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Three People Killed In "Racially Motivated" Shooting; 3 U.S. Marines Killed After Aircraft Crashes In Australia; Hurricane Franklin Could Impact East Coast This Week; Costa Rican President To Visit White House Tuesday; Some Trump Co-Defendants Requested Case Be Transferred To Federal Court; Interview With Former Federal Prosecutor And Defense Attorney Shan Wu; U.S. Mortgage Rates Soar; Death Of Prigozhin Confirmed By Russia's Investigation Committee; Interview With National Association Of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun; Since 1999, Housing Inventory Has Been At Its Lowest Point; Commemoration Of MLK's March's 60th Anniversary, Attended By Thousands Of People. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired August 27, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: All right, Aaron Rodgers impressing in his jets debut last night. The future hall of famer said that he had butterflies taking the field for New York for the first time in game action. That was after the last 18 years in Green Bay. In just two series against the Giants, he threw that touchdown to Garrett Wilson. Jets open up the regular season just 15 days from now, hosting the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.

And Lionel Messi making his MLS debut for the Inter-Miami last night road game sellout facing New York. Get in price at Red Bull stadium, $300. Fans, they had to wait a bit as he was resting. He came in as a sub at the hour mark. And then he did what Messi does. He put New York's defense in a blender, setting himself up on the give and go from Ben Cremaschi in just nine games for Miami.

Eleven goals that leads the team in scoring. And, of course, he won them their first ever trophy last week with the League's Cup title. Check out the reaction in Times Square in Manhattan, Amara and Rahel. Simply awesome. Messi and Miami win two nil. When he comes here to Atlanta in a couple of weeks, the tickets in the nose leads that are normally $19 are going for $160.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: Of course they are. I was just talking about this with our lighting director. I'm like, when is he coming? Because I just want to be in the same stadium as Lionel Messi. Pretty amazing stuff.

Thank you so much, Coy.

WIRE: You got it.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST: Good morning, and welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, August 27. I'm Rahel Solomon in this morning for Victor Blackwell.

WALKER: And I'm Amara Walker. Top of the hour, 7:01. Thank you so much for joining us.

We're following several developing stories this morning. At least three marines are dead after several others -- and several others are hurt after their helicopter crashed during a training exercise overseas. We'll have new details in a live report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF R.K. WATERS, JACKSONVILLE SHERIFF'S OFFICE: He targeted a certain group of people, and that's black people. That's what he said he wanted to kill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Three people were shot and killed in a racist attack at a Jacksonville Dollar General store. Police say that they are investigating this as a hate crime. What we are learning about how this all unfolded.

WALKER: And we're monitoring two storms in the Atlantic that'll impact the U.S. this week. Allison Chinchar is standing by with your forecast.

SOLOMON: And mortgage rates have surged to their highest level in 22 years. The impact that it's having on homebuyers and whether we should all be concerned with more rate hikes in the future. That's all just ahead on CNN This Morning.

WALKER: And we begin this morning in Florida, where three people are dead after a man walked into a Dollar General store and began shooting. Law enforcement say this shooting was racially motivated and took place in a historically black neighborhood. In fact, all of the victims were black.

The shooter was a white man in his 20s and he left behind several manifestos in which he laid out his hatred of black people. He also used a gun that was painted with swastikas. Jacksonville's mayor condemned the shooting and the hate that motivated it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONNA DEEGAN, JACKSONVILLE MAYOR: I'm heartbroken that we lost those precious lives today. I'm heartbroken that the same communities seem to get targeted over and over again. I'm heartbroken that someone would be so sick as to want to target black people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The FBI says it's now investigating the shooting as a hate crime. CNN's Isabel Rosales walks us through what exactly happened here. ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Rahel, good morning to you. Let me bring you up to speed to what Sheriff T.K. Waters is saying happened here. The shooter has not been identified. The Medical Examiner's Office will have to be the one to do that. But he is a white male in his early 20s according to the sheriff.

The sheriff saying that he entered the Dollar General wearing a tactical vest and a mask. And he had on him an AR-15 style rifle and a Glock handgun. On that handgun, the sheriff shared pictures. You can see swastikas on that gun. The sheriff says he killed three people. All three of those people were black.

