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Source of Leak in Russia's Soyuz Crew Ship Determined; Mom of Slain Idaho Student Frustrated by Lack of Police Communication; Russia: Unpredictable Consequences if U.S. Sends Patriot Missiles. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired December 15, 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]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: We're just getting this in about a scare that Russia just had in space. Officials believe they now know the source of a coolant leak that forced Russian flight controllers to cancel a spacewalk for two of their cosmonauts today.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA CNN HOST: Yes, the leak was in the Soyuz crew ship which is docked with the International Space Station. Now the crew is safe. That is a good thing. CNN's space and defense correspondent Kristen Fisher has the breaking details. So quite shocking to watch that video there. What are you learning? How did this happen?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, leaks do happen in space, but that leak right there, that's a big one. I mean, even NASA is describing it as a fairly significant leak. It's -- they've just released what they believe to be the location of the leak. They say the suspected source is the external radiator cooling loop of the Soyuz.

And to kind of put this into perspective about where exactly this is. This Soyuz spacecraft is a Russian spacecraft that is attached to the International Space Station where NASA astronauts, European astronauts and Russian cosmonauts all live and work together. And this Soyuz spacecraft, it's a very old but very reliable spacecraft and it launched a few months ago, carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut on board.

It now essentially serves as one of their lifeboats on the space station in case something goes wrong. It can ferry that three-person crew back to earth and it was supposed to do that in March, but now it springs a leak, a coolant leak. And it happened right as two Russian cosmonauts were preparing to do a spacewalk. They cancel that spacewalk and now they're trying to figure out how they can fix it and if that spacecraft will be able to bring those cosmonauts and that one astronaut back to earth in a few months -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: OK, you'll continue to follow this story for us, Kristin Fisher, thank you.

Now to Idaho where the mother of one of the students who was murdered last month is speaking out. She says she's been left in the dark by police investigators, and claimed she's received what little information she has from people who just pick up the phone and call her.

BLACKWELL: CNN national correspondent Camilla Bernal is here for this story. Understandably she's frustrated.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bianna and Victor, it's a mother who lost her baby and it's been more than a month and we still don't have a lot of information. So of course, these families feel like they are in the dark. The most significant development in the last couple of weeks has been the search for this white Hyundai Elantra, and the driver. It was a white Hyundai Elantra made between 2011 and 2013.

[15:35:00]

And police did say they got a lot of new tips about this white car, but it's unclear whether any of these tips have been helpful. Whether it's advanced the investigation. And what they're now saying is that they're also going over 22,000 white Hyundai Elantras that are registered and that fit this search criteria. So, clearly there's so much work to be done here.

In the meantime, though, Kaylee Goncalves' mother telling NBC that she was not aware of this car until everyone else found out about it. So yes, she is frustrated. The Moscow police department saying that they did email her and the family in advance. So, there's a little bit of a back and forth here, but nonetheless, this mother is just expressing her feelings and telling the world how she's been feeling over the last couple of weeks. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI GONCALVES, MOTHER OF 21-YEAR-OLD VICTIM KAYLEE GONCALVES: It's sleepless nights. It's feeling sick to your stomach. It's just being left in the dark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And CNN has been in touch with the Goncalves' family attorney. He says that the family did meet with local authorities. They asked for communication. They asked for accountability, and they say they're hopeful. They're optimistic that they will catch this killer. But they also said that they do not have any new information. Look, in Moscow, people are scared. They are frustrated. I talked to someone who told me, my wife needs to go with someone to walk her dog because she's scared to go outside. That is the fear and the frustration that you're seeing in that community -- Bianna, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, more than a month and nothing. No suspect, no answers. It's got to be heartbreaking and as she said, very frustrating. Camila Bernal on this for us. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Russia issues a sobering warning. The U.S. will face unpredictable consequences if it decides to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine. We've heard similar warnings from Russia before. We'll take you to Kyiv with the latest.

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GOLODRYGA: The Defense Department has announced an expansion of training for Ukraine-armed forces in Europe that will include joint maneuver and combined arms operations training. Meantime, Russia is issuing new threats towards Ukraine and the United States.

