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Mass Shooting In The U.S.; Kemp Condemns Attacks On Public Safety Resources; More Than 100 Million Under Severe Weather Threat Today. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 02, 2023 - 15:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Some frightening moments at an IndyCar event in Ohio this weekend. Watch this.

[VIDEO CLIP PLAYS].

SANCHEZ: This is driver, Simon Pagenaud rolling his car seven times through the gravel before it comes to rest on its side. Just watch that. Unbelievably, he walks away from this unharmed.

The 2019 Indy 500 winner said his brakes failed, while he was hitting speeds at about 180 miles an hour. Pagenaud was evaluated and released. You see him walking away there. He is still not cleared yet though to compete. He will miss the qualifying. Lucky to walk away from that.

[15:00:41]

Good afternoon. Buenas tardes.

Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Boris Sanchez, in for Fredricka Whitfield. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin in Baltimore where we're about to get an update from officials any moment following a horrific mass shooting.

Investigators say at least two people were killed, more than two dozen injured all while folks were enjoying a block party in a Baltimore neighborhood. Officials are now vowing to bring those responsible to justice.

You're looking at live pictures of the microphone set up where this press conference is set to begin, again at any moment, but first, we want to turn it over to CNN's Gloria Pazmino who is on the scene not far from where the shooting took place.

Gloria, walk us through the details. What we know about how all of this unfolded?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, and we have our eye on that update, which is happening just about a block away from where I'm standing right now and there are several outstanding questions for officials including whether or not they have been able to determine whether there is a suspect or multiple suspects. But first, let me tell you about what was unfolding right here in this Baltimore neighborhood last night when shots rang out. It was supposed to be a very familiar scene, something we're seeing all across the country right now.

People were gathered for a block party. People were having a cookout, gathering celebrating the holiday weekend, and that is when police say that shots rang out shortly after midnight.

Tragically, two young people are dead, including an 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man, and dozens more were injured in the chaos. They are recuperating at local area hospitals.

Now we've been here on the scene for a few hours, and I have been watching as police officials are still combing the area, going little by little, every step around the sidewalk, in the glass here collecting evidence, talking to people.

The mayor and local elected officials have also been here talking to people who live here. This is a public housing complex, and the mayor told us earlier this morning that this is a community that has been through a lot in recent years. But for that same reason, they have also done a lot of work and they've come very, very far.

And so they celebrate that, that is what they were doing here last night. Because they've made progress in recent years, the mayor is pleading with residents here to come forward and share any information they might have about this incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT (D), BALTIMORE: I want the parents and the brother and the sister and the children of the people who pulled the trigger to be the ones to say "they did this" because we all have to treat this incident like it was our own family members who lost their lives, who was shot in this incident. That is how we should be treating this incident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, while we wait for an update from law enforcement officials, we have watched as police and people from the mayor's office have been out in the neighborhood, they have been distributing letters, encouraging people to come forward and also letting them know that there are resources available to talk about what happened -- Boris.

SANCHZE: Gloria Pazmino live from Baltimore. Please keep us up to speed on what you are seeing there, and we'll get back to you, of course, when that press conference begins.

Another mass shooting to update you on now. This one in Wichita, Kansas. Officials there say that seven people were shot and wounded inside a nightclub. Two others were injured when they were trampled as the crowd tried to flee.

Officials say that a quick police response likely prevented more violence and saved lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JOE SULLIVAN, WICHITA POLICE DEPARTMENT: If it hadn't been for their professional response, this would have been a much more serious incident, and I have no doubt there would have been loss of life and as we continue into this holiday weekend, again, alcohol and firearms do not mix.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Police say they have detained one person for questioning though they have not publicly identified any suspects.

[15:05:00]

Meantime in Atlanta, police there say that they discovered several incendiary devices after an overnight fire burned multiple police motorcycles at the department's training academy.

Officials tell CNN, emergency crews found the motorcycles in flames in the academy parking deck around 2:00 AM. Crews found these incendiary devices only after the fires were put out.