Then he turned that gun on himself and shot himself dead. The shooter, the sheriff says, resided in Clay County with his parents. Back in 2016, there was a domestic call to that house, but no arrests was made there. And then in 2017, the shooter, again, who has not been identified, was Baker Acted.

Now, the guns here did not belong to the shooter's parents, the sheriff is saying. At 01:18 p.m., the shooter texted his father, told him to look into his computer, and his father discovered three documents there. About 35 minutes later, the parents called the Clay County Sheriff's Office but were told by the sheriff by that time, the shooter had already begun.

The sheriff says that the shooter authored several, quote, several manifestos intended to go to his parents, the media and federal agencies, and those manifestos included the N-word multiple times.

[07:05:06]

The sheriff saying that this was racially motivated, that the shooter, quote, "hated black people". Here's what else the sheriff had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATERS: We know that he acted completely alone. If you take a look at the images on the screen, you'll be able to see what he utilized. The weapons that the shooter used today are a Glock and AR-15 style rifle. This is a dark day in Jacksonville's history.

Any loss of life is tragic. But the hate that motivated the shooter's killing spree adds an additional layer of heartbreak. There's no place for hate in our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: So it's no surprise here that the FBI has -- is investigating this as a hate crime and has opened up a federal civil rights investigation into this shooting. I do also want to note that the shooting happened August 26, five years, the anniversary, five years to the day of a different mass shooting that happened in Jacksonville at a venue that has since been demolished, where a shooter entered a video game competition and gunned down two people, injuring 10 others.

So a traumatic situation for the Jacksonville community that's only now beginning to get answers as to how in the world this could happen. Guys?

SOLOMON: Isabel Rosales. Thank you, Isabel.

I'm joined now by CNN Senior National Security Analyst and former assistant secretary to the Department of Homeland Security, Juliette Kayyem. Juliette, good morning. Good to see you. I hate that it's under these circumstances --

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning.

SOLOMON: -- but given that the shooter is deceased and police say that his motive was very clear --

KAYYEM: Yes.

SOLOMON: -- what types of things are police going to be looking for in terms of this investigation?

KAYYEM: Well, there's a couple of questions. Obviously, who -- how did he get the guns and did he get them lawfully? Could someone be liable for that? Did he have help in organizing this attack? And then also, who was he in communication within terms of planning this or the hatred and racism that animated this shooting and whether there aren't others who might have known or supported this effort?

So that's where the federal civil rights investigation is going to go. This is a racist, targeted attack against the black community. We know that. That's -- we don't have to, you know, sort of play around with words. This was just a racist killing and therefore would be covered by federal civil rights laws that could include investigations of others who supported him.

The sheriff, I thought, did a terrific job in explaining what was going on. The only sort of difference I have with him is when he says that the shooter acted alone. We know what that means, that the shooter was alone that day.

But we've seen in a number of these cases, especially those related to Nazism and white racism or white supremacy, that there is actually an apparatus that is egging us on supporting it and may have even physically helped him do this.

SOLOMON: Yes. Julia, it's interesting that you zeroed in on that, because I wondered, when he made that comment, do you feel like it was premature to say he acted alone? And, again, I understand what he means in terms of he physically carried it out alone, but I wonder in terms of whether he was a part of hate groups online. I mean, there still has to be a lot more to determine if he was truly alone.

KAYYEM: Yes, that's exactly right. When the sheriff says that, he means that the rest of the community is not under imminent threat, obviously, the black community in Jacksonville and the students at the historically black college were are -- you know, feel like prey, I mean, that's honestly what happened yesterday. He wanted to target any black in Jacksonville. But to -- we miss the story, we miss the narrative. If we view each of these as sort of a lone wolf or a lone actor in Jacksonville, in particular, those of us who monitor extremism have been surprised, and there's been lots of documentation at the rise of Nazism in that community. There's been instances where people leave swastikas, you know, over, freeway overhangs in public areas.

The ADL has a recent report highlighting some of the activity in Jacksonville. This has now become a center of Nazism sort of -- and it may be a coincidence that the attack took there. But I'm not going to begin with the coincidence. These are not isolated events, and I think the sheriff was talking to the threat to the community that day. But the investigation will look at sort of an overall apparatus supporting this.