Now this follows reporting that the U.S. is finalizing plans to ship a Patriot missile system to Ukraine. The Kremlin warns that move could lead to unpredictable circumstances. CNN's Will Ripley has the latest from Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Bianna, the White House has not even officially confirmed that Patriot missile defense systems will be arriving here in Ukraine. Although an announcement could really come at any time. CNN was first to report that these highly effective missile defense systems that Ukraine has been pounding its fists on the table for, for not even months, but years. Saying that they're going to be a necessary part of this conflict as it moves into the next phase, that's what the defense minister told me when I interviewed him.

The Patriot missile defense systems, the Ukrainians say will be deployed here and they say they are an important and crucial tool really as they continue to try to defend themselves from constant Russian bombardment of the civilian power infrastructure.

I'll give you an example of the other day. The air raid sirens went off in Kyiv and it wasn't because there were incoming missiles, but because there were Russian bombers that were in the air space near Ukraine that carry the kind of missiles that Ukraine currently does not have the capacity to shoot down. If Russia were to fire these missiles and they were to successfully hit their target, Ukraine could not defend themselves against them. Patriot would change that, and that's why Ukrainians say they need them.

There's also an important new interview out in "The Economist" with the head of Ukraine's armed forces where he is saying with certainty -- now whether that is, you know, potentially deliberate misinformation as the Russians have been doing throughout this conflict or whether they actually have verifiable and concrete intelligence that's not mentioned in "The Economist" article. He is saying that he believes that the Russians are preparing to move on Kyiv at some point early next year.

Now again, the Ukrainians have become very adept at controlling the message and using the message to their advantage strategically. Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that the Ukrainians are publicly stating they think the Russians are going to try to move once again on the Ukrainian capital as they did when they entered this country on February 24th.

Also, the fighting on the front lines to the south and the east has been continuing and it is very intense in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian rockets have been hitting civilian targets according to Russian-backed officials -- although CNN can't independently verify that. But there have been social media videos of an intersection on fire, of a cathedral that was hit, along with commercial and residential buildings.

But also, from the Russian side the constant shelling that has taken lives in Kherson to the south has continued. And it has essentially cut that city off from the power grid entirely. Meaning that there are many people including children who are in that city right new in the dark and the cold -- Victor and Bianna.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Will Ripley, thank you. I mean, it is stunning when you look at images that people post of what Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities look like this time last year getting ready for the holidays. And now completely in the dark and gutted by Russian offensive. It's just unbelievable.

BLACKWELL: We're in the last minutes of trading on Wall Street. It has been a brutal day for stocks, down now just shy of 800 points. We'll explain what's behind this selloff next.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: We're following several developments right now. The National Archives has just released nearly 13,000 documents detailing the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Earlier today, the White House issued a statement saying additional documents would be released in June of next year.

GOLODRYGA: This comes one year after President Biden also released nearly 1,500 other classified JFK files. The CNN team is going through these newly released documents now and will bring you the new information as soon as we get them through.

Also, just minutes ago, a Texas jury has found former Fort Worth Officer Aaron Dean guilty of manslaughter in the 2019 shooting death of 28-year-old it a Atatiana Jefferson.

CNN's Lucy Kafanov is with us now.

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Give us the details.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right guys, the jury reached this verdict after conferring for about eight hours on Wednesday and more than five hours today. Thigh found former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean guilty of the lesser of the included offenses of manslaughter after he shot Atatiana Jefferson through a window of her home on October 12, 2019. Dean, who is white, resigned days afterwards. He was arrested and

charged in the killing of Jefferson, who is black. He had pleaded not guilty to murder, a charge which carries a possible sentence of 5 to 99 years. Now Dean did take the stand and testified in his own defense on Monday, telling the jury that he fired at Jefferson because she pointed a gun at him.

Now when he was pressed during cross-examination, he admitted many of his actions that night were, quote, bad police work, including firing the weapon without seeing her hands or what was behind her. Failing tell his partner that he saw a gun and rushing into the home without fully ensuring it was safe.

Now, in the closing arguments the state had portrayed Dean as a power- hungry former cop whose preconceived notions about the neighborhood where Jefferson lived tainted his conduct the night of the shooting. The defense countered that dean had fired his weapon in self-defense while fearing for his life in what attorneys said was a tragic accident and not a criminal act.

