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Mall Shooting In Allen Texas Kills Eight People; Car Strikes People In Brownsville, Texas Killing Seven; Title 42 And The Migrant Influx At The Border; Russia's Battle For Bakhmut Continues; Verstappen Wins Formula One Grand Prix. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 07, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And, of course, we'll be tuning in for this new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY" with Anderson Cooper, "Shaken: Baby Powder on Trial."

[17:00:02]

That airs tonight at 8:00 right here on CNN. And thank you so much for joining this weekend. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta right now.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. We begin the hour with the latest from two horrific and heartbreaking scenes in Texas. New details are just coming into CNN about the gunman in the deadly shooting at an outlet mall outside of Dallas. Eight people were killed, seven others wounded when a gunman started shooting Saturday afternoon.

Also developing this evening, at least seven people are dead after a car plowed into a group of people outside a homeless shelter in Brownsville, Texas earlier this morning. That shelter has been housing migrants. First, we want to play you the moments leading up to the incident and we should warn you, what you are about to watch is very disturbing.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

Now, we have frozen that video right before the most graphic moment of that footage. The video comes from Congressman Henry Cuellar's office and I'll be speaking with him later on this evening. Let's go now to CNN's Rosa Flores. Rosa, what more do we know about what happened?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to police, seven people are dead and at least six -- excuse me, 10 individuals are in the hospital. Now, police are still going to hospitals to see if there are any other individuals who are injured. Now, from talking to the director of the shelter, he says that at about 8:30 this morning, there were about 20 to 25 migrants who were sitting on the curve across the street from his shelter waiting for a bus. That's what a lot of these migrants do.

They were either going to downtown Brownsville or they were going to their destination in the United States. He says that his video surveillance camera captured the entire incident. This director describes a 2007 Range Rover vehicle driving at a very high rate of speed, running a red light and then hitting the curb about 30 feet from where the migrants were sitting. He says tha at that point this time, the vehicle completely lost control.

Now, the director says that from talking to some of the witnesses -- that he talked to some of the witnesses, he said that those witness said that this was an intentional act. So, I asked the director based on what he witnessed in his surveillance video if he believed that this was an intentional act. And he said, no. He reiterated that what you see in that surveillance video is a vehicle at a very high rate of speed taking a red light and then hitting a curb and that vehicle going out of control.

About the driver, according to Brownsville police, the driver is being uncooperative, giving police multiple names and so police are having to fingerprint this individual for his identifying details. Police have taken a blood sample. They are planning to get toxicology reports on him to figure out if he was on something while he was driving.

Now, the individual has not been identified by police at this time other than this is a Hispanic male. Now, I'm in El Paso, Texas. Right now, I'm here because we're covering a surge of migrants on the U.S. southern border. And if you look around me, you'll see that here in this city -- the city is under a state of emergency, just like Brownsville is.

Here, there are hundreds of migrants on the streets. And just overnight, you will see barricades in front of me because the city of El Paso blocked off the street and they specifically mentioned public safety because as you can see, there's a lot of migrants on the street and a lot of the services are delivered in front of this church.

And so, they were making sure that at least this one street is blocked off for that reason. And Jim, they specifically mentioned, city officials specifically mentioned, that they are asking residents of El Paso and motorists to be very careful as they are driving around this area because they know, and as you can see all around me, there are hundreds of migrants here on the street and it could be very, very dangerous. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Rosa Flores, thank you so much. Another example of just how difficult it has been for these migrants coming to the U.S. and in some cases, very tragic. Rosa, thanks very much for that report.

Now, to the suburb of Allen, Texas. And another warning, some things you're about to see are also disturbing. CNN obtained this photo we're showing you now that appears to show the dead shooter, heavily armed and dressed in tactical gear.

[17:05:00]

A senior law enforcement official and source familiar with the investigation tells CNN that he is 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia. In mere moments, he had killed eight people and wounded seven more. A dashcam video captures the moment the killer hops out of his car and we are pausing it before you see him gun down men, women and children on a busy sidewalk.

A police officer already at the mall on an unrelated call took out the shooter. We have a lot of angles to cover in all of this. CNN's Ed Lavandera isa the scene of this senseless attack. Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis is also with us to lend us his expertise. And CNN's Josh Campbell joins us by phone. Josh, let me go to you first. You have some new reporting on the shooter and some possible extremist motivations. What can you tell us?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yeah, that's right, Jim. I think it's worth pointing out that thus far, the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is the agency we are told is leading this investigation, has essentially been radio silent when it comes to information about the suspect. Obviously, the community there is wanting answers about who this person was.