Juliette, how about these manifestos and these letters that he left behind to his parents, to the media, to federal agents, where he used racial slurs and also outlined his ideology of hate? I mean, it sounds like he wanted to be very clear about his motivations. Is that typical with these type of hate times, that the perpetrator wants it to be crystal clear why, in fact, they did what they did?

[07:10:08]

KAYYEM: Yes, it's the performative nature of these killings now, in particular, within the white supremacy community and those who would use violence. It's not enough to simply go kill, right? There now -- you know, I don't know if it's likely a generational thing. He's a white male in his 20s. It's that performative nature. It's the wearing of the tactical gear, it's the manifestos and the -- and wanting his father to know of the manifestos before the killing.

There's a little bit of a time lag between when the father finds out and when the killing starts, and then look at who he addresses the manifestos to. It's not to the world, it's to his parents. But the other two audiences, there's a manifesto to the media so that we know exactly why, and then to law enforcement.

So those are ways in which this generation, this incitement and this hate, racist hate has -- basically is putting on a performance about violence. They view it as performative. And the audience is not simply the other neo-Nazis. It's also, of course, the black community.

This was a targeted attack. It was near, if not meant to be, at a historically black college. Those have historical meaning. Yesterday was also the anniversary of MLK's speech on the mall. And so that is interpreted by the black community in the same way that he wanted his kin, his Nazi kin, to interpret it.

SOLOMON: Juliette Kayyem, great to have your insights today. Thank you.

WALKER: Developing this morning, three U.S. marines were killed and 20 others injured after their aircraft crashed during military exercises in northern Australia. Now, Australian police say the marines were flying in a U.S. Osprey helicopter when a crash on an island 50 miles north of the city of Darwin.

CNN's Angus Watson joining us now live from Sydney with more. Angus, what do we know about the circumstances of this crash?

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Well, this tragic incident happened some 10 hours ago, but information has been slow to come out. It's only just recently, just in the last couple of hours that we've come to grips with the scale of this tragedy, with the confirmation that three U.S. service personnel, three U.S. marines were killed in what seems to be an accident as these two Ospreys involved in military training up there in Darwin where there is a semi-permanent group of U.S. marines that rotate in every year.

They've gone out to do this training and they've lost their lives. We don't know yet why this accident happened. We don't know yet what the problem was with the Osprey. We do know, however, that there have been problems with Ospreys in the past. It was only last year when crashes in California and in Norway claimed the lives of a total of nine marines.

So today in Australia, Australians have been watching this very closely. Australian politicians here keen to send their condolences to the United States and the families, of course, of these three people who were killed. Take a listen to the Prime Minister now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Our focus as a government and as the Department of Defense is very much on incident response and on making sure that every support and assistance is given at this difficult time.

WATSON: So, of the 20 injured, five were hospitalized in a critical condition. One of the Marines had to have surgery on Sunday. Back to you.

WALKER: Tragic situation. Angus Watson, thank you for your report.

Joining me now to talk more about this is retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, good to see you this morning, sadly, under these circumstances. Look, this isn't the first time an Osprey helicopter has crashed and killed U.S. military personnel.

In fact, I think Angus just mentioned it. Just last year, five U.S. marines died after an Osprey crash in California. And I counted from, you know, our reporting and from news releases that there have been about eight Osprey crashes in the last decade or so. What do you make of the aircraft's history? Is the Osprey safe to fly?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Amara, good morning. It's a -- you know, it's one of those aircraft that has had a lot of trouble in its developmental phases. It had a lot of cost overruns. And like you mentioned, there are about 51 or so people who were killed in Osprey-related accidents since the start of the operational flying of this aircraft, which was in the late 1980s. [07:15:12]

As to this aircraft came out of the operation that the ill-fated operation in Iran, when we were trying to extricate the hostages back in 1980, so what they needed was in aircraft, they could do both helicopter type takeoffs. In other words, vertical takeoffs and landings, as well as short takeoffs and landings.

