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Still No Suspects, Motive In NC Power Grid Attack; Club Q Shooting Suspect Charged With 305 Counts, Including Hate Crimes; McConnell Criticizes Trump's Call To Terminate Constitution; Alleged Ukraine Drone Strike Hits Russian Airfield; Emmy-Winning "Cheers" Actress Kirstie Alley Dead At 71. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 06, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They have a massive number of people trying to figure out exactly who and why.

Back to you guys.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Miguel, what about those links to extremist groups? As we know, DHS sent out earlier this year a warning that there might be an attack on an electrical grid, just like this.

So is that the thread they're following?

MARQUEZ: They seem to be following every thread possible. They -- what they have told us is that they have a ton of tips coming in from the public.

Certainly, the idea of extremists who -- whatever their political affiliation, trying to encourage or make the downfall of the U.S. more rapid as possible and seeing the electricity grid as a way to do that.

Is this a test case? Is this something that somebody put thought behind? Maybe. But at this point, they're looking very broadly to figure out exactly who and why.

Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: OK, Miguel Marquez, thank you very much for reporting.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Let's go to Colorado now. The suspect accused of shooting and killing five people at an LGBTQ club was back in court today.

CAMEROTA: Anderson Lee Aldrich now charged with 305 counts, including murder and hate crimes.

CNN's Lucy Kafanov joins us from Denver.

Lucy, what happened at today's hearing?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We saw Aldrich appear in court in person this morning in a bright yellow prison jumpsuit, walking in, looking a lot more alert, than the previously hearing in November when we saw him slumped over in court, slurring their speech.

The suspected gunman did not speak today. He was formally -- they were formally charged with 305 criminal counts. They include 10 counts of first-degree murder, 86 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 48 counts of bias-motivated crime, which is how Colorado refers to hate crimes, and 90 counts of assaults.

And Aldrich, who his attorneys say, identifies as nonbinary, and uses they/them pronouns, allegedly entered Club Q late November 19th with an A.R.-style weapon and a handgun, opening fire, killing at least five people.

At least 13 others were injured, most of whom suffered gunshot wounds.

And during this attack, police say Aldrich was effectively beaten into submission by club patrons who stopped that mass shooting within minutes.

District Attorney Michael Allen said that the harshest charges would carry the harshest penalty, likely life in prison without parole, and if convicted, they will, quote, "serve the remainder of their life in prison without breathing free air again."

And at a press conference following today's hearing, Allen said the number of charges sends a message that the crimes are taken very seriously by the D.A.'s office.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL ALLEN, EL PASO COUNTY, CO, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We're not going to tolerate actions against community members based on their sexual identity, those types of things.

Members of that community have been harassed, intimidated and abused for too long. That's not going to occur in the Fourth Judicial District.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAFANOV: And the next time we will see the suspect in court is February 22nd for a preliminary hearing -- Victor, Alisyn?

BLACKWELL: Lucy Kafanov, for us there in Denver, thank you.

So Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was just asked about former President Trump's comments on terminating the Constitution. We bring you his response, next.

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[14:38:00]

CAMEROTA: Moments ago, Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed, for the first time, former President Trump's desire to terminate all of the rules and regulations in the Constitution.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Manu Raju and Phil Mattingly, they're with us now.

Manu, let's start with you.

What did he say?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I asked him about this. This is the second straight week he began a press conference criticizing the former president, Donald Trump.

This is not something that Mitch McConnell typically does. He rarely mentions the former president or anything he says or does.

But last week, he came out and criticized the dinner that Trump had at Mar-a-Lago with white supremacist, Nick Fuentes, that white nationalist, and Kanye West, that former -- the rapper, Kanye West.

Today, I asked him about the post, Donald Trump's social media feed saying that the Constitution should be terminated.

I said, could you support Donald Trump if he became the Republican nominee?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: This is the second straight week you've come out to begin your press conference criticizing Donald Trump. Can you say categorically, you would not support him if he were the Republican nominee?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): What I'm saying is it would be pretty hard to be sworn into the presidency if you're not willing to uphold the Constitution. That's what I said. And I just said it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, again, not saying if he would support Trump one way or the other if Trump ultimately emerges as the Republican nominee.

But significant is the fact that the Republican leader chose to criticize the former president, something that he -- decided not to do.

But it shows how Republicans on Capitol Hill, in the aftermath of losing the Senate majority, seeing a number of Trump-backed candidates falter in key Senate races.

And then controversy after controversy, a number of them are wary, or hopeful, that another candidate can ultimately emerge and win the Republican nomination.

But it's very clear, though, at the moment, that Trump is running. He's the only candidate. And Mitch McConnell today decided to respond to it.

CAMEROTA: Phil, I take Manu's point this is a second week in a row, but would we call that a strong denunciation of Donald Trump saying he wants to blow up the Constitution?

[14:40:08]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I would refer to my friend Manu, the expert, to contextualize McConnellisms. With some acknowledgment that, based on experience, from McConnell, that was strong.

But I think what's interesting, though, when you compare it to what you would expect, given the scale of what the former president put on the table, it doesn't seem like going that far.

I think, to some degree, when you talk to White House officials that's been a point of frustration.

First, just how slow the response from Republicans were to the idea of terminating the thing that they say quite publicly and quite often animates the entirety of the party.