Officials didn't give any details as to the specifics of what kind of devices they were. It is also unclear exactly what motivated these incidents.

I want to discuss more about this with Vince Velazquez. He's a retired homicide detective in Atlanta, and the host of "ATL Homicide."

Sir, thank you so much for being with us this weekend.

Did you ever encounter anything like this during your time at the department? How rare is this?

VINCE VELAZQUEZ, RETIRED HOMICIDE DETECTIVE IN ATLANTA: Typically what we see is during protests or like demonstrations, it's overt. We saw the protests in the summer of 2020 where people were plainly seen throwing Molotov cocktails. I've never seen one we even call some domestic terrorism sabotage where police vehicles are set on fire overnight in the cover of darkness.

So this is something new to me. I've never seen this before.

SANCHEZ: Notably, it wasn't the only incident overnight in which police vehicles were damaged. Officers found three vandalized police vehicles belonging to the department's Path Force Unit.

Obviously, both incidents are under investigation. It's unclear whether they are related, but in your view, I'm wondering how likely you think it is that these incidents are linked?

VELAZQUEZ: I think, it is very likely. I mean, I worked homicide for 17 years, and you have to follow the evidence and sometimes coincidence leads to connections. I would be very surprised if these two incidents weren't connected. And one has to ask, you know, the question with all of the protests that we've been having to defund and to stop cop city here at the new training academy that's being built, one will have to think, could these two incidents that happened last night be related to those protests or those protesters?

I think Homeland Security, ATF, Atlanta Police are all doing a great job investigating this, and I think in short time, we're going to have some answers as far as who may be responsible for this.

SANCHEZ: Yes, obviously, it speaks to the environment and the tension between police and those protesters, the ongoing protests over the facility that has been described as cop city.

Could you describe for us what it's like being there right now with this point of contention, kind of underlying the relationship between members of the community and members of law enforcement.

VELAZQUEZ: I mean, the tensions are high. I talked to a colleague that still works in in the department, and everyone is being tasked to do a detail at the site where this new facility is going to be constructed, as a security detail.

It is high stakes. We've already had a shooting that took place where an officer was shot, and unfortunately, a protester was shot and killed. So the tensions are high.

The ideology is what it is. Some will agree, some won't agree with it, but you have to understand that training with everything that is going on his country, we are trying to make sure that police officers are operating in a space that is legal and they are following policy, and they are doing what they're supposed to do.

A training academy, a state-of-the-art training academy, in my opinion, is 100 percent needed. Obviously, there are people in this community who think otherwise, and I'd be very surprised to see if these two incidents, the burning of the motorcycles in the other police vehicles are not connected in some way to some of these protesters protesting against cop city.

SANCHEZ: All right, you alluded to some of the anger and the hesitation among the protesters to have this training facility installed in sort of that area of Atlanta, what is your message to those folks who believe that in recent years, we've seen an uptick in police brutality and who believe that the methods in which police engage with certain members of the community need to change?

VELAZQUEZ: One hundred percent. I mean, no argument from me or any of the people that I know that work, law enforcement, things need to change, things are changing, and they still need to continue to change.

Training, sensitivity, de-escalation tactics -- all of those things will be employed and taught at this training academy. There is a mock city where officers can go and do role play and actually practice and make mistakes. That's the place you make mistakes. The place you do not make a mistake is when you're by yourself, and you're untrained and you do something, someone gets killed and you violate policy and you violate the law. So 100 percent, this is something that is much needed.

[15:10:03]

In early May of 2023, just two months ago, we had a mass shooting here at a clinic, and the contingent law enforcement showed up to deal with that mass shooter at a clinic who was on the run and armed speaks to the training and the dedication that these officers had. That facility will help train those officers to make them better.

SANCHEZ: Vince Velazquez, we appreciate you sharing your perspective with us. Thanks so much.

VELAZQUEZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

We are still standing by for the Baltimore Police to give us an update on a deadly mass shooting overnight. We will take you to Baltimore, as that press briefing starts.

