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After Presidential Elections In Russia Closed, Putin Speaks; Navalny's Widow Cast Ballot In Berlin; Zelensky Calls Russia Election a Sham; Schumer's Call For Israel Election Inappropriate, Says Netanyahu; Rafah Offensive To Push Through; Shooting Incidents Reported In Washington, D.C. And Pennsylvania; President Biden Celebrates St. Patrick's Day At The White House. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 17, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Added reason for them to grow in numbers?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think they feel necessarily emboldened. I think they feel inspired by the fact that there are other people who are turning out with them and who think the same way.

WHITFIELD: All right. Former Moscow bureau chief for CNN, Jill Dougherty, great to see you. Thank you so much.

DOUGHERTY: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: And thank you, everyone, for joining us this weekend. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The "CNN Newsroom" continues with Paula Reid right now.

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Paula Reid in Washington. Any moment now, a St. Patrick's Day tradition. President Joe Biden will soon deliver remarks from the White House, and we'll bring that to you live just ahead. But for now, we head to Russia, where election officials say Vladimir Putin is in the lead in the presidential vote.

Polls closed earlier today after a three-day vote with no genuine opponent running against Putin. He is expected to win, keeping him in office until 2030 and continuing as Russia's longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow and Frederik Pleitgen is in Berlin. Starting with you, Matthew, Putin just spoke. What did he say?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it was it was a very short victory speech, even though the final results haven't come in. It looks like this has been a landslide victory, as expected for the Russian president, who secures a fifth presidential term. And these were short comments at his campaign headquarters. He walked into the room. He thanked the volunteers that he said had worked very hard for the good of the country. And then he made a short address to his supporters in the auditorium, talking about how there were many challenges to come. But how -- now that the country was united, that essentially that the country couldn't be defeated as long as people stayed together.

He also said that the election -- the election means -- I'm just reading some of my notes here. The election means that we have the trust of the people and we have their hope that we will finish what we have planned. And so, this is Vladimir Putin taking these successful election results, however orchestrated they've been, and using it to claim that he now has a resounding mandate from the Russian people to press ahead with his policies.

For instance, the special military operation, as he calls it, the war in Ukraine, and the other policies that will have to be taken in order to address the Russian economy, the sanctions in the country and things like that, some of which are going to be very difficult for the country to endure.

And so, this is the first reaction we've seen of Vladimir Putin since these preliminary results started coming in. But, of course, this speech was undoubtedly planned sometime in advance because we all knew that Vladimir Putin was going to win this election without any doubt at all, because there were no opposition figures that were allowed to stand in this country, which has become increasingly repressive where opposition and dissent to Vladimir Putin has been silenced.

And we remember the opposition leaders have either been exiled, have either been jailed or in the case of Alexei Navalny, is dead. He died in an Arctic prison colony last month. And so, this has been a big victory for Vladimir Putin. But it does only, you know, reflect an incomplete part, I think it's fair to say, of the political views inside the country.

REID: And despite there being no real opposition politically to Putin, there were some acts of defiance at the polls today. What can you tell us?

CHANCE: Yeah, I mean, there were quite a lot of acts of defiance over the course of the past several days. Voting went on for three days. And that's a further indication of, you know, the level of dissatisfaction and the frustration about the sort of politics of the country. We saw polling stations being firebombed, hit with Molotov cocktails, individuals going into the polling stations and pouring dark ink, dye or paint into the ballot boxes to ruin the paper ballots that were cast there.

And earlier today, there was a show of mass defiance across the country with supporters of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny gathering at an act of defiance, which the opposition called midday against Putin, where people came at exactly midday in the various time zones across the country to cast their ballots at their registered voting stations.

[17:05:00] And, you know, we were at one in Moscow where there was nobody at 10:00 to midday. And by midday, there were 150 people there. And so that gives you an indication of the sort of fact that there are, you know, even though this was a resounding success and Vladimir Putin is genuinely popular inside Russia, there are a lot of people in this country who have not been represented in this election.

