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Police Identify Five Killed In LGBTQ Nightclub Shooting; Man Who Tackled Club Q Gunman Speaks To CNN; Rayshard Brook's Family Reaches Settlement With City Of Atlanta; At Least 103 People Killed, Rescuers Search For Survivors; U.S. And WALES Play To 1-1 Draw In Their Opener; Retailers Warn Of "Self-Inflicted Economic Disaster"; Elon Musk "Blue Verified" Plan Now On Hold. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 22, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:31]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo live from London. Max Foster has the day off today.

Just ahead on CNN Newsroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not a hero, I'm just a guy that wanted protect his kids and his wife.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how I'm walking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do have colleagues who are part of the LGBTQ community and they're hurting right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just the blood of so many people who really saw this as a place of safety and a place of refuge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Disturbing stories detailing the authority's brutal retribution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They choose the women who were pretty and suited their appetites. Then the officer would take one of them from the cell to a smaller private room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from London, this is CNN Newsroom with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

NOBILO: It's Tuesday, November the 22nd, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 2:00 a.m. in Colorado, where the man's suspected of fatally shooting five people and wounding almost 20 others at an LGBTQ nightclub will face multiple murder and hate crime charges, according to court records. The district attorney says, the investigation is still active and he's gathering more evidence to build his case.

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MICHEL ALLEN, EL PASO COUNTY, COLORADO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Location is some evidence. The fact that these victims were in a specific location that is predominantly frequented by members of the LGBTQ community, that is evidence that we can use towards that -- towards the decision of filing bias-motivated crimes. But we're looking for other evidence as well as that.

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NOBILO: Well family friends and members of the community mourn this tragedy, while learning the names of the five people who lost their lives on Saturday. CNN's Rosa Flores reports from Colorado Springs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police naming the five victims of the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, Ashley Paugh, Raymond Green Vance. A shooting that also left at least 19 others injured. The shooter was stopped by two men inside the club, Thomas James, and Richard Fierro.

According to the New York Times, Fierro says he was watching the drag show when gunfire erupted. He says his instincts as an army officer kicked in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He simply said to me, I was trying to protect my family.

FLORES (voice-over): According to authorities, Fierro and James confronted and fought with the suspect, took his handgun and hit him with it.

ED SANDERS, SURVIVED NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING: God bless them. It could have been a lot worse if they hadn't stepped in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two absolute heroes. If not for them, I don't know how many other people would have been injured.

FLORES (voice-over): Barrett Hudson survived the shooting and says he was shot seven times. But miraculously, scape serious injury.

BARRETT HUDSON, SURVIVED NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING: I see a door kind of shut and there's the gunman. There was a man in front of him. He put his hands up a little bit until two steps back and the dude just killed him.

FLORES (voice-over): The shooting started just before midnight on Saturday night. At 11:57 p.m., someone at the bar called 911 and police started dispatching officers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Active shooter. We are getting reports of four to seven possibly injured. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start doing triage. Have we made a reach to the hospital to see if they can handle all the patients we're sending them?

FLORES (voice-over): The first officer arrived on scene at 12:00 a.m. Then at 12:02 a.m., the suspect was in custody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Suspect has been detained.

FLORES (voice-over): The suspect 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, is in the hospital. Sources telling CNN, he bought the weapons used in the attack. Now Aldrich being held pending possible charges that include five charges of first-degree murder as well as possible charges related to a bias, motivated crime. New video obtained by CNN appears to show the suspect ranting about police last year during a standoff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) got their -- rifles out. If they breach, I'm -- blow it to holy hell.

FLORES (voice-over): Over a bomb threat at his mother's home. The surrender captured on camera, but local media report no formal charges were pursued and his records were sealed, according to the district attorney.

This close-knit LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs now struggling to find a way forward.

SANDERS: I'm doing OK, considering I lost some friends that I care about and I don't think it's really sunk in yet.

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[04:05:07]

FLORES: The suspect has not been charged. According to the district attorney, he has been held on possible charges, a first-degree murder and hate crimes. Now, he is still in the hospital and his condition is unknown.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

NOBILO: Families of the deceased sharing more details about their loved ones and the lives that they touched. Ashley Paugh worked with the nonprofit helping foster children. Her husband says that she was a loving mother whose daughter was her whole world. Kelly Loving's sister released a brief statement calling her sweet and a caring and wonderful person.

Derrick Rump was from Eastern, Pennsylvania and worked as a bartender at the club. His sister says that he found a community of people, he loved very much in Colorado Springs. Derrick worked side-by-side with Daniel Aston, he was a boss supervisor. Daniel moved to Colorado Springs to be closer to his parents. His mom says he had so much more life to give us. Raymond Green Vance's family says that he had just landed a new job and could not wait to save enough money to get his own apartment, they say that he was kind, selfless with his entire life ahead of him.

