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CNN This Morning

At Least 6 Dead in Mass Shooting in Virginia Walmart; Nightclub Shooting Suspect to Appear in Court; Explosions in Jerusalem in Suspected 'Combined Terror Attack'; Busiest Travel Day of Year Underway for Roads, Skies; Trump Suffers Legal Blows in Fights Over Taxes, Mar-a-Lago Docs; Saudi Arabia Declares National Holiday after Stunning Upset. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired November 23, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

L. LOUISE LUCAS (D), VIRGINIA STATE SENATE (via phone): This is a sad night for us here in Virginia. It's a sad night in Chesapeake. And it's going to be a really, really sad time tomorrow morning when people wake up and hear this sad news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:00:29]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: When does it stop? That is the question. The sad news is that the nation can't even mourn one mass shooting before another.

Here's what happened. A gunman opening fire overnight inside a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia. Families preparing for Thanksgiving now facing funerals instead. This is what we know at this hour.

Police confirm six people were killed last night inside the store. The shooter is also dead.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: It's also not clear this morning if there was any kind of standoff or whether officers fired any shots once they arrived. The gunman's motives still not known at this time.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So clearly, a lot of questions remain this morning. We do expect to learn, hopefully, more about the suspect and what happened inside that store when police hold a news conference just two hours from now.

LEMON: According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 606 mass shootings this year alone.

Straight to CNN's Brian Todd, live for us at the scene in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Brian, hello to you. What are you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, just a short time ago, we did get word from the city of Chesapeake that a total of 7 people are dead in the shooting, including the shooter himself.

Our affiliate, WTKR, cites a hospital spokesman as saying that five people are being treated for injuries at Sentara General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, not too far from here. An update on their conditions was not immediate available.

WTKR also spoke to a relative of a survivor of the shooting. Here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He went in at 10 p.m. tonight, and we received a phone call. Well, his wife received a phone call about 10:18, saying that he had been shot. At the time, that's all that we knew, that he had been shot. We didn't know how.

You know, and what was really strange to us is that he clocks in at 10. So he hadn't even been there ten minutes.

He actually was shot in the side. He is up talking, breathing. They don't have a lot of details right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So again, at least six people dead. The shooter is also dead. At least five people were injured in the attack.

We are told by a law enforcement source -- this is CNN's John Miller obtaining this information -- that either a current or a former employee walked into a break room where people work and opened fire. That person also then turned the gun on himself and is deceased. That's what we know at this time -- Don.

LEMON: So look, as you said, not much known. You got that information from John Miller (ph), but do we know anything more -- I know there's a press conference that's going to happen in the coming hours here, and we're going to carry that live for you.

Do you have any idea where this investigation is going? Any idea of a motive, Brian?

TODD: Well, that's what we've got to piece together, and that's what officials have got to, you know, go through the evidence and try to find. We need to know who this person was.

Was this a disgruntled employee? Was there a conflict at work? Those are some answers that we hope to get in the coming hours, Don.

I can tell you that overnight, it took them several hours just to comb through the store behind me. It's a very large Walmart, and police officials say they couldn't really give us information even on the number of people dead and injured for several hours, because they had to go through this store, you know, row by row of rows of merchandise, counters, things like that to see if anyone was hiding so that they could make sure that they accounted for everyone. They did tell us a short time ago that they have rendered the building

safe, so they have accounted for everyone now. But it took them several hours to process the scene.

The key question is motive and who this person was. Was there a conflict inside this Walmart among the employees or maybe a former employee? And we hope to get those details very shortly.

LEMON: Should in the coming hours. Thank you very much, Brian Todd. We appreciate it.

COLLINS: The shooting in Virginia is coming just days after five people were gunned down in Colorado Springs. The suspected shooter there is going to make an initial court appearance today as we are learning more about his troubled past.

Rosa Flores is live in Colorado Springs for CNN this morning. Rosa, I know we're getting a fuller picture about this suspect. What have you learned?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that he is waking up this morning in the jail that you see behind me. Anderson Lee Aldrich will be facing a judge at 11:30 local time. He is being held without bond. No formal charges have been filed.

But the district attorney telling CNN that he is considering hate crime charges just based on the facts.

Here's what's going to happen at 11:30. We are expecting for the suspect to be informed of constitutional rights. Then the charges will be read in open court. Those charges could include five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of hate crime.

[06:05:14]

Now in open court, the suspect -- the suspect will be addressed by the pronouns "they" and "them." This is according to court documents, which show that the suspect identifies as nonbinary.

Now Kaitlan, as you mentioned, this is, as we learn more about his chaotic past, we know that their father was a porn star, an MMA fighter. They were raised by their grandmother while their mother was dealing with criminal -- criminal situations in her own life.

