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CNN This Morning

Survivors of Walmart Shooting in Chesapeake, Virginia, Describe Scenes with Gunman Opening Fire; Colorado Springs LGBTQ Nightclub Shooter Appears in Court; Americans Head to Airports for Holiday Travel; New York City Holding Traditional Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; DOJ Wants To Question Pence In January 6th Probe Of Trump; GOP's Murkowski Wins Re-Election, Beating Trump-Backed Rival; Upsets Continue As Japan Beats Germany In Soccer Shocker. Aired 8:-8:30a ET

Aired November 24, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:01]

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Don. Look, there are state and federal authorities out here on scene this morning. Police told me today that they're still working to determine a motive for this shooting. Look, the victims' families are trying to come to terms with life without them and the survivors of this shooting are still trying to process of the trauma of something that to them they say still doesn't feel real.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

GALLAGHER: Harrowing stories of survival after another mass shooting.

JESSIE WILCZEWSKI, WALMART EMPLOYEE WHO WITNESSED SHOOTING: The only thing that made it real was the vibrations hitting your chest and the ringing from the gun going off. And it just kept going and going and going.

GALLAGHER: Jessie Wilczewski, a new employee at the Chesapeake, Virginia, Walmart, hid under a table until she came face to face with the shooter.

WILCZEWSKI: And he just had the gun up to my forehead. And it's just really hard. He told me to go home.

GALLAGHER: The city of Chesapeake identifying the shooter as 31-year- old Andre Bing. Walmart confirms he was an overnight team lead. According to employees, Bing entered the breakroom just as employees were clocking in to start their shifts.

KEVIN C. HARPER, WALMART SHOOTING WITNESS: Just left out of the break room -- to come in there, started capping people up in there, started shooting.

GALLAGHER: Investigators were seen searching the alleged shooter's home and police say the gunman was armed with several magazines and a pistol. Brianna Tyler witnessed the shooting and says there were around 15 to 20 people in the breakroom when the shooter entered. BRIANA TYLER, WALMART EMPLOYEE WHO WITNESSED SHOOTING: He didn't say

a word. He didn't point at anyone. He did look at anyone specific. He just had a blank stare on his face and he just literally just looked around the room and just shot. And there were people just dropping to the floor.

GALLAGHER: Six employees were shot and killed, including a 16-year- old. Police believe the gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a body of a person they just brought out in a shopping cart.

GALLAGHER: According to police, two employees were found dead in the breakroom. Another victim was found in the front of the store, and three victims were taken to local hospitals but later died. Six others were injured. Twenty-four-year-old survivor Jalon Jones was in the breakroom and shot multiple times, including in his back, his mother told CNN affiliate WTKR.

KIMBERLY SHUPE, SURVIVOR JALON JONES' MOTHER: He was on a ventilator. He wasn't able to breathe on his own from the gunshot wounds he sustained. But now he's talking. He's just glad to be alive.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

GALLAGHER (on camera): In our discussions with survivors, employees, and former employees who did work with the shooter, all of them had similar feelings about what it was like to be around him. They described him as exhibiting odd or even threatening behaviors at times. They talked about the fact that he enjoyed his position of power. Some people described him as mean.

Now look, Don, we have asked Walmart if there were any official complaints that were logged against him, but they have not answered our questions.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Diane Gallagher, thank you very much.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And now to another mass shooting in America, the mass shooting over the weekend at the Colorado LGBTQ night club. The suspect is being held this morning without bond after making his first appearance in court. Preliminary charges include five counts of first-degree murder, also five counts of a bias motivated crime. The next hearing is scheduled for December 6th. Let's go to our colleague Nick Watt. He joins us live in Colorado Springs. Nick, you spoke to the neighbor of the shooter as well. What can you tell us about all of it this morning?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you mentioned those charges there, Poppy. By December 6th, the D.A. here hopes to prove those bias related charges. They need to prove, they need to figure out what the motive was here. It sure looks like hate, but they need to prove that in order to levy those bias related charges.

