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CNN International: Police Release Body Camera Footage from Mass Shooting; IRS Agent Alleges Political Interference in the Investigation of Hunter Biden; Death Toll Kramatorsk Restaurant Strike Rises to 12; Ukrainian Military Claims Gains Around Bakhmut; U.S., U.K. and Norway Condemn Violence in Sudan; Parts of Latin American Experiencing Heat and Drought. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired June 29, 2023 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Texas police have released the body camera footage from an officer who confronted and killed a mass shooter last month. Eight people including two young children died in the attack at an outlet mall in a Dallas suburb. Law enforcement sources tell CNN the shooter may have been involved in right-wing extremist groups. Josh Campbell walks us through the video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: A police officer in the city of Allen, Texas is being credited with potentially saving additional lives after a suspected white supremacist opened fire at an outlet mall last month killing eight people. In new edited body camera released by authorities, you see that officer interacting with a family. He's on a separate call when the shots ring out. I warn you this is disturbing.
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Make sure y'all be good OK. And make sure you wear your seatbelts when mommy's driving. OK, you understand? OK?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: All right. Now you be good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And detective.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says, always stay --
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Seatbelt.
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: 1.45, I think we've got shots fired at the outlet mall. They're moving away from me. 1.45, I think we've got a mass shooter. I've got a mass shooting on the ground.
Drop it! Drop it!
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: I'm passing injured.
CAMPBELL: Now that officer eventually chased after the shooter around the corner of that mall, engaging in a shoot out. Here is the moment where police take down the mass shooter.
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: Down, bro. (EXPLETIVE DELETED). (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
Stay on the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) ground! Stay on the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) ground! (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You good? You got him?
UNIDENTIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: We got him!
CAMPBELL: Now take a look at this photo. This was obtained by CNN from a source at the scene. You can see on the suspect's chest additional rounds of ammunition. Of course, if it weren't for that law enforcement springing into action, that shooter would've likely continued the rampage, potentially killing countless others.
Josh Campbell, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Prominent Republicans are now pressing the U.S. Justice Department for answers in the Hunter Biden tax case after some IRS investigators allege that political interference was -- in pursuing the case. Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to owing back taxes and to firearms violation. But a veteran IRS agent who handled the investigation claims the president's son got off easy. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham is amongst those now demanding to know if the agent's allegations are true. CNN's Jessica Schneider has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY SHAPLEY, IRS AGENT WHO INVESTIGATED HUNTER BIDEN: If this was any other person, they'd likely would have already served their sentence.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gary Shapley is talking about Hunter Biden. The 14-year IRS veteran who once oversaw the investigation into his taxes is now claiming he was blocked from pursuing leads connected to the president.
SHAPLEY: There are certain investigative steps we weren't allowed to take that could have led us to President Biden.
JIM AXELROD, CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE AND SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CBS NEWS: And you wanted to take them?
SHAPLEY: We needed to take them.
AXELROD: And you weren't allowed to take them?
SHAPLEY: That's correct.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): President Biden was questioned Wednesday on the White House lawn about whether he was involved or aware of a text Hunter allegedly sent to a Chinese business partner in 2017.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How involved were you in your son's Chinese shakedown text message? Were you sitting there? Were you involved?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I wasn't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you?
BIDEN: No!
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Shapley told House lawmakers that Hunter Biden tried to use his father as leverage to pressure a Chinese company into paying him.
I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled.
Shapley testifying that Hunter's text continued.
I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.
But the president insistent he knew nothing about these messages. U.S. Attorney David Weiss was appointed by Donald Trump and has overseen the investigation into Hunter Biden, dating back to 2018. Last week, Hunter reached a deal with prosecutors. He agreed to plead guilty for failure to file his 2017 and 2018 taxes, and he also admitted to a firearm charge that Weiss agreed not to prosecute in exchange for Hunter entering a two-year pre-trial diversion program.
HUNTER BIDEN, AMERICAN ATTORNEY, JOE BIDEN'S SON: I can say this, I'm cooperating completely.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): If a judge signs off on the deal, Hunter will not serve jail time. But Shapley now claims Weiss was blocked from bringing more robust charges. It's a claim Attorney General Merrick Garland denied at a press conference Friday.
MERRICK GARLAND, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: He was given complete authority to make all decisions on his own.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Shapley says his contemporaneous notes from an October meeting last year show differently.
[04:35:00] Where he says he documented remarks from the U.S. Attorney. Weiss stated that he is not the deciding person on whether charges are filed.
SHAPLEY: I documented exactly what happened and it doesn't seem to match what the Attorney General or the U.S. Attorney are saying today. It was just shocking to me.
SCHNEIDER: Attorney General Merrick Garland has said he would support U.S. attorney Weiss testifying about these claims of political interference from a whistleblower. And House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said they want Weiss to come in a soon as July six. In the meantime, our team has obtained a letter from Weiss to House judiciary chair Jim Jordan, where Weiss insists that he had ultimate authority over the Hunter Biden probe.
Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Opening arguments are scheduled for Friday in the sex assault trial for actor Kevin Spacey. Spacey has been seen leaving court after Wednesday's hearing when the jury was formally sworn in, and the charges against him were read allowed. The case rests on the allegations of four men who accuse Spacey of indecent and sexual assault beginning more than 20 years ago. Abuse that allegedly continued years afterwards, one Spacey became artistic director of London's Old Vic Theater. Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. The trial expected to last about a month.
Up next, Ukraine's president says an arrest has been made after a deadly attack on a restaurant in Kramatorsk. Will have the latest next.
Plus, many Latin American countries are experiencing record high temperatures and droughts. Quick details after the break.
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FOSTER: Turning now to Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a coordinator of the attack on a restaurant in Kramatorsk is now in custody. The missile strike on Tuesday is the deadliest attack against civilians in months. At least 12 people were killed. Mr. Zelenskyy didn't give any specific details on who was detain, only that the person will be charged with treason.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:40:00]
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today the secret service of Ukraine, together with the police special forces detained the person who coordinating this terrorist attack. They struck a cafe in Kramatorsk, a popular pizzeria.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: Authorities say, three teenagers were amongst those killed, including these 14-year-old twin sisters. Dozens of others were injured in the attack, including a baby.
Ukraine's president says a small group of Wagner mercenary fighters still remain in eastern Ukraine but are not posing a threat. His comments coming as heavy fighting continues along parts of the frontline. CNN's Ben Wedeman has more on the battle grinding on around the eastern city of Bakhmut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the woods outside the Russian occupied town of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian crew of a Soviet era self-propelled gun prepares to open fire. Cleaning the barrel, getting the grounds ready, and then the order to fire comes through the radio.
WEDEMAN: This counter offensive is just over. So far, the Ukrainians are only inching forward taking a small village here in a slice of territory there.
WEDEMAN (voice over): Here still a grinding war of attrition for the troops of their 57 Motorized Infantry Brigade. Small advances followed by crushing counter attacks. But most of the time, they hunker down under cover and wait.
When we have targets, we fire fast and precise, says the gun commander whose call sign is Diesel. We hit infantry tanks, vehicles, but most of all, infantry.
Their targeting is held by the brigades' drone operators. This drone video shows a successful strike on Russian troops on the edge of Bakhmut, but these eyes in the sky can fall victim to friendly fire. That gunfire from nervous troops trying to shoot down their own drone.
Here they heard about the brief mutiny led by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and shrugged it off.
I said from the start, it's a lie says drone operator Zaporizits (ph). It was theater.
Their more immediate concern, getting enough ammunition, crates and freshly manufactured 152-millimeter rounds from Pakistan are strewn about near the gun.
Battery commander, Constantine Shakoor (ph), Satan, says he'll believe there's a counteroffensive when he sees it.
Until we take a major town or get a tactical advantage he tells me, there is no counter offensive.
Here believing is seen. The only certainty, the war goes on.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, near Bakhmut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Sudan's warring parties marked the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday with renewed fighting, breaking a cease-fire that both sides had promised. Residents say airstrikes and antiaircraft fire rang out at the capital on Wednesday. Sudan's army was targeting the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group who had captured this police headquarters building in southern Khartoum on Sunday.
The increased fighting as driving more people to flee. Already some 650,000 people have fled to neighboring countries. The U.S., the, U.K. and Norway are condemning the violence saying there has been increased ethnic violence in Darfur and other southern states. They blame most of it on a paramilitary RSF and their allied militia in the region. Norway's ambassador to Sudan and Eritrea, says the situation on the ground is a living nightmare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ENDRE STIANSEN, NORWEGIAN AMBASSADOR TO SUDAN AND ERITREA: It is not that coordinated, even though there are links between the different groups. So you have, you know, a situation that is approaching unlucky, but it's maybe if the word chaos is better. But you have groups that go after each other, and using what these groups do when they're fighting a war. And that is everything at their disposal, including sexual violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well Norway's ambassador is asking Sudan's neighbors And the African Union to step up pressure on the rebel forces and keep them from obtaining new weapons.
Several countries in Latin America are dealing with record high temperatures in Mexico. Health officials report that more than 100 people have died due to the heat since the beginning of March. And dearly 1,600 others have been treated for heat related problems as well. Along with the heat, parts of Latin America are also experiencing severe drought. CNN's Rafael Romo has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[04:45:00]
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Boats that used to be on water are now lying on grass. Residents can now walk where there used to be able to swim. This is Alajuela Lake which serves as a reservoir for the Panama Canal.
There used to be boats right here where we are, this nearby resident says. Water came this far.
A severe drought has forced authorities in Panama not only to implement water saving measures but also to impose restrictions on cargo ships crossing the key global trade route.
ROMO: Panama is the latest example of countries in Latin America having to deal with severe drought conditions. A report published by the European Commission states that precipitation deficits, above average temperatures and recurrent heat waves are causing one of the worst droughts in decades in the region.