We've been working our sources and I'm told by a law enforcement source that officials are investigating whether this Texas mall shooter was motivated by right-wing extremism. Now, I'm told that the suspect, who we know, of course, was shot and killed by a brave, heroic police officer there in Texas, likely saving countless other lives, that after the suspect was shot, authorities found that he had some type of insignia on his clothing that read the letter RWDS, which police believe stands for Right Wing Death Squad.

That same type of insignia and patch, RWDS, has been publicly seen by various members of extremist groups at rallies and protests. And so again, authorities are investigating that possible right-wing extremism angle. Now, furthermore, I'm told by a source that investigators have uncovered an extensive social media presence by this Texas shooter.

Now, of course, he is deceased. He can't talk. Authorities will often have to try to fan out and gather as much evidence as they can to try to piece together that motive. What we are learning from the source that as part of that social media presence, authorities have found what are being described as neo-Nazi and white supremist related posts and images that authorities believe that the suspect had shared online.

So, then an extensive social media presence that authorities have been looking at, have been investigating and they have uncovered these neo- Nazi and white supremacist related posts that they believe that the suspect himself had actually posted online.

So, then there are still a lot, obviously, that we don't know about the suspect. Authorities tell us that they haven't zeroed in on one particular motive, but obviously, this is very telling as they are gathering this evidence that you have him with this patch associated with right-wing extremism and this alleged online presence associated with Nazis and white supremacists.

I'm also told from a source that -- and if we take a look at that photo that was obtained by our colleague, Ed Lavandera, from the source at the scene, the photo where you actually see the suspect on the ground, this is after he was shot and killed, you see next to him this AR-15 style weapon. You can also see on his chest that there appear to be multiple additional magazines of ammunition.

And I'm also told by a source that in the suspect's vehicle, authorities recovered multiple firearms. And so again, you have to -- it is chilling to think that, but for that police officer who was there that sprang into action, this obviously could have been much, much worse. But a lot of investigation not yet to be done but we are, through our sources, beginning to learn more about the suspect, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Josh Campbell, thank you very much for that new information. We appreciate it. Let me go to Ed Lavandera. He's on the scene. And Ed, you have more reporting on the police search regarding Garcia. What can you tell us about that?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we went to a neighborhood in Dallas that has an address that we believe is connected to the parents of Mauricio Garcia. We spent several hours there this morning speaking with neighbors. And these details that Josh is reporting on of possible connections to right-wing extremism really would be a shock to the neighbors (inaudible).

You know, many of them did not speak with this family directly. It was very, you know, superficial kind of connections. They mostly would see him in passing and waving. They describe him as someone who was polite. One neighbor did describe he would often see him walking by himself with a hoodie on, head covered, often, no matter how hot it might be there in his neighborhood in Dallas.

But nothing that anyone got any indication that there would be this kind of potential behavior from their neighbor. But several neighbors did tell us it had been several months since he had been living there at home with his parents. So, that's where we were this morning. And here at the crime scene, Jim, you can see the area back into the parking lot of the outlet mall.

[17:10:00]

This is area is still cordoned off where investigators are working. And we have spoken with the source, a witness who was here yesterday when the shooting transpired and gave us a better indication of the gunman's movements, says he arrived here at the outlet mall and began shooting at people. We understand that the shooting took place in very close to in front of the H&M store and then ended at a Fat Burger restaurant.

But we spoke with a witness who was somewhere in the middle of that path, several hundred yards away. And he witnessed this gunman pass right before him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: What did you see the gunman wearing? What did he look like?

BILL MCLEAN, SHOOTING WITNESS: He had on a black windbreaker. He had something written across the back. It looked like a P to start with. He had on a black ammo magazine vest on the front, 30-round type it looked like and he was pretty much in black. LAVANDERA: And the way he moved? You thought it was kind of like --

did he have --

MCLEAN: Well, he wasn't running. He was more like deliberately moving. It's hard to explain except, you know, he was under control.