And so, there's a lot of other complications. There's bullying involved and also changing of names. And again, we don't know exactly how all of that is -- is going to be influencing what -- what is happening in court today or how it's going to impact this case.

But again, it's just a little bit more background on the suspect -- Kaitlan.

COLLINS: A lot of questions still remain. And of course, our thoughts are with those families, you know, getting ready for Thanksgiving without -- without their loved ones.

Rosa, thank you for that update.

HARLOW: We are also this morning following a deadly escalation of violence in Jerusalem, where police say a pair of explosions are suspected of being coordinated, a coordinated terror attack on Jerusalem.

Our Hadas Gold is live for CNN THIS MORNING at the scene of one of the explosions. Hadas, what can you tell us?

HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, this is the scene of the first of two explosions.

This is a busy bus station along one of the main arteries that takes you out of Jerusalem and towards Tel Aviv. Police say that just after 7 a.m., a bomb exploded here at this bus station, and then 30 minutes later, another explosion at a bus station just down the Hill.

Police say that one person was killed, a 16-year-old, at this location. And more than 19 others have been injured.

Now Israeli police are calling this a coordinated terrorist attack. They said the bags were placed here, and then they were detonated remotely.

We have been here all morning. We've seen police collecting evidence. They've already cleared the scene, but part of the evidence we saw them collecting was what looked like nails and screws and ball bearings.

And I want to show you just some of the damage to the bus station sign. You can see the impact of this blast. I'll show you right here. This is one of the signs for the bus station. You can just see all of those impact markings.

Now, police do believe that there were nails, ball bearings, and screws. And that is what EMTs have told us are part of the injuries that they are seeing.

Now, this has already been a very deadly and violent year for both Israelis and Palestinians. But an attack like this, bombs like this have not been seen in Jerusalem, or in Israel, for years.

And for many people, it's bringing back memories of the Intifadas. And there is a big fear that these types of bombs, that we may be seeing more of them coming forward and that there may be more copycat explosions.

So far, no militant group has taken credit. Hamas, though, the militant group that runs the Gaza Strip, has praised the attack.

What we know also is that the Israeli police are still searching for the suspect. They don't know yet who placed the bombs. The Israeli prime minister, Yair Lapid, is at this moment holding a security assessment of the situation -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Devastating to see. Hadas, thank you for being there. LEMON: So this -- you have to stop and watch this next video.

A U.S. military plane forced to return to Chicago's Midway Airport because of a bird strike. You can see the video right there. This dramatic video captures the moment the plane struck the birds in midair.

The head of the National Gard, General Daniel Hokanson, was on board that plane.

Officials say the Air Force C-37 plane is part of a fleet that flies out of Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to support government missions worldwide. It landed safely at Midway; no injuries were reported.

HARLOW: It is the busiest travel day of the year. Many of you may be waiting in line soon in long lines at airports. More than 50 million people ready to head out to their holiday destinations, the skies busier than ever. What about the roads?

Let's get to our friend, Pete Muntean. He joins us live from I-395 in Washington.

You're always at the airport, but you're not at the airport today. You're in front of the interstate, Pete. What are we looking at?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, it's -- so many more people drive for Thanksgiving --

HARLOW: Yes.

MUNTEAN: Compared to fly. Although we have a tendency to focus on flying, because it's going to be one of the busiest days there, too. Two and a half million people expected to pass through TSA checkpoints at airports nationwide.

But today will likely be the busiest day for driving since COVID hit. Look at the numbers from AAA: 48.7 million people anticipated to drive 50 miles or more over the next ten days. Today being the busiest day.

Really not all that far off from where were back in 2019 before the pandemic, when triple "A" saw 49.9 million people hit the road.

All of this as gas prices are the highest they have ever been for a Thanksgiving rush: $3.61 is the national average for a gallon of regular. According to AAA, it was $3.40 this time last year.

[06:10:12]

Yes, gas prices are going down, but they are still up when you compare it to a year ago. Listen now to drivers, who tell us this is really not factoring in all that much to their decision, and they're still wanting to get out for the holiday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBORAH BYERS, TRAVELER: People are traveling more. And they -- they're tired of being at home. But still again, it's the prices. The reason why a lot of people are deciding to stay at home. But that's not stopping a lot of people either.

MYKAH RATHER, TRAVELER: I know there's definitely that extra headache or stress added to being on the road during this time. But I think it's a beautiful thing people are starting to get back out.

MUNTEAN: The worst time to drive today -- this is the news you can use part -- between 11 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., according to triple "A."