REID: Putin said moments ago the source of power in Russia is the Russian people. What is your take on that?

CHANCE: Well, that's a paraphrase of the of the Russian constitution, of course. And this is, again, another attempt for Putin to claim that this election has been an assertion of that constitution in Russia. There was a big turnout, admittedly, more than 70 percent. That's much higher than the turnout of voters in the last presidential election in 2018.

And with a proportion of the vote of approximately in the final results are in yet, but approximately 88 percent. That's a far greater proportion of voters that Vladimir Putin seen in any of his four previous presidential wins as well. And so, look, what

Putin is now doing is saying, look, I have the mandate of the people. The people have spoken. The power in this country rests with the voice of the people. That voice has now been heard. And he's taking that as a mandate. I expect to push forward his very controversial policies, such as, as I mentioned, his conflict, his war, his special military operation inside Ukraine.

REID: Matthew Chance, thank you. We're also watching as Putin takes some questions live. We'll come back to that in a little bit. First, I want to head to Fred Pleitgen, who joins us now from Berlin. What is the latest? Frederik, what can you tell us?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Paula. Well, what we've seen here in Germany and really many other cities across the world is some of that dissent that Matthew was talking about, which obviously is only being uttered very quietly inside Russia, where he mentioned he was at that polling station. People only showed up a couple of minutes before midday for that midday against Putin protests.

Well, in other places around the world, and especially here in Berlin today, it was very much on public display, that dissent, especially among some people in the Russian diaspora. It was quite interesting because around midday, there were a lot of people who swarmed the Russian embassy here in Berlin to go vote.

And it was an interesting mix of a crowd because there were some people who were clearly pro-Putin inside that crowd. But there were also a lot of people showed up with anti-Putin banners, banners supporting Ukraine. There was even one woman with a blue coat with the yellow writing, the colors of the Ukrainian flag on it, calling for support for Ukraine and then going into the Russian embassy to cast her vote. But by far the most prominent person was the widow of Alexei Navalny, who stood in line for six hours to cast her own ballot. And here's what she said after she came out of the ballot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YULIA NAVALNAYA, ALEXEI NAVALNYS WIDOW (through translation): You are probably wondering what I wrote on the ballot papers, who I voted for. Of course, I wrote Navalny's surname, because it just can't be so that a month later and already during the presidential campaign, Putin's main opponent, already in prison, was killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now, Yulia Navalny, she actually got quite aggravated afterwards when she was asked by a reporter if she had a message for Vladimir Putin. She said, look, stop asking me for messages for Vladimir Putin. She called him a gangster and a killer and said that there could never be any negotiations with Vladimir Putin.

In total, what we saw on display here in Berlin and really in many other cities across the world, but especially large here in the German capital, because you have such a large Russian diaspora here, is a large demonstration against Vladimir Putin, against this election, but also in support of Ukraine and calling on Western nations to continue to help Ukraine and not to legitimize the election that we're seeing in Russia today, Paula.

REID: And Ukraine's President Zelensky also reacting to the elections today. What did he say?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, you know, the Ukrainians, they've been reacting to this for the past couple of days, and they've urged people, especially in those occupied areas, not to go vote, not to participate in the election. And today, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, he came out today and called the election a sham. He said that Vladimir Putin was sick for power and was committing any sort of atrocity that people could think of to hold on to his own power. That is the messaging coming from the Ukrainians.

They're obviously saying that they don't consider these elections to be legitimate, especially the ones that are being held in the occupied territories. And they're also calling on world's leaders to not recognize Vladimir Putin.

[17:10:00]

In fact, Volodymyr Zelensky, in that nightly address that he put on today, he thanked countries that had called the election as he put it -- had named it for what it is, for what he calls a sham election, one where the winner was clear before the election even took place.

The Ukrainians obviously with a very clear position on this, obviously very angry at the Russians, and certainly saying that they also believe that the elections that we saw put on today in Russia should not be considered free, fair, and democratic, and certainly not be considered legitimate by international leaders, Paula.