And while the families mourn their loved ones, police are calling two men heroes for down the gun man and saving many lives. One of them is Richard Fierro, a retired army major who said he went into combat mode as bullets were flying. Fierro spoke to CNN about the nightclub rampage.

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RICHARD FIERRO, TOOK DOWN GUNMAN IN CLUB Q SHOOTING: I proceeded to take his other weapon, the pistol, and then just start hitting him at where I could with the armors in the way. And I just started -- I found a crease in his -- between his armor and his head and I just started wailing away with his gun.

And then I told the kid in front of me, kick him, keep kicking him and we were -- but I was guided, I was telling people call 911, call 911. I got to protect my kid. I lost my kid's boyfriend, I tried. I tried to everybody in there. I still feel bad that there's five people -- it's five people that come home.

And this guy, this guy, I told him while I was hitting him, I'm going to kill you, man, because you tried to kill my friends. My family was in there. As soon as I got done with that guy and the cop came in, I went across the room and started first aid with my friend, who was shot in the chest and the legs and the arms.

And I told her, Joanne, stay with me. Look me in the eye. Stay with me. And I moved her head so she wouldn't see Mark because he was shot. And she was right there. Her husband was reaching for her, so I put her hand in his hand so that they could be together. I didn't know if they're going to make it. This whole thing was a lot. My daughter wife should have never experienced combat in Colorado Springs.

And everybody in that building experienced combat that night, not to their own accord, but because they were forced to. I told the mayor, I'm not a hero. I'm just a guy that wanted protect his kids and his wife, and I still didn't get to protect her boyfriend.

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NOBILO: Richard Fierro there with his emotional account of the shooting.

Meantime, we're hearing more stories from other survivors about what they witnessed when the shooting began.

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GIL RODRIGUEZ, EYEWITNESS: From the amount of shots that initially went off when he came into the club, I honestly thought it was multiple people shooting, either, a, at each other or just in general multiple people shooting. Just how quick the number of shots were coming out in rapid succession. All I had time to do really was to flip the table next to us. It's kind of use it as cover and I just yelled for everyone to get down. FELICIA JUVERA, EYEWITNESS: I remember the sound. I honestly thought it was the music myself until I smelt the actual gun powder. The smell is what got me. And when Gil, you know, just said to get down immediately, my initial thought it was just a react. You know, act quickly and get on the ground and I think I was -- the only thing that was going through my mine at that time was, I was praying, I was praying out loud.

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NOBILO: Another person at the club, Barrett Hudson, says that he was shot seven times, but incredibly managed to survive.

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HUDSON: I knew I got shot a few times. I felt down. He proceeded to shoot me. I got back up. I made it out of the back of the club. I don't know how I'm walking. All seven bullets missed my spine, missed my liver, missed my colon. They cut me in five places, in my chest and put cameras in, and went through everything. And I got really, really lucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:10:08]

NOBILO: The nightclub massacre has shattered the sense of security. What members of the LGBTQ community said was one of their few safe havens in Colorado, Springs. Colorado's governor, the first openly gay man ever elected governor in the United States says that it's time to unite and rally behind those who are suffering.

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JARED POLIS, COLORADO GOVERNOR: It's easy and tempting just to tune the crazy talk out and we all see it, whether it's your Twitter feed or Facebook page or comments in the media, but I think it's too dangerous to tune out. We need to call it out aggressively and say it's not OK to say that some group of Americans is somehow the enemy just because of who they are or who they love.

We're all in this together. We need to focus on unity. We need to focus on the true belief that we all value, care about and love one another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Attorneys for the family of Rayshard Brooks says that they've reached that a $1 million settlement with the city of Atlanta resolving their civil case. The 27-year-old was shot and killed by Atlanta police in a Wendy's parking lot more than two years ago when officers responded to complaints of a man sleeping in a car in the restaurants drive-thru, and then a struggle ensued.

In August, a special prosecutor announced murder and assault charges against the two officers involved, but being dismissed saying that they had acted reasonably in response to a deadly threat.

Also in Georgia, a missing toddler's mother has been arrested and charged with murder. Police found what they believe is, Quinton Simon's remains in the landfill on Friday. The 20-month-year-old was reported missing by his mother in October. But police say she was the sole suspect in the case. She's charged with murder, concealing a death, and making false statements. The remains have been sent to an FBI lab to confirm that they are the toddler's.

The U.S. Coast Guard says that it's rescued at least 100 people from an overloaded vessel before it hit a sandbar in the Florida Keys. The rescue operation began on Monday after a Good Samaritan reported the ailing (ph) vessel. Many of those rescued are believed to be migrants.

