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CNN This Morning
Russia Launches Fresh Attacks On Odesa; Leader Of Belarus Meets With Putin In Russia; Special Counsel Contacts Georgia's Governor; Trump Classified Docs Trial Set For May 2024; UPS Workers Vow To Walk Off The Job By July 31; Flooding Triggers State Of Emergency In Nova Scotia; Fighting To Keep Low-Income Families Cool During High Heat; Tupac Murder Case; Home Of Man Who Claims To Have Seen Tupac Shakur's Murder Searched By Police In The Las Vegas Area; Unsolved Cases Of Missing Black People In Danger Of Being Overshadowed By Doubt Surrounding Alleged Kidnapping Of A Woman; Black Women Who Go Missing Highlighted By The Carlee Russell Case; Business Boot Camp In Cuba; Entrepreneurial Crash Course For Cubans. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired July 23, 2023 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:02]
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: OK, so authorities don't have any idea right now where it came from. Officials posted a warning to anyone wanting to take it home saying, "After floating in the ocean, the marijuana has begun to degrade and rot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Surprise, there wasn't about to hippies on the beach picking it up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Do you think people, actually, there are some people who didn't -- who actually did pick it up.
VICTOR BLACKWELL: I'm sure --
WALKER: I'm sure.
BLACKWELL: -- some people probably took some.
WALKER: Yes.
BLACKWELL: Just to see.
WALKER: Just to see.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
WALKER: But degrading and rotting, I mean, that -- I'm sure it stinks very badly. Police are asking to avoid the area until all of that has been cleaned up.
And a quick reminder, don't miss a new episode of the CNN Original Series, "See It Loud: The History of Black Television", tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.
BLACKWELL: Next hour of CNN This Morning Starts right now.
WALKER: And good morning everyone. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, July 23rd. I'm Amara Walker.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's really good to be with you. Thank you for starting your day with us. Here's a look at what we're working on for you this morning.
Russia launched a new round of missile attacks on Ukraine, damaging several residential buildings, injuring dozens of people. What we know about the attacks and why Ukraine says it's almost impossible to defend against them.
WALKER: Special counsel Jack Smith's office has contacted Georgia Governor Brian Kemp as part of its investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Why Kemp could prove to be a key figure in the investigation.
BLACKWELL: Heat records are falling across the country, nearly three dozen of them yesterday alone, and all of that hot air is expanding. We will tell you where we'll likely see more triple digit temperatures.
WALKER: California police served a search warrant this week in connection with the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. What led to the latest search what police are looking for?
BLACKWELL: We start though with Russia's unrelenting attacks on the Ukrainian port City of Odesa. Russian forces unleashed a fifth wave of strikes on the city overnight. Now authorities say at least one person was killed, 19 wounded, including four children.
Ukraine Southern Operational Command says the strikes damaged at least six residential buildings, a church and architectural monuments. Ukraine's Ministry of Culture says the strikes have destroyed many U.N. protected world heritage sites. President Zelenskyy called the attacks Russian Evil.
WALKER: The leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is meeting today with President Vladimir Putin, the country's defense minister says, Belarusian forces will soon hold joint military exercises with Wagner fighters near the border with Poland.
CNN's Senior National Security Correspondent, Alex Marquardt is in Kyiv. He's joining us. Alex, what's the latest there?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Russia continues to pound Odesa, which is Ukraine's most important port city. This is almost a week straight of attacks, almost every single day. There has been significant damage in this latest wave of strikes, particularly to the historic center of Odesa, which is a UNESCO Heritage site.
Perhaps the most damage done to the Transfiguration Cathedral. You can see, I believe we have pictures of that, significant damage to that, very important church. We have heard from President Zelenskyy who said that there can be no excuse for Russian evil. He said he went on to vow retaliation, saying that the Russians will feel this retaliation.
