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Trump Claims Without Evidence Some Undocumented Migrants Are "Taking Over Our Country From Within"; Trump, Harris Focus On Battleground States As Race Enters Critical Phase; Trump Repeats Baseless Claim That Harris Wore Earpiece At Their Debate; Police Release Dispatch & 911 Calls From Winder, GA School Shooting; Zelenskyy: We Need To Hit Military Targets Deep Inside Russia. Toxic, Sexist Work Environment Plagues New Hampshire Natl. Guard; Miami-Dade Officer In Tyreek Hill Traffic Stop Has Multiple Suspensions; "Misinformation: The Lost Left" Airs Tomorrow At 8PM ET/PT. Aired 12- 1p ET

Aired September 14, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:00:00]

JEREMY O. HARRIS, PLAYWRIGHT, "SLAVE PLAY": -- that people will still pay $300 for their --

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

HARRIS: -- shows. $400 for their shows. In my mind, I think that I would rather see a play run for a long time in a lot of different cities, in a lot of different countries for an average ticket price of $50 to $75, than have one play run for six months at like a $400 ticket price. Because for me, that is unsustainable to create a new generation of theater goers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: And that is all we have time for this week. Don't forget, you can find all of our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/ podcast and on all other major platforms. I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. Thank you for watching. And I'll see you again next week.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

With just over 50 days until the election, the race for the White House is entering a critical phase. Today, former President Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, are campaigning in key battleground states. In the last 24 hours, Trump has spent his time lashing out at the Nasdaq, promoting another baseless claim that Harris had an earpiece in at their debate. Trump continues to claim with zero evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating people's pets, and, he said, migrants are taking over the country from within.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm angry about Venezuelan gangs taking over Aurora, Colorado. And I'm angry about illegal Haitian migrants taking over Springfield, Ohio. You see that mess, don't you? The Venezuelans have big AK-47 Supremes. There's a Supreme.

Where the hell do they get these guns? Our soldiers can't get these guns. They're taking over our country from within.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: None of it substantiated or proven. Meantime, Kamala Harris just wrapped up two campaign stops in battleground Pennsylvania. And before she left, she sat down for an interview with a Philadelphia television station to blast Trump's divisive rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In my heart, I know in my soul, I know that the vast majority of us as Americans have so much more in common than what separates us. Most Americans want a leader who brings us together as Americans and not someone who professes to be a leader who is trying to have us point our fingers at each other. I think people are exhausted with that approach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We've got a team of correspondents covering the campaigns. Alayna Treene is with the Trump team in Nevada. Let's bring in Kevin Liptak at the White House with more on the perspective from there. Kevin, what can you tell us about the Vice President Harris strategy to hold events in rural areas that tend to vote Republican and her campaign's new effort to mobilize Latino voters as well?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And on the last point there, this is the largest investment that the campaign has made so far, trying to convince Latino voters to vote for Kamala Harris. They're investing 3 million in Spanish radio alone, sending surrogates to events including tonight's super middleweight fight in Las Vegas.

So you can see them really trying to look for votes everywhere they possibly can in this final stretch towards Election Day. And what that looked like yesterday in Pennsylvania was traveling to two counties in the conservative interior of the state places that Donald Trump won back in 2020. Kamala Harris very much looking to shave off some percentage points to cut into Donald Trump's margins among rural voters, blue collar workers.

Rural voters, of course, really trying to look for these votes anywhere she possibly can. Yesterday she was in Johnstown, which is in the western part of the state. She was joined by the Democratic Senator John Fetterman. He is someone who has tried to convince Democrats, first Joe Biden and now Kamala Harris, that they need to campaign in these parts of the state if they are to win the critical 19 electoral votes that Pennsylvania holds.

And so Kamala Harris certainly trying to do that yesterday. And you heard in her speeches, she talked about some of these issues that would be very much central to these communities, talking about how she would try as president to reduce the number of jobs that would require a college degree. She also talked about some of the Republicans who have actually endorsed her as president.

Of course, Pennsylvania is central to any electoral battleground strategy. You just have to look at her own calendar to get that viewpoint of the last eight days or so. She has spent all or part of seven of them in Pennsylvania. She will return to Pennsylvania next week. She's also visiting Michigan and Wisconsin, focusing very much on that so-called blue wall as she heads towards November.