The appearance was interesting. Video link from this jail behind me, the suspect was slumped, orange jump suit, heavy bruising from the bruising the suspect took from a young naval officer and a trans woman while being subdued by them, and Rich Fierro, that Army hero, in the club that night. Said very little. Name, said "yep," did watch the video about rights, "no," did not have any questions.

And this issue of pronouns. The lawyers of the suspect now say the suspect identifies as non-binary. The judge did not use the they/them pronouns, and also the D.A. afterwards was asked repeatedly by reporters is this going to have any bearing on where we go from here? And the D.A. was adamant, no, makes no difference to the investigation, makes no difference to the prosecution. This is a suspect. The pronounce have no relevance. Poppy?

[08:05:00]

HARLOW: And I wonder, Nick, what you heard when you spoke to a neighbor of the shooter.

WATT: Well, not just a neighbor, a friend. They bonded. They lived across the hallway, bonded over playing video games. A couple of things really stuck out to me that this young man, Xavier Kraus, told me. First was this suspect is not someone I would have around my gay friends. Apparently, the suspect did have occasional outbursts, some of them directed at the gay community, other directed at other races.

And it's interesting, Kraus was also telling me that after the suspect was involved in this bomb threat on his mother, after that case was dropped and sealed, Xavier Kraus hoped that his friend might get life back on track, and clearly that didn't happen. Kraus says we were about the same age. Kraus said it really struck me. I was living across the hall with my girlfriend, the suspect was living on the other side with their mother. And, you know, he also said that the suspect was very proud of the weapons and showed them off to Kraus. And that made Kraus feel a little uncomfortable.

And he raised that, and the suspect said, you know, it's not the guns you got to be afraid of, bro, it's the people. And Kraus said that that has really sort of sat with him. He feels terrible for his friend, terrible for the victims. And I just want to end on one thing, because we can't make this all about the suspect. Club Q, this was a small LGBTQ community here, and it's going to be very difficult for them to recover, they say. But they are going to have Thanksgiving dinner today as they do every Thanksgiving, obviously at a different location, but missing many members. Missing Derek, missing Daniel, those two bartenders, that held their community together. Poppy?

HARLOW: Trying to heal as much as they can together. Nick Watt, thank you for the excellent reporting.

LEMON: OK, so it was predicted that yesterday would be one of the busiest travel days of the year and we'd see airports more packed than they had been in year. Are the TSA's numbers bearing all of that out? And are airlines keeping up with demand? Let's check in now with CNN's Pete Muntean. He's live at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, all dressed up and nowhere to go. He's not getting on one of those planes but he's certainly reporting about what's happening. So Pete, are the numbers bearing it out?

(LAUGHTER)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, 2.46 million people at airports nationwide yesterday, Don. We were just shy of the pandemic era air travel record that we saw back on July 1st when 2.49 million people passed through security at America's airports back then for that long July 4th holiday weekend.

Even still, though, the numbers have been really big. And what is really interesting is that there is this new trend. If you look at the numbers over the last few days, this rush is really getting longer because folks are able to work from home. We've been averaging about 2.3 million people a day at airports nationwide, so this may be it. We may see big peaks, not big rallies when it comes to these big travel rushes in the future just because trends have changed, people are able to work from home.

The one good thing here is that things are really smooth for the airlines and passengers have had a pretty good experience because, frankly, the weather has been pretty good and the cancellations have been pretty low. We see about 20 today, 60 yesterday. So that is good news, especially considering it pales in comparison to the huge cancellation numbers we saw over the summer, 50,000 in total.

And the pressure has really been on airlines to get their act together. That was all compounded by staffing shortages. Airlines have been on this hiring blitz. And the Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he was going to be watching this really closely. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I am cautiously optimistic about this week being off to a good start, and we're going to be watching this very closely as we go into the other peak holiday travel times that are coming in the next few weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: The busy days are still ahead, Don. Sunday will likely be a huge day with everyone coming home all at once. The TSA anticipates we could see 2.5 million people at airports across the country. Still pretty busy here at Reagan National Airport. These people have the right idea. If you can do it, travel on the holiday. That's when the numbers are a little bit lower, although we will see as we go through the week here, maybe some folks will drive the numbers high even for Friday, too, just because of the changing trends.