So if you can get an early start, do it. You may want to put it off until after dinner tonight. Try and miss the peak time.

HARLOW: Yes.

MUNTEAN: Because look at the breakdown on some of these major metro areas: Atlanta, Chicago, L.A., New York. Congestion there, twice the norm during the peak times today. It was a sea of red on the traffic map here in D.C. last night.

I can see 395 already building up --

HARLOW: Yes.

MUNTEAN: -- traffic-wise. We will see. The rush is only just beginning, Poppy.

HARLOW: Books on tape. Long books on tape, that's what -- that's what people need.

MUNTEAN: That's right.

HARLOW: Pete, thank you.

Kaitlan.

COLLINS: All right. One day, four different courtrooms for cases involving former President Trump, showcasing the legal challenges that he is facing one week after announced he is going to be running for president in 2024.

First, and maybe the biggest, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the IRS to release Trump's tax returns to a Democratic-led House committee.

This is a major loss for Trump, who fought for years not to release his tax returns, breaking with the modern precedent, set by presidential candidates and presidents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't mind releasing. I'm under a routine audit, and it'll be released.

I've been audited, I think, for 15 straight years. When the audit is done, I'll release them. I'm under routine audit. And I think it's a very unfair thing.

As soon as my routine audit is finished, I'll release my returns. I'll be very proud to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Trump --

TRUMP: I would love to give them, but I'm not going to do it while I'm under audit. It's very simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Well, Democrats first sought his tax returns back in 2019. The IRS, under the Trump administration, initially resisted turning them over. This is what Trump's acting chief of staff at the time said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: To be clear, you believe Democrats will never see the president's tax returns?

MICK MULVANEY, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF: No, never. Nor should they.

That's an issue that was already litigated during the election. Voters knew the president could have given his tax returns. They knew that he didn't, and they elected him anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The courts have now made a different decision, and now the Treasury Department said it will comply, which means the IRS is set to turn over Trump's tax returns to House Democrats by next week.

HARLOW: All right. In New York a rare admission in the criminal fraud trial against Trump's companies. The Trump Organization, its long-time accountant taking the stand, testifying that Trump reported losses on his personal tax returns every year from 2011 to 2018.

Also in Georgia, Senator Lindsey Graham did appear before that grand jury that is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Prosecutors there getting to the bottom of Graham's calls to those election officials, you'll remember, in Georgia, including to the Georgia secretary of state.

Graham has denied that there was anything nefarious here, saying it was all legislatively related. But Brad Raffensperger says that Graham wanted to help Trump by making those calls. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Just an implication that look hard and see how many ballots you could throw it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And finally, in a second defeat for Trump, a panel of appeals court judges not buying Trump's argument that the government violated his rights when they searched Mar-a-Lago for classified documents.

They agree with the Justice Department that a special master review is not needed. At one point, Trump's lawyer noted the FBI took golf shirts and Celine Dion pictures.

CNN's Paula Reid has more on the Supreme Court's move on Trump's taxes.

Paula, hello to you. Good morning. A lot of -- This is a long time coming, isn't it?

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Indeed. I've been covering the former president's legal problems for nearly a decade now. And this is the biggest loss in recent memory and, incredibly, in just two sentences, the Supreme Court put an end to his years-long effort to shield his tax returns from lawmakers.

Now the Treasury Department will hand over six years of tax records to the Democrat-led House Ways and Means Committee immediately, ending a lengthy court battle that actually began three years ago when the committee began trying to get these records.

[06:15:04]

And they argued that they needed this information in his tax returns to meaningfully evaluate whether the IRS is adequately able to enforce the nation's tax laws against a president like Trump, who has complex business holdings.

Now, Trump's attorneys argued that turning over his tax returns would be an unconstitutional breach of the separation of powers. And they said that those requests, it's just politically motivated. And they have really fought to try to shield these documents.

The Supreme Court was Trump's last resort after he lost his case at the lower courts. The appeals court was even unanimous that this request for returns was constitutional.

Now the Supreme Court, which of course, includes three Trump appointees, has cleared the way for the release of these records. And interestingly, there were no public dissents. Now, it's always possible that there was some disagreement behind the scenes, but there was nothing noted in the decision itself.

So it's unclear exactly when the committee will get these records, but they are prevented by law from making them public. But Don, as we know, the Hill is one of the leakiest places in Washington, and it's possible they could get out.

LEMON: Leaky in Washington?

COLLINS: That's an understatement, Paula. HARLOW: What?

LEMON: Paula Reid, thank you very much this morning.

You know, it is perhaps the biggest upset in the World Cup history. We're going take you live to Saudi Arabia, where a holiday -- where a holiday has just been declared there. I'm sure, right?

