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Second Ousted Tennessee Rep Reinstated After Expulsion; Rep. Jason Powell (D-TN) Discussed About His Reaction On What's Happening In Memphis; Bank Shooter's Mother Says Her Son Is "Non-Violent" In 911 Call; Toxic Industrial Fire Rages At Indiana Recycling Plant; New Videos Purportedly Show Ukrainian Troops Beheaded, Mutilated. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired April 12, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:10]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: And it is the top of the hour. I'm Bianna Golodryga here with Erica Hill.

We're going to take you straight to Memphis where Justin Pearson, just days after being expelled from the Tennessee State House - legislation has been reinstated now by a Tennessee county board. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JUSTIN PEARSON (D-TN): Guilty of not expanding healthcare.

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: Guilty of not giving up the education resources.

ALL: Yes.

PEASON: Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

ALL: Guilty.

PEARSON: And so for you guilty people ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... the people got a message.

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: We're going to build this movement. We're going to build this movement. We're going to build this movement.

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: We're going to build this movement. ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: You, and you, and you, and you and you, right, we're going to build this movement, because if we are convinced that there's a different vision for Memphis.

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: There's a different vision for Shelby County.

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: There's a different vision for Tennessee.

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: There's a different vision for the South.

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: There's a different vision of the United States of America.

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: And I believe it's a vision ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... of the people who've been pushed to the periphery ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... (inaudible) ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... I believe that it's a vision ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... of the people who've been marginalized ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... coming to left (ph).

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: I believe it is a vision of the people been ostracised coming to the left (ph).

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: See, I see white folk and black folk, I see queer folk and straight folk, I see (inaudible) justice right now. Not tomorrow, but right now. Justice right now. ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: And there it is, it is this movement ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... that's going to change this country ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... is this movement ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... in this moment ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... that's going to change the country.

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: And I'm so glad, oh, I'm so glad ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: Yes, I'm glad ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... oh, I'm glad. Yes, I'm glad. I'm so glad. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I'm so glad. Yes, I'm glad. Are you glad?

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: Are you glad?

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: Are you glad?

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: Are you glad?

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: Is anybody else glad that he's (ph) done it again. Is anybody glad that he's done it again?

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: That's she's done it again.

ALL: Yes. PEARSON: That God's done it again. (Inaudible) ...

ALL: Yes.

PEARSON: ... Saturday was real quiet. Sunday was real (inaudible). Monday was (inaudible) ...

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: CNN National Correspondent, Ryan Young, is there in Memphis for us.

Ryan, you've been following this so closely. We can feel the energy coming through the TV here. I'm sure you're certainly feeling it there in-person.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes, it's unreal. If you think about how this has played out.

Last Thursday, when all the swelling of people showed up, the emotion as it was raining and it was cold, and people went upstairs and they were willing to sit outside for a long period of time so this wouldn't happen. And then when it did happen, it seems like lightning has hit twice because not only have people got behind Justin J. Pearson, but now they're behind Justin Jones, and all that with Rep. Johnson right behind them.

You listen to all this energy.

[15:05:00]

You see the people here who are basically at a church service outside. But then you couple that with a march from Dr. King, with - thinking about the Lorraine Motel and the fact that 54 years ago that he was assassinated. You understand that the fight here, they're saying is about gun violence, a lot of people who are galvanized by that.

So this is less about race and more about safety. And that's what they've been talking about all day long. So as you walk around here, you see people with signs who are talking about gun violence. Look at this crowd, though. Look at how people are standing here and they've been doing this for hours. And we've seen this over and over again inside that county commission room.

You heard people saying they were ready to pass the baton to someone younger. They believe Justin J. Pearson is that person. Now, there's some parts of this that we have to talk about. They do have to get the minutes from that meeting today to the state capitol. And the plan is once it gets there tomorrow morning before the session starts, they plan to swear him in on the steps of the Capitol again in Nashville. That happened the same thing with Justin Jones and that was a powerful moment as well, so you feel that ground swelling.

Maybe about a week ago, no one knew who these young men were outside the State of Tennessee. So a big difference now. You had the Vice President show up here. You've got people all across the country booking these young men on talk shows and they feel galvanized by the fact that folks are leaning into this moment, especially with all the gun violence that's happening across this country.

HILL: Yes. And we heard from a woman who's patted you on the back, you stopped to get some great information, just some color from her, Ryan, on the way out of that meeting where she said we felt our voices weren't being heard and now she feels that in Justin Pearson, that she is being heard, specifically when it comes to issues like gun violence.

Ryan, we'll continue to check in with you. Hang there for us, if you would. We do also want to welcome now a Democratic member of the Tennessee State House Representative Jason Powell.

Sir, good to have you with us. I guess, first question, understandably is what's your reaction to what we are seeing now play out in Memphis?