REID: Frederik Pleitgen, thank you.

Still ahead, we are waiting for President Biden's remarks. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will operate in Rafah, defying key allies. What we're learning about plans to invade the city in southern Gaza, where so many have been displaced.

Plus, gunfire across the U.S. this weekend, including more than a half a dozen people shot in downtown Washington, D.C., just blocks from the White House.

And lava is still oozing from a volcano in Iceland. An update on evacuations as nearby towns are threatened. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:54]

REID: Any moment now, a St. Patrick's Day tradition. President Joe Biden will soon deliver remarks from the White House, and we'll bring you that live just ahead.

But new tonight, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hitting back at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, telling CNN today that Schumer's call for elections in Israel is way out of line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: I think what he said is totally inappropriate. It's inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That's something that the Israeli public does on its own, and we're not a banana republic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: But this all comes as the chief of the WHO says he is, quote, gravely concerned after Netanyahu approved plans for a major offensive in Rafah. Paula Hancocks joins me now from Doha, Qatar. Paula, Netanyahu's plan includes evacuating 1.4 million civilians stuck in Rafah. Is that even feasible?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the question, Paula. I mean, humanitarian groups say it isn't. You have leaders around the world saying it isn't, and yet you have Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again this Sunday saying an offensive in Rafah is going to go ahead.

He has said at a cabinet meeting this Sunday that it would take a matter of weeks in order for them to be able to finish this offensive in Rafah. We don't know when it will start, but we do know that just last Friday he approved the military plans, he approved the evacuation plans.

All we know at this point of these evacuation plans of some 1.5 million Palestinians in Rafah is that they will be moved to humanitarian enclaves, it is said, and that they will be given food, water, and shelter, and it will be done in conjunction with the international community.

That is all we know at this point. But there's more than half of the population of Gaza that is currently sheltering in dreadful conditions in Rafah itself. We have many NGOs, including the United Nations, warning of areas of Gaza being on the brink of famine. And where would you even move many of these displaced people to given that much of Gaza has been badly damaged or destroyed in this war?

Now, the White House at this point says they haven't had any credible details of exactly how this would happen and how they would make sure that these people would stay out of harm. But at this point, Israel's prime minister says it will go ahead. Paula.

REID: Well, Paula, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says an Israeli offensive in Rafah could hurt chances for a peace deal, negotiations between Israel and Hamas. So, is there even hope for a deal at this point?

HANCOCKS: Well, we do know that the Mossad director is expected here in Doha. He is going to come to speak to the Egyptian and the Qatari mediators. Egypt and Qatar have been key to have these negotiations between Hamas and Israel. And those talks, according to a diplomat familiar with the talks, are expected on Monday.

Now, this is despite the fact that Israel has called Hamas' counterproposal outlandish and unrealistic. Thursday of last week, Hamas said they wanted to see 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in return for the female hostages that are being held in Gaza, including IDF soldiers and the elderly, the sick and the wounded, which could amount to some 40 hostages.

The problem then, though, comes because Hamas wants all of the military to pull out of Gaza after that first phase and for there to be a permanent ceasefire, which Israel has consistently said is not something that they can agree to. The next phase, Hamas proposes, would be when all of the hostages and prisoners would be exchanged.

[17:20:00]

But, of course, there's that middle part that Israel is not saying it is able to agree to at this point. We know there were a couple of meetings today to decide the parameters of how much the Mossad director can agree to, what are the limits that he is able to give up at this point.

Hamas officials have said they believe that they have given a good counterproposal. The ball is in Israel's court, so Monday could be a very interesting day here in Doha. Paula?

REID: Paula Hancocks in Doha, Qatar. Thank you so much. And we're expecting to hear from President Biden moments from now. We'll bring that to you live. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:01]

REID: Gun violence erupted in several U.S. cities this holiday weekend. Overnight, seven people were shot in downtown D.C. after a mass shooting at a nightclub in Indianapolis and a shooting spree in Pennsylvania that placed an entire community on lockdown. CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us now.