And still ahead, before you make any Fourth of July plans, be aware, there is dangerous heat and severe storms that are threatening millions across the country. We're going to focus on the hardest hit areas when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:00]

SANCHEZ: New today, heavy rain is creating dangerous conditions for many this holiday weekend.

Take a look at this flash flooding in Chicago, submerging multiple cars on I-55. Portions of that road and another interstate were shut down as floodwaters moved in. Fortunately, I-55 has since been reopened, but the National Weather Service is asking people to limit their travel.

A scheduled NASCAR event on the city streets and a Chicago Cubs game are now delayed because of these conditions.

And this flooding in Chicago right now is part of a storm system that has millions at risk of severe weather this holiday weekend. You see all of that yellow in the center of the map.

From the Rockies to the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys, people are expecting damaging winds, hail, and potential tornadoes as well today. It comes as dangerous heat continues for some 63 million people along the Gulf Coast.

Meteorologist, Allison Chinchar has been following this from the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta. She filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Boris.

Over a hundred million people are under the threat for severe weather for today across two separate areas. However, the threats remain the same.

We are talking damaging winds, the potential for some hail and we cannot rule out the possibility for some tornadoes.

We're talking cities like Nashville, Louisville, stretching over to Washington, DC, and even down towards Atlanta. There is also the potential for some flooding because a lot of these areas had rained yesterday, and now, we are getting it all over again, especially portions of the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic.

But even areas of the southeast are still likely to pick up some additional rain showers today, and then, all of this begins to shift a little bit further eastward for tomorrow.

So still dealing with some areas of rain across the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic and down to the Southeast, but we also have a separate area here across the Midwest for Monday. But the threats themselves remain the same, still talking damaging winds and hail to be the main threat.

Another concern going forward is actually going to be the heat not just for today, but really over the next several days in two different areas of the country, one across the Southeast, where we have heat advisories in effect and some excessive heat warnings out to the West.

This is where temperatures could exceed the 110s or even possibly get into the 120s especially across Death Valley. Temperatures here are expected to continue to rise into Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, even stretching as far north as Oregon and Washington where we do have the potential to break some records.

In fact, Boris, over 30 cities have the potential to break some records, not just maybe today and tomorrow, but well into Tuesday and Wednesday of the upcoming week as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

So Vice President Pence is now responding to reports that Donald Trump pressured him to call Arizona's then-governor to find evidence of election fraud in that state. They never found any. But still, we're going to bring you the details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:16]

SANCHEZ: We want to go straight to Baltimore where we are going to hear from police officials after a mass shooting this weekend. Let's listen. ACTING COMMISSIONER RICHARD WORLEY, BALTIMORE POLICE: ... victims on scene. One victim, adult female was pronounced deceased on the scene. Nine additional victims were transported from the scene to local hospitals. Shortly after, 20 additional victims walked in to local and regional hospitals with various injuries.

Currently, we are still at 30 victims. Ages range from 13 to 32. Nine victims remain at area hospitals in various conditions, two victims have been pronounced deceased.

Our hearts and prayers continue to go out to the families friends, this community, and our city as a whole.

Our officers continue to scour the large -- very large crime scene. We have assistance from our federal, state, and local partners. We've been on the phone with them all day. They've been providing resources, anything that they could get us to help.

And I ask anyone with information, please call 911 or Metro Crimestoppers at 8667-LOCKUP.

At this time. I'll turn it over to Mayor Scott.

MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT (D), BALTIMORE: Thank you, Mr. Commissioner.

I want to thank our BPD. I want to thank MONSE, all of our city agencies, our senate president, our councilmen, our council president, our federal and state partners would have been here with us.

I want to reiterate what I said this morning, that this was a reckless, cowardly act of violence that has taken two lives and altered many, many more.

And as I said earlier, we will find those who are responsible, and we will not stop until we do so. Again, this tragic incident is another glaring, unfortunate example of the deep issues of violence in Baltimore, in Maryland, in his country, and particularly gun violence and the access to illegal guns.