LAVANDEAR: And did he have his --

MCLEAN: His gun was up and he was actually shooting in front of the store. We heard the shots as he went by shooting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And that gentleman went on to tell us as he was escorted out of the building by law enforcement and eventually passed by the area where the gunman was shot, he did see several bodies there on the ground. And he also told us that it was just moments after he saw the gunman pass by him that it was the police officer who he saw that person pass by the window of the store where they're at, and later presumably gun down this suspect, just several businesses down the path from where they were. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Ed Lavandera, thank you very much for that. Let me go to Ed Davis for his expertise on all of this. Ed, what do you make of this new reporting coming in from Josh Campbell, our Josh Campbell, reporting that a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation is telling CNN that this gunman may have been motivated by right-wing ideology and then may have been active online sharing posts about neo-Nazis and that sort of thing, what does that tell you at this point?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Good afternoon, Jim. What it tells me is that we have still another case of someone who was known to have problems, right, fringe players, whether it be extremism or mental health issues or alcohol issues, and they've decided to activate themselves and get access to very powerful weapons and unlimited amounts of ammunition and decide to go out in a blaze of glory and kill all of these young children.

I saw some of the pictures from the scene and it's heartbreaking to see another tragedy occur and to know that there are indicators. There are lists that can be put together. There are enhanced checks that can be done for people who want to buy this type of equipment. And for a lot of reasons, we are incapable in this country of protecting our own citizens. It's just unconscionable to me.

ACOSTA: And Ed, does it make any sense to you that we are not hearing from law enforcement officials today at a press conference? They are not holding a press conference today. We're having to obtain information about the latest in this investigation from our sources. Does that make any sense to you? I mean, I can't imagine why they would not do it and I can't think of the last time we had a mass shooting like this where you didn't have law enforcement out there the next day giving the media, giving the country and the rest of the world the latest. DAVIS: Right, Jim. It's a very old-fashion response to a major tragedy

like this. This is what used to happen in the '60s and '70s. Over the years, we've learned how important it is to get valid information out to people because if the media doesn't have appropriate and valid information, they start to fill the void with other pieces of information that might not be correct.

And, you know, the community is desperate to find out if they are safe. Believe me, I've been through this in my lifetime. They want to be assured by their public officials that this situation is in hand. So, it really is -- I think it's based on a police department's fear that they're going to say something wrong, it's going to be used against them in the future.

But really, you really have to show leadership here, grab the bull by the horns. Go out there and give the people the valid information that you know exists, even if it's bad news. Because it's -- if you don't do that, it's going to get worse every hour that goes by.

[17:14:56]

ACOSTA: And President Biden put out a statement earlier today detailing that it was an assault-style rifle, an AR-15 style rifle that the gunman used in the shooting in Allen, Texas. How big of a law enforcement problem has this particular firearm become in your view?

DAVIS: It is the weapon of choice for these crazy people that want to kill and maim as many people as they can. And it just makes it easy for them. These are weapons of war. Those rounds tumble whether they hit a human body and they tear it apart. And the pictures that we saw yesterday should be published far and wide.

If the family says it's okay, those pictures should be out there so that people see exactly what happens to someone when these weapons are used. Something has got to be done here. I don't know any other way to get the public motivated and get them out there trying to stop this.

ACOSTA: All right, Ed Davis, former Boston police commissioner, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

DAVIS: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: And joining us now is Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez. He's a Democrat. His district includes Uvalde, Texas where a year ago, this month, a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. Senator, thanks again for being with us. We appreciate it. You played a major role in highlighting the botched police response to the shooting in Uvalde. I'm curious of what you make of the response of Allen.

Police are not having a press conference today. They are not telling the public the latest. We're having to get through our sources what the latest we believe to be in this investigation. And part of which being what Josh Campbell reported just a short time ago, that this gunman may have been motivated by extremist ideology. What's your view on all this? ROLAND GUTIERREZ, TEXAS STATE SENATE: Yeah, Jim. I mean, I'm at a loss

for words quite frankly. You know, we have seen this rodeo before. We saw it in Uvalde. Of course, the lack of transparency there was there to hide all of the failure that happened over the course of that 77- minute response.

My fear is that we don't - we don't know exactly how long it took that police officer to get there. I'm glad he was able to do the work and take down this suspect. But, you know, I also fear that maybe that there's this other more possibly gross motivation by people that are in charge of this thing to change this news story.