Polo, you were reporting all day on those shootings in Pennsylvania, which, of course, led to a standoff in New Jersey. I understand charges have just been filed against that suspect?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you remember, Paula, you and I were talking just 24 hours ago when police there in that Trenton, New Jersey home had surrounded a home, assuming, or at least based on reports that had been called into them, that the man that they were after, suspected in that triple homicide, was likely barricaded inside a home.

Of course, we later found out yesterday afternoon that, in fact, that house was empty, that it was police that spotted the suspect nearby, identified as 26-year-old Andre Gordon. Today, authorities are releasing information confirming that he's been charged with murder -- the killings of those three relatives of his, including his 13-year- old sister in Pennsylvania.

It is now believed that he initially carjacked a vehicle, or at least the driver of a vehicle, in Trenton, Pennsylvania yesterday, rather, in Trenton, New Jersey yesterday, and then drove over the state line to Pennsylvania, committed those murders allegedly, carjacked another individual, and then drove back to Trenton, Pennsylvania, where all of that played out.

Not only is he facing those murder charges in PA, but also neighboring New Jersey today. We heard from the attorney general. They laid out a very long list of charges. These are quite significant, because they really tell us more about the potential firepower that may have been at the suspect's disposal.

The attorney general is saying that he's been charged with several crimes, possession of a firearm without a serial number, receiving stolen property, possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines, and also possession of hollow-point ammunition.

The attorney general there in that state, Paula, saying that it's still unclear whether or not he's already hired a defense attorney or has legal representation. CNN are working to find out if that's potentially changed.

REID: And, Polo, I understand a suspect is still at large following a shooting here in D.C. What's the latest there?

SANDOVAL: Yeah, that shooting happened just this morning, according to an assistant chief at D.C. Metro. Seven people were shot. Two of them, sadly, did not survive. Investigators, as you point out, still trying to track down a potential suspect. What's concerning here is this shooting happened only about 12 blocks northeast of the White House.

So that certainly was something that they were worried about as they're pleading with the public for any information about that shooting that, again, took place just this morning.

REID: Polo Sandoval, thank you. President Joe Biden delivering remarks from the White House right now. Let's listen.

(BEGIN LIVE VIDEO)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- between our countries. Look, we also have friends here today from Northern Ireland. The first minister, deputy first minister, Michelle O'Neill. Where are you, Michelle?

(APPLAUSE)

Great to have you here. And it's very happy to see Northern Ireland's executive assembly reinstated last month. Now Northern Ireland is a fully functioning government again. And I didn't invite your colleague. Young people in Northern Ireland represent the great peace dividend of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

The entire generation whose hearts have been shaped not by grievances of the past, but by a confidence in a better future that we're riding together. The United States believes in that future. Joe Kennedy is here tonight, along with --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

That's okay, Joe. Joe, you only have 57 here. Along with dozens of family members. I got a sense of it. He's leading the charge to ramp up investments in Northern Ireland because economic opportunity is going to help make the benefits of peace real and lasting. And from one big Irish Catholic family to another, it's great to have the Kennedys here. Thank you.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Folks, St. Patrick's Day is a joyful occasion. It's time to remember with pride our ties to the Emerald Isle, the land of poets and dreamers, fearless fighters, hard workers, who endured decades of poverty and subjugation and persevered through it all because the Irish spirit can never, can never, can never be overcome.

[17:30:00]

Folks, we remember with awe the ways of Irish immigrants who had the courage to travel across the sea because they believed, as the poet Seamus Heaney once wrote, a further shore is reachable from here. That's what he wrote about, a further shore is reachable from here. They arrived in America with little more than hope in their hearts and the strength of their dreams. Their sweat is soaked into the foundations of this country.

As I said at the State of the Union, America has a heart and soul that draws in the old and the new, home to people of every place on Earth, from every place on Earth. We all come from somewhere, but we're all Americans. We can never forget that. That's a critical element that binds us together.