And they developed the Osprey as a result of that, but because it's got this very unique choke rotor capability, there were some issues mechanically as well as operationally with the aircraft. Generally speaking, the aircraft is perceived to be safe to fly. However, there have been those issues like you and Angus have mentioned.

WALKER: Do you know if there are efforts being made now to make sure that, you know, all these Ospreys, you know, are mechanically sound?

LEIGHTON: Yes, normally what will happen in a case like this is they'll have an operational scan down. Now, as far as I know, the Marine Corps hasn't announced an operational stand down of these aircraft yet. But what often happens is they will actually ground the fleet of aircraft, they will assess what had happened.

Part of that will, of course, be the accident investigation. The other part is going to be, you know, what kinds of conditions were there? Was there a weather issue, like, you know, was the case probably in Norway. But in this particular situation, we don't know enough yet if whether were anything else was an issue if it was simply a mechanical failure.

WALKER: Officials say that the Osprey had been transporting troops as part of a joint military exercise. I know, Colonel, that you've been on training exercises with the Australians. Can you tell us more about what these routine training exercises look like?

LEIGHTON: Yes, normally, Amara, what they end up being is a combination of forces, the one that I was involved in involved, not only the Air Force and the Navy, but Marines, Army personnel, both from the United States and from the Australian Armed Forces. In this particular case, this seems to be an exercise that was associated with the U.S. Marine Corps, the Australian Army.

And in the past, at least, the same exercise had Philippine and Malaysian troops associated with it as well. So what they try to do is they try to exercise interoperability, they try to make sure that everything from the communication systems to the operational employment of the forces that that works together, and there's a lot of coordination that goes along with these exercises.

The Australians are great partners. And those exercises are invaluable in providing for security in the Pacific region, and allows -- that interoperability allows us to work together quite well.

WALKER: All right, we're going to have to leave it there. Retired Colonel Cedric Leighton, appreciate you joining us. Thank you very much. SOLOMON: Turning now to weather, we are tracking two storms in the Atlantic, both of which will impact the U.S. Let's bring in CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar, who is tracking it all from the weather center. All right, Allison, who should be watching this very closely.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All, right, well, we've got a couple of different areas, actually, because we've got two separate storms. So let's begin with tropical depression 10. Sustained winds about 35 miles per hour, it's really not moving all that much as it sits just off the Yucatan Peninsula. And it's really not forecast to move all that much in the next 24 hours.

In fact, you'll notice 1:00 a.m. on Monday, looks pretty close to the spot. It's already in right now. But once we get to Monday morning, that's when we really start to see that thing take off. It's going to move into extremely warm ocean temperatures here in the Gulf of Mexico. And that's going to allow this storm to intensify of to at least a category 1 storm before finally crossing into Florida and then up into the Carolinas as we get through the middle portion of the upcoming week.

Rainfall is likely going to be the biggest concern with this storm, especially most widespread concern. You're talking areas from Tallahassee all the way up to the Outer Banks widespread 4 to 6 inches of rain, but there will be some spots to pick up 8, 10 even as much as 1 foot of rain before that system finally pushes out of the area.

The other storm that we're also keeping an eye on, this is Hurricane Franklin just currently sitting east of the Bahamas. Now this one's getting stronger now winds up to about 90 miles per hour sustained gusting to 115. This one is moving to the northwest, it just about 8 miles per hour.

Now with this particular storm, we actually anticipated getting to a major hurricane, likely in the next 24 hours or so as it continues to make its way to the north and west. Then we're going to start to see that drastic shift off to the north and east as it heads back towards Bermuda.

Keep in mind, however, in the proximity that it's going to have, it's still likely going to be close enough to the U.S. coastline to kick up some high surf, to likely end up producing some very high dangerous rip currents not only for the U.S. but also for Bermuda and then it will gradually start to weaken as it hits some colder waters there out into the open Atlantic.

[07:20:06]

CHINCHAR: So again, numerous different systems here that we're keeping an eye on. We also have these other two potential systems farther out into the Atlantic. But the two main concerns for the U.S. right now are going to be topical depression 10, which if it gets named, the next name on the list is Idalia.

SOLOMON: All right, Allison, thank you. And coming up for us and still ahead this morning, former President Trump and his allies legal battles will continue on Monday. His former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows will ask a federal judge to move his Georgia election interference case to federal court.