The fact is, this was a person that was mentally ill that shouldn't have had these guns. Absolutely, you could have laws that change this from happening, to keep this from happening. I heard several people. I heard Greg Abbott today. I heard Paxton say, oh, there's nothing that we can do. That's ludicrous. I'm just at a loss for words a little bit, Jim, today.

I mean, I just don't understand these Republicans that want to just pray and do absolutely nothing. Our country and our state are burning down because we have these guns in the hands of people that shouldn't have them. It's a chaos that is wholly created by the Republican Party and the NRA. We can stop it and we can stop it now, but we don't have anybody with the political will to do it.

ACOSTA: Let me get to that in just a moment. I want to follow up on that, but it sounds as though, is it not true, Senator, that there was a police officer there at the outlet mall who was there on a different call and sprang into action? Do we know whether or not that might have prevented this from becoming an even worse tragedy than what we saw yesterday?

GUTIERREZ: Well, that's -- yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's no accounting for luck. I mean, we got a little luck yesterday, as sad as that sounds to say that. It could have been tremendously worse had that officer not been on this other call. Listen, I'm glad that he did the job. I'm not here to criticize law enforcement. I have done plenty of that over last year in the terrific and horrific failures that we saw a year ago in Uvalde.

I'm here to figure out why in the world we're not getting any information. The fact is, this was a security guard as what I heard from your network earlier. You know, this guy had a license to be a security guard. We heard Ken Paxton say we need more good guys with guns. He said specifically on Fox News. He said, we need more police and we need more trained security guards.

Wow. I mean, here you have a trained security guard, trained at multiple levels of carrying a weapon and using a weapon, but he was mentally ill, you know, to Abbott's point. We have a mental health crisis. Well, do something about that and do something about having guns in the hands of mentally ill people.

ACOSTA: And as you know, Uvalde and Allen are part of a long list of mass shootings we have seen in Texas in this past decade. Here are just some of them with the number of deaths in parentheses.

[17:20:00]

Barely more than a week ago, nine people were killed in Cleveland, Texas. You know, how much of this comes down just to the prevalence of guns and the general gun culture in Texas? And what about the AR-15? Is there anything that can be done about the AR-15 in Texas or AR-15- style rifles? Is that just not going go anywhere there?

GUTIERREZ: You know, I don't know. We have three weeks left. I'm going to yell from the rafters tomorrow. Absolutely, this gun has been prevalent since 2006, and utilized and sold more. We sell 4 million of these per year in the United States, half of which end up in Mexico. We're arming the cartels. These Republicans like to talk about invading Mexico. Good luck with that. We put all these guns down there.

We've got a lot do here and we've got real solutions to problems. Raising an age limit for instance on access to AR-15s. Closing the gun show loophole. You can go to a gun show in Texas, buy an AR-15 without so much to showing your driver's license. So, I heard a congressman say earlier, there's nothing we can do. That's just ludicrous.

And certainly, we've got to do extreme risk protective orders. Florida did this. Twenty-one days after Parkland, they initiated a massive set of gun bills. You've got Bill Lee in Tennessee telling his congress, hey, we need to do something about extreme risk protective orders.

The fact is, this guy was clearly mentally ill. Clearly had a cache of weapons. You know, don't know who called or could have called the police exactly, but we don't have a law in place in Texas to stop this. This chaos that has ensued is a wholly made and created chaotic situation by the Republicans. More guns does not equal less crime. More guns equals chaos and more guns equals the fact that we are more dangerous in Texas.

ACOSTA: All right, Senator Roland Gutierrez, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

GUTIERREZ: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Coming up, what will it take to end these horrific mass shootings? Fred Guttenberg who lost his daughter in the Parkland High School massacre joins me to talk about his fight for tighter gun laws.

Plus, we are live on the U.S./Mexico border where cities and towns are bracing for a surge of migrants with COVID-era border restrictions expiring this week. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

ACOSTA: (Inaudible) any last-minute change, Title 42 is expected to expire on Thursday. That's the pandemic-era policy that allows border agents to quickly expel migrants to Mexico under the guise of public health. President Biden vowed to reverse it when he took office but instead retained it and expanded it. CNN's Gustavo Valdes joins us now from Juarez, Mexico just across the border from El Paso. Gustavo, thank you for being with us. How serious of an influx might we see in the U.D. once Title 42 expires? Any estimates coming in from officials at this point?

GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, serious enough that officials from both sides of the border are getting ready and they believe there are not enough resources to deal with the influx. I'm a very few meters -- yards from the border. You can see that rusted red color of the border -- the wall.

Then you see all that barbed-wire that was installed in the past few months by the Texas authorities because that's where the migrants were crossing the Rio Grande and just turning themselves to the Border Patrol and that was creating problems in El Paso where it's a problem. Here, there is an encampment. People whose tell me they have been here between two and three months just waiting. Many of them already crossed and were deported.

And now they are expecting the end of Title 42 to be able to cross. This gentleman we were talking to said that he crossed when they heard a rumor that people were being taken into Canada and that created a rush.

(Speaking in foreign language)? When are you going to cross?

UNKNOWN: (Speaking in foreign language)

VALDES: He said that he is waiting for thing, for Title 42 to end. (Speaking in foreign language)? Do you think it's going to be easier to cross?

UNKNOWN: (Speaking in foreign language)

VALDES: And the problem is that they are looking for the app that the government created so they can apply digitally for an opportunity to cross. So, you're not going to cross when the Title 42 ends? (Speaking in foreign language)?

UNKNOWN: (Speaking in foreign language)

VALDES: So, they are waiting for that Title 42 to expire. Another concern we've been listening to this afternoon is what happened in Brownsville, Texas. Everybody here is sharing that video because most of these people are from Venezuela. The victims in Brownsville are from Venezuela. (Speaking in foreign language) Brownsville? What do you think about what happened in Brownsville?

UNKNOWN: (Speaking in foreign language)

VALDES: He says that it's sad. It's another example of the dangers they have that they don't feel protected. And now, so, he thinks it's a result of the lack of organization in the U.S. to deal with this influx of migrants. And, Jim, this is just one of the encampments there in the cities.

There are shelters that have been up to capacity for many, many weeks and months.

[17:30:00]

And they are also believed to be thousands of people hiding in houses. Some people, when they pay a coyote, a human trafficker, to be brought into the states, they have to wait in some kind of house where there are many people in very unsanitary conditions. And that's what the authorities here in Juarez are fearing, that all of a sudden, you're going to have all these people coming out and trying to cross.

And not only that, they are still seeing people arriving by bus, by train and whoever can make it to the border, they just want to cross -- go across the border.

ACOSTA: All right, Gustavo Valdes, thank you very much for that reporting. We appreciate it.

Coming up, Allen, Texas now grieving one of 201 mass shootings in America just this year. Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter, Jamie, died in the Parkland, Florida massacre joins me live next to discuss his fight against gun violence. He has a new book out about it. We'll talk about that as well. That's coming up in just a few moments. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:00]

ACOSTA: Allen, Texas now joins the long list of U.S. cities and towns traumatized by a gunman bent on killing as many people as quickly as possible. So far this year, at least 201 mass shootings have devastated people in this country. Nine of them since Friday. That's according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Our next guest knows the tragedy of these events all too well. He lost his daughter in the 2018 Parkland school shooting. Fred Guttenberg, who has been on this program many times is here in person. Thank you so much for being with us. It's such a privilege to have you here.

You wrote this book, "American Carnage: Shattering the Myths That Fuel Gun Violence" on the mass shooting epidemic in this country. I started going through it today. It's a great read. I can't wait to finish it. A lot of important information in there. But what is your response to this latest massacre in Allen, Texas, killed eight people, and they were just out at a shopping mall on a Saturday?

FRED GUTTENBERG, LOST DAUGHTER JAMIE GUTTENBERG IN 2018 PARKLAND SHOOTING: You know, I'm going to pick up with a prior guest who talked about comments from Ken Paxton saying we just need more security guards and that kind of thing. And it looks like the shooter was actually a trained security guard. Stop listening to the liars. For far too many years, we have listened to people like Ken Paxton who have said, more guns solve problems. It was a lie. They conned America. It's not true.

And listen, my daughter would be 20-years-old in July. SO, looking right now at this problem, the context of her 20-year life, and I just want to go back 20 years. Twenty years ago, we had 200 million weapons in America. We now have over 400 million plus ghost guns. So, we have more than doubled.