[12:05:01]

WHITFIELD: All right, Kevin Liptak at the White House, thanks so much.

Let's go now to Alayna Treene in Las Vegas with the Trump campaign. Alayna, good to see you. What can you tell us about Trump's strategy out West and how he is answering questions now about a controversial supporter?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Fred, for his strategy out West, look, he has had a couple rallies. He was in Tucson, Arizona on Thursday, Las Vegas yesterday and today. But a lot of this is because he had fundraisers out here. He had two fundraisers in Los Angeles, he'll have another this weekend on the West Coast, so that's part of this.

But, look, yesterday at his rally here in Las Vegas, it was built by his campaign that speech as an economic speech. Instead, though, Donald Trump veered off script repeatedly. He spent a lot of time rehashing Tuesday night's debate. And part of that, as part of that, he went on this whole discussion about whether or not Kamala Harris was wearing an earpiece.

Now, this is a baseless claim that has been kind of percolating on the far-right corners of the internet and something that Donald Trump had been promoting. And we heard him say it publicly on stage last night. He also claimed without evidence that perhaps she had received some of the questions in advance.

I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She can't talk. She can't talk without maybe getting the answers. What's the story with that? Did she get the questions? That's it. So I hear she got the questions and I also heard she had something in the ear, a little something in the ear.

No, Kamala, do this. Say it this way, Kamala. OK, be quiet. Too many people watching.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Fred, clearly, he was mocking the Vice President there, but I do want to be very clear. There is no evidence that any of what he just said was true. But the reason that this is so notable is because this is the latest in a string of conspiracy theories that Donald Trump has been promoting really ever since Harris replace Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

It also comes as many Republicans and people close to Donald Trump are telling me that they are concerned about his relationship with the far-right conspiracy theorist, Laura Loomer. She's someone who has promoted conspiracies about 9/11. She once called it an inside job. And she traveled with Donald Trump this week from Florida to New York to Philadelphia for the debate. She also went with him to New York.

And the reason I'm bringing this up is because when I talk to people close to Trump, his allies, people even within his campaign, they argue that she is behind some of these conspiracy theories. Now, we actually did hear Donald Trump address some of this yesterday in a social media post. He tried to distance himself a bit from Loomer's positions.

I'm going to read for you just very quickly some of what he wrote. He said, quote, "Laura Loomer doesn't work for the campaign. She's a private citizen and longtime supporter. I disagree with the statement she made, but like many millions of people who support me, she is tired of watching the radical left Marxist and fascist violently attack and spear me."

So there you see, it's unclear which statements he was saying he disagrees with, but trying to distance himself a bit from Laura Loomer, although, of course, he continues to say that she's a strong supporter and that he likes her. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Alayna Treene, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much. And Kevin Liptak as well, coming to us from Washington.

All right, let's talk more about the race for the White House with Lynn Sweet. She is the Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun- Times. And Lynn, I'm just learning today you're also the host of "At the Table with Lynn Sweet." So congrats on that as well. I'm going to tune into that soon.

All right, so let's talk about the Harris campaign right now. Going to be planning more stops in red and rural counties to attract swing voters. What do you make of that strategy?

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: What I make of the strategy is that the Harris campaign has the resources, both cash and volunteers, to go everywhere with still some 50 days left to the campaign. They don't have to make a lot of super hard choices in dealing with the battleground states. And the voter segments are reaching out to, because at this point, they could do everything on their checklist. Reach out to Latinos, do more reaching out to black voters, do more with women, do more with students. They have this strategic advantage right now. And as we can see, they're using it.

WHITFIELD: Harris just wrapped up a long stretch in Pennsylvania. Her running mate Tim Walz is on the campaign trail in his home state of Minnesota and battleground Wisconsin. So right now, there is a big focus on the blue wall states. At the same time, does the Harris-Walz campaign, you know, risk not courting some of the other battleground states?

SWEET: Well, actually, Walz is going to be in Georgia and North Carolina on Tuesday. So they -- it's not for them, and this is a very interesting thing to analyze strategically, it's not either or it's all. They do not have to make these choices.

[12:10:05]

Walz is a strong surrogate for Harris and has his own schedule. Plus they have all these other related events and surrogates going out. And Trump has this, but not to the same degree. And if you look at the fire hoods of cash coming into the campaign, all this ground work can be supplemented by paid advertising and we're seeing that happening.