And in Washington, a U.S. District Judge will hold a hearing to set a trial date for the January 6 case. Plus, President Biden is set to host the president of Costa Rica this week at a critical time when the region is grappling with a record number of migrants looking to reach the U.S. A lot more discussed on the other side after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:03]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. President Biden will host the Costa Rican President Chaves Robles at the White House this week.

WALKER: Tuesday's visit comes at a crucial time as countries face record numbers of migrants traversing the region to reach the United States. Priscilla Alvarez is live in Washington this morning. Hi, Priscilla. So what are the two leaders planning to discuss during the visit?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, migration is going to be at the top of the agenda. As you mentioned, they are still facing record numbers of people traversing through South America and Central America particularly going through that treacherous jungle known as the Darien Gap, which connects Panama and Colombia.

This is important, because they're already seeing record numbers surpassing last year when we were talking about those numbers being unprecedented. And Costa Rica, neighbors Panama. So a lot of these people, some of them seeing Costa Rica as a destination, others seeing it as a way to pass through on their way to the United States.

So this is going to be a topic of discussion between President Biden and the Costa Rican president. The U.S. has historically relied on Costa Rica to help them with migration as well as a number of other issues. They are crucial partner in the region.

So this is going to be a robust discussion between the two countries as they tried to stem the flow of migration and try to find other legal pathways to offer to those people who are coming through because this is an issue that remains a political vulnerability for President Biden.

And the people who traverse the Central America and South America will be at the U.S. southern border, if there are other not -- if there are not other avenues available to them. That is the thinking of the senior administration officials here at the White House.

But in addition to migration, the White House press secretary said that they will also discuss the economy, democratic values and regional security challenges. So migration expected to be a priority in their discussions. But, of course, they'll touch on a range of other issues that also affect migration, but also speak to just how key this partner is to the United States.

SOLOMON: Priscilla, still sticking with migration for a minute, the White House defending its response to what's been an influx of asylum seekers following criticism from New York's governor, what resources or additional resources is New York wanting the Biden administration to allocate? Bring us up to speed on that.

ALVAREZ: White House official tells me that they are continuing to provide federal funding to New York City and they expect that over $100 million is going to become available in the coming weeks to that city, and that they are trying to provide other officials to be on the ground and assist them. But without congressional action, there's only so much they can do.

Now this has been an ongoing saga with New York pressuring the administration to do more, but officials here saying there's only so much they could do without Congress.

WALKER: All right, Priscilla Alvarez, appreciate your reporting there. Thank you.

And this will be a busy week for former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants. Tomorrow in Atlanta, former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows will argue that his trial should be transferred from state to federal court. Other defendants have also made similar requests before the court.

And the judge overseeing the federal election subversion case in Washington will hear arguments regarding when to schedule that trial. Lots going on.

Joining me now is former Federal Prosecutor and Defense Attorney Shan Wu. Shan, always good to see you. Good morning. So by Meadows trying to get his case moved to federal court, he's hoping to get federal immunity, right? But so if he succeeds to get his case tried in federal court, what would his attorneys have to prove to get those charges dropped?

SHAN WU, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So it's important for the viewers to understand that what he's trying to do now, the removal is not the defense. For the removal, he was trying to say that because he was a federal official, which he was, and because he claimed he was acting in that federal capacity, therefore, under the statute, he needs to be tried in federal court rather than the state court.

So the bar for this part of it is actually relatively low. It's a preponderance standard. He has to demonstrate he has a colorable federal defense. The federal defense is just what you're saying, which is he would say that since he was acting as chief of staff, supposedly everything it did was part of being chief of staff, part of his job description, and therefore he has the federal immunity.

But the first issue is whether he can get the federal court. Now if he succeeded in getting the federal court, then he might be able to mount that defense, but he still faces the same charges, same prosecutor is just in federal court. WALKER: So -- right. So I do follow you. Might be difficult if you haven't been following this scene a day in and day out. Let's start with what happens then tomorrow, what you expect when the judge hears Meadows removal request, as it's called.