LEMON: Thank you, Pete, and happy Thanksgiving to you.

HARLOW: All right, you flying today, should be a pretty smooth travel day for most of you. Sunny skies forecast for here on the east coast, but the south could be in for some wet weather. Let's go to our meteorologist and friend Chad Myers with more on the Thanksgiving forecast. Looking pretty good. CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Looking really good across the east

coast. Good morning, Poppy, and happy Thanksgiving. But in the middle of the country, maybe Memphis, St. Louis, Dallas, you guys could be a little bit slow when it comes to airports and even the roadways. But it really doesn't get better than this. This is the best Thanksgiving Day parade weather for New York City I maybe can ever remember.

[08:10:06]

Not so much for Houston, though. Big parade down there. You're going to need umbrellas or maybe ponchos because the rainfall certainly is coming. By tomorrow the rain does move across the east coast and out to sea, but there's another storm system that develops and maybe slows down your Sunday travel if that's when you're trying to come home. This is going to be a little bit slow, especially across the airports and maybe even some of the roadways with winter storm warnings going on where everyone in the eastern half of the country will be well above normal, in the 50s, for that matter.

But here's what it looks like there for your Sunday. You can see the rain into the east coast airports. That's when so many people will be on the road, although it took a few hours, two to three hours just to drive through Atlanta yesterday with the road traffic. So people are on airplanes but they're also in their cars.

HARLOW: I can't wait to get on ours. Going home, Minnesota. And it's warmish. Can't wait. Thanks, Chad.

LEMON: Right, "ish."

HARLOW: Ish.

LEMON: Ish.

Just 30 minutes away, though, from the start of the traditional Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City. The excitement is building. Some people have been waiting since 5:00 this morning, like CNN's Brynn Gingras. Good morning to you, happy Thanksgiving. Brynn, this is early, isn't it?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's getting close. There's actually been a countdown in the crowd, Don. I've been here a little earlier than that and there were people here when I arrived. So people are so excited. The weather, Chad, it's helping.

Let me get out of the way, because you've got to see. This is the start of the parade route. You can see these Macy parade performers are practicing. We've already saw Lea Michele practicing, I saw Paula Abdul walk by. You could see behind them the balloons, the big turkey. It is getting very excited. You can hear the crowd getting warmed up right now. Let me get out of the way here so you guys can see. Very excited about the start of this. Like I said, the weather is helping, everyone is just anticipating this, really just going through the streets and enjoying this festive event.

LEMON: It seems there's an earlier start. Did it start a little bit earlier this year? That's what I was asking about.

GINGRAS: Yes. So, yes, yes. I'm sorry, Don. Yes, it starts earlier because there are so many balloons, so they pushed up the parade to 8:45. I've got to talk to some of these people here because these are some of the people who have actually been here since that early. How long have you been waiting?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About 45-ish minutes.

GINGRAS: That's not bad. And where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am from this block, New York City.

GINGRAS: OK, so I have met a lot of people, Don, from New York City who have just been lining the street just coming outside in their bath robes practically. Where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are from northwest Arkansas.

GINGRAS: Arkansas! Oh, my gosh! That's exciting. Is this your first time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's my second time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My first time.

GINGRAS: Oh, my gosh, tell me how you're feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just absolutely incredible. I can't even believe it. And the weather is perfect. Everything is just unbelievable.

GINGRAS: It's helping build the excitement, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is, it is. We came down last night and saw the actual balloons, and I really, I had no idea how huge they were, but it was incredible.

GINGRAS: Which balloon are you now most excited to see float?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think I like the new Bluey.

GINGRAS: The newest one, OK. OK, did you guys know the parade is earlier this year because there's so many balloons. So you're getting the best parade I think yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's just fabulous.