So that is a very interesting development we're in right now is that they don't have to make a hard choice between doing appeal to this segment or that because they could do every segment that that's important in a race that could be this close. Any sliver of any base group is important to turn out. And as your previous reporters said, you also have to do the work of trying to tamp down the Trump turnout in his places to all make it work into getting these battleground state wins.

WHITFIELD: And flip side to that, Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance, he is doing interviews on behalf of their ticket on all the main networks. What do you make of the strategy of keeping Vance in battleground states, having him do interviews while Trump focuses primarily on rallies?

SWEET: Well, during the small group interview is not really the Trump thing, and it might be riskier at this point, since it's -- and it's so important to underscore Trump is making speeches that are endless series of lies and misstatements. This is not to be normalized in any way.

And if he does these interviews with reporters who, in these swing states, he might have a rougher interview. J.D. Vance is doing this as part of his portfolio of more reaching out to reporters. And, again, this is part of the attack on Kamala Harris by Donald Trump is that she doesn't do enough interviews, and her campaign has said that they're doing more.

So far, as you've just been reporting, there's one, and we'll see about that. But the more any of these candidates get out in the battleground states, yes, there's some risk that they can make a mistake, but also there's reward.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now. Lynn Sweet, thank you so much. Great to see you.

SWEET: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Today, the Winder, Georgia community will gather to remember 14-year-old student Mason Schermerhorn and teacher Cristina Irimie in separate funeral services. They were among the four people killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School just 10 days ago. And now we're getting a clearer picture of the police response in the moments after the shooting.

Yesterday, Barrow County officials released the police 911 calls and more than 500 radio messages between emergency personnel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Active shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an active shooter at Apalachee High School.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One suspect in custody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the status of the shooter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In custody and uninjured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Rafael Romo is joining me right now. Rafael, good to see you. I mean, these are still very tender, tough moments. And, you know, in the trove of recordings, there was a tearful call from the suspect's aunt who said she was worried that it was her nephew.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, then it's -- let me just say for the -- not only that, but it's a very difficult day there. Having been there in the community, this is very difficult. What the aunt is saying and also what we have learned from other family members and these newly obtained emergency recordings and dispatch records from the Barrow County Sheriff's office, captured the chaos and panic that unfolded both inside and outside the Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.

We now know the first call for the shooting came in at 10:22 a.m. Eastern Time, according to dispatch reports obtained from the Barrow County Sheriff's Office through a Freedom of Information request made by CNN. Two minutes later, at 10:24 a.m., authorities had the suspect's name as Colt, and one student was dead, according to the reports.

At 10:30 a.m., the suspect was in custody, not injured. And then at 11:45 a.m., a woman who identified herself as Colt's aunt made a tearful 911 call saying she was afraid her nephew was involved in the shooting. This is part of what she told at dispatcher. Let's take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, my mom just texted me and said that my nephew texted his mom and dad this morning and told them that he was really sorry and he goes to the high school Apalachee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: As we previously reported, Colt Gray sent his mother an alarming cryptic text message before the shooting that only said, "I'm sorry, mom." That text message prompted Marcee Gray to call the school asking administrators to check on her son.

[12:15:05]

The aunt also shared that information with the dispatcher as we will hear next.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, and you said that you got a message from your nephew?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, my mom just called me and said that Colt text his mom, my sister and his dad that he was sorry and they called the school and told the counselor to go get him immediately. And then she said she saw there's been a shooting, and I just worry it was him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Really hard to hear that. The Barrow County Sheriff said that after Marcee Gray's warning call, authorities were actively looking for Colt Gray, but there was a mix up and they weren't able to get to him fast enough. Colt Gray, who authorities say confessed to the Winder High School attack, is charged with four counts of felony murder and will be tried as an adult.

His attorney, Alfonso Kraft Jr. declined to comment Wednesday when reached by phone. But peace by peace, the story is surfacing. It's very disturbing and very, very sad for the community.

WHITFIELD: It is. I mean, the family seemed to know. But you know what I think is still curious? I mean, we know and we've heard from the mom about the text, "I'm sorry, mom". Do we know whether there was anything more preceding that, for them to know, for the mom to know, for this aunt to know that that meant these measures were taken by this young man?