This year alone, the Baltimore Police Department has seized 1,345 illegal guns that were in the hands of people that should not have them, that had them anyway, because they are so easy for them to obtain.

We will continue to hold those individuals who carry those weapons, who use those weapons in acts of violence like this one that we saw today, accountable, but we need accountability at every level, from those who are selling and trafficking those weapons into Baltimore from places outside of our state, to companies who manufacture guns in a way that skirt gun laws in our country, and we also need community responsibility as well.

We have to be better for us as Baltimore, we need to say when we know people, especially young people are carrying these weapons because we have a responsibility to ourselves that goes beyond what any government agency has to us and we are asking again that anyone that knows anything about this mass shooting and that is what I wanted to call this, a mass shooting, we want this shooting to be treated just as it happened in rural America.

[15:25:13]

We want everyone to come forward and say, treat this as it your daughter, your son, your brother, your cousin that was out here shot at this event.

We must come together as Baltimore and wrap our arms around this broken community and each other. But again, as I said earlier, we have to be better for ourselves.

I'm going to quickly now turn it over to our mayor's office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement acting director, Stefanie Mavronis.

STEFANIE MAVRONIS, CHIEF OF STAFF, MAYOR'S OFFICE OF NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY AND ENGAGEMENT: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I'm here today just to say my office stands in solidarity with the community in the aftermath of this horrific event. My agency as of 12:00 PM today has stood up a coordinated Neighborhood Stabilization Response in this community. We will be having a presence focused on healing resources, coordinating city agency and community based partner presence here.

We have a number of agencies that I want to say thank you for being here and community-based partners who have expressed their willingness to step in and play a role.

I want to give a special shout out to the Red Cross who is providing water and food for some of the residents who were affected in this immediate area.

We also were putting a priority in these immediate hours after this incident on mental health clinicians and response. And so, we want to make sure that we are able to help facilitate the healing process for this community.

As some of you may know, our coordinated Neighborhood Stabilization Response means we'll have a presence in this community in partnership with many city agencies over the next 45 days. And so we are going to have a sustained presence here. We really appreciate the partnership from everyone so far and the community and look forward to being here.

SCOTT: Mr. President?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to reiterate what the mayor said, I think, when we look at this from a federal, state, and local partnership, I'd like to thank all those involved -- who had been involved and working around the clock.

What we understand and know is that this indiscriminate, callous reckless behavior by a few caused this tremendous amount of trauma to hundreds, and particularly our vulnerable adults in this community, our children -- they deserve better. The one thing I'll ask as my heart continues to ache for not only this community, but for those who would have been impacted is for folks who have information, come forward. Don't just rely on the Baltimore Police Department and our federal partners to solve this crime.

These are events that are about celebration, about coming together, that are intergenerational, and should be sacred to our communities. And when a few decide to go and literally create a mass shooting, it is completely unacceptable, and I ask folks in our community to step up, whether they are your sons, your son's friends, your neighbors, folks that you know online, information that you think you might have, please ensure that you do the right thing, particularly for the victims who have lost their lives and their families who will forever be impacted by this particular day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Commissioner, and Mr. President.

First and foremost, I want to say to the to the families in Brooklyn, I'm sorry. You should never ever, ever have to face something like this.

This is a societal problem that we're dealing with -- a mass shooting where a disagreement turns into 28 people shot. This is insanity.

This cannot -- cannot -- be the society that we are expected to live in. We have to do better.

We've done what we've could at the state level to try and find ways for it to be harder to get guns into people's hands, but this is the problem with too many guns in too many hands of people that make life and death decisions.

It is not okay. Something has to give.

This isn't how I anticipated this Sunday. For the 28 families that were directly impacted, I am so unbelievably sorry; to the hundreds that witnessed it and who will forever be changed, I'm sorry. And for the thousands and thousands of Marylanders who on this day will have to think about the mass shooting that occurred here in Baltimore, this isn't sustainable. Something has to give.