(LAUGHTER)

GINGRAS: Welcome to New York City. We hope you enjoy it. And again, you can see people coming from all over really this world in some cases because they just bring the inflations to the parade and to the Christmas tree lighting. You know how it goes, you guys, in New York City. It's the start of the holiday season and it's very exciting, guys. HARLOW: So much fun.

LEMON: Two great assignments. Brynn and Amanda Davies at the World Cup, Brynn with the balloons.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: Thank you, Brynn.

LEMON: Thank you.

HARLOW: So former vice president Mike Pence said very clearly on this network he will not sit down with the January 6th Committee, but will he cooperate with the Justice Department's new request for his testimony.

LEMON: And speaking of the World Cup, German players posing for a pregame photo with their hands covering their mouths. We're going to tell you why. That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the Justice Department wants to hear from former Vice President Mike Pence. This is according to people familiar with the matter. Prosecutors there have reached out to Pence's reps hoping to get his testimony in their criminal probe of former President Trump's efforts to stay in power after the 2020 election. Pence's team has indicated that he is open to talking about that, possibly agreeing to testimony. Let's bring in senior political correspondent for The New York Times Maggie Haberman. She, of course, one of the reporters who broke this story. Maggie, good to see you. Pence has always called the January 6th Committee, you know, partisan even though there are those two Republicans on it. And he does seem at least saying open to talking to DOJ. Do you think he will?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Poppy, I think that he's more receptive to this outreach from the DOJ according to people we've spoken to because he recognizes there's a difference between a criminal investigation led by the Justice Department and this House Select Committee, which among other things, is a different branch of government. Whether there will be something that happens remains to be seen. We're a long ways from that. Remember, because we don't know whether if there is an agreement to testify. Former President Trump would try to assert executive privilege. This would be an extraordinary turn in this investigation if the DOJ does get Mike Pence to cooperate as a witness.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Maggie, what does all of this do? Like I know this is a big question. Good morning to you, by the way. Happy Thanksgiving. So, what did all of this do for -- you know, he announced, was it last week?

HARLOW: He did not announce he's running for president yet. Is that what you're going to say?

LEMON: No, no. I meant -- I'm talking about the former president and that --

HARLOW: Oh, yes, he did.

LEMON: So, the former president just last week about it all runs together, especially when it comes to, you know, who's announcing it and who's not? What does all of these investigations, Mike Pence, you know, possibly testifying, yada yada, yada. What does all this do for Trump? Does it matter?

HABERMAN: It depends, Don, on if he testifies what Mike Pence would say. But Mike Pence is obviously a key witness who was one of the only people who can speak to certain events in the lead up to January 6 th,2021 in what was taking place that day. You raise an important point, which is that this would create such an unprecedented situation. A former vice president and potential candidate potentially testifying or being interviewed against a former president who is a candidate. All of this being investigated by a Justice Department in an administration with a sitting president, who is likely to run again. So, we are just in uncharted territory.

[08:20:14]

LEMON: Yes. Can we talk about Alaska?

HARLOW: I mean -- yes.

LEMON: Should we talk about Alaska? I mean, in Sarah Palin. I mean, what happened to once the darling at one point of the Republican Party. She's lost twice.

HABERMAN: And she lost twice this year, she has struggled. Alaska is a strange state, because you can get crossover votes with Democrats and Independents. So, it's an unusual situation, certainly, in the case of the Murkowski race, as well. You had ranked choice voting. But look, I think that Sarah Palin had a moment in time. I think that she helped usher in this new era in the Republican Party. We saw that Donald Trump inherited some of what she brought in, but I do think that, you know, at a certain point, you actually have to win elections. And to keep saying, you know, you're going to win, and you're strong, and your brand of politics is strong, and to not win is going to raise a lot of questions. Those are the same questions that the former president is going to face.

HARLOW: Well, it's interesting Murkowski won, speaking -- sticking with Alaska for a moment. And this is someone who Trump vehemently campaigned against, right, propping up an opponent, of course, she, you know, voted to convict him during the impeachment trial, the second impeachment trial, and voted against, you know, a number of key things in his presidency. But what I thought was interesting about Murkowski winning is sort of this coalition that she built across the aisle in Alaska.