I feel like there must be something else preceding the, "I'm sorry, mom."

ROMO: Yes --

WHITFIELD: Do we know anything more of that?

ROMO: Yes. There's a span of 30 minutes before the shooting actually happened, where officials say the mother placed a call to the school asking administrators, spoke specifically with a counselor, saying, hey, there's something terribly wrong. I need you to find my son. Make sure that he's doing OK.

And that's when the mix happened and they weren't able to reach the student in time. By then, he was already in the restroom, allegedly putting together the gun that he had carried in his backpack. And then we know the rest of the story and how tragically it ended.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And we had heard from a classmate who said that a young man, whose name is very similar --

ROMO: Right.

WHITFIELD: -- but the first name was Colton --

ROMO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- that apparently it was Colton who was called, they asked, and turns out that was the wrong kid, but simultaneously, as you just mentioned, Colt was in the bathroom or preparing for this horrible situation.

All right, thank you so much, Rafael Romo. Bring us more as you get it.

ROMO: Of course.

WHITFIELD: All right, a pressing question now facing the U.S., should Ukraine be allowed to use Western missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia? We'll tell you what the U.S. and its allies are saying about that, and the potential impact of the decision on the battlefield.

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[12:22:32]

WHITFIELD: The White House says no decision is imminent on letting Ukraine use longer range missiles inside Russia. Those are missiles primarily supplied by the U.S. and the U.K. And this follows a critical meeting between President Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House Friday where Ukraine was high on the agenda.

Ukraine is stepping up the pressure to be allowed to use those missiles deep inside Russia. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he needs more flexibility in using those weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE: Everybody's looking the decision of the United States. Everybody's waiting for such decisions. After that, they make decisions. It's true. And -- so, we wanted very much to use this weapon and just to attack these jets on the military basis. Not civilians' infrastructure, military base.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: So you just want to be able to attack --

ZELENSKYY: Yes.

ZAKARIA: -- the bases that are being used to launch these weapons, these planes, these missiles?

ZELENSKYY: Yes, because these jets, Fareed, these jets, these jets, from there they use not only missiles. They use these jets, and jets use per month 4,000 guided aerial bombs on -- just on the east of our territory, 4,000 bombs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, with me now is CNN Military Analyst and Retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Great to see you, Colonel. So, if Ukraine is allowed to use the missiles the way Zelenskyy wants, will it actually move the needle in this war?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, that depends, Fredricka. According to a lot of reports, the Russians have moved a lot of their aircraft away from the range of the missiles that we're talking about. And that range is basically about 200 miles from launch.

So that would mean that any area that the Ukrainians would be able to cover with this may or may not have the aircraft that President Zelenskyy was talking about, but it certainly has the airfields that he wants to, in essence, attack. So that would be one area that would be positive to go, you know, after this, you know, use these missiles and have that range of attack capability.

And if he has that, it could have a bit of a difference in the war. But if that's one capability will not be enough, Fredricka, to make a complete difference.

WHITFIELD: So again, Zelenskyy, you know, try to make it clear that the objective would be to target these Russian bases. Would it seem, under those parameters, it's fair game?

[12:25:13]

LEIGHTON: Oh, it's absolutely fair game under the laws of war. These bases should be allowed to be targets under, you know, under the rules of warfare, under international law. There was no problem with the Ukrainians going after them.

What the problem is in terms of escalation is that the Russians are basically saying that if they -- if these bases are attacked with Western weapons, then it would be a potential for escalation in this war that could potentially involve nuclear weapons. And that's the kind of thing that of course the West wants to avoid. WHITFIELD: And then some are suggesting that strategically, the longer range missiles could be used more effectively inside Ukraine, perhaps in Crimea. Is that how you see it?

LEIGHTON: Well, those missiles have actually already been used. At least several of them have been used in Crimea against targets, Russian targets in Crimea. The Ukrainians have attacked the Black Sea fleet headquarters there, for example. They've attacked air defense installations there like S-400 radar and missile installations.

So that becomes, you know, something that the Ukrainians have already done. They need more of these missiles to continue to prosecute targets in Crimea, but they also need these missiles to target areas in Russia that are serving as basically launchpads for Russian attacks against Crimea. Excuse me, against Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: I see. OK. And Russia's Vladimir Putin is saying, of course, doing so would simply, you know, provoke a bigger war. Does he really need any further incentive in which to, you know, follow up on that? Would this be the thing that would provoke him to move further?

