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The Manhunt For The Shooter In Kentucky Continues, But Will Suspend At Dark; Vice President Harris And Donald Trump Debate in Two Days; Rep. Raja Krishnamurthy (D-IL) Is Interviewed About The Upcoming Presidential Debate And Government Funding; Apalachee High Shooter's Mom Called The School Of Impending Disaster; Harris And Trump To Face Off At Debate; Russian Election Interference Concerns Loom Over 2024 Election; Miami Dolphins Star Detained By Police Before Season Opener. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 08, 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: And if you didn't win the Mega Millions on Friday, well, don't worry because you still have a shot at the $800 million jackpot. This is the game's seventh largest jackpot in history. The next drawing is set for Tuesday, so good luck if you're trying to win big. All right, football season is officially underway and with that some new excitement for the Super Bowl perhaps.

The NFL announcing today that rapper Kendrick Lamar will headline the halftime show on February 9th. Lamar said in the statement, I'm quoting him now, "rap music is still the most impactful genre to date and I'll be there to remind the world why."

All right, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The "CNN Newsroom" continues with Jessica Dean right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jessica Dean in New York, and 24 hours after a gunman fired at people driving on a Kentucky interstate, police are still searching the woods to find the man they say pulled the trigger, injuring five people. Police are searching for this man, Joseph Couch, calling him armed and dangerous.

The shooting occurring along I-75 in a thickly forested area in Laurel County that's near London, Kentucky. We are expecting to hear from the sheriff's department with more details on this. CNN's Gloria Pazmino is following the story and has been since it broke yesterday. Gloria, what more can you tell us now?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jessica, we've learned a lot since it first started developing late last night when you and I were still here. We were wondering just how long this was going to take and now law enforcement is still racing against the clock. The suspect remains at-large and now they are working against the sun. They know that nighttime will come soon and that is going to be very difficult for them.

They are searching in an extremely wooded dense area in rural Kentucky where this happened outside of the city of London. Now, Joseph Couch is the main suspect behind last night's incident. Police say that he opened fire from an exit firing towards the interstate highway as people were driving along. Five people sustained gunshot wounds. All of them are recovering and there were no fatalities, but police believe that this man is armed and extremely dangerous.

Another key piece of information, Jessica, police have also recovered the vehicle. That is how they were able to connect the dots back to Joseph Couch. His vehicle was found not far from the area where they believed he opened fire from. They also found a gun case inside his vehicle. And as I said, they believe he is armed and dangerous. They are asking the community to stay vigilant, to be aware of their surroundings as this search continues. And take a listen to the Laurel County Sheriff's Office, just describing what a monumental task the officers have at hand, considering the kind of terrain they're working with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GILBERT ACCIARDO, LAUREL COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: The area, it's so remote. If he planned this, it's so remote, that's probably one of the most remote exits along I-75. It's so wooded, there's one business, there's no residences. He couldn't have picked an area that is any more remote and difficult for us to try to locate him. And that's what we want to do. We want to safely -- we don't want our guys to get hurt, we don't want any more of the public to be hurt, and we want to take him into custody safely and it's a big task.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: The public information officer ending that press conference saying, we want to get him tonight, but no promises. And Jessica, we have just learned in the most recent update that law enforcement will suspend the search as soon as it gets dark there tonight. And that is again, because it is nearly impossible to search in this wooded area. So we'd be going now into a third day of this person remaining at large.

Law enforcement officers did say that they are open to the possibility that Joseph Couch may have fled to some other place and that he is in fact no longer in this cordon area where they have been searching. So they are asking the public to remain vigilant. They have been chasing down tips that people have been calling in. But for now, it looks like we might be going into another evening where this person remains at large. And of course, that is a concern for the public safety of that community. Jessica?

DEAN: All right, Gloria Pazmino with the latest there. Thank you very much. And last night after the shooting took place, I spoke to Christina DiNoto, an eyewitness who says there are now bullet holes in her car.

[17:04:58]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA DINOTO, EYEWITNESS TO KENTUCKY SHOOTING: It sounded like a rock smashed through the back window and my ear was ringing, my right ear, and it happened on the passenger side of my vehicle and I was in the driver's side. So it was just a very loud, and I know what a tire blowout sounds like and it didn't sound like that, it was much louder. And we both looked at each other and said, was that a gunshot? But we know we're driving and it seemed like impossible that would be a gunshot.