You mentioned one person killed, that was a security guard, who was outside, during these strikes, that he was at the house of scientists, as it's known, that was a building that was also severely damaged. Now, Victor and Amara, Russia is claiming that they've been carrying out these strikes against Odesa in response to Ukraine's attack last week on the Kerch Bridge.
They say, Odesa is where those sea drones, those surface drones are, that were sent against the Kerch bridge and significantly damaging it. Ukraine believes that these Russian strikes are because Russia has just pulled out of this important grain deal. So much of the damage, that we have seen has been to port infrastructure, grain infrastructure, really limiting how Ukraine can ship food to the world.
This really does highlight the need for better air defenses for Odesa and for other cities around the country. The reason -- the way that Russia is managing to strike these sites is essentially because they're using different kinds of cruise missiles, cruise missiles that are able to get through those air defenses.
Last night, they used a supersonic anti-ship cruise missile, but of course, it was used on land. One local official saying that that strategy is cunning in her words. Victor, Amara.
[07:05:09]
BLACKWELL: All right, Alex Marquardt for us there in Kyiv, thank you so much.
Retired Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt joins us now. He's a former Assistant Secretary of State for Political and Military Affairs. Let's start with these cruise missiles and the way in which the Russians are attacking Odesa. We start at the top of the show of saying that the Ukrainians say it's almost impossible to defend against them. What would they need to defend against this type of attack?
BRIG. GENERAL MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): What they'd need is a significant number of air defense systems, probably 10x to 20x what they have in the area now. They are low, the cruise missiles fire -- fly fast. They can evade certain types of air defense systems. So, it's going to be tough to bring these down. I think the best chance we have is for the Russians to run out of them rather than count on shooting them down.
BLACKWELL: So, one person killed, 19 injured in Odesa, also four people killed in the last couple of days in Kharkiv, more injuries there as well. What do you see in this campaign is significance of the target from Russia?
KIMMITT: Well, I think everybody understands that Odesa was one of the first targets that the Russians tried to take in the offensive the beginning of last year. Odesa, as everyone knows, is a very, very important seaport. You cut Odesa off and you essentially make Ukraine a landlocked nation.
Ukraine depends upon and survives upon the sales of the wheat, the barley, and other agricultural products that it has. And if you keep those in the country, not only does it bring Ukraine to its needs economically, but you have some of the, the worst countries in the world, that need this food, places such as Yemen, Somalia, Egypt, the taking Odesa and closing it off to the rest of the world would just have a significance that can't be understated.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Developing nations were -- rely on the grain that comes out of there, the end of the grain deal. We have heard from U.S. officials that they have declassified this expectation that Russia could launch a false flag operation to justify any attacks on ships that are going into and out of the ports there to retrieve some of that grain and move it out.
What will you be looking for and how would that change this conflict if they attack a non-military vessel there in the Black Sea?
KIMMITT: I don't think anything the Russians would do right now would surprise me or anyone else. The fact remains is the best thing you can do with the false flag operation is call it out, call it out early. Once the world recognizes that the Russians would do something of this sort, there's no way the Russians could blame Ukraine when they carry it out.
BLACKWELL: Let's go north to Belarus. We are seeing new satellite images that are showing a buildup of military vehicles and equipment. This is a military garrison in, in central Belarus. Compared to what was seen just about a week ago, you're seeing July 16th and July 21st. Explain what we're seeing here and what you think the threat it poses is to Ukraine.
KIMMITT: My view is what, Putin is trying to do is build up a large force in the north threatening, the ability to attack from the north towards Kyiv again, probably won't do that. It's implausible, but it's not impossible. But the real intent is to draw some of those counter attack forces off the front lines in the east. The counter attack, if they can break through those front lines is going to need a force that can punch through that open line and get all the way to the sea.
But if you need those forces pull off the front line in order to go up and defend in the north to prevent an attack or a threat of an attack from Belarus, you've really had a tactical success on the part of the Russians. So yes, implausible, not impossible that they would attack, but I really believe the purpose of it is to draw substantial number of forces, Ukrainian forces off the front lines.