And, 20 years ago, AR-15 sales were less than 2 percent of all guns sold. They are now 25 percent. Stop listening to the liars because everything you need to know to understand gun violence is what I just told you. The question is, how did we get here? And it's through all the lies, all the myths, all the BS slogans that we listened to the lobby and their enabled legislators like Ken Paxton tell us that it made Texas now ground zero for this violence. You know --

ACOSTA: It was covered in the last two weekends. Last weekend was Cleveland, Texas, five killed there. This weekend it's Allen, Texas. And let's listen to what this Texas lawmaker said yesterday because I think it gets to one of the other topics you want to get into. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEITH SELF (R-TX): Really, I would like to stay away from the politics today because I want to focus on the victims. Today, we should be focused on the families. Prayer is powerful in the lives of those people that are devastated. And I know people want to make this political, but prayers are important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So that was a congressman in the area who was on with my colleague, Paula Reid. And you know, he was essentially saying what we hear a lot of times after these events, and that is thoughts and prayers.

GUTTENBERG: Yeah, yeah. I am a victim. I am a survivor. My daughter is a victim of gun violence. The second it happens is the time to fight this. Before it happens, during and after. Enough of people thinking we can wish this away, we can think it away, we can pray it away. We have 400 million guns in America. We have doubled -- more than doubled our arsenal in less than 20 years without any regard for public safety in public and private places. Don't listen to people like him. Listen to those whose only incentive is to stop the next one, that's people like me.

ACOSTA: And I have to ask you about this. Texas officials once again have been slow to inform the public on not just the number of the fatalities, but also information about the gunman. We have to go through sources and that sort of thing. This happened during Uvalde where Texas officials were slow to provide information. Any thoughts on that? What's going on?

GUTTENBERG: Yeah. Yeah. Because it would force people to look at policy in Texas, okay. They did the same thing last week after the mass shooting and they said, oh, because the guy was, you know, they wanted to focus on illegal immigration. But they never once asked the question, if in fact that was a factor, how did he get the gun? How did he get the AR-15? It's the only question that mattered last week. It's the only one they didn't ask or answer and they are pulling it again.

[17:39:53]

And you know what? All I can tell you is this. I am so hopeful and optimistic because we have an election coming up in '24, 80 percent of America says they want this problem solved. And if that 80 percent of America shows up and vote, and I think they are going to because they are -- this is resonating. We're going to solve this.

People like Senator Cruz, who also one of the liars, okay. He should get ready to pack. He's got a great challenger in Collin Allred. And I think Collin Allred will be the next senator of Texas and that's how we fix it.

ACOSTA: Let me ask you about your book because I think you were telling me just before the break, you provided a copy to each member of Congress up on --

GUTTENBERG: Yeah.

ACOSTA: Are you allowed to (inaudible). I hope I didn't ruin any surprises (inaudible).

GUTTENBERG: That's right.

ACOSTA: Your book talks about shattering some of the myths --

GUTTENBERG: Yeah.

ACOSTA: -- when it comes to mass shootings and gun violence. Is there a myth that stands out that frustrates you the most?

GUTTENBERG: You know, the very first myth we tackle in the book is who we are as a country. And we as a country for our history, this isn't the way we've been. For the majority of our history, we've actually been a gun safety country. We've been a country that is recognized the right to gun ownership, but also the need for laws to protect public safety.

That changed in '77 when the NRA was taken over by this Harlan Carter guy, and really hit its peak in the late '90s and early 2000s and we've now seen the consequences of it. But we are a country that has respected the rights of gun owners, firearms owners, but also acknowledge the need for safety.

And so, the first myth that really drives me crazy is the idea that if you want to reduce gun violence, your anti-gun, okay, because it's not true. And so that's number one. I'm not anti-gun. I respect gun owners. I have gun owners in my family. I want to reduce gun violence. I hate gun violence.

The other one that drives me crazy because it is personal when it comes to schools. After Sandy Hook, the NRA said for the very first time -- this is not like it's been a part of our history for a long time. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. They said that after Sandy Hook, about four or five days after. They turned Sandy Hook into a gun sales bonanza. That's what they did.

And so, it -- because my daughter was killed five years later in a school from an AR-15, again, it really upsets me. But we put all the facts there, everything is well researched and resourced. The bottom line is, all of their slogans, all of their lies, all of their myths, stop listening to the liars and make sure you vote in '24.

ACOSTA: All right. Fred Guttenberg, thanks for bringing us some truth. Appreciate it.

GUTTENBERG: Thank you my friend.

ACOSTA: All the best to you and your family.