REP. JASON POWELL (D-TN): Hi. I'm very excited. This is a movement that has - is underway. I'm so excited to have my colleague Justin J. Pearson back. I already have my colleague here from Nashville. Justin Jones back with us.

I personally have been affected by gun violence. This hit very close to home. I am a father. I have a son who was in third grade. He's nine years old. I was at my son's school, reading to his class the morning that this shooting happened at Covenant School.

The little boy that was murdered is a member and was on the team, The Reds (ph), in the Creek (ph) Hall Little League where my son plays. That's how close this hits to home. And I am so energized and excited, hopeful that we are going to finally tackle this issue of gun violence in the State of Tennessee.

But the excitement today is about Rep. Pearson, Rep. Jones coming back, fighting against this undemocratic process that we saw on the State of Tennessee where they were expelled for office. It was a shame, but the people have spoken, the county commission in Shelby County did the right thing today. The people of Nashville and our city council did the right thing. We have reappointed our colleagues back and we are going to continue on this movement continue to fight for true gun reform and stop gun violence in the United States of America and make the starting point here in Nashville and in Tennessee.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And your personal history and experience there with gun violence is indicative on what so many millions of Americans experience one in five American families has been impacted in some way, shape or form by gun violence.

I know this is a very important issue for you and we continue to hear from Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. And they keep coming back to this issue that this is not about them. It's about the mission that they were on, the fight for gun control that they were pursuing.

I'm just curious, given everything that we've seen and the tragedy unfolded in your state and, obviously, in Kentucky as well. Just yesterday, Gov. Lee, in your State of Tennessee signed an executive order aimed at strengthening background checks for firearm purchases. Is that in your view, a step forward, a step in the direction of the fight where you're wanting to take this fight?

POWELL: Well, we need to go very far. There are so many different laws that we need to tackle. Temporary transfer is a important thing that we need to look at. I'm hopeful that we can pass some of these laws. But just several years ago, I myself tried to pass a law that would have taken away guns from people that showed up on the no fly list.

These are some of those dangerous possible individuals out there and this was when we still had permits. That law failed. My attempt to do that failed. Now we have no permits for these handguns in the State of Tennessee. We need to make sure that we take true action, real gun reform. That's what people want.

We need to make real change and pursue every possible law that we can.

[15:10:04]

I'm hopeful that our Governor and others will listen and create true reform. We've heard this in the past, but clearly the people have spoken. People continue to show up by the thousands at our state capitol, not just in our state capitol, but across Tennessee to demand true gun reform and that's what we must have.

I mean, this issue goes back. I was a student in college in Colorado when Columbine happened. One of my - I played college football - one of my teammates there, his - one of his family members and multiple friends had family members at Columbine. And that was a mass shooting that dates back to 25 years ago and we are still dealing with this issue.

Let's tackle true gun reform, make Nashville, Tennessee the starting place that will create a wave across the nation. That's what you're saying. And that's why so many people are galvanized and excited and hopeful and behind, myself, Rep. Jones, Rep. Pearson, Rep. Johnson. We are going to be the launching point for true gun violence reform across this country,

HILL: Tennessee State Rep. Jason Powell, appreciate you taking the time to join us. We will be watching and following along. Appreciate it, thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, for the first time we're hearing the just released 911 calls made during Monday's mass shooting at a bank in Louisville. The audio revealing the terrifying moments as the attacks unfolded.

HILL: CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is live in Louisville this hour. One of those calls, Adrienne, was made by the shooter's mother. What more do we know about these calls.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The shooters mother made that call at 8:41, about three minutes after the initial 911 call came in. She told the dispatcher she was receiving secondhand information from her son's roommate. She had learned that her son had a gun and was heading here to the bank. Here's more of what she told that dispatcher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, my - currently my son might be (inaudible) he currently have a gun and he's heading toward the Old National at the main street here in Louisville.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Main street Old National?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. And I - this is his mother, I'm so sorry, I'm getting detailed secondhand. I'm learning (inaudible) it now. Oh, my Lord.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. And what exactly is going on with him, What is it saying he's doing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. I'm getting this information from this new lady, apparently he left a note. I think he's on (inaudible) and I think he's decided - he's (inaudible) which is not. Yes, hurry, shut the door. Lock the dock and come here. I don't know what to do. I need your help. I think he's never hurt anyone. He's a really good kid. Please don't punish him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. You said he was headed to the Old National Bank. Did he say what he was going to do there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. I don't know anything. He - but he - I know he doesn't own any guns, I don't know where he would have gotten a gun (inaudible) ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay. So where did you get this information from? Who told you what's going on?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His roommate called me. His roommates are concerned that is why - I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: So that mother telling the dispatcher her son is non-violent and she also says she doesn't know where he would have obtained a gun. We also heard another call from employee who witnessed the shooting who was hiding in a closet, barely speaking above a whisper, trying to give this dispatcher as much information as she could.