Earlier today when we were still in New York, I actually got pulled over and got a speeding ticket, which held us up a little bit. But in retrospect, I feel like, you know, divine intervention, right? Like it's held us up to maybe miss the actual bullet hitting us directly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Such an incredible story. Glad that they're okay. We're gonna be following this story. We'll have more ahead for you.

Meantime, we're just two days away from the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. It will be the first time these two candidates meet face to face as they hope to move the needle in their direction with the remaining undecided voters. It will be crucial as new polling shows the race in a dead heat with the New York Times and Sienna College poll showing no clear leader at this point in the race and a new CNN poll of polls showing Harris at 49 to Trump's 47 percent, but again, no clear leader there.

And it's much of the same when you look at polling coming from key swing states, a trio of new polls. From CBS News and YouGov show Harris and Trump in a deadlock in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, very critical battleground states with no clear leader in any of those states. Right now, Vice President Harris is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, huddling with a small team of advisors as she prepares for her first big test as a Democratic nominee.

We're going to check in now with CNN's Eva McKend who has been traveling with the Harris campaign and has been there in Pittsburgh all weekend. Eva, what more are you learning about her mentality as she prepares for this big moment? And also, tell us more about what she's been doing when she's taking breaks. I know she's trying to get outside today too.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: She sure is, Jess. You know, it is perhaps no surprise that a former prosecutor has earned a reputation for intensely preparing for these big moments. That, no doubt, takes the form of pouring over briefing books, anticipating what the former president might say, anticipating what those debate moderators might ask her, and likely also firming up responses to her evolution on a whole host of policy matters.

What I can tell you that they're not doing, Jess, is putting too much stock in these polls. Yes, she is performing better than President Biden, but a spokesperson for the campaign today tweeting out Brian Fallon, that from the onset of this contest they have not really -- they have always viewed themselves rather as the underdog and they will continue to hold that posture in the 50 plus days until the end of this race.

So, we haven't seen very much of the vice president. We could see her again pop out soon that is because she has been intensely preparing behind closed doors. She did go out yesterday to a spice shot which was very much on brand for the vice president, being that she talks about her love of cooking and had some tender moments with some voters that she really needed here in this battleground state, but we haven't seen much of her besides that. Jess?

DEAN: All right. Eva McKend with the vice president there in Pittsburgh. As we get ever closer to this debate, thank you so much for that reporting. In D.C., Congress back in session tomorrow, they're going to have to work quickly to keep the government funded. They have 13 days in session to figure it out. Sources close to Republican Speaker Mike Johnson say he's planning to attach a controversial voting bill to the funding resolution. The SAVE Act aims at preventing non-citizens from voting in federal elections. It's noteworthy that's already illegal.

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. Congressman, great to have you. Thanks so much for being here with us. Let's start first with this funding situation. Government funding always a delicate dance there on Capitol Hill. How do you see the state of play for this particular round?

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Well, I think every year we come down to the showdown in September, where the Republicans start off with these poison pill riders on their suggestion for government funding. It turns out that not even their own caucus usually is in favor of their leadership's proposals. Those end up dying. And then, you know, we Democrats end up having to work to save the day and we, in a bipartisan manner, end up funding the government.

DEAN: Do you think at this point it's most likely that this ends with another continuing resolution that's essentially a stop-gap measure?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Probably yes. I think that we're gonna end up -- again, Democrats are gonna end up providing the bulk of the votes, the majority of the votes for a continuing resolution.

[17:10:03]

I hope that we can do this, at least in an orderly fashion, as quickly as possible because we can't have a government shutdown. It hurts too many Americans who have nothing to do with these partisan fights here that the Republicans have launched. But I think that's what's gonna end up happening, a continuing resolution. I think we should do it sooner rather than later.

DEAN: And so you all go back into session now after the summer recess. This is always kind of a funny time because we are in an election year. And it's usually short session times, a couple weeks here and there, and then it's back out to campaigning. And without question, politics finds its way to the Hill. It's hard to get anything achieved in this period.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I'm shocked you would say that.