WU: Yes, the judge is doing a pretty substantive hearing. There's actually witnesses being called Raffensperger, the Georgia's Secretary of State, and investigator in his office, they're being called and what I would expect is the reason that the judge wants live testimony versus just deciding from the papers is the judge is trying to weigh whether Meadows really does have a colorable federal defense. Meaning do these circumstances, after she hears from live witnesses, indicate that he was acting within the scope of his duties as White House chief of staff.

[07:30:25]

Now, I think he has an uphill battle even on this low standard of whether it's a colorable defense. Kind of, like, there's this pass the Snellen test, because whatever the job description is for chief of staff, it certainly does not include trying to overturn a lawful election, trying to pressure Georgia state officials. So, I think there is going to be skepticism there, and that's why the judge wants to hear from live testimony.

WALKER: And you say that state of mind, Meadows' state of mind will be key?

WU: Yes, it will be. We know that one of those meetings that he attended with the Georgia officials there, they haven't argued that he was not aware of the plan. That's sort of a notably missing issue. So, if he had that meeting knowing that Trump and other folks wanted to overturn out election, then there is a real question as to why are you meeting with these folks? I mean, that's -- all kidding aside, that's not within the job description of the chief of staff because the president, the executive branch doesn't have anything to do when overseeing the elections.

So, if he knew at that point that was the intent of what they were trying to do, that really cast a lot of doubt on whether that could have been a valid exercise of his authority.

WALKER: And just quickly, would you expect Trump to follow suit and try to move his case to the federal court system?

WU: Oh, yes. Definitely. I think his lawyers are, kind of, testing the water right now. They want to see how this one flies. And of course, it drags things out more by letting this one get argued, litigated, and then they do theirs.

WALKER: Yes, got it. All right. Wait and see then. Shan Wu, appreciate you. Thank you.

WU: All right.

SOLOMON: All right. Still to come for us, more bad news for borrowers. U.S. mortgage rates just keep on surging, they reached their highest level in 22 years. And the federal reserve has hinted that additional hikes are still on the table. We'll discuss, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:36:15]

WALKER: All right. We are following a developing story out of Russia. Russia's investigative committee has confirmed that Wagner leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in that plane crash last week.

SOLOMON: Let's bring in CNN International Correspondent Melissa Bell. Melissa, so, what are we hearing from Russia? What are they saying?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically, what we discovered is on Friday this investigative committee had got its hands on the black box, on the bodies, the remains of those deceased. And what we knew from authorities on Wednesday, just after the crash, is that it was believed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, 10 victims in all, had died in this plane accident.

What we just heard from the investigative committee is that all 10 victims have now been confirmed, their identities have been confirmed. They do indeed correspond to those on the flight passenger list that we heard of on Wednesday, which means they confirmed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, but also so many of his very close lieutenants (ph) at the helm of Wagner have been confirmed dead. They include, of course, Dmitry Utkin who managed Wagner's ministry operations and others who are at the very top of the group.

The speculation is that Russian authorities may have been involved in this and have been the source of speculation for many days because, of course, the crash came just two months after Yevgeny Prigozhin's failed march on Moscow. The Kremlin has denied this. We heard from Dmitry Peskov on Friday denouncing what he says were absolute lies. In terms of the rumors, he describes of foul play involved.

But the confirmation that Yevgeny Prigozhin has died, of course, that would leave a huge amount of questions about what happens to Wagner next. We heard also from Vladimir Putin just the other day speaking about Yevgeny Prigozhin's death. This now the confirmation that he has died as well as so many those who ran Wagner with him.

WALKER: All right. Melissa Bell, appreciate your reporting.

Let's bring back Retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, I mean, obviously, this comes as no surprise, right? That Prigozhin was among the remains of all 10 passengers onboard this doomed flight. No surprise as well that the Kremlin continues to deny that it was behind this, even though, you know, western leaders believe so. What is your reaction to this? And do you think we will ever know the cause of this crash?

LEIGHTON: Yes, Amara, it is -- this is very interesting development that it happened so quickly in terms of their ability to identify the body, their ability to not only assess the remains of Prigozhin, but also the other nine victims onboard the aircraft.