And as she could - as she was speaking, you could hear the shots being fired in the background. And we know two officers who responded right away who were first on the scene, the rookie police officer, Nick Wilt, who is still fighting for his life, as well as his field training officer, CJ Galloway, that employee who witnessed and was speaking above a whisper asked repeatedly: "Are they here yet? Are they coming?" And yes, we know those officers showed up and ran toward the gunfire. Back to you.

GOLODRYGA: Those officers indeed heroes. And, oh my god, just hearing the shooter's mother there on the phone. And another reminder that it's not just the victims' families that are torn apart. I mean, it's - his family didn't even know where he got this gun. We now know he purchased it last week. It is just horrifying to hear all of that. Adrienne Broaddus, thank you.

HILL: We are keeping a close watch. Right now we're on a raging inferno in Indiana. This is at a plastics recycling plant in Richmond. That's a city in the eastern part of the state along the Ohio State line. Officials say the fire there erupted on Tuesday after a semi- trailer parked behind the facility caught fire and then spread. Look at this cloud of smoke. The truck, we're told, contained an unknown type of plastics.

GOLODRYGA: And this was the scene that residents there were looking at for hours. The fire marshal said the thick dark plumes of smoke billowing across the city are definitely toxic, which has forced thousands of nearby residents to evacuate.

[15:15:04]

The EPA Administrator tells CNN teams are on the scene awaiting the results of critical air quality test.

Joining us now is Richmond resident, Aaron Stevens. He lives around - about seven blocks away from the plant.

Aaron, thank you so much for joining us. First of all, what are you seeing and why did you choose not to evacuate?

AARON STEVENS, RICHMOND, INDIANA RESIDENT: The reason I chose not to evacuate really was because I'm kind of hobbled up right now, I've got a knee injury. And so mobility was a problem with me leaving my house. But I secured it and made sure that I was going to be safe and sheltering in place.

I'm about six blocks away - seven blocks away from it and if I do hobble to the door and I look out my back deck, I see still the plumes of smoke and I can smell the accurate odor of the fumes as well.

HILL: So you can smell it still inside your house as I understand it. You say that you sort of sealed (inaudible) ...

STEVENS: Not inside my house.

HILL: You can't smell it inside, okay.

STEVENS: But then if I go to the back - then if I open up the door and go outside.

HILL: Are you concerned at all. We heard from the director of the health department, the county health department a short time ago. She was talking earlier this morning basically saying, if you can see that smoke, then you're in the smoke and you should evacuate.

STEVENS: Well, again, as I said, I'm immobile right now. But I do have a contingency plan, that if my phone does go off and there is an updated alert, within five minutes I can be out of my residence, and I have the go bag and everything ready for that? GOLODRYGA: Well, please keep us posted as to what you decide to do.

I'm just curious, because we're getting more details about this specific recycling plant. And according to officials there, the owner of this plant had been cited for safety issues in the past. How does that make you feel knowing this is what's happening just a few blocks from your home?

STEVENS: Well, ma'am, I've been a police officer for 37 years and I can attest to the fact that not every time you issue someone a ticket or a citation or warning that they're going to adhere to it and handle it in the professional manner that is expected of them. So I'm surprised yet I'm not surprised.

HILL: Had you ever noticed anything? Whether in your personal life or perhaps when you were on patrol, had you ever had concerns ever been raised for you about this plant. We were told those citations involved debris that was outside.

STEVENS: Actually, over the last - a background, my father worked at that plant for close to 25 years before he retired. And I've been in there a number of times, while it was still a functioning facility, that was a manufacturing facility before it became the business that it is now.

The last time I was in there about seven or eight years ago on a call, the warehouse, the structure was basically empty. It was very much vacant. I don't travel past that particular location on a regular basis. But I started to see a piling up of plastic and other things that would have been refuge. But I never paid attention to it and it was not until yesterday's fire and seeing everything that I came to the full understanding of what the facility had become.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Aaron, as ...

STEVENS: And that did heightened some concern.

HILL: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, I would - and I would imagine you never expected to see what we're seeing now on our television screens. Listen, as a trained police officer, I know I don't have to tell you to be careful and take care of yourself. I know with a hobbled knee that you're at home right now, but if you do need to leave, please do and keep us posted on how you're doing.

STEVENS: I certainly do believe in safety first and I'm not going to put my life at risk any more than what it may have been. But again, I'm taking every precaution right now, even sitting in my house to ensure that I'm not overwhelmed or overcome by any of that. And again, if I do get a alert, an updated alert, I will be out of here within moments.

GOLODRYGA: That is good to know that you have a plan. Aaron Stevens, thank you.