DEAN: I know. It's a shock to everyone, isn't it? But I'm curious how you think, you know, Republicans in the House had really tried to really make the case against President Biden. Now, since then, he has stepped aside. Now my colleague, Annie Greer, writing about how House Republicans are planning to focus on the Vice President Kamala Harris. But again, how do you expect this to play out over the next several weeks? Because it is kind of this like very particular time up there on the Hill.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yeah, I think that they're going to launch different investigations into Kamala Harris and to Tim Waltz. I think they're not going to go anywhere. I think they're going to be like the impeachment inquiry on the Oversight Committee, which has become a wild goose chase that has been basically died at this point. And I think, again, it goes back to this issue of what do the American people want? They want us to focus on their problems.

They want us to focus on their kitchen table discussions about how do they educate their kids? How do they access high quality healthcare? How do they get a job that allows them to stay and or enter the middle class? The less that the Republicans focus on those topics, the more out of touch they are with the priorities of the American people.

DEAN: And so now the attention turns to Democrats I know would love to flip the House in November. Republicans of course would certainly like to hang on to it. What do you think now that we've had the Vice President at the top of the ticket for a little bit now and we're getting into this last stretch of campaigning, how do you see that affecting Democrat's chances of taking the House in November?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think they're going to take the House. Look, I think that Kamala Harris being at the top of the ticket is energizing voters, certainly energizing Democrats. I was in Michigan yesterday campaigning for her. And I got to tell you, the energy is just off the charts for Democrats. And I think that that similar momentum, that energy is going to carry Leader Hakeem Jeffries into the speakership. And I can't wait to see that because finally, we'll have a House that does the people's business instead of partisan business, which is what's happening right now.

DEAN: And of course, a lot of eyes on this debate that's coming up in a couple of days. What are you expecting from Tuesday? And do you actually think that this will move the needle one way or the other?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think it's gonna be must-see TV. As you can tell, a lot of people tuned in last time, and I think a lot more will even tune in this time because of what happened last time. And I think Kamala Harris is going to demonstrate why she's going to be the next president. I think she's going to have an excellent command of the issues. She's going to be able to draw contrast with Donald Trump.

And quite frankly, I think Donald Trump, based on his comments as of right now, seems to be very distracted and focused on issues, again, not having to do with what people are really caring about, which is, you know, how do they take care of their own families as opposed to, you know, re-litigating his grievances.

DEAN: Right. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead. We're staying on top of this breaking news that we first brought you last night. A manhunt underway in Kentucky as authorities search for the man they suspect opened fire on people driving on Interstate 75. We're gonna have the latest on the challenges police are facing as they search that heavily wooded area.

Plus, new details about the Appalachia high school shooting in Georgia. The heart-dropping text message the suspect's mother received that made her pick up the phone and call his school.

And one of the top wide receivers in the NFL pulled over by police, ended up on the ground with his hands behind his back. What we know about the officer who cuffed Tyreek Hill. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

DEAN: We have breaking news. The Laurel County Sheriff's Department saying the search for the gunman, they say, opened fire on Interstate 75 in Kentucky will be temporarily suspended at dark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ACCIARDO: Again, the biggest problem that we have up there is the remoteness of the area. It's already starting to get a little bit dark. That's that doesn't work in our favor. I'm sure we're gonna we're gonna go on till dark tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now CNN senior national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, I know you were with us last night as this was all unfolding. Now we're getting a little bit more information. This would be the second night of searching in the woods for the suspect.

[17:20:02]

Clearly, they don't think it's worth it to try to search once it gets dark.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right.

DEAN: What kind of hurdles are they facing right now?

KAYYEM: Well, part of it is just gonna be the sort of productivity that can occur in the dark is quite limited. And so they're probably -- they're just balancing the benefits of continuing this as compared to just suspending it for six, seven hours and then starting again in the morning. Look, it is much harder to hide for long periods of time than it was during the Unabomber age.

We have drones, we have signal intelligence, people have cell phones, they get hungry. It is hard to hide out for long periods of time unless it was planned for. And so part of this is just patience. I remind people in Maine during that mass shooting that the perpetrator went missing for over 48 hours. He died from a self-inflicted wound. So lots of things can happen. And the fact that he's not caught in the first day or so doesn't mean that he's gone forever.

DEAN: And authorities say they found this AR-15 and several magazines.