BLACKWELL: All right, General Mark Kimmitt, thank you, sir.
WALKER: Special Counsel Jack Smith is expanding his investigation into Donald Trump's alleged attempts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. A spokesman for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp says Smith's team contacted the governor last week. Trump is accused of pushing Kemp, pressuring Kemp to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia after he narrowly lost the state.
CNN's Marshall Cohen has more. Marshall?
[07:10:17]
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Victor and Amara. Special Counsel Jack Smith has contacted Georgia Governor Brian Kemp as part of his long running investigation into the 2020 election aftermath. Our colleague Kaitlan Collins confirmed that Smith's team was in touch with Kemp this past week.
Now, Kemp's office really is not saying much and the timing of a possible FBI interview or grand jury appearance for the governor is unclear. But Kemp make no mistake, he is a key figure in this investigation. That's because in 2020, Donald Trump both privately and publicly pressured Kemp to overturn the election in Georgia.
Trump wanted Kemp to interfere with the vote counting blocked certification of the results, and convene a special session of the legislature so that he could appoint fake Trump electors.
Now going beyond Kemp, the Special Counsel is also still in the process of scheduling interviews with additional witnesses. This list of possible additional interviews includes a former Trump lawyer and a longtime ally of Rudy Giuliani. All this comes as possible indictments in the case are looming.
Jack Smith sent a target letter to Trump last weekend signaling that Trump might be charged with crimes for trying to overturn the election. The grand jury that sits here in Washington, D.C. is expected to meet in the coming days.
Then guys, there is also Mar-a-Lago case where Trump is already facing 37 felony charges for allegedly mishandling classified documents and obstructing that investigation. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and he pleaded not guilty.
Now, on Friday, a federal judge in Florida set a new trial date for May, 2024. That is pretty late in the GOP primary schedule. By then, Trump might already be the presumptive nominee. Special Counsel Jack Smith wanted that trial to take place this December, presumably with a verdict coming before the Iowa caucuses, but that's not going to happen.
The trial is now set for May. Though, of course further delays are always possible and Trump's team is optimistic that with just one or two additional delays, they might be able to get that case postponed all the way past the 2024 general election. Victor and Amara?
WALKER: All right, Marshall Cohen, thank you.
Hundreds of thousands of UPS workers say they are ready to walk off the job in less than two weeks. As contract negotiations are coming down to the wire, the main sticking points and how a strike could impact the global economy.
WALKER: And as record heat grips the country leading to more hospitalizations and deaths, there are growing calls to help low income families retrofit their homes to withstand the heat. We'll discuss next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:17:21]
WALKER: 340, 000 UPS workers are poised for the biggest strike on American soil in 60 years and their practice picketing across the country just ahead of another contract negotiation.
BLACKWELL: The union says they want fair pay and better working conditions and they've given a deadline to walk off the job if no agreement is reached. CNN's Isabel Rosales has more. Isabel?
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, Teamsters, the Teamsters that is a union for UPS. They insist that they are ready to go on strike if it comes to that, and their biggest leverage point is 340,000. That is the number of members that they have that work at UPS. They insist that they are ready to get this started day one if UPS cannot concede to their terms.
And if it does come to a strike, it would be the costliest work stoppage ever in U.S. history, that's according to the Anderson Economic Group. That's a research firm who estimates that a 10-day UPS strike would cost the U.S. economy over 7 billion. One of the biggest sticking points in these -- this contract negotiations which, by the way, both sides have agreed to about 95 percent of the contract, one of the biggest sticking points is part time workers.
They make $16.20 in a starting wage, and we've heard from leadership here that that is not a livable wage. That number needs to go to above $20 to start. The average part time are making 20 bucks. Meanwhile, full time workers making roughly 95,000 a year.