And this year, Ireland and the United States mark a milestone. One hundred years of diplomatic relations between our countries. One hundred years.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to make clear I wasn't there at the hundredth.

(LAUGHTER)

In that time, the ties between us have deepened and multiplied. Our economic partnership has grown tremendously in both directions, I might add. Ireland now is one of the top ten investors in the United States economy, and our countries stand proudly for liberty and against tyranny.

We stand together and oppose Russia's brutal war of aggression in Ukraine. You can clap for that, please.

(APPLAUSE)

And Letitia (ph) and I agree about the urgent need to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza and get the ceasefire deal.

(APPLAUSE)

Get a ceasefire deal that brings our hostages home and move toward a two-state solution, which is the only path, the only path for lasting peace and security.

Folks, my friends, since the last time we celebrated St. Patrick's Day together, I made the trip of a lifetime back home, to Belfast, the 25th anniversary of the Peace Accords, then to County Louth where I visited the church where my ancestors were baptized, then to Dublin, for a speech at the Irish Parliament, and finally to County Mayo, to the town called Ballina.

There, a huge cathedral, St. Muredach's, right in the banks of the River Moy. One of the men who helped build that was Edward Blewitt, my great-great-great-grandfather. He worked in the town brickyard. In 1828, he was paid and they gave me a receipt, 21 pounds and 12 shillings to help supply the bricks for that cathedral.

It was made, and I was able to touch some of my own hands, the very bricks he made. And all I could think was this. I'm sure Edward labored. He imagined that one day, his family would worship at that cathedral, that his children would be baptized there, that future generations of his family would make milestones -- mark milestones there.

But I doubt he imagined nearly 200 years later, his great-great-great- grandson would return to the cathedral as president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

And that trip, before I got there, I toured Carlingford Castle, as you remember, in County Louth. It was likely one of the last glimpses of Ireland that my Finnegan ancestors saw when they sailed away for new lives in America. They left in the port of Newry in the year 1850.

And here's an amazing fact. It turns out that the exact same port Barack Obama's ancestors sailed from, they left five weeks earlier, his ancestors. They were nearly on the same ship. Both of our great- great-great-great-grandchildren, both of their great-great- grandchildren, ended up president of the United States of America. It's remarkable.

(APPLAUSE)

Stories like these are why I often say the Irish are the only people who are nostalgic about the future.

(LAUGHTER)

We believe in better tomorrows. We're always looking for the next horizon. That's a very American trait as well. Just more proof that the bonds between Ireland and the United States run deep. Our joys, our sorrows, our passions, our dreams, our optimism. Even in the most difficult moments, we hold on to hope. That's what we do.

We see the world on unlimited possibilities. A future that knows no bounds. We're writing that future now, and we're doing it together. Ireland and America, just as we have for generations.

Let me end with this. As I said on St. Patrick's Day, at the core of our friendship, I remember the words of another great Irish poet, William Butler Yeats, who said, think where man's glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was, I had such friends.

[17:35:03]

We celebrate the bonds of our friendship today, connecting millions of Irish Americans and American people. We celebrate the friendship between two great nations, one that has shaped our past and strengthened our present, and inspires our future. So happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody. Now, I'd like to welcome Letitia (ph) to the podium.

(APPLAUSE)

LEO VARADKAR, PRIME MINISTER OF IRELAND: Mr. President, senators, representatives, deputies, MLAs, ladies and gentlemen. Dear friends. a Chairde. Before I start, I just wanted to very briefly acknowledge two special guests who flew here to be here today. They are Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe from Element Pictures, who made us very proud by winning four Oscars. So --

(APPLAUSE) So, thank you both so much for the encouragement that you give to other artists.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: To react to what we just heard from President Biden, CNN's Eva McKend and CNN's David Gergen. All right, David, St. Patrick's Day, usually time for a celebration, but the President touching on some really serious issues. What is your reaction?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Paula. My reaction is that the Irish in him always comes to the fore when Joe Biden is speaking. He was in good form today on the questions about our relationships and long relationships with the Irish.