So, in some ways, what I think what they were trying to do, from the Kremlin's point of view, is wrap things up as quickly as possible. Put a bit of closure to this situation. They hinted that Prigozhin had died in Putin's remarks and in Dmitry Peskov's, the spokesman's remarks. It was very clear that they were pretty convinced that Prigozhin was indeed onboard this aircraft.

But they are trying to, in essence, put this behind them. They did that they needed to do from the Kremlin's standpoint. And now, they want to move forward and Putin, I think, hopes to consolidate power as a result of this. And, you know, move forward from a position of strength, hopefully, from his standpoint.

SOLOMON: Colonel, speak to me a bit more about those comments from Putin where he spoke about Yevgeny Prigozhin in the past tense, seemed to be clear at least from his comments that he had perished, that he passed. What we also didn't hear was any question about who else might be to blame. He didn't mention Ukraine in this instance. He didn't mention the west in this instance.

[07:40:00]

Talk to me about the messaging perhaps or the reading between the lines in terms of what we have heard from the Kremlin since this plane crashed.

LEIGHTON: Yes, Rahel. This is very interesting as well because often what the Russians will do is, in spite of any evidence to the contrary, they will blame the west or they will blame Ukraine for acts like this. But when Putin spoke, it was pretty clear that he wasn't going in that direction. What he wanted to do was just kind of state the facts as he had them at that moment and make it appear as if, you know, this was kind of in the course of everyday business.

And, you know, that's -- from a -- this kind of an analytical standpoint, you are looking at a way in which Putin is consolidating the information before he delivers it to the public. And as he delivers it to the public, he is making it pretty clear that he is in charge of this situation, and that's how he is looking at it.

SOLOMON: Really fascinating developments. Retired Colonel Cedric Leighton, we appreciate you being with us today. And just to reiterate again, Russia's investigative committee confirming that Yevgeny Prigozhin was in fact on that plane and has passed away. Cedric Leighton, thank you.

And we'll be right back.

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[07:45:41]

SOLOMON: Turning now to the economy and sticker shock for would-be homebuyers. Mortgage rates are now at their highest levels in 22 years, hitting 7.23 percent for a 30-year fixed mortgage in the latest week. Now, just a year ago, you might remember, that that number was below six percent. Part of the reason for the surge, well the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hiking to try to fight inflation. In fact, just this week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said they are willing to raise rates even more.

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JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: We are prepared to raise rates further if appropriate and intend to hold policy at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving sustainably down towards our objective.

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SOLOMON: Joining me is Lawrence Yun, he is chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. Lawrence, welcome and good morning. So, you also say that mortgage rates could go even higher. What are you expecting? How high?

LAWRENCE YUN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS: Well, you know, the American dream of ownership, the Federal Reserve, if they continue to raise interest rate, is going to kill that dream. Very unfortunate. So, my forecast for potential eight percent is based on what the Fed may be doing.

However, if the Fed suddenly says inflation is trending down, things are beginning to come down, there is no need to raise interest rates, I think that the mortgage rate could actually see lower levels, even closer to six percent by spring of next year. So, it all depends on the Fed, but right now, the renters or want to be first-time buyers extremely frustrated.

SOLOMON: Yes. And there is a big difference between six percent and eight percent. So, we'll have to see how the months ahead really, sort of, shake out. You know, Lawrence, a few short years ago, rates were sitting a lot closer to three percent. And I often hear, and sometimes often think, you know, I wish we were back at those days. But those were historic lows. Do you think we ever get to those three percent levels again, or is that just sort of, you know, a thing of the past?

YUN: Those were exceptionally special bonus rates due to the Fed, essentially going all in at that time of the pandemic. So, people should not anticipate that three percent or four percent will be anytime new normal. In fact, I don't think it will return to that level for the remainder of my lifetime. I think people should look perhaps (ph) -- possibly at six percent as a good rate.

And let's remember, let's back up to history. Most people, back in the '80s and '90s, purchased their homes at double-digit mortgage rates. And if you were to ask, was that a good deal? Are you happy that you made that decision? And nearly every homebuyer at that time would say, yes, that was a tremendous decision because I feel well, the housing prices rising over time. And furthermore, great thing about America, one can always refinance mortgage rate when the mortgage rate do goes down, and we know mortgage rate goes up and goes down. SOLOMON: Now, that's a great point. The difference I will say, I'm going to push back a bit in terms of interest rates, is now affordability is a real issue. And part of that is not just the interest rates but the cost of a home, which has gone up. And part of the problem there is just the lack of supply, that because there isn't a lot of supply, and demand is high, there is that imbalance and that keeps sort of prices elevated. Lawrence, when do you see supply improving? Because that would really help.