HABERMAN: I think that Murkowski is a well-liked politician, generally speaking, in that state. I think that she is seen as delivering for that state. And I think that in D.C., in particular, Poppy, we tend to -- you know, even though we're not in -- we're not in D.C., but we cover D.C. And I think that folks who are in D.C. and around it, tend to -- you know, be more removed. I was having a conversation with a colleague about this yesterday. Tend to be more removed from the delivery of services of government. She's seen as being effective at that, generally speaking, and that is what lets you win in Senate races often is what lets you win in governors' races. It is how you behave in connection with the services people want. And so, I think it is -- I think that brand is based on something substantive.

LEMON: I want to -- again, I keep going to what this portends for the future, right, because we had the midterms behind us, and you have someone like Senator Murkowski, who is -- I guess you could say she is moderate. And if -- I wonder if the Republican Party is actually listening to the voters, because you have Kevin McCarthy out there saying, we're going to do these investigations. You got Hunter Biden. You have all of these things. Look, not to say that investigation shouldn't happen. But are they in tune with where the American people stand right now, and what they're interested in, what's important to them?

HABERMAN: I think that Kevin McCarthy is going to get squeezed on to engage in a lot of these investigations, whether he wants to or not. And I think that, you know, whether that is where the public is, I think is an open question. I think that we have certainly seen in previous, you know, years and in previous congresses, when Congress is perceived as overreaching on certain investigations, and whether they get too personal. I do think that there is an appetite among a pretty wide cross section of Republicans in the House for activities and investigations related to Biden. I'm not sure how wide the appetite is for investigations related to investigating the work that's been done already by the House Select Committee on January 6th.

And that's another question that McCarthy is getting pressured on by some corners of the House Republican group. And so, you know, I think it's a huge open question. But the -- because Republicans did not get this overwhelming win in the Midterms, I do think that they're going to face questions about what kind of mandate they are taking the gavel with.

HARLOW: Yes.

LEMON: Important question, Maggie, this behind the scenes here. Either you're like an all-in Thanksgiving everything or you're just like, you know, I'm going to go to the Chinese restaurant. So, where do you stand in this?

HABERMAN: I am cooking a lot today.

LEMON: There it is.

HARLOW: See, she does it all. She does it all.

HABERMAN: This was -- this was an unexpected situation. But I'm cooking everything. LEMON: OK. Wow. OK. So, bring us some samples tomorrow. We would like some leftovers. And we will return your Tupperware. Maggie, Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for joining us on this day. Appreciate it. We're grateful for you.

HABERMAN: Happy Thanksgiving, guys.

HARLOW: Thank you, Maggie.

LEMON: Thank you very much. So, the World Cup is off to a hot start with multiple underdogs pulling off major upsets. Coming up next, we will talk to U.S. Women's World Cup Champion Briana Scurry on what the U.S. men's team needs to do tomorrow to pull off an upset against England. There she is, happy, smiling on this Thanksgiving Day.

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Another -- they jumped the gun here. Another World Cup match underway with Uruguay taking on South Korea. And earlier this morning, Switzerland besting Cameroon in a 1-0 victory. But it has been a chaotic first week for the World Cup, and this year's tournament has already had some major upsets. Japan surprising four-time World Cup Champions Germany in a shocking 2-1 come-from-behind victory. It comes just days after Saudi Arabia beat one of the tournament favorites, Argentina, and one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.

Before the match, German players posed for their team photo with their hand covering their mouths. Protests over FIFA's threat to sanction players who wore a rainbow-colored One Love armband. Team USA hopes to continue the underdog streak when it takes on England on Friday. They will play Iran on Tuesday. So, joining us now is someone who knows a thing or two about World Cup, and that is Briana Scurry. She was, of course, the goalkeeper for USA's legendary 1999 Women's World Cup team, and she is the author.