What surprised me about the speech was that he did not really come to grips with nor take advantage of the forum on two critical issues. One is on immigration, the importance of immigration in American history, give strength to the idea that the migrants who are on our borders now, we ought to have enough sympathy and respect for them as human beings to get this problem solved on the borders and to fully integrate the migrants or immigrants who qualify. So, that's one issue. I think it was frankly, the opportunity was missed.

But the other surprise to me was how little was said about Gaza and bringing supplies in and what the future is going to be with Raffa. These are very, very tough questions. But as you know, Paula, the 20th century was marked by the degree of resistance in Ireland to rule by the British well over three decades. That resistance was very strong. And the spirit of that resistance rests there today.

So, I thought he would take advantage of that. I thought President Biden would take advantage of this to see if he could lay out a message that is sympathetic to the Palestinians. They're very pro- Palestinian, Palestinian in Ireland, but show that there can be a bridge between the Palestinians and the Jews and the others who live in the Middle East.

And I think that's something, had he spent more time at it, I think he would have been more successful in building relationships where we really desperately need more relationships.

REID: David, you see some missed opportunities. Eva, what did you hear?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: You know, Paula, this was a cheerful occasion at the White House at a time when, frankly, cheerful occasions are at a premium, especially in this climate. You've got partisan gridlock in Washington. You have this president having to confront a number of international calamities.

But no one has been more vocal about wanting a humanitarian aid to reach Gaza than the Irish. We know that that was a principal concern of the Irish prime minister that he brought to the president. We didn't hear the Irish PM forcefully bringing it up in his public remarks with the president, but we know that behind the scenes that that is a key issue.

And so, I was surprised that he didn't raise that issue more. Yes, he said that there needs to be a ceasefire in tandem with a two-state solution as well as bringing all the hostages back home, but it was just sort of an aside and not really a central focus of his address, which surprised me. But we know that this president loves talking about his Irish heritage, which this forum, of course, allowed him the opportunity to do that.

REID: No doubt. Eva, David, thank you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:44:26]

REID: Curbing gun violence in America. It starts with education at home and maybe even in schools, but one place we haven't always seen it is on the silver screen. CNN's Josh Campbell takes a look inside Hollywood's new effort to curb gun deaths.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNKNOWN: L.A.P.D. Drop the weapons!

(GUNFIRE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gunfire.

(GUNFIRE)

Danger. High energy. It's another episode of the hit CBS show "S.W.A.T."

UNKNOWN: Hey, baby.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): But something in this scene is different. Can you tell?

UNKNOWN: Your day get any better after I saw you?

[17:45:00]

UNKNOWN: No. Actually, it got worse, if you can believe it, but we did save a mother and her child, so it made it all worth it. How did the rest of your day go?

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Did you spot it? Look again.

UNKNOWN: Mother and her child, so it made it all worth it.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Safe gun storage. On that same Sony picture set, S.W.A.T show writer Andrew Dettmann says in the past, the officer may have just set his gun on the counter. But now --

ANDREW DETTMANN, SHOW WRITER, S.W.A.T: Gun safe opens. He puts the gun away. It's nice and safe before he heads back to talk to his wife. You know, it's a very routine part of his life. Come home at the end of the day, store your weapon so that it's safe now that he's got a toddler in the house.

KRIS BROWN, PRESIDENT, BRADY UNITED: That's a game changer.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): The new approach is one of the successes of the show gun safety campaign launched by advocacy group Brady United, which is now partnering with studios across the country after first meeting at a White House roundtable with actors and writers last year. Their initiative calls for no guns on kids' shows, rethinking whether guns are needed in adult shows, and if they are, showing proper storage and handling.

BROWN: We lose eight kids a day, a uniquely American epidemic, to family fire. That's because of firearms in the home that are not safely stored.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): While guns can be politically polarizing, this show believes encouraging the safe storage of firearms shouldn't be controversial at all.