But also, even when we've seen -- and Manu has reported a ton of this over the course of the past 24 hours -- Republicans, particularly Republican Senators, start to criticize, start to kind of roll out criticisms of the absolute lowest-hanging fruit of things you can criticize right now.

I think it's taken aback how tepid it has been to some degree. It's notable that it's happened. Anybody who has lived through the last six years would acknowledge that to some degree.

The fact that this issue, sacrosanct at the center of all of the United States' democracy, is not something that's enough to really bring outright opposition, one, underscores the dynamic of where the former president remains in the party, and, two, drives a lot of frustration you hear from Democratic officials.

One thing I would note, guys -- and this plays into this to some degree -- President Biden, when you talk to somebody close to him, very firmly believes that the grip of the former president is starting to recede at a pretty significant manner inside of the party.

I think they think this is the moment to help prove that, to make that pivot. But it hasn't happened yet.

CAMEROTA: Guys, really important context. Thank you very much for both of your reporting, Phil and Manu.

BLACKWELL: Russia says that Ukraine launched drone attacks against two militaries bases inside its territory. We'll take you to Ukraine live, next.

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[14:46:35]

CAMEROTA: President Biden just asked Congress for another $37 billion to support Ukraine. BLACKWELL: But some new polling suggests that public support may be

waning a bit. And 47 percent of Americans now say Washington should urge Ukraine to settle for peace, as soon as possible. That's according to a survey from the Chicago Council of Global Affairs.

CAMEROTA: And only 48 percent of Americans say Washington should support Ukraine as long as it takes. That's down from 58 percent in July.

BLACKWELL: We're getting word of another alleged drone strike on Russian territory near Ukraine. Now it ignited an oil tanker near the Kursk airfield. That's according to the regional governor there.

Just yesterday, Russia blamed Ukraine for attacks on two air bases deep inside of Russian territory.

CAMEROTA: CNN's Sam Kiley has more from Ukraine.

Sam, what's happening?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, the Russians are reporting there over these three different drone strikes, three or four dead, and a similar number of injured. Now, the Ukrainians are really not making any direct comment on the airstrikes.

The nearest thing we've heard in terms of any confirmation that Ukrainians might have been involved, comes from undersecretary of state from the White House administration's Victoria Nuland.

Her suggesting in an interview in Kyiv that the Ukrainians were developing the capability to potentially conduct this sort of strike.

We haven't seen the use of long-range drones yet officially by Ukraine in this war, but there's no question they're trying to develop them.

They have an advanced weapons industry here that has been targeted throughout the war, as, indeed, has the electrical infrastructure of the country. So, this is a significant development.

I think above all, the Pentagon is now insisting and, indeed, putting out statements saying they have not supplied any offensive weapons that might be used in this way to Ukraine.

Because they're very anxious, indeed, that Ukraine doesn't get accused of, much less actually conducts attacks inside of Russia using American or NATO-supplied weaponry, for fear of provoking a reaction from the Russians.

Now, the Ukrainians are saying that they believe the Russians are really running very low, indeed, on cruise missiles. And have run out entirely of those Iranian-made drone missiles for the massive attacks that they've been launching recently.

CAMEROTA: OK. Sam Kiley, thank you very much for all the reporting.

[14:49:05] Back here, the entertainment world is mourning the death of Kirstie Alley. The reaction from her fans and her "Cheers" co-stars, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Actress Kirstie Alley has died at the age of 71 after a brief battle with cancer. She was best known for her Emmy-winning role as Rebecca Howe on "Cheers." She also starred in "Veronica's Closet" and films like "Look Who's Talking."

BLACKWELL: Tributes are pouring in. Her "Cheers" co-star Ted Danson told "Deadline," quote, "I was on a plane today and did something I rarely do. I watched an old episode of 'Cheers.'"

And he went on, "Kirstie was truly brilliant in it. Her ability to play a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown was both moving and hysterically funny."

CNN's Chloe Melas is here.

Chloe, you have new reporting on the cause of her death?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yes. Hey, Alisyn. So I just spoke to a representative for Kirstie Alley who tells CNN they can confirm that Kirstie passed away after a battle with colon cancer.

We don't have any other details as to how long she was diagnosed with colon cancer or any, you know, details as to her treatment.

But this just into CNN moments ago. Like you said, so many tributes. But I want to start with the children said. She had a son and a daughter. And they were the ones that announced the news of their mother's death on Instagram yesterday.

This part really stuck out to me:

"She was surrounded by her closest family and fought with great strength, leaving us with a certainty of her never-ending joy of living in whatever adventures lie ahead. As iconic as she was on screen she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother."

[14:55:04]

So I found that to be incredibly poignant.

I also found it incredibly emotional to see what John Travolta had to say. Taking to Instagram to say that, "Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I ever had."

You know, in past interviews, Kirstie had been very open about the fact that she was in love with John Travolta and not just as a friend, that she had romantic feelings for him.

And that, you know, they both were married. They never acted on it. But that it was a very special friendship and relationship that they had together. BLACKWELL: Yes, so many of these postings and tributes coming in from

her former co-stars. And I think you started with the right one for the most important people in her life there, her children.

Chloe Melas, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, CNN speaks with Idaho State Police about the investigation into the killings of those college four students. Why they are pushing back against the notion that the trail has gone cold. That's a head.

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