HILL: New numbers out today show inflation dropped for the ninth consecutive month in March. The consumer price index showing the prices rose just 5 percent compared to last year. That's actually down from the 6 percent increase we saw in February and grocery prices also fell for the first time since September of 2020.

As we all know, inflation though does remain stubbornly high. Americans are paying eight and a half percent more for food right now than they were last year. More than 8 percent, eight plus percent as you can see there, more for shelter, energy costs, how about that, that's the good news category down 6.4 percent from 2022.

GOLODRYGA: Okay, whatever good news we can.

HILL: I will take whatever good news there is.

[15:20:07]

GOLODRYGA: Well, still ahead, Ukraine's President vows that his country will not forget anything after video emerges that reportedly shows Russians beheading Ukrainians.

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[15:24:24]

HILL: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is slamming Russian soldiers as beasts after video circulated on social media that apparently show Ukrainian soldiers being beheaded and mutilated. The United Nations monitoring group says the atrocity scene in those videos are not an isolated incident.

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Ukraine.

Ben, needless to say yet another account of a war crime here. What more do we know about these videos?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erica, Bianna, there are two videos. One of them seems to have been shot, but just by the look of the weather, fairly recently.

[15:25:04]

It was purportedly shot in the area of Bakhmut by Wagner mercenaries. Now, what you see in that video is two beheaded corpses of Ukrainian soldiers next to a wrecked military vehicle. It appears also that their hands have been cut off as well.

And the second video seems to have been shot in the summer just by the looks of the foliage around it. It's somewhat blurred but what you do see is a man in uniform using a knife to cut off another man in uniforms head and it appears that that individual is still alive while his head is being cut off.

Now, what we heard President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacting to this video did not hold back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through interpreter):

There are things nobody in the world can ignore, how easily these animals murder. What kind of creatures are they? They don't care about a human being, a son, a brother, a husband, someone's child. This video shows Russia trying to make it a new normal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: Now, the Russian reaction so far has been - Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman saying that after seeing the videos, he said yes, they are terrible but their authenticity has yet to be verified. Now Yevgeny Prigozhin who's the head of the Wagner Group said he saw the videos but he sees no evidence that they were Wagner fighters involved. And, of course, the Ukrainian prosecutors have already launched a war crimes investigation. Erica? Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: President Zelenskyy in that video also vowed that they would never forgive and never forget as well.

Ben Wedeman, thank you.

Well, the U.S. is publicly pushing Russia for a consular visit to see detained journalists Evan Gershkovich. The administration's top hostage official says Biden isn't taking anything off the table to get wrongfully detained Americans like Evan home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER CARSTENS, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOSTAGE AFFAIRS: What I can tell you is that the President of the United States and the Secretary are committed to bringing Evan home and Paul Whelan as well. And we're going to find whatever it takes to get that job done. I wouldn't want to get into the specifics and the pathways of negotiation, to my mind that might decrease our chances to garner that release. But I can tell you that the President's shown time and time again that he's committed and he's willing to make the hard decisions to find ways to bring Americans home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's Kylie Atwood joining us now from the State Department. We understand when officials say why they can only tell us so much and yet, of course, people want to know what is happening. Do we have any better sense of whether there has been any sort of progress here?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, listen, you heard it there from Roger Carstens, a special envoy for hostage affairs, talking about the fact that they are really working at the table right now to try and identify what he called the path to bring Evan home.

And essentially, that is looking at what they can offer when they go to the negotiating table with Russia to try and bring Evan home. But we should reflect on the past experiences of Americans who have been wrongfully detained in Russia. For Trevor Reed, it took almost two years to negotiate a deal for a

prisoner swap to get him home. For Brittney Griner, it took about 10 months. That was a shorter timeline in comparison to some other Americans where it's taken years to negotiate some sort of deal to bring them home.

So if past is precedent, they're not in a situation where this is going to happen overnight. It's going to be quite a process. Of course, one that we will track closely. We should note that President Biden did call Evan Gershkovich's family earlier this week and here's what they said about that phone call in a statement saying, "We appreciate President Biden's call to us today, assuring us that the U.S. government is doing everything in its power to bring him home as quickly as possible. There is a hole in our hearts and in our family that won't be filled until we are reunited."

Now, the other thing as you mentioned in the introduction there is that Evan Gershkovich still hasn't had consular access. He hasn't been able to visit with U.S. diplomats. That's something that the Secretary of State said U.S. officials are pressing for on a daily basis with Russia. We heard from the Russian Foreign Ministry for Foreign Affairs Spokesperson saying that they're working that out in due course and not being very definitive about when that's going to happen, guys?

HILL: We'll be watching. We know you'll keep us updated as well. Kylie, really appreciate it. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: And still ahead for us, fentanyl laced with an animal tranquilizer. Details on the drug that the U.S. is labeling an emerging threat to the country.

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