I stand here as a representative of the state, saying that the state is in partnership and in conversation with the governor to provide the resources necessary so that no community has to deal with what we're dealing with here today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you everyone, for being here.

I'm infuriated. I'm angry that this is how I'm spending my Sunday on a holiday weekend. Brooklyn has forever and always been a neglected community. This is not the time for us to forget them now. This is a time for us to come together and stand in solidarity with them and also provide the necessary resources from the local, state, and federal level.

I won't stop fighting for my communities and we cannot stop now. Thank you.

[15:30:09]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we are going to start with questions. I am going to call on folks. We're going to start with our local media, "The Baltimore Sun," if you are here.

REPORTER: I am wondering how many victims (INAUDIBLE) were hurt?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From anyone. I'm sorry.

WORLEY: What was the question?

SCOTT: I believe the age is 18.

WORLEY: We believe it was around 14. We're still confirming ages of everyone. We have some tentative ages and dates of birth on some so right around 14.

REPORTER: Oh, and I was also told that there was no police presence at this (INAUDIBLE) Brooklyn (INAUDIBLE).

WORLEY: Sure, that is what we're trying to investigate. This was an unpermitted event. So our job now is to figure out when we locate -- when we figured out that this was occurring, what our officers did, and if we made mistakes, we'll fix them and move forward, so this does not happen ever again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go next to "The Banner."

REPORTER: We've heard from residents that it seemed like the crime scene was not secured. They saw people walking in and out of the crime scene as it occurred, and then even folks said they saw city officials come in and sweep the crime scene, and then investigators (INAUDIBLE).

WORLEY: Now, what happened, this was a huge crime scene. We're talking about multiple blocks. We had crime scene tape, and we did still have people walking through. We stopped people from walking in.

But we also had people who lived in the area that we had to allow them to get to their houses. So officers would escort to their homes, so that may have been who you've seen.

We also did, as we do with every crime, when we get some daylight, we do another canvass and our K-9 units were able to locate more shell casings, so we had to put up more crime scene tape and recover those things.

And there are still, if you go over to the scene now, detectives, federal partners are still looking for evidence and we'll continue to look for evidence until we find everything that we need to prosecute an arrest these individuals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go next to WBAL.

REPORTER: Do you have a description of a suspect and do think there could be more than one?

WORLEY: We know for sure there is definitely more than one. We don't know exactly how many, but we do know more than one person was shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, WJZ.

REPORTER: Now I have a question about -- can you tell me about the injured so we had two dead, 28 -- are they injured? Are they suffering from all gunshot wounds? Are you saying maybe they -- can you tell me about conditions of the victims?

WORLEY: No. What we do is we decipher whether it's a gunshot or if it's somebody that's injured from running or glass or whatever.

All 30 of the victims are confirmed unshot victims. Two are deceased, all but nine have had been released from the area hospitals. So we still have nine in area hospitals. A couple are still in critical condition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: WMAL.

REPORTER: My question is, there have been many videos circulating online about a kid pulling a gun out of a bag. Do we know if this might be a potential suspect? Or is there any way that we can confirm or deny anything surrounding that video?

WORLEY: I've seen the video. Anyone who has a gun in that area is a of potential suspects. So we're looking for any kind of video and if anyone has any RING cameras, any other cameras, any other video that you see that could help us, please, please send it to us so we can find these individuals.

SCOTT: And then just on that note, though, I think it's important for us to say when we talk about this incident, and us needing to be better for ourselves, those videos you saw were posted by adults.

When did it become okay for adults to film young people having weapons and no one say anything? We have to be better.

That means that this -- as you heard, this was a multigenerational event. You had young people, you had older folks, you had folks middle age like myself. We have to have a better level of accountability. We should not be some grown man filming some young person pull out a gun and not say something to someone.

Even if you're too afraid to say something, that is a call that you make to law enforcement so they can get that information in real time, not after posting a video, not just posting a video to get likes on Instagram.

REPORTER: Can you talk about the status of your federal partners? We see ATF and other agencies out here scouring to see -- how important is it for them to work with you guys?