KAYYEM: Yeah.

DEAN: What does that mean for the continuing threat?

KAYYEM: Yeah, I think a couple of things. One is it's very rare to find someone in these instances who has only one gun. So there's other weapons that we should anticipate that this is a person who is armed and dangerous. That's why the community has been told not to engage anyone, not to look out for him on your own. If there's anything suspicious, to call it in.

In all of these cases, there are additional arms. And in this case, this is someone who clearly knows the damage that an AR can do. It is lucky and only luck that people were not killed on the highway from either bullets or in response to the bullets in terms of automobile accidents. I actually can't believe it given the number of bullets that we have seen. And so he is someone we should anticipate has more weapons.

DEAN: And so ultimately, I think for anyone that's kind of in that area, of course, I'm sure they're nervous and on edge tonight. But as you were alluding to in your first answer, typically, it is hard to just disappear these days.

KAYYEM: Yeah.

DEAN: Typically, they are able to ultimately track this person down, even though it may take more time. It sounds like just because they're suspending this, because it's dark, et cetera, they're obviously still --

KAYYEM: Right.

DEAN: -- working hard to find this person.

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. Look, they have a name, they know where he lived, they know who his colleagues, friends, family are, they know what the car looks like, they have his phone number, they have drones, they have ways to monitor the phones and whether he's contacting them when they have credit cards, presumably ATM cards. In this day and age, it is very difficult to disappear.

Look, he's trying to disappear, one hopes, and go into hiding, but that is hard to do for long periods of time. He may have set up some way to maintain his ability to stay hidden, whether he hoarded a water because of a survivor list, we don't know. But in the end, my confidence is just based on history that in most of these cases, the person screws up, gets lonely, needs something, and therefore exposes where he is to law enforcement.

DEAN: All right, Juliette Kayyem, I'm always good to have your expertise. Thanks so much.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

DEAN: Students from Apalachee High in Georgia will be able to pick up their belongings tomorrow, but school officials still don't know when their classes will resume after last week's shooting. The mother of the 14-year-old suspect called the school to warn them of what she called an extreme emergency a half an hour before the shots ring out. That's what the shooters family tells CNN. CNN's Rafael Romo is in Winder, Georgia. Rafael, what more are you learning this afternoon?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, the family of the 14-year-old suspect has confirmed to CNN the boy's mother called to warn a school counselor just before her son allegedly went on a shooting rampage that killed two of his classmates and two teachers. This is according to Annie Brown, the suspect's aunt.

And Marcee Gray broke her silence yesterday when she told "The Washington Post" she is so sorry for what she calls the absolutely horrific shooting. This is what we know. The teen suspect's grandfather, Charles Polhamus, confirmed to CNN that Colt Gray sent his mother an alarming text message the morning of the shooting. The text simply said, "I'm sorry, Mom."

[17:24:56]

That's when Marcee Gray, the suspect's mother, decided to make a call to the school that lasted 10 minutes. After the call, she placed that 9:50 in the morning, she decided to drive 200 miles from Fitzgerald, Georgia to here in Winder. But by the time she arrived, the tragic shooting had already happened. In other words, we're talking about a span of roughly 30 minutes from the moment the mother called the school to when the shooting here at Appalachia High School was reported to police. Jessica?

DEAN: And the Atlanta Falcons, Rafael, showed their support for Appalachia High School during the team's warm up today. What did that look like?

ROMO: Yeah, it was very beautiful, Jessica. And this happened ahead of their season opening home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Atlanta Falcons players wore Apalachee Wildcats t-shirts during pregame warmups. Also, a moment of silence was observed before the national anthem in Mercedes-Benz Stadium to honor those affected by the deadly shooting, roughly 50 miles from downtown Atlanta.

And Jessica, throughout the weekend, we have witnessed how thousands of people have right here at Apalachee High School in Winder to pay their respects, bring flowers and show support to the families of the deceased and the school itself. Jessica? DEAN: So heartbreaking. And all right, Rafael Romo, thank you so much for that reporting.

Still ahead, we're about 48 hours now from what will be a big moment in the 2024 election. The first time Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will meet and go toe to toe on the debate stage. How they should best get their message across and how they could best trip up each other? That's next in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Are you ready, Madam Vice President?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): Ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Vice President Kamala Harris giving reporters a thumb up saying she's ready for her debate against Trump while taking a break from her debate prep in Pittsburgh. She has been there since Thursday, huddled with a small team of advisors.