Again, today the jury disagreed with what the defense had said, finding him guilty of manslaughter -- of the manslaughter charge, and he faces up to 20 years in prison for the conviction. The jury still has to determine the sentencing details. Victor, Bianna, back to you.

GOLODRYGA: Lucy Kafanov, thank you.

Turning to Wall Street now, a massive sell-off continues. Stocks have been plummeting all day.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Matt Egan back with us now. Matt, explain what's happening.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, I think the market is getting hit by a double whammy here. Yesterday the Fed made clear that it's not done slamming the brakes on this economy. Inflation might be cooling but not enough for them to stop raising interest rates just yet.

And then today there is a series of reports that were out that suggests that some cracks in the economy. Retail sales unexpectedly tumbled. Manufacturing reports were weaker than expected. Jobless claims were strong but probably too strong if you ask the Fed. And so, I think if you put it all together, Wall Street is growing more worried that the Fed is going to slow this economy right into a recession.

So, we see the Dow down almost 800 points, 2.3 percent. Markets are up off their worst points of the day. At one point the Dow was down 950 points but still closing near session lows. Tech stocks have gotten hit particularly hard -- Apple, Netflix, Facebook owner Meta, all of them down sharply.

And if you look at how the market has performed overall this year, the S&P 500 is down 18 percent so far this year. That is easily on track for the worst year since 2008. It feels like the market is in kind of a weird place right now where good news is bad and bad news is bad. What I mean by that is good economic news, right, is being interpreted as bad because it means the Fed is going to have to be even more aggressive. Bad economic news is bad for everyone because it suggests a growing risk of a recession. I think that today's sell-off shows that the market is clearly pricing in a growing risk, not a certainty, but a growing risk of a recession.

GOLODRYGA: And it comes after what we saw were some positive headlines in terms of where inflation was going and while still high it does appear to be cooling consecutive months now.

EGAN: It is cooling. I think the problem, though, is that inflation is nowhere near the Fed's target. Consumer prices up 7.1 percent year- over-year, the Fed is targeting 2 percent inflation. And so, Fed Chair Jerome Powel yesterday, he struck a pretty hawkish tone overall, right. He needs to see more proof that inflation really is cooling off. And so, that he is raising these concerns that the Fed is going to have to keep raising rates and going to have to keep them high, and at some point, that could do some -- more damage to the economy.

BLACKWELL: All right. Just a few minutes more until that closing bell. We'll see where the market goes. Matt Egan, thank you.

EGAN: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Matt.

Up next, a Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell is opening up to CNN about his resignation from the force after he found a Trump photo taped to his computer. We have that interview for you up next.

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GOLODRYGA: This story makes me laugh. Chances are you've seen "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," but you've probably never seen this before. I want to introduce you to Rizzo, the miniature schnauzer stealing hearts this holiday season, his owner --

BLACKWELL: You going to make it?

GOLODRYGA: I'm almost there. His owner had him groomed to look just like the Grinch. He did the Santa Claus and all.

BLACKWELL: She posted a video of him on TikTok.

GOLODRYGA: Look at that face.

GOLODRYGA: And it went viral.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY SPIELMANN, RIZZO'S OWNER: We love Christmas in our house, so I think our kids watch the Grinch like every night last year. The first Christmas we've had with him, I was like, hey, can we turn Rizzo into the grinch? And she was like, yup, I'll go get the dye. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, Rizzo's groomer says the dye is safe for pets. Ashley says that she's happy her dog's festive new look is able to make people smile.

GOLODRYGA: I'm just curious why they picked Rizzo and not that other dog?

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BLACKWELL: Because I think Rizzo is white under there. Maybe it's easier.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, yes, maybe.

BLACKWELL: So, here's what I don't get. They could have just put the red coat on, right. You didn't have to dye the coat onto him as well, did you?

GOLODRYGA: Rizzo doesn't look happy. Did you see that face? I mean he looks like, OK, my owner did this to me.

BLACKWELL: But that's the point. It's the Grinch.

GOLODRYGA: Here I am, I'm the Grinch.

BLACKWELL: He's in character.

GOLODRYGA: But apparently, they're getting responses from people around the world, people in Australia even weighing in and emailing them. So, listen, it makes us laugh, it makes us happy and it makes that family happy.

BLACKWELL: I'm into it.

GOLODRYGA: I am too. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.