WORLEY: It's extremely important. We work with them every single day. Our federal partners, if you don't see them here they are here. Regardless of whether you see them, they are helping us constantly with investigations.

I talked to members from the FBI, ATF DEA, the Marshals, the state's attorney called me -- just about everyone. The US attorney called me just about everyone called and offered their support and whatever we needed this morning.

So we are working with multiple agencies to try to figure out what happened here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, we will go to Fox 45 and then we'll open it up.

REPORTER: Mayor Scott, first one for you. I understand, we were (INAUDIBLE) on the streets. I know that a lot of the (INAUDIBLE) turns up with this mass shooting. (INAUDIBLE) crime command? Is it working? What should the city be doing differently?

SCOTT: Well, I think that that to simplify an incident, what we should be talking about is the actions of people who decided to pull weapons, right?

[15:35:08]

This is not about whether the police department, or MONSE, or our federal partners, or folks who are working to reduce violence are doing their job every day, this is about people who cowardly decide to come to a celebration and shoot it up.

Let's call this what it is. Let's not make this into some political dog whistle. The reality is, is that I could stand here today and tell you that homicides in Baltimore are down 20 percent, but who cares today? Because 30 people were shot and two are dead.

The reality is, we're going to work hard every day to make sure that we are reducing violence in Baltimore, regardless of who is pulling the trigger, regardless of where they come from, regardless they are from Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Kalamazoo, Michigan. If they are in Baltimore committing crimes, we are going to be seeking them out and trying to stop them.

But we have to always be reminded, when you're talking about incidents like this, that these are individuals who made the choice to pull that trigger, but that choice was given to them because of the access to illegal guns and it reminds you that again, year after year after year, when we look at where the guns, working with our fabulous federal partners, where the guns that are coming in Maryland come from -- in Baltimore come from? They come from outside of Maryland.

We have to deal with this issue of guns here locally. Our wonderful state partners have been helping with that, but we have to deal with it at the national level as well.

We are going to continue to work to reduce violence in Baltimore every day. We're not going to be dismayed by cowards that committed this mass shooting, and we're going to continue to remove those folks off the street and as I said earlier, I hope these folks don't sleep well because we're not going to sleep until we pull them off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Follow up here from the Sun.

REPORTER: Question for INAUDIBLE --

SANCHEZ: We are listening live to officials in Baltimore after a mass shooting this weekend in which 30 people were shot. Two of them killed; one, an 18-year-old female; the other, a 20-year-old male; 28 others injured, nine of them, according to officials remain in the hospital.

The mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott, calling this a "reckless and cowardly act of violence," saying that this is an example of deep- seated issues with gun violence not only in Baltimore, but across the country. He talked about gun manufacturers and accountability at every level.

He said, "We will find those responsible and bring them to justice." On that point, the acting police commissioner, Richard Worley asked for the public's help. He asked for any witnesses to please come forward to bring those responsible to justice.

We want to go live to the scene where all of this unfolded, because CNN's Gloria Pazmino is there. And Gloria, this was supposed to be a Fourth of July celebration. Hundreds of people there, and now officials are describing this as a worst case scenario.

PAZMINO: Yes. Boris. You know, it is actually incredible to hear the update from the officials, the amount of people that were actually injured by this gunfire.

We know that dozens of people went to the hospital. Two of them, sadly, were killed. But it is incredible to think about the amount of people that were gathered here last night, celebrating what was supposed to be a family event, a neighborhood event in celebration of the holiday, so many of them are injured. And so think about how many more could have been potentially fatally injured.

Now, I thought the mayor's message about gun violence in general was very striking. He said that this is not just a Baltimore problem, and not just a city problem. He said that this is a problem across the entire nation.

And as you mentioned, he focused on the issue of gun violence. And he said he wants this mass shooting to be treated as any other mass shooting across America, and I thought that that was striking because you know, all day we've been hearing about this community and whether or not there have been problems here in the past, but he said this community has actually made a lot of progress, and he is encouraging them to come forward and share any information.