YUN: Yes, you know, you make a very good point because home prices have outpaced people's income growth almost by the ratio of two to one over the past 20 years. So, looking at long-term spend, home prices have become much more unaffordable in relation to people's income growth. And the principal reason is lack of supply. It's all about economics, supply and demand, lack of supply pushes up the prices. So, we have to address more supply.

We have to think also about some creative way to bring more supply. First, I'm glad that home builders are responding to the profit motives and they're building more homes. So, that's a good thing. But can we dedicate some of the infrastructure spending bill to dedicate for more affordable home building or moderately priced home building? Because many of the builders are shying away from that because the numbers don't make sense.

[07:50:00]

And the -- another possibility is, can we provide tax incentive for mom-and-pop investors who may want to release maybe one or two of their properties if it is sold to a first-time buyer? That would be a great incentive to bring those inventory immediately to the market, though something that Congress should be discussing, and hopefully we get sudden boost of inventory so that access, access to ownership, access to the American dream is alive for many young Americans.

SOLOMON: Yes -- no, very interesting strategies. Lawrence, I know you're not a financial adviser. But based on your experience as an economist with the National Association of Realtors, for people who are watching this at home who are feeling priced out of the market, what is your advice?

YUN: Well, you know, one has to first never go beyond their budget. So, whatever budget they have set, don't go beyond that. Otherwise, one is asking for trouble. So, some consideration. Maybe their first home is not the dream home. They have to put some efforts. Maybe a starter, they have to put a little more remodeling effort for it. So, go for a little more affordable price.

Second, maybe the next county offers better affordability, especially among some officer workers who do not have to commute every single day. Consider the next county consideration. And third, be very flexible given the competitive nature. Multiple offers are still happening because of inventory condition. So, as one is discussing to sellers, to say, you know, sellers, one you sell your home, you may have trouble finding the next home. So, be considerate about the closing date and that will make the offer more acceptable. SOLOMON: Yes. Really interesting insights. Lawrence Yun, great to have you this morning. Thank you. He is the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. And we'll be right back.

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[07:55:33]

WALKER: 60 years after Reverend Martin Luther King led -- King Jr. led 250,000 people in the March on Washington for jobs and freedom and equality, thousands of people gathered again at the Lincoln Memorial, Saturday, to commemorate the anniversary.

SOLOMON: Civil rights activists from all over the country spoke about king's famous speech and how his dream has been threatened once again. CNN's Jason Carroll caught up with marchers and activists in D.C.

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JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we spoke to people all over the country who came out here today to hear from speakers across the spectrum of the civil rights movement. One of the ongoing themes that was addressed here over and over again, voting rights. It was an issue 60 years ago back in 1963. Civil rights leaders say, it continues to be an issue today.

One of those driving home that point, Andrew Young, Former Mayor of Atlanta, noted civil rights activist. He was here today, 91 years old. He was here 60 years ago. Back in 1963, he worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and he gave his assessment of the condition of the country today.

ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER ATLANTA MAYOR AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: The vote is the passport to freedom and opportunity. That is hard work, but it's good work. Don't get mad, get smart. Don't look at all of the things that are wrong, look back on where we were 66 years ago, when we had the first March on Washington. And Martin Luther King said then, give us the ballot. And then he moved up and said, but I have a dream. But he gave his life for that dream.

CARROLL: Some of the other issues also being brought up today, educational equality, economic equality as well. Some of the same issues that were addressed 60 years ago back in 1963. Organizers say, they are issues that still need to be addressed today.

Jason Carroll, CNN, Washington.

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SOLOMON: All right. Jason, thank you.

WALKER: And coming up, we're following breaking news out of Australia where three U.S. marines were killed after their aircraft crashed during military exercises. We're going to go live to Sydney to get more details on that.

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