Here's what else the general president of the union had to say about negotiations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN O'BRIEN, PRESIDENT, TEAMSTERS UNION: We do not get a deal. UPS has chose to strike themselves. And we will not, we will withhold our labor, July 31 at 12:01 a.m. But if we get a tentative agreement subject to ratification, and we're going to recommend it, then we will not withhold our labor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: We did also hear from UPS here in the past week that put out a statement, also saying that part timers, they make the same benefits as full time workers, including health care, pension, and help with school tuition. But the company did acknowledge that they make less money.
Also calling this -- the deal that they -- the factors that they've agreed to so far a historic, quote, historic economic package and urging quick action to finalize a deal. Here's their statement right here. "We are pleased to be back at the negotiating table next week to resolve the few remaining open issues. We are prepared to increase our industry leading pay and benefits, but need to work quickly to finalize a fair deal that provides certainty for our customers, our employees and businesses across the country."
[07:20:03]
Amara, Victor, I also want to mention what has been agreed upon, what the company, UPS agreed to, which includes adding AC systems into new vehicles and retrofitting old ones. But fans also doing away with the two-tiered wage system where people folks who worked on the weekends made less money.
But, of course, the countdown here is looming for this potential strike. All lies are going to be on D.C. Tuesday when both sides return to the bargaining table. Guys?
BLACKWELL: Isabel, thanks so much. Extreme weather is making headlines around the world. The dangerous heat is sticking around in the U.S. for the start of a new week. Today, Phoenix is expected to extend its record breaking streak of 110 degree days.
To the north in Canada, parts of Nova Scotia are under a state of emergency after being inundated with what officials called rain of biblical proportions. The mayor of Halifax says they got three months' worth of rain in one day.
WALKER: Wow. Imagine that. And a violent hailstorm pounding -- pounded parts of Italy roads turned into rivers of ice. The mayor of Seregno says his city got over 2 inches of rain in just 30 minutes. And in Greece, wildfires forced thousands to flee a popular tourist hotspot. The fire on the Island of Rhodes started approaching beaches and hotels Saturday.
We're joined now by CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers. Just extreme weather everywhere we turn around this globe, Chad. And the big story for the U.S. continues to be these really hot temperatures and the heat will expand to more parts of the country this week?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. The jet stream that's kind of bottled up all the heat across parts of the southwest for the past three weeks. Now we'll begin to kind of bubble closer to the northeast and certainly through the Midwest. And so that heat will continue to kind of slide to the east. Not like you need more heat in Miami.
It's been 42 days above a heat index of 100 degrees there in Miami. Uncomfortable with all of that air you can wear. So 40 million or so excessive heat warnings today. That's just the number half of what we were yesterday. Notice where Baton Rouge felt like 118 degrees yesterday afternoon officially. It's only going to feel like 100 today, but still hot out West. And this is this bubble of air that we're talking about. That's going to start to slide. Phoenix 23 consecutive days above 110.
This is the bubble that's going to move toward the northeast. That's where it is right now. But watch this jet stream just travel to the north, and allow that heat to travel farther to the north, across even into the Canadian eastern provinces there. Atlantic Canada will be, of course, very, very warm.
Minneapolis, are you ready for this? Wednesday, 100. That's like 15, 16 degrees above where you should be. And even New York City gets all the way to 96 on Friday. So yes, the heat is on. It is sliding to the east. Enjoy the nice days today. I mean, 86 and sunshine in New York, Philadelphia, D.C., pretty good. And then all of a sudden, 10 degrees warmer by next weekend.
WALKER: Minneapolis, 100? I mean, I lived in the Midwest. I don't know what they're going to do with themselves in that kind of heat. Gosh.
Chad Myers --
MYERS: They're going to go to their cabins up north.
WALKER: Yes, exactly. Find some refuge there. Thanks so much, Chad.