Police said that they are still combing through the evidence, combing through the videos. They also confirmed they now know it was more than one shooter. They don't know how many just yet, but they have concluded that there was more than one person that was shooting into this crowd -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: That's such an important aspect to this investigation.

Gloria, another thing that caught my eye during this press briefing was a description by officials of content that's circulating on social media that investigators are now looking at.

Talk to us about the gathering of evidence here because as officials describe it, this is an enormous crime scene.

PAZMINO: Yes, that's right.

I mean, they said how it stretches out for several blocks and part of the challenge that they've had is that people have to get back into their homes. We've watched police here, ATF still combing through the area. They said that K-9 units came through and found additional pieces of evidence.

[15:40:10]

Things, of course that look different in the sunlight, but to your question about the videos, the police official there said that there is a video circulating on social media where you can apparently see this weapon that someone had pulled out of a bag and the mayor and the police commissioner, really encouraging people to come forward.

He also was critical of people that are posting the video on social media instead of flagging it to authorities to try and prevent something like this tragedy from happening -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Again, a nightmare in Baltimore, overnight. Thirty people shot, two of them killed as officials were scrambling to find those responsible, confirming as Gloria just did, there is more than one person behind the shooting.

Gloria Pazmino in Baltimore for us. Thank you so much, Gloria.

Stay with CNN. NEWSROOM is back in moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:05]

SANCHEZ: One day after CNN learned from sources that former President Donald Trump in 2020 called then Arizona governor, Doug Ducey and attempted to pressure him to overturn the state's presidential election results, former Vice President Mike Pence is now denying reports that Trump tried to recruit him and pressure him to help in that effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did check in with not only Governor Ducey, but other governors and states that were going through the legal process of reviewing their election results, but there was no pressure involved, Margaret. I was calling to get an update and I passed along that information to the president, and it was no more no less than that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Also important to point out, there was never any evidence of widespread election fraud that was discovered in Arizona or anywhere else.

Let's talk about these developments and what it means for Donald Trump's legal woes with Norm Eisen. He's a CNN legal analyst. He also served as the former House Judiciary special counsel in Donald Trump's first impeachment trial.

Norm, thanks so much for being with us this weekend. What's your reaction to this news?

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Boris, it comes as no surprise that Donald Trump is reported to have pressured Arizona governor, Doug Ducey, because we've all heard the tape of him doing the same thing to the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger as part of what the January 6 committee described as a pressure campaign across the states.

Now, Mike Pence is attempting to distinguish himself from Donald Trump, in effect, saying whatever the president may have said or done, I did not do that. I made a normal call to Governor Ducey to determine what was going on, no pressure.

So Pence is campaigning against the former president. He is presenting himself as team normal and distinguishing himself from the allegedly criminal acts of his former boss.

SANCHEZ: And from the prism of the legal implications of all of this, you mentioned a conversation that we all heard that Donald Trump had with Brad Raffensperger, the former or current Georgia secretary of State back in 2020, asking him to find 11,000 votes. That is now evidence in the special counsel's probe into the efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Are you anticipating the special counsel might look at efforts to sway officials in Arizona?

EISEN: Absolutely, Boris.

I think that the special counsel, in fact, I know that the special counsel based upon reporting is ranging widely across all of the allegations. Remember, the January 6 Committee has made criminal referrals here, including the pressure campaign on the states.

The former president is also alleged to have pressured the Department of Justice, to have procured false electoral slates, to have pressed Pence, and when Pence wouldn't go along to have incited or given aid and comfort to an insurrection, the special counsel is looking at all of that, and this report about pressing Governor Ducey fits into that pattern. The January 6 committee has said, it presents overwhelming evidence. I do think it is a strong case and that the special counsel is likely to charge the former president.

SANCHEZ: I also wanted to ask you, Norm, while we have about Rudy Giuliani because Trump's former attorney was interviewed by the special counsel this week.

How significant could testimony be from the former mayor of New York and obviously, Donald Trump's former personal attorney?

