield's neighborhood, Harlem Heights, where the loss is on display on every road.

PASTOR TERRY MOBLEY, THE CHURCH OF HARLEM HEIGHTS: Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach, McGregor Boulevard, Marco Island, nothing about Harlem Heights, so we felt -- definitely felt left out.

SANTIAGO: There are distribution points but mostly by nonprofits.

MOBLEY: We're trying to provide and meet the basic needs of the people of my community.

SANTIAGO: As for Mary Fernandes, she never made it to the front of the line. She left when she realized she ran out of time in order to make it to her surgery.

Time now critical for those with dire needs a week after Ian left these people devastated, still waiting for help.

(On-camera): And remember, this week President Biden was here in Florida. He asked people to be patient with the response, but as we've been here talking to people, it is clear patience is wearing. But now a bit of an update. I was able to catch up with Susan as she was leaving. She had a new cell phone. She said that the insurance company is going to help her out with getting a car so she can get back to work and FEMA will be helping her with housing.

Leyla Santiago, CNN, Fort Myers, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Leyla, thank you for that update and that reporting.

Meantime, officials say they are surprised, that's a quote, by President Biden's dire warning about nuclear threats from Russia. We will get perspective on how those comments are being received internationally and what this means for the war on Ukraine, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:41:28]

HARLOW: Right now Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says that his troops have retaken more than 190 square miles of land in the south. A senior military official says they've recovered about 120 settlements over just the past two weeks and this comes as President Biden sounds increasingly concerned about nuclear threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Joining me now to talk about these headlines is Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media.

Ian, it's great to have you. I actually watched the president departing New York last night from the shores of Brooklyn before I saw the comments reported that he had made about the nuclear -- about the nuclear threats. And the president said this at this fundraiser in New York last night, quote, "We have not faced the prospects of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis, I don't think there is any such thing as the ability to use tactical nuclear weapons and not end up with Armageddon."

This took the White House by surprise, and I wonder what you make of it?

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT, EURASIA GROUP AND GZERO MEDIA: It didn't. I mean, the fact that he said it took the White House by surprise.

HARLOW: Yes. Yes.

BREMMER: But he does it frequently when he's speaking off the cuff, certainly not the topic. I mean, earlier in the day I actually posted myself on Twitter that on the one hand it's very unlikely that Putin would use nuclear weapons, on the other hand this is the most dangerous period in terms of nuclear confrontations since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Anyone focusing on this conflict would say that. So there's no question.

The fact that it's the most dangerous since '62, the fact that when Putin invaded Ukraine it became the most dangerous situation since the wall came down. That's all obvious. But the White House is taking the potential of tactical nuclear weapons use very seriously. In part they're taking it seriously because Putin has painted himself in a corner and he does not have credible military options to change the facts on the ground on the battlefield.

And that the U.S. strategy going forward with European allies is to provide as much support to President Zelenskyy and Ukraine as possible over the coming one, two, three months, before the weather turns really cold and before the Russians get their 300,000 troops on the ground in the frontlines to defend them to see if the Ukrainians could take as much territory as possible to get back to the pre-February 24 territorial line. HARLOW: You wrote in your note to clients, quote, "The past week

brought the most negative development since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February," and I want everyone to listen to what the Finnish prime minister said about, when she was asked a very direct question, how does she think this conflict will or could end. Listen to her response to reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANNA MARIN, FINNISH PRIME MINISTER: We have an art of the conflict. The way out of this conflict if Russia to leave Ukraine. That is the way out of the conflict. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What is -- what do you make of what she said there? And also explain more of your take that this is the most negative development in a week since the beginning of the conflict.

BREMMER: Well, I mean, there is no question that on the back of the Indians, the Chinese, the Kazakhs, the Turks, I mean, countries that Putin has a pretty good relationship with, on the back of them all telling him this war is going badly, we're uncomfortable whether we want you to stop, his response was escalation. It is announcing the annexation of four territories in Ukraine that he doesn't even control all of, and his losing land right now, and calling up the mobilization of 300,000 minimum Russian troops. Very unpopular on the ground in Russia.

[10:45:02]

He'd been hoping not to do that over the last seven months. He now has to because they're losing so badly on the ground. So clearly this conflict has gotten a lot worse and Putin is showing absolutely he's unwilling to back down at this point. I mean, the Americans and the Europeans have done a great job punishing the Russians, a great job supporting the Ukrainians but thus far not a great job deterring Putin and that is the problem and that is why when Putin says I'm prepared to use weapons of mass destruction if you hit Russia, it's an issue.