DETTMANN: This is not part of that larger gun debate. You know, we have -- our audience is very much on both sides of that issue. This, to me, I hoped, anyway seemed like this is just a commonsense issue, right? Throw it safely, don't leave it out in the house, you know. and if they see their favorite characters doing it on a regular basis, maybe that influences them some way.

UNKNOWN: Okay, settle, settle, here we go, fight please.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Inside another sound stage, we watch as the S.W.A.T crew film scenes with star Shemar Moore.

We've heard statistics that more people look up to their favorite actor than a lot of politicians.

SHEMAR MOORE, ACTOR: I'm not Taylor Swift, but she doesn't carry a gun.

(LAUGHTER)

As far as I know.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Moore told us he's a gun owner, too, and with a young daughter both on and off screen, modeling safety is a badge he's willing to wear.

MOORE: I'm a big badass Hondo, and I get out there and, you know, I take down bad guys. But when I come home, I own a firearm, but it's safe, it's protected. If I can use my platform to affect change or affect optimism or to get people to listen, that's an honor. I'm humbled by it.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Along with safe storage, S.W.A.T. is also curbing the amount of gunfire on its show.

DETTMANN: The director had an automatic weapon in mind, but maybe we can pull that back and just have it be a few shots so that we don't have all this gratuitous gunfire with no consequence.

CHRISTIAN HEYNE, CHIEF POLICY OFFICER, BRADY UNITED: We've got to start normalizing this across the board.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Gun violence victims like Christian Heine, who lost his mother in a 2005 shooting in California, praise the efforts of shows like S.W.A.T. Now a chief policy officer for Brady United, he hopes this new campaign succeeds like past partnerships with Hollywood to deglamorize smoking and promote safe driving.

HEYNE: You never will see somebody get into a car on a film or on television and not put a seatbelt on. We have to be thinking the same way about gun violence to really create a movement in Hollywood where this becomes second nature.

MOORE: People are going to watch me and listen to me. And I know that by behavior, by how I present myself, somebody could follow suit. That's a huge responsibility. And so hopefully, this is a reminder to the adults, to the parents, to be extra cautious.

UNKNOWN: Cutting, cut.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Josh Campbell, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: And still ahead, incredible images coming out of Iceland. What we're learning about efforts to get people out of the lava's path. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:53:20]

REID: Burning up everything in its path, lava is still oozing from a volcano in Iceland after erupting late Saturday. A Coast Guard helicopter capturing these stunning images of smoke and bright orange lava flowing north toward a nearby town and the popular tourist spot, Blue Lagoon.

It's the fourth eruption so far, and it has been called the most powerful yet. People nearby have been told there is a mandatory evacuation. Local authorities say efforts to stop the lava from entering communities are working so far, and no flight disruptions have been reported at Iceland's main airport.

And later tonight, CNN will delve deep into the heart of American allure, Las Vegas. For decades, the city has stood as a force shaping American popular culture. Our new original series, "Vegas: The Story of Sin City," takes an exclusive look at its journey from a dusty desert town to the entertainment capital of the world. Here's a preview.

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UNKNOWN: In the 70s, you then have economic changes. There's stagflation, the oil crisis. These have an impact on Las Vegas.

UNKNOWN: It really does represent the shifting face of capitalism in the United States. Now, it's not just about keeping your customers happy. It's about driving shareholder value.

UNKNOWN: At that time, you start to see the early part of what we recognize today as a very corporate Las Vegas. The feds were coming down on organized crime.

[17:55:00]

So, the 70s in Las Vegas represents a period where, on the one hand, it's starting to become okay to actually do business there. And on the other hand, outside of Elvis, Las Vegas isn't so cool anymore.

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UNKNOWN: Las Vegas didn't recognize that it should be looking for ways to appeal to the youth culture.

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REID: Join us tonight at 10 for a new episode of "Vegas: The Story of Sin City." We'll be right back.

Much more news ahead, Vladimir Putin proclaims unity after Russia's presidential election. What Putin said just moments ago about opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his death in a Russian prison. Our team is live in Russia. We're back in a moment.

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