EISEN: It could be very powerful, Boris. It's typical in criminal cases that prosecutors attempt to secure the cooperation, often, the cooperation of those who themselves are very high up in an alleged criminal scheme.

After Donald Trump, Giuliani is one of those who appears based on the publicly available evidence to be most culpable. Typically, in this situation, this kind of initial conversation, what we call a proffer is followed by immunity. Often, if you have a culpable individual, by a plea bargain, so we'll need to see what happens next with Mr. Giuliani.

But it is another ominous sign for the former president that Special Counsel Jack Smith seems to be closing in.

SANCHEZ: Also notable that the special counsel has been investigating Trump for some time and now is when he speaks to Rudy Giuliani. So it may portend something about his future as well.

Norm Eisen, we have to leave the conversation there. Always a pleasure to see you.

EISEN: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

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We have a quick programming note for you. There's a special hour on CNN tonight about the Titan submersible tragedy. "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper airs tonight at 8:00 PM on CNN.

We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: And now one of the most heartwarming videos you're going to see all week, a chimpanzee who spent 28 years looking through the bars of her enclosure is now seeing the open the sky in complete awe for the very first time.

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[15:55:03] SANCHEZ: This is Vanilla and you can see her reaction in this video to the great outdoors. She lived in a cage at a biomedical research lab for nearly most of her early life, and now, is at the Save the Chimp Sanctuary for rescued chimpanzees in Florida.

We want to talk to the CEO of Save the Chimps, Ana Paula Tavares joins us now. Ana, did you expect Vanilla to react that way to seeing the sky?

ANA PAULA TAVARES, CEO, SAVE THE CHIMPS: Well, that was pretty special, Boris, and it is just a wonderful moment, and we are so grateful to being able to provide her with that opportunity.

SANCHEZ: Absolutely tell us, and we are watching video of her now looking at the sky and embracing one of her chimp friends, just her mouth completely open, just staring straight up.

Tell us about her life before coming to the sanctuary.

TAVARES: Yes, as you mentioned, she was born in a biomedical lab in New York and endured tremendous hardship in her early years as a study of AIDS and hepatitis medical research, then moved into non-accredited wildlife refuge with all good intentions, but living in a very small space with four other chimpanzees.

And not until now have been able to really enjoy the opportunity of freedom, having freedom as they so deserve, and that's what we all witnessed.

And as we celebrate Independence Day, this video this heartwarming video of Vanilla having a taste -- her first taste of freedom really shows how chimpanzees like us, cherish and enjoy independence and freedom.

And you can see them behind me, some of them and that's the island where now Vanilla enjoys a life as close to what they would have had in the wild as possible, and this is what we do here at Save the Chimps.

SANCHEZ: And how can folks help out your organization?

TAVARES: Well, as you can imagine, Vanilla is, as you might imagine, or might know, Vanilla is one of 227 chimpanzees that we care for and provide lifelong care here, two-and-a-half tons of food every day and so much going on, and it takes a lot.

They live into their 60s, we provide them with lifelong care. So we are at www. SaveTheChimps.org and any support, no gift is too small or too big. And we have a lot going on here, a lot going on for Vanilla now the chimps and appreciate all of those who have supported us lately.

And I have something exciting to tell you. Today is the one-year anniversary of the rescue of Vanilla and the Sunrise Seven, how we lovingly nicknamed the seven chimpanzees that came from the Wildlife Waystation. So about one year ago, we are all loading them at this time one year ago, loading them at LAX, the seven chimpanzees including Vanilla.

SANCHEZ: That is incredible.

TAVARES: In to a FedEx plane, yes. It was really, really amazing. And here she is and you saw Dwight --

SANCHEZ: Yes, we saw her embracing some of her friends and then grooming each other. It is such a heartwarming thing to see and especially as you said, because as primates ourselves, we can appreciate freedom and staring at the big blue open sky.

Ana Paula Tavares, thank you so much for your work and for sharing her story with us.

TAVARES: Well, wonderful. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still much more news ahead on CNN. Don't go anywhere.

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