GUTTENBERG: I appreciate it.

ACOSTA: Always thinking about Jamie and we always appreciate when you come on the show. It means so much to us.

GUTTENBERG: Thank you.

ACOSTA: And I'm glad you are doing it in person. Good luck this week. Appreciate it.

GUTTENBERG: Appreciate you.

ACOSTA: All right. Thank you. And make sure you read Fred's book, "American Carnage: Shattering the Myths That Fuel Gun Violence." It's essential reading. And we'll be right back.

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[17:45:00]

ACOSTA: In Bakhmut, Ukraine where Russian forces have been trying to gain control the city for more than nine months now, the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner says his forces may continue the battle after all. CNN's Sam Kiley has more.

SAM KILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, in the ongoing macabre soap opera that is the Russian saga in the battle for Bakhmut, the latest part of this drama is that Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Private Military Company, as he likes to call himself, the mercenary organization, has gone back on his threat to withdraw his troops from the city on May 10th and hand over to Chechens under the command of Kadyrov, and that is because he is saying he (inaudible) now being promised the ammunition that up until now he was claiming that the Russian Ministry of Defense had been denying him.

Now, all of this is part of a mysterious ongoing spat that he has with the Ministry of Defense inside Russia. He is frequently complaining and very publicly critical of the leadership of the Russian generals. He has recently recruited former Russian generals. But I think that really this is something of a distraction because as far as the Ukrainians are concerned, they have been delighted if the Wagner Group had left and had to be replaced because it would have left a period of vulnerability in that very bloody fight for a town that the Ukrainians say they are happy to kill Russians in.

But as far as they are concerned, doesn't really have any strategic interest or advantage. Unlike their preparations for what they say is a planned summer offensive. All eyes are on the Ukrainians to see where and how this offensive may begin. There's a lot of speculation that it might get underway in the south, perhaps with the attempt at liberating the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant there.

There have been reports from the Russian side or the Russian-held areas of Ukraine of mass evacuations, of looted goods, of civilians and indeed, of some military elements particularly from the city of Melitopol appearing on social media and being claimed by elements within the Ukrainian administration. Now, that would be a sign that the Russians are expecting something, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Sam Kiley, thanks very much for that report. We'll be right back.

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ACOSTA: It's been a big weekend for all kinds of races with the Kentucky derby yesterday and now, today, the Formula One Miami Grand Prix as CNN's Don Riddell joins us now. Don, how was it down there? How did it go?

DON RIDDELL, CNN HOST, WORLD SPORT: Yeah. Well, it was a great day for Red Bull who absolutely dominate Formula One these days, Jim. They finished first and second for the fourth time out of five races this year. This is only the second time the Miami Grand Prix has been run, and as you can see, it's a really fun circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium where the Miami Dolphins play.

And nobody loves this event more than Red Bull's driver, Max Verstappen. He had a bit of a setback in qualifying on Saturday, which meant he had to stop for nine from the grid, but he just gobbled up every car in front of him, including his teammate there, Sergio Perez. He got past him in the 48th flat and held on to take the checkered flag for the third time out of five this season. Verstappen is the two-time defending world champion and he is just unstoppable.

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MAX VERSTAPPEN, TWO-TIME MIAMI GP CHAMPION: Yesterday was, of course, a bit of a setback. But today we just got the calm, get the clean, and yeah, for sure, winning a race from being nine is always very satisfying. SERGIO PEREZ, FINISHED SECOND IN MIAMI GP: I gave it all, you know. I

think, yeah, the first thing was really poor with the rain that we had on that initial pace. And that compromised for a lot of the race because we didn't have too much of a difference in time. So -- and Max was particularly (inaudible) so, well deserved win for him.

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RIDDELL: So, Max is now 14 points clear at the top of the driver standings. It was a star-studded affair, Jim. I saw Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Russell Crowe, Vin Diesel were there. And this race just represents the continuing love affair that the American race fans have with Formula One. Three races for the first time in the U.S. this year. That was Miami, Austin and Las Vegas. A new race will come later this year.

ACOSTA: All right. Americans are catching on, no question about it. All right, Don Riddell, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

A quick programming note to our viewers. Get ready to relive the decade of social media, social movements, Peak T.V. and major political events. The new "CNN Original Series: The 2010s" premieres tonight at 9:00 on CNN. We'll be right back.

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