Well, as a heat wave stretches into another week, calls are going to make sure low-income families have the resources they need to deal with these record shuttering temperatures. One solution, providing air conditioning equipment and insulation for families who can't afford it. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association is leading the initiative to get congressional funding to retrofit homes for cooling.
Mark Wolfe is at the front of that fight, and he is joining us now this morning. Good morning to you, Mark. Thank you so much for your time. How is the process to get this funding for retrofitting going?
MARK WOLFE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ENERGY ASSISTANCE DIRECTORS' ASSOCIATION: Well, it's challenging, you know. We're expecting it to be this hot this summer. You know, when Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, provided additional $4 billion for families to retrofit their homes, which at the time seemed like, you know, a good step and direction of helping families do this.
And that's enough money to help about 400,000 families. It sounds like a lot, except that. They're close to 30 million low-income families in the United States. So, what it really shows is that temperatures are increasing faster.
And the programs are increasing, and since all sites point to, you know, this year being, you know, the hottest in the last 10 years and not getting any cool in the future, what it really shows is that we need a national plan and a strategy to help retrofit the low-income housing stock. So low-income families can be safe as these temperatures keep increasing. [07:25:00]
WALKER: Just to follow up on that, I mean, when you say 400,000 families, you're trying to help retrofit air conditioners. Are there certain regions or certain cities that you're focusing on that because obviously, you have the southwest of certain areas that deal with extreme heat way more often than, you know, the north of the Midwest?
WOLFE: It was a national problem. You know, it's the south, the west, but increasingly, the middle states, the northeast are seeing higher temperatures in the past. So, where you didn't see air conditioning use that much. We're not seeing it use more routinely. It's especially important for people who are in frail health conditions.
They're much more vulnerable to high temperatures and so it's important to have a national strategy. And I think to put that in place now, because I think we thought we had more time. You know, when this went -- I'm sorry when this summer started, NOAA, the National Weather Service thought that temperatures would be about as high as last year.
Now, they're much higher. It's not only that, but the cost of home cooling is going up rapidly. So, a few years ago, it cost about $400 on average to cool your home in the summer. Now, we could have 600 this summer. So --
WALKER: Yes.
WOLFE: -- we're looking at very rapidly changing temperature.
WALKER: So to that point that the cost of cooling your home is increasing rapidly, a study by the Department of Energy shows that low-income families use 8.6 percent of their average income to cool their homes, which is three times higher than for higher income families. So once people get air conditioners installed, how do you make sure that they can actually afford to turn it on?
Well, there are really two things that have to happen. One is the equipment and -- excuse me, and second funding, I'll pay for it. You know, we found the last few years when states provide families with air conditioning equipment that sometimes they're afraid to turn it on because they're afraid of the bill and that's perfectly legitimate because the cost of home cooling is going up.
So we need two things. One, tell families retrofit their homes essentially add insulation, overhead fans and air conditioning, but also to help them pay for it. And that's really important. So we're also asking Congress for an additional $3 billion this year. Tell about $6 million families pay the cost of cooling.
You know, Congress gave us an extra $2 billion this year. It sounds like a lot of money and it is and we thought that would be fine. And so, I think what we're seeing as well as the rest of the country is that temperatures are rising faster and quicker than we expected and they were being caught short. We need to protect lower-income families because keep in mind that half of all elderly families on social security, only have social security income. They have no other source of income to work with. And that many low income families who are working, you know, daily, you know, working every day are working on minimum wage or lower wages and they don't have much flexibility.
They live from paycheck to paycheck essentially.
WALKER: Yes.
WOLFE: And so, when prices spike like this, they're caught unprepared and they have to sacrifice and do other things. The other thing we worry about is that some families long turn on the air conditioning because they're afraid of the bill --
WALKER: Yes.
WOLFE: -- that puts them at health risk.
WALKER: Yes, yes. I've been there with my family. You know, every penny counts, especially when you're living paycheck to paycheck. And, you know, this is a health emergency, right, for so many families who need the air conditioning to, you know, prevent them from heat strokes and other issues.