The Coast Guard didn't immediately know how many people were on the boat, or their nationalities, telling CNN they were dealing with rough conditions. Rescue efforts were still ongoing for anyone who might still be in the waters as of late Monday.

Rescue crews are combing through the debris in West Java, Indonesia, looking for survivors of a devastating earthquake. At least 103 people have been killed, but authorities fear that number will rise. The quake triggered landslides which are making it difficult to access rural areas.

The government is putting up tents and shelters for more than 7,000 people forced from their homes. Indonesia's location on the so-called ring of fire in the Pacific Ocean makes it prone to earthquakes. This one was a 5.6 magnitude.

CNN's Anna Coren is following developments live this hour from Hong Kong. Anna, what more can you tell us about the rescue efforts, and also the areas that were so badly hit. I'm seeing reports that they're concerned that a lot of the damage was caused at education sites.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Bianca, it's now more than 24 hours since that earthquake hit Cianjur District, which is in West Java, Province about 75 kilometers southeast from Indonesia's Capital Jakarta.

This is a mountainous area where the buildings are concrete. So what we saw when that earthquake hit at 1:20 p.m., you mentioned children, yes, they were all in school, all at their desks, was -- this concrete just fall from the ceiling. And doctors are saying that it was rubble that killed most of the victims.

The death toll as it stands is at about just over 100, but we are expecting that to climb. We should hear from officials very shortly getting us an update on that death toll.

Now, the reason the earthquake was so violent, it only hit for 30 seconds is because it was shallow only 10 kilometers deep. So that is why we saw that that destruction, widespread destruction. But it wasn't just the earthquake, it was also landslides, it is monsoon season in Indonesia, so there is a lot of of water, you know, saturated in the ground. So we had these landslides happening around the area.

A makeshift hospital was set up outside the main hospital and fears that it was also going to collapse. And there was one woman who spoke to the media about her missing child. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I have seven children and one of them hasn't been found. The children were downstairs and I was upstairs getting laundry.

[04:15:04]

Everything collapsed beneath me and I was crushed beneath this child. One of my kids is still missing. My house is flattened. Good God, two of my kids survived. I dug them up, and this one. Two others, I brought here and one is still missing.

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COREN: Just so painful to listen to what that mother must be going through. The Indonesian President Joko Widodo, he visited the site today, Bianca, asking rescue crews, not to give up on finding any survivors.

NOBILO: Just absolutely wrenching. Anna Coren, thank you so much for that report. We knew you continue to monitor it for us.

A looming rail strike is threatening to put a major dent in the U.S. economy with the holidays right around the corner. What retailers want from Congress, to get things back on track. Plus, how Bob Iger is making -- is to make Disney the happiest place on Earth again.

And a hard-fought match between the U.S. and Wales. We'll have the very latest results from the World Cup and a look ahead to more anticipated match.

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NOBILO: Get ready, football fans, because in the next hour, Lionel Messi is expected to begin his very last run at the World Cup. Argentina will play Saudi Arabia to kick off the third day of the tournament. Later on, reigning champions in France will start their title defense with a match against Australia. It all follows an eventful second day of action. The U.S. and Wales both made their return to the World Cup on Monday and played each other in a tightly contested match which ended in a draw.

CNN's Amanda Davies was there and she joins us now from Doha. Amanda, great to see you. Let's start for our U.S. audience that are just waking up, talking about that match against Wales yesterday and also what we can expect from the matches today.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes. The U.S. had waited eight years to return to the World Cup finals. I guess the problem was that Wales had waited and they wanted it just as much. As you mentioned, I was there at Ariane last night, a brilliant atmosphere with two very vocal sets of fans, both making the most of their national anthem moment.

But just disappointing with how U.S. defender Tim Reim put it. Really a feeling of missed opportunities, despite some real positive for Gregg Herhalter's side. It was a fantastic night, though, for 23-year- old Timothy Weah, with -- a man with one of the most famous names in football for people of a certain generation, the son of legendary player George, who is the only African player to have won the Ballon d'Or in the 1990s.

He's now President of Liberia. He was there watching on with the rest of their family as Timothy scored the goal -- the U.S.'s first goal at this World Cup -- in his first World Cup game. But Gareth Bale for his part, the Wales' captain, had put off his international retirement to make it here to this tournament. He wasn't going to give up that result without a fight. He scored that late, late penalty to see the points shared.

Speaking of retirement, though, as you mentioned, we are now gearing up just less than an hour away to the start of Lionel Messi's what we very much expect to be his final World Cup in an Argentina shirt. The Argentinian fans have been flocking in in their numbers over the last 24 hours or so, very much making their presence felt. The atmosphere has been brilliant.

And they have high hopes that this could be their year to reclaim that first World Cup since 1986 to send their seven time Ballon d'Or winner out of the international game on a high. Not many people giving Saudi Arabia a chance. They are just hoping they do better in their opening game than four years ago in Russia. They were thumped five nil.