Let's talk more about all of this with the director for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato. He's also the editor of the book, "A Return to Normalcy: The 2020 Election that Almost Broke America."

Larry, always nice to have you. Good to see you on this Sunday. I want to start first with this polling that we got in today that really just underscores how tight this race continues to be, and it continues to underscore also just the likelihood that this race is going to be won by really small margins in a handful of states. Do you agree with that?

LARRY SABATO, AUTHOR, DIRECTOR OF CENTER FOR POLITICS AT UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Oh, absolutely. The last approximately 20 national polls have shown precisely that, at least those coming from reputable organizations, that shows it very tight in the popular vote nationally. Of course, you would worry about that a little bit if you were a Democrat because of the electoral college.

But what's interesting is it's just as close, even closer in some cases, in the seven super swing states that probably will determine the election, the three in the north, the blue wall, as well as Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona. So, it's a close competitive contest and that's another reason, Jessica, why people should not get bent all out of shape because of a single poll. There'll be several more this week, and then more the next week and all the way to November 5th. DEAN: That's right, it is fluid until -- until the voting has ended. So, we will all watch what happens. I also wanted to ask you about this gender gap that we keep seeing show up in all of these polls, and it's just reinforced again and again. Harris leads with women. Trump leads with men. What does that gender gap say to you?

SABATO: Well, it's easy to understand. It actually is one of the few parts of this election that actually makes sense.

(LAUGHTER)

It's not just that Kamala Harris is the newest woman candidate for president, Hillary Clinton being the first, it's also that Donald Trump takes a very masculine position on loads of big issues, the tough guy, the enforcer, which Kamala Harris is trying to counteract by stressing her prosecutorial background, and Harris takes a more concerning approach to many of the domestic issues that Americans are most concerned about.

So, it kind of fits the image and it also fits the pattern that has been in American politics since, believe it or not, 1980. That is when the gender gap first emerged in presidential elections. And there hasn't been an election since without a substantial gender gap. It varies. Sometimes, it's really big and other times it's not quite as large, but it's a big feature in every major election in the United States at least.

DEAN: It is such an interesting dynamic. And we also -- we just saw Vice President Harris there on a walk, taking a little break from debate prep. The former president, Donald Trump, did a rally yesterday in the kind of last days leading up to this debate that's now two days away. What do you think is on the line with this debate?

SABATO: You know, I went back and I looked, you'll laugh at this probably, but I'm old enough to have seen every single presidential debate, including the first four in 1960, watched them live, and I wanted to see how many in retrospect really affected the election in a substantial way so that we could argue at least that the results were affected by it. There are over 30 presidential debates.

[17:35:00]

Fewer than one out of four had any kind of real impact on the final results. Now, you don't know that in advance. And the June 27th debate on CNN has eliminated forever the belief that debates really don't matter that much in the end. They do. But some matter more than others. I have no idea whether this will be one of them, but it may be one that affects the results or it may be like the majority of presidential debates that really haven't affected the results.

DEAN: Yeah, you're right, you just never know. As one campaign operative said to me one time, it was something to the effect of you may not ever know if you won the debate, but you're certainly going to know if you lost it kind of thing. You know, there is -- there's a lot to lose there. Larry Sabato, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

SABATO: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: Uh-hmm. Follow CNN for complete coverage and exclusive analysis before and after Tuesday's debate. The ABC News presidential debate simulcast starts Tuesday at 9 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Still ahead, misinformation is a big concern as we head closer to this year's presidential election. We're going to talk more about how some right-wing influencers ended up allegedly being paid by the Kremlin to sway your vote, and they said they didn't know. We're going to talk more about it. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: The Department of Justice is alleging some influential right- wing commentators were unwittingly part of a Russian attempt to influence the 2024 election. Those right-wing social media stars say they had no idea. Their paychecks were allegedly coming from Russia.

Federal prosecutors this week charging two Russian state media employees for their role in allegedly funneling nearly $10 million from Russia to a U.S. company that then paid those commentators. Prosecutors say it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign to drive stories, conspiracy theories, and propaganda to favor former President Donald Trump.