Now what does it mean to hit Russia because of course Russia already has announced territories that the Ukrainians with the support of NATO are hitting every day. They're retaking that territories. So if you take Putin at face value, in principle, his red line has already been crossed. I don't believe that.

HARLOW: Right.

BREMMER: I think that Crimea is a different story. Crimea is a territory that the Russians truly considered to be theirs. The citizens on ground consider to be Russians and nu the way that President Zelenskyy was prepared to negotiate on before the Russian invasion. Zelenskyy privately has been telling European leaders that he will not invade Crimea in terms of an actual land invasion.

I think that's an important step to help ensure that we don't actually see nuclear weapons used by Putin. So, too, is the fact that the Biden administration has made known very clearly to Putin the consequences if a tactical nuke is used, that the Americans would get involved in the war and would directly start attacking Russian troops on the ground.

But, Poppy, these are incredibly dangerous things that we're talking about.

HARLOW: That's right.

BREMMER: Even if it's only 1 percent or 2 percent or 5 percent chance, we're still talking about nuclear war.

HARLOW: Yes. We are. Ian Bremmer, thank you for all the perspective that you always bring. We appreciate it very much.

Still ahead, hopeful news in the fight against breast cancer but new numbers still show that there is a lot of work to do to avoid preventable deaths equally across racial groups on that front in this country. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:51:50]

HARLOW: A little bit of good news this morning in the fight against breast cancer. The American Cancer Society reports the death rate for this disease has dropped significantly by 43 percent over the last 30 years. But racial disparities still remain.

Let's go to our CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard who joins me now.

So, top line, good news on the report but when you dig in, still really serious disparity.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. There's a lot to unpack here. But with this report, you're right. The good news is that we have seen the significant 43 percent decline in breast cancer deaths. That's between the years 1989 and 2020. But then we still have sadly this racial disparity where black women are still more likely to die of breast cancer and that's despite having a lower incidents of the disease.

Now there are several factors at play here as to why this disparity exist. We can point to having equitable access to screening for breast cancer. We can point to having equitable treatment. And I asked one of the authors of this report at the American Cancer Society, Rebecca Siegel, as to what can help explain this disparity. She said there's still evidence of black women being treated differently. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA SIEGEL, SENIOR SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR OF SURVEILLANCE RESEARCH, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: We still see evidence of differences in treatment based on the color of your skin. And so health care systems need to evaluate how they're treating black women differently and figure out how to fix it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: So we heard there a call to really fix this disparity. And when it comes to also having equitable access to screening, most women start screening around age 40. So that's important to keep in mind. But of course you want to talk to your doctor about what's best for you and what your own personal risks are for breast cancer -- Poppy.

HARLOW: A good reminder. It's something we all need to hear every day. Jacqueline Howard, thank you very much.

And still ahead on CNN, a lesson learned from Hurricane Ian. How the country's first solar powered town kept its utilities running during the category 4 hurricane and avoided flooding. Our Bill Weir has that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:58:30]

HARLOW: So before we go today, some of you may have heard that I will be joining my friends Don Lemon and Kaitlan Collins as we launch a new CNN morning show in just a few weeks and we are very excited for that. But today is about thanking the remarkable people who make this show possible each and every morning. This team, they do so much, look at them. That's the team. They do so much of the work you see on the screen every day.

I want you to see their faces. They are incredibly hard-working. They are dedicated journalists. They wake up way earlier than I do, in the middle of the night truly, to bring you the news that matters the most each day and I rely on them for so much. They amaze me always. They are the heart, they are the soul of this team, and I will miss them so much.

And to Jim, my partner on this show, who has made me smile, made me laugh, Jim, and made all of us smarter with his topnotch journalism, I will miss working with you so much.

And finally, to our executive producer Chris McKelvin, here he is. I had the team snap this sneak photo. This is Chris and his headset in EP mode as I call it. Leading us all, answering my million questions in the commercial breaks. Somehow creating time out of thin air when I God forbid go long and we have to get to commercial. He has been our rock. An absolute joy to work with and to learn from each and every morning, and I am deeply grateful.

To all of you, I'll see you in a few weeks. Just a few hours earlier. Thanks so much for joining us today and every day. I'm Poppy Harlow. Have a great weekend.