LEIGHTON: It's possible that it wouldn't. Certainly U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that Putin has, you know, is making a decision in that vein that the Russians could potentially use this as an excuse to widen the conflict or make it a much more severe conflict.

But we have to keep in mind, as far as the Russians are concerned, whether you listen to Putin or to Foreign Minister Lavrov, or several other Russian officials, they really feel like they're already at war with the West. So the question of escalation is perhaps a not necessarily a mood one, but it's definitely not as dramatic as what the Russians would have us believe at this point.

WHITFIELD: Ukraine, you know, had implied that Kursk offensive inside Russia was to help leverage Ukraine, you know, in any type of peace negotiations. Was the Kursk offensive, you know, worth it from that perspective?

LEIGHTON: Well, it remains to be seen, Fredricka. I think that the Kursk offensive really surprised the Russians. And it's very clear that the Ukrainians were not only able to capture some Russian territory, but they did force the Russians to really reposition some of their troops.

Now, the main Ukrainian goal in terms of tactical military issues of forcing Russian soldiers from the eastern front to the Kursk region to defend that area, that has not been achieved at this particular point. But there are other things that the Ukrainians did achieve, the fact that they were able to come in, they've set up what amounts to a civil military government in these areas.

All of that is very positive for Ukraine, and that can certainly show that the Ukrainians have the capability to do some incursions like this and potentially leverage these gains when it comes to future peace or ceasefire negotiations. WHITFIELD: And, you know, Colonel, I don't know if you saw any of Christiane Amanpour's interviews with some of the Ukrainian soldiers who were being treated in the medic on, you know, the train and many of them were saying they don't have enough arsenal. Is it your concern that more arsenal, whether it be from the U.S. or the U.K., can get there soon enough?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think that is a major concern and the Ukrainian soldiers in Christiane's piece are really voicing a concern that I've had ever since the beginning of this phase of the conflict. And that is that, you know, when you look at the resources compare them between Ukraine and Russia, it's very clear that the Russians have far more resources in terms of troops, in terms of munitions, and that is what Ukraine is fighting against.

So the U.S. and its NATO allies have to really ramp up the logistical support and make sure that every single thing that they promised Ukraine gets to Ukraine so that it can be used very quickly. That also not only includes the munitions, it includes the training to use those munitions, because one thing that the Ukrainians have to do is save their manpower. It's essential that they save their manpower in order to survive as a country.

WHITFIELD: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, always great to talk to you. Thank you so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And you can see the full of Volodymyr Zelenskyy interview tomorrow morning on Fareed Zakaria GPS at 10:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

All right, still to come, a CNN exclusive investigation uncovers how the New Hampshire National Guard failed to protect women in its ranks. The details are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:34:58]

WHITFIELD: CNN has exclusive reporting on the New Hampshire National Guard and how it became a hotbed for sexual harassment and assault, according to interviews with current and former members of the Guard. They describe a culture of retaliation against whistleblowers and neglect for victims of sexual assault. And in one instance, a lieutenant colonel deployed to the southern border -- border rather, in October of 2022, sent sexually suggestive messages to women, took photos of women without their knowledge, and shared them.

He even ordered women to come to his hotel room and threatened to make their deployments miserable if they complained. CNN's Pentagon producer Haley Britzky is joining us now with more on this. Haley, just how rampant was this kind of behavior in the New Hampshire Guard?

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN PENTAGON PRODUCER: Yes, Fredricka, so the current and former members that I spoke with said this was incredibly normal, that this had been going on for years, with leadership often sweeping these issues under the rug. And I think a good illustration of that is this investigation that you mentioned of the Lieutenant Colonel down at the border.

The investigators spoke to over 50 soldiers during this investigation. Many of them saying that Colonel Patterson bragged about beating past investigations that he'd been investigated as many as six or seven times and -- and had beaten every single one. So it really impacted the trust they had in leadership and taking this seriously. And of course, we should mention that his lawyer, when asked about this behavior, said that Colonel Patterson felt the women under his command were being friendly, but he aired and letting that familiarity go too far.