I'm joined now by Bret Schafer, a disinformation expert and senior fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy. Brett, good afternoon. Do you think so much for being here with us?

BRET SCHAFER, DISINFORMATION EXPERT, SENIOR FELLOW AT ALLIANCE FOR SECURING DEMOCRACY: Thanks for having me, Jessica.

DEAN: Mm-hmm. This is an elaborate ruse here by Russia, but the Justice Department says these podcasters may not have even known about who was paying for them. I'm just curious, how are they -- were they so susceptible to this alleged scheme?

SCHAFER: You know, I actually buy the fact that they were unaware of what was happening here. I mean, if you read the indictment, the Russians went to some level to conceal their hand here. So, they actually had set up a fictitious persona on somebody who was actually a French business person. I mean, they weren't particularly sophisticated with their trade craft. Apparently, this guy joined a call at the wrong time because he confused time zones in Moscow and Paris, but there clearly was some effort to mislead these contributors about who the funders were of this platform.

And frankly, from Russia's perspective, it's better if the contributors don't know that there's a Russian hand in it. I mean, we've seen this throughout history with Russian propaganda. It really works better if the people who are out in front aren't fully aware of their role in the entire scheme. So, I actually buy the fact that these contributors were unaware of the fact that this platform was being funded by Russia.

DEAN: And so, as someone who studies disinformation and focuses on it, analyzes it, what is your take on this particular scheme and how dangerous and threatening do you think it was to this election?

SCHAFER: Well, I think we have to be sober and level-headed about the threat. I mean, there's no indication that this attempted to keep Americans from voting. There's no indication that this attempted to interfere with any election processes. There's no real indication that it actually changed anyone's political positions.

However, this is at least the third or fourth episode in the last few months where one of our adversaries has been caught trying to covertly influence American audiences. And so, I think our adversaries understand the stakes in November. They understand our political situation. And so, the concern is that they're trying to set themselves up to throw a match into a situation that's already pretty combustible.

DEAN: Yeah. And so many times, friends, whomever will send a link or send a link in a group chat like, can you believe this, whatever, I say it over and over again, they get so sick of me saying it, but like, who's your source? Check your sources. You know, trying to fight against any sort of disinformation that's blatant that way.

But then this is just three, you know, levels beyond that in terms of having -- propping someone up to spew conspiracy theories that the Russians want out there. But how can your average consumer be smart about what they're consuming?

SCHAFER: So, there are actually two different cases this week. And so, there's another case this campaign called doppelganger. This is something the Russians have been running now for years, which is creating websites to look identical to the websites that you would know and trust. So, this week, DOJ took down a website that was spoofing "The Washington Post."

So that's really difficult as an information consumer, but what you have to do, and this is sort of basic digital literacy, you got to check your domain first. Oftentimes, we see bad actors do what's called typosquatting. So, all of us have at some point tried to type in Amazon, we get one letter wrong, we're redirected somewhere. Bad actors prey on that. So, make sure you're landing on the website that you actually intend to go to.

But in terms of this other case, as a consumer, there would be no way for an audience to understand that these podcasters were being funded by Russia because they didn't even understand it.

[17:45:05]

But on the other hand, I think there is a role for influencers in understanding who's funding them, who's behind these platforms, because all of us now at some level are content creators on social media. So, if someone reaches out to you, they want you to share a message, they want to fund you, you better know where that money, where the motives are coming from.

DEAN: And so, what does it say to you that now DOJ is taking the steps of prosecuting this case?

SCHAFER: It's important and it's important that they did it now. I mean, if we go back to 2016, the DOJ got dinged because they sat on their hands a bit, because they didn't want to be perceived as attempting to interfere with the election. So, I think they ran this case out, they made it very public, enough in advance of the election that there wouldn't be the same partisanship around it. So, I think it's really important that they did this, they did it now, and that they unsealed an indictment that really was rich with details.

DEAN: And just more broadly, again, since you and the Alliance for Securing Democracy are focused on monitoring all of this, what are you finding as we get closer to November? Do you see similar situations like this, maybe not as grand in the scale, but trying to influence voters, you know, how they feel or what they think or what they think is truth over fiction?