HARLOW: I'm sure. Totally.

Also, why Kevin McCarthy may have a major math problem in his race to be speaker.

LEMON: Yes. They are -- they are giving thanks there, some folks. Right?

HARLOW: Yes.

COLLINS: In Saudi?

LEMON: Yes. Some of them are. Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:20:50]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touchdown. Look out here. Shot taken. Goal!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: A real back flip.

LEMON: Goal! Did I get it right? Goal!

Saudi Arabia stunning in Qatar with two goals against Argentina in what is being called one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history. A holiday has been declared in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in honor of their team's achievement.

Amanda Davies live for us in Qat-ARE -- Qatar -- for CNN this morning.

HARLOW: Always debated.

LEMON: You know there's been a debate. Good morning to you. This is crazy. What an upset.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS: I can tell you, Don. Day four has really got to go some to live up to what we experienced here yesterday.

You talk about that public holiday in Saudi Arabia. And if the party that went on in this suk (ph) behind me last night is anything to go by, there might be a fair few people very grateful for that public holiday indeed. I was sat here as that game was playing out, and the reverberations

through the suk (ph) as that match unfolded were quite incredible. It was two goals in six minutes that really turned the game and then ultimately our day on its head.

Saudi Arabia, the second lowest ranked side in this tournament, up against many people's favorites to lift the trophy, not just Argentina, little Messi's Argentina. And it was -- it really is. There's no underestimation those people saying this is one of the greatest upsets of World Cup history.

Herve Renard, the Frenchman, the Saudi Arabian mastermind behind that success, described it as totally crazy.

Saudi, of course, one of the closest countries here in Qatar. Thousands of fans have made the road trip here to be part of this. And it shouldn't be underestimated what it means to this region.

Of course, the blockade only being lifted some 18 months ago. And it's Saudi and the whole region celebrating.

We had the emir of Qatar waving the Saudi flag yesterday. Queen Rania of Jordan has sent her congratulations.

But brilliantly, Herve Renard has said he's allowing his team 20 minutes of celebration, and then it's head down, back to the job at hand. Their next game against Poland on Saturday.

LEMON: Never count out the underdog, right?

COLLINS: Meanwhile, it's a very quiet ride back for Argentina, of course.

HARLOW: Man.

COLLINS: You can imagine this is not a loss they were expecting.

OK, I know everybody's going to be watching for Germany and Japan playing later today. But right now, Morocco and Croatia are playing. What's happening gin that game? Give us an update right now.

DAVIES: Yes. I have to say, it's still goalless. We're midway through the second half.

Croatia, you might remember, the runners-up in 2018. They've started to build a little bit of momentum behind them in recent times. They've had a pretty up and down four years since that lull, last World Cup.

But Morocco looking for their first victory at the tournament since 1998. Luka Modric, as you would expect, having a couple of decent chances. But not managed to make the breakthrough as yet.

A really huge day here. Some massive traditional footballing power houses: Germany, as you mentioned, up in action against Japan, looking to make amends for their disappointment in 2018. 2010 champion Spain, as well, they kick off their campaign against

Costa Rica, and they'll be hoping to get off to a better start than they have, having lost last first game and the last three tournaments.

LEMON: All right. Amanda, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

COLLINS: See if there's any upsets today.

LEMON: Yes.

HARLOW: Celebrities, influencers taking a diabetes drug to lose weight. We're talking about Ozempic. OK? You've probably heard a lot about this. Does it work? Yes. Is it safe? It's a question. We'll discuss.

COLLINS: Also on this Wednesday morning, we are going to take you live to Ukraine, where Russian forces struck a maternity ward overnight. We are getting a better view of the destruction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: OK, wait until you hear about this. And welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING.

Celebrities, a lot of famous folks are using what's actually a diabetes drug to lose weight, and now there's a shortage of it. It's called Ozempic. There are experts that are warning to consider this a miracle drug is a mistake.

Dani Blum is with us, health reporter from "The New York Times." Dani, I'm so glad you're here. We around the table have been talking about this a lot. Because it seems like it works pretty well and fast for weight loss, but now there's not enough for it for what it's intended for?

DANI BLUM, HEALTH REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Yes. Thanks so much for having me.

So yes, there's currently a shortage of both Ozempic and Wegovy, which are essentially different doses of the same medication. But Ozempic, which has gotten a lot of the attention, is drug that the FDA has approved for treating people with diabetes.

But increasingly, you're seeing people turn to it for the purpose of weight loss. So it's really fascinating.

LEMON: Every time you see someone who has either lost weight or whatever -- I did the intermittent fasting and lost weight. And every -- people it's just like.