WHITFIELD: And Haley, so your investigation has shown systemic issues in the National Guard that could enable this kind of miss han -- misconduct. So what have your sources been telling you about that?

BRITZKY: Yes, so the -- the National Guard is a bit of a complex piece of the military, given that it's made up primarily of these part time service members, so this is not their full time job, which can sort of impact some of the -- the culture and some changes sinking down into these units.

But also, sources pointed to the fact there's not a very effective investigating agency within the National Guard specifically, as well as this sort of gray area of who really oversees these units. The units report to their state's governor, but they also report to the National Guard Bureau and the Pentagon back in D.C., and so there seems to be some lack of clarity over who really is responsible for overseeing these and enforcing accountability in these organizations.

WHITFIELD: So what are other guardsmen and women saying about this kind of toxicity that's being allowed to go on?

BRITZKY: Yes. So multiple people saying, you know, pointing out that this is not just New Hampshire. They say this is happening with -- within other state units because of this kind of systemic issue. But the people in -- in New Hampshire saying that they really don't have a lot of confidence this is going to be handled appropriately.

We see legislation being proposed in the Senate by New Hampshire Senator Shaheen, but there's still doubt that even that would bring effective change, as one source told me, you know, it's not that there's not regulations or rules on the book for these units, is that they simply aren't following them.

WHITFIELD: All right. Haley Britzky, great reporting. Thank you so much.

[12:37:59]

All right, remnants of what was Hurricane Francine are drenching the southeast. Millions are under flood alerts. A look at the latest forecast, next.

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WHITFIELD: Four days since making landfall, what's left of what was Hurricane Francine is still dropping heavy rain and putting people at risk across the southeastern U.S. More than 5 million people in four states are under flood alerts, with Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee seeing the worst of it. CNN's Elisa Raffa is here with more. So how long is this rain going to go on?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Really through today starts to try to wrap up going into tomorrow. But a lot of these areas are saturated from rain that they've gotten in the last couple of days from Francine, you can see that fire hose of moisture, with some of that rain coming through Birmingham, even making it as far north as Nashville, climbing with some gusty winds as well.

Look at the footprint of rain from Francine. I mean, some pretty hefty totals over six inches around the New Orleans area, another little area along the Florida Panhandle, with some pretty high totals over six inches. And it's just huge swap of some four to six inch totals from some of that heavy rain. This is what's left of the flood watch as stretches from southern Tennessee down through Alabama and then into parts of Georgia as well.

Now a lot of this area does have some drought conditions, so we could use some of this rain, again, just getting a lot of it all of at once, you can see some of the additional totals that could still come. So still a growing concern for some flash flooding possible across the southeast through today and tomorrow, from what is left of Francine. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. And then there's a new threat?

RAFFA: Yes. Tropics have woken up and --

WHITFIELD: We're still in the season.

RAFFA: Yes. They've been pretty busy. We have this little storm, this area of low pressure off the coast of the Carolinas that could get, again, a name to something else. But even if it doesn't, it could still bring some heavy rain. You can see as we go into Monday, we'll have some of that heavy rain along the Carolinas, and then it works its way up the east coast as we go into the work week there.

So here's that flood risk for the Carolinas on Monday, that slight risk level two out of four from Greenville down towards Wilmington. Again, this has some tropical nature to it. It could have a skeleton that could get a name to something. But even if it doesn't, you still have the heavy rain threat. We also have Gordon back there. That's a tropical storm in the Atlantic. Right now, it's got winds of a 45 miles per hour. For now that track doesn't take it to any land in the next seven days.

[12:45:03]

WHITFIELD: All right. Very good, thank you for watching it. Let us know. Elisa Raffa, thank you. All right. New today, we're learning the officer at the center of the controversial traffic stop involving Miami Dolphins player, Tyreek Hill, has a troubled past with the police force. A report on Daniel Torres's work file shows throughout his 27-year career, he had a history of suspensions, reprimands and complaints. These complaints include allegations that he used various force tactics resulting in injuries such as cuts and bruises.

Other complaints involved allegations of improper procedure and improper use of a body camera. Torres is now on administrative leave following the incident with the Dolphins wide receiver. Meanwhile, Hill is calling for justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIUS COLLINS, ATTORNEY TO TYREEK HILL: Some of the demands that Tyreek, he's expressed to me is the truthful and honest conversation about being African American and HEPA relations, or a better relationship with law enforcement, or how law enforcement actually patrols black communities, truthful conversation about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, that was Hill's attorney. CNN has reached out to Torres's attorney for comment. The Miami Dade Police are investigating the traffic stop.