SCHAFER: So, Russia has a challenge because this is the first election where they haven't had an overt propaganda channel that can reach Americans. RT America was shut down in 2022. Many of the tech platforms have taken an action against RT. So, it's harder to find it on YouTube. It's harder to find it on Facebook. So, they need to find creative ways to reach Americans. And that in some ways is pretty dangerous because at least RT, you knew who was behind it.

But if you're running covert funding into what seems to be an authentic, genuine American production company, much harder to understand that there's perhaps some Russian motives behind it, that there's sort of Russian intentions behind it. And so, I think it's just really concerning as we move into November because we are going to see all of these threat actors.

And it's not just Russia, the Iranians have attempted to, and I think in one case we're successful at hacking into political campaigns. We know other threat actors are very active as well. And so, there's a whole range of different foreign adversaries who are attempting to influence American opinion.

And it's not just about the candidates that we prefer or the candidates they may prefer. I think they also want to see us sort of devolve into chaos. So, we have to be very careful about the aftermath of the election and not having foreign adversaries radicalize us and leading us towards another January 6th.

DEAN: And really lean into the divisiveness and so that. All right, Bret Schafer, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

SCHAFER: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, video shows Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill detained by police just steps away from the stadium. What we're learning about this encounter. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: One of the NFL's top stars was detained by police just as he was about to start this team's season opener. Video shows Miami Dolphins Tyreek Hill face down on the ground in handcuffs, just steps away from Hard Rock Stadium. He was given a citation and allowed to play in the game. Now, one of the officers has been placed on administrative duties during an internal investigation.

CNN's Don Riddell is here with more. Don, what more are you learning?

DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, it's just a remarkable situation, Jessica. On the opening weekend of the new NFL season, arguably the biggest headline wasn't made on the football field, instead, as you say, it was written face down on the street, right outside the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

The video is pretty shocking to many people. It's the Dolphins' wide receiver, Tyreek Hill, handcuffed, face down by the Miami Dade Police Department while he had been trying to drive into the stadium.

The team confirmed that the wide receiver had been -- quote -- "briefly detained by the police," adding that some of his teammates who had been passing by had stopped to lend their support. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, says that he was detained for a traffic violation.

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DREW ROSENHAUS, TYREEK HILL'S AGENT: Apparently, he got a ticket for a moving violation entering the stadium. How things escalated into the situation that they were in, in handcuffs and being held on the ground with police, is mind-boggling to me. I'm deeply concerned by that, very troubled. We will be looking into it. We will be investigating this. We will look out for Tyree.

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RIDDELL: Rosenhaus also said that Hill was rattled by the incident, physically okay but mentally distraught. He said it was important for Hill to focus on the game. But they would be dealing with the situation afterwards. He said that he wants to make sure his client wasn't mistreated.

Well, Hill didn't seem to be too affected once the game got underway. In fact, he was pretty defiant, scoring an 80-yard touchdown reception as he outpaced the Jacksonville defenders. And his celebration, I'd say was topical. He recreated the scene from earlier, thrusting his hands behind his back as a teammate recreated handcuffing him. The Dolphins rallied to beat the Jaguars. And afterwards, Hill spoke to the media about what had happened before the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TYREEK HILL, MIAMI DOLPHINS WIDE RECEIVER: No idea, man. It's crazy. No idea. I wasn't disrespectful, you know, because my mom didn't raise me that way. Um, didn't cuss, didn't do none of that.

[17:55:06]

So, like I said, I'm still trying to figure it out, man. But I do want to say, I do want to be able to use this platform to say like, what if I wasn't Tyreek Hill, bro? Like worst case scenario, you know, cause. It's crazy. I want to be a cop one day. I got a state trooper hat, all that, you know. So, I got a lot of respect for cops, man. But obviously, you know, everybody has bad apples.

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RIDDELL: Meanwhile, one of Hill's teammates, trying to deescalate the situation, says that he was also placed in handcuffs. And after the game, the director of the local police department, Stephanie Daniels, said that an internal affairs investigation was underway and that one of their officers had been placed on administrative duties. Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right, Don Riddell, thank you so much for that report, and we appreciate it. Still ahead, what will President Biden's legacy be, and how will he use his remaining time, his remaining political capital? We will be joined by White House Principal Deputy Communication Director Herbie Ziskend to talk about it all next. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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