ROMO (voice-over): In the fall of 2021 and the spring of the following year, low water levels at the Parana River, which flows for nearly 4,900 kilometers, 3,000 miles through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina caused cargo ships to stop delivering goods.
CHASE HARRISON, AMERICAS SOCIETY/COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS: The situation in Argentina is unprecedentedly bad. We're having the worst drought conditions in 75 years, and we're seeing those conditions exist in neighboring countries as well. Chile having the worst drought conditions in 50 years, and Uruguay having the worst drought conditions in 80 years.
ROMO (voice-over): Mexico is now recovering from a late spring heat wave, and last summer, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declared an emergency in the northern state of Nuevo Leon due to lack of water, a situation that experts believe aggravated conditions that helped push many Mexicans to leave their country.
HARRISON: So if we have large-scale movements of peoples from one place to another, it is going to put a strain on the social services of those countries. It's also just going to create economic dead areas in some of these countries where there cannot be business.
ROMO (voice-over): An analysis by Grow Intelligence published in 2021 concluded that Mexico's corn crop is threatened by the country's most widespread and intense droughts in nearly a decade and high-corn markets are likely to transmit the shockwaves worldwide.
Back in Panama, the government agency that manages the canal-imposed drought restrictions, meaning cargo ships with a very low hole can' t transit which may slow the delivery of goods, worldwide.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Madonna is postponing her world tour after a serious health scare. In an Instagram post Madonna's longtime manager confirmed the pop singer is recovering from a serious bacterial infection, which landed her and the intensive care unit for several days. Here is CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: So if somebody is coming into the emergency department, and they are unresponsive -- as it sounds like Madonna was when she showed up -- and they're suspected to have a bacterial infection. You first want to stabilize the individual. We would first want to make sure that they are breathing and supported. If they have low pressure from sepsis and overwhelming infection, you want to support their blood pressure. And you also want to start broad-spectrum antibiotics that would cover a whole range of organisms in case they are what is causing the infection.
Then you start looking for the source. The source could be a skin infection, soft issue infection, that then spread to the rest of the body. It could originate from the kidneys. It could originate from the lungs by way of pneumonia. It could be appendicitis or gallbladder infection or something in the belly. So, there are all kinds of infections that could then spread to the bloodstream and unfortunately lead to this level of illness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, the 64-year-old Grammy winner was due to launch her 43- city celebration tour next month. According to her manager, Madonna is expected to make a full recovery, but she remains under medical care for the time being.
After nearly two years, Simone Biles may be returning to gymnastics. Coming up, how the seven-time Olympic medalist is signaling she make it ready to compete again.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Welcome back. U.S. gymnastics superstar Simone Biles might be returning to competition. The 26-year-old is on the list of gymnasts taking part in the U.S. classic event in August in Illinois. The seven-time Olympic medalist hasn't competed since 2021. She withdrew from the four individual women's finals at the Tokyo games, citing mental health issues. The sports governing body says registering for the U.S. classic doesn't necessarily guarantee participation though.
The Chicago Blackhawks are looking forward to a bright future with a number one pick in the NHL draft. He is 17-year-old Connor Bedard. Hockey scouts predict the Canadian center will be a generational talent. Bedard led the Western Hockey League this past season in goals and in points. He is the first player in the Canadian Hockey League's history to win player of the year, top prospect and top scorer.
History being made with the routine final play in Major League Baseball. The New York Yankees pitcher, Domingo German, through the league's 24th perfect game last night beating the Oakland Athletics 11 to 0. He is the first MLB player to pitched to perfection since 2012 and the fourth Yankee to accomplish the feat. German faced 27 batters, never giving up a hit, error or a walk. He dedicated the game to an uncle who passed away just days ago.
And stories in the spotlight this hour. Singer Luis Capaldi is taking a break from touring. The 26-year-old singer has been struggling with Tourette's syndrome. The neurological disorder causes involuntary movements and sounds.
[04:55:00]
The announcement follows a difficult performance at the Glastonbury Festival in England over the weekend. A documentary about his diagnosis and living with the syndrome was released by Netflix in the spring.
Singer Taylor Swift is one of nearly 400 new artists and executives invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Even though Swift has never been nominated for an Oscar, she'll be eligible to vote for the annual Academy Awards. Though being nominated isn't a requirement for membership. Other invitees include Academy Award nominees Stephanie Hsu and Austin Butler, as well as Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan, and the composer and singer and songwriter for last year's best original song, from film RRR.
Now the model Chrissy Teigen and her husband John Legend had just welcomed a new addition to their family -- a baby boy. Teigen broke the news on Instagram. She says her son was born with the help of a woman named Alexandra, whom she called the most incredible loving, compassionate surrogate, they could ever imagine. Teigen herself gave birth to a daughter Esty, just five months ago. She and husband John have two other children.
Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans is up next.
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