A Colorado paramedic convicted of negligent homicide and second degree assault in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain has his five year prison sentence reduced to four years of probation. The judge's decision came after the paramedic requested leniency, citing unusual circumstances, prosecutors expressed disappointment, stating the evidence had supported the conviction. McClain's mother declined to comment.

Up next, you'll hear from former Bernie Bros, whose disillusionment with politics has led them to embrace conspiracy theories, white supremacists and even Vladimir Putin.

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[12:51:43]

WHITFIELD: All right, the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories has long flourished on the far right. And in this Sunday's, The Whole Story, CNN senior correspondent Donie O'Sullivan continues his misinformation series by introducing us to some people who were once pretty far left and now have gone in a whole new direction. Here's a preview.

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DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What is it about some of these guys that has made them go from far left to far right.

HASAN PIKER, TWITCH STREAMER: Like every young man in a certain point in their lives, of like, had some kind of insecurity, whether it be about their sexuality or whether it be about, like, their future prospects or whatever. And I think that, like a lot of -- a lot of these guys take advantage of that and present this false narrative that, like, in order to be a man, you got to be, like, homophobic. It's like, no, a real man is going to want to protect people who are marginalized.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Donnie O'Sullivan, with us now. Wow. I mean this -- this is pretty eyebrow raising and surprising. What surprised you?

O'SULLIVAN: Hey, Fred, yes, who you heard from there, his name is Hassan Piker. He is on Twitch, which is a video game streaming platform. He's got about 3 million followers. Oops, I'm sorry, that's my Twitch going off right there. He's -- he's got about 3 million followers there.

And look, this is a whole new world of where young people, and really people of all ages, are getting their information and misinformation. So on video game platforms like Twitch, people are also discussing politics. They talk about politics all day. They discuss politics.

And some of the men we met on this journey for misinformation, for The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, were guys who spend most their time online, many hours a day. They feel disillusioned. They feel left behind by politics. They were formerly Bernie Bros, just up until even for as recently as four years ago. They see not -- they don't see a material change in their life.

They are getting more frustrated as they stay online. And they have moved all the way to the -- to MAGA, but even beyond that, to the very, very, very far right and into really hateful and extremist spaces online. I met two of them take a look at this.

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O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But the men that we met here weren't always this way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Jackson Hinkle (ph).

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): A few years ago, Jackson was campaigning for progressive causes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was BLM originally. BLM has been co-opted by NATO, by the government.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): And Adam, aka Charm, had changed as well.

O'SULLIVAN: So you used to be a big liberal -- you used to be a big liberal?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

O'SULLIVAN: A big Democrat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: You were a Bernie Bro?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bernie Bro, through and through.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): I wanted to find out what had made them change.

O'SULLIVAN: Why do you think the Russians like you so much?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I speak truth.

O'SULLIVAN: Good to see you, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American politics is schizophrenia. You got one side saying you're crazy. You got the other side saying you're crazy.

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O'SULLIVAN: Yes, one of the guys you saw there, Jackson Hinkle (ph), who I asked, why did the Russians like you so much? He's a 24-year-old from California, from San Clemente. Eight years ago, he was a Bernie kid, basically. He was picking up trash on his Beach in -- in -- in California, was working on progressive causes, and now has made this just over the space of a few years, it's very hard turn, right.

[12:55:12]

WHITFIELD: Wow. I mean, real hard turn. So what are their views on Kamala Harris?

O'SULLIVAN: They're not big fans. And look, I mean, they are -- these guys are steeped now in the world of MAGA. But I think it's -- it goes far beyond that, and it's something that we are seeing in the U.S., but also all around the world, is this kind of radicalization of men, people who are -- men who are feeling disillusioned, who feel like they've been left behind in some sort of ways. And there are people online, influencers are online. There's a whole manosphere, it's called on the internet, of playing into these guys in securities, their grievances, and really radicalizing them.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating. All right, we'll be watching for more. Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much. Don't miss The Whole Story, Misinformation: The Lost Left tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.

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