NOBILO: Amanda, it's only day three, and it does seem that this World Cup is shaping up to be the most politicized ever. And we saw a defiant display from the Iranian team. Talk to me about that and if we're seeing any other visible protests.

DAVIES: Yes, there's no doubt. I mean, since all the way through this build up, it's been very, very clear that this is a tournament that is about so much more than just football. And it kind of makes a mockery, I said it yesterday of all those FIFA claims that, you know, we just want this to be focused on the football. That is not the case.

And we very quickly yesterday got an answer to whether or not Iran's players would take a stance against their government. Show solidarity to the antigovernmental protesters at home. When the players walked out onto the pitch, lined up for their national anthem against England and all stood in silence, they didn't sing.

Their captain had said in the run up to the game that he felt that he and his team needed to be the voice of the victims, the people affected back at home. He said, we sympathize with all the bereaved families of Iran.

There is no anger amongst the European teams. They have been unable to wear the one love armbands that they were hoping to show support against discrimination and for the LGBTQ plus community, that has been taking place. At the same time, there's reports of people going into the game last night having rainbow hats taken away from them.

And we're expecting more protests today. Denmark showing for the first time their shirt specially designed with no logos, no different colored trim. That's a move from Hummel to take a stance against the country's human rights record here.

NOBILO: Amanda Davies for us in Doha. We'll let you go because I know you've got a very busy and exciting day ahead. Thank you so much.

U.S. financial markets are looking to rebound when trading begins in just a few hours, although no signs of that yet when we're looking at the futures.

[04:25:06]

On Monday, the Dow fell about a 10th of a percent on concerns over more interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The Nasdaq closed more than 1 percent lower, and the S&P 500 dropped more than a third of a percent.

Leading U.S. retailers, a warning of a self-inflicted economic disaster if freight rail workers go on strike. America's largest rail union has rejected a labor deal with freight railroads, meaning that Congress may have to step in. CNN's Matt Egan explains the impact.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: America faces the growing risk of a crippling rail strike just two weeks from now. The nation's largest rail union announced Monday its rank-and-file members have rejected a tentative labor deal was reached in September with freight railroads. All 12 rail unions have now completed their ratification process, but only eight unions backed the deal, four are against it.

And even if just one of the dozen rail unions go on strike, the other 11, they would honor the picket lines shutting down the railroads. A prolonged freight strike could cause mayhem for the economy. Leading retailers warned on Monday that a strike would amount to a self- inflicted economic disaster, one that would disrupt the flow of goods nationally. They say that means spoiled food, online shopping delivery delays and worsening inflation. The national retail federation called on Congress to immediately intervene to avoid catastrophe.

Now, for now, the four unions that have voted no, they will remain on the job until at least early next month, while talks are held to avoid a strike. But if new deals are not reached in time, Congress may be forced to decide whether to order rail workers to remain on the job or return to work.

A strike would come at a delicate time for the economy. The COVID-19 pandemic scrambled supply chains that have only just begun to move back towards normal. Inflation remains very high, and recession fears have bubbled up as central banks race to get prices under control. A crippling rail strike might be the last thing the economy needs right now. Back to you. NOBILO: Matt Egan for us there.

Disney's new CEO, Bob Iger, says that major plans to restructure the entertainment company will be announced in the coming weeks. That announcement has stopped prices up a little over 6 percent on Monday. Iger, you will see on the left, returned to the media empire after his successor. Bob Chapek was ousted.

Disney's problems are vast and fixing them all may just not be possible. Last quarter alone, the company suffered $1.5 billion in streaming losses. Iger says that he'll dedicate the next two years to trying to turn the company around.

Elon Musk says that Twitter's blue verified feature is now on hold until the company can address concerns over accounts being impersonated. The initial rollout earlier this month came with all sorts of problems when fake accounts started popping up, impersonating brands, high profile figures, religious leaders who have been deceased for 20 years. Meanwhile, the impact of Twitter's mass layoffs is now being felt around the world.

Damien Viel, the head of Twitter France, announced his departure from the company, and French regulators are expressing deep concern over the layoffs and whether the remaining staff can do enough to keep the platform afloat.

A Minnesota children's hospital is the latest in the United States states to be overwhelmed by a rise in RSV cases. Workers say that the ICU has been overcapacity for several weeks, with as many as 40 children waiting to be seen at some points. Area hospitals are also running low on liquid antibiotics and flu medication as kids catch seasonal viruses. Doctors are urging patients to use virtual appointments as a way to conserve those precious resources.

Still ahead, a CNN exclusive. As protests rage on in Iran, new disturbing details on the brutality of Iranian security forces are coming to light. And you won't want to miss this.

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