Mark Wolfe, thank you very much.
BLACKWELL: Twenty-seven years later, our investigators finally closing in on Tupac Shakur's killer. New details this week about the search warrant executed at a witness's home.
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[07:32:36]
BLACKWELL: There is some new developments in the decades-long investigation into the murder of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur. He was fatally shot on the Las Vegas Strip in 1996. No one was ever charge.
WALKER: But just last week, police searched a home near Vegas, taking computers and hard drives. CNN obtained a warrant naming Duane Davis as a target of that search, and he's also a witness to the shooting. Now, CNN's Sara Sidner takes a closer look at the rap icon's life, his legacy, and the new investigation into his long unsolved murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SARA SIDNER, SENIOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): He was one of the most prolific voices of hip-hop generation. Tupac Amaru Shakur, a young man with big bright eyes and a poetic sensibility who spit out lyrics that detailed life as he knew it, unvarnished. He revealed the beauty and pain of his life and those around him. The theme stretched from violence in the streets, to black liberation, to the love between a mother and son.
TUPAC SHAKUR, RAPPER: And even as a crack fiend, Mama. You always was a black queen, Mama. I finally understand, for a woman it ain't easy trying to raise a man.
SIDNER (voiceover): Tupac lived a version of the American dream, as well as an American nightmare. He was a young black man who unchained himself from the extreme poverty he grew up in in Baltimore and California. His school friends say his nose was always in a book, always learning, but it was his music and acting that set the world alight.
AFENI SHAKUR, TUPAC SHAKUR'S MOTHER: Tupac was extremely passionate, very honest, and raw in his approach to communicating.
SIDNER (voiceover): He became a world-famous icon of an emerging genre of music, hip-hop, only to be gunned down at just 25 years old near a Las Vegas street corner. Retired Las Vegas Police Lieutenant Chris Carroll was first on the scene that September day in 1996.
CHRIS CARROLL, RETIRED LAS VEGAS METRO POLICE SERGEANT: I ended up pulling Tupac out of the car. I spoke to him. He was still alive. He was still breathing. I was asking him who did it? Who shot him? What happened? And that's when he responded to me with the now infamous words, eff you.
SIDNER (voiceover): To put it mildly, Shakur was not a fan of the police for a myriad of reasons. For one, his mother says, he experienced police violence while still in her womb.
[07:35:00]
Afeni Shakur recounted the FBI charging into her home, guns out, and carting her off to jail for being a member of the Black Panthers. She defended herself in court and won her case against the state.
A. SHAKUR: He was born one month and three days after we were acquitted.
SIDNER (voiceover): Tupac had his own run-in with violence and the law.
T. SHAKUR: I will make this court proud if they give me the chance do so. I mean, I'm sure you don't need to see another black face behind bars.
SIDNER (voiceover): He was a natural born fighter for black causes, born of two members of the Black Panther Party.
A. SHAKUR: I am his mother, and to a large extent, I feel as though Tupac came into this world carrying my Black Panther Party pass was his baggage. SIDNER (voiceover): He was shot five times during a robbery in Quad Studios in Times Square and lived to tell the tale. He always thought East Coast rappers set him up. He was arrested multiple times accused of violence, but Tupac went to prison after being convicted of sexual abuse in 1995. That happened about a month before the release of his album "Me Against the World." He was bonded out after eight months by Suge Knight, CEO of Death Row Records.
T. SHAKUR: I got nothing to lose. It's just me against the world, baby.
SIDNER (voiceover): The raw words of his songs served as a form of empowerment for people feeling the weight of oppression. 27 years after his death, his music is as relevant as ever. Then, this week, a stunning announcement, Las Vegas Police suddenly revealing they served a search warrant on this Henderson, Nevada, home. In the warrant there is mention of the South Side Compton Crips gang. And they seized items belonging to a man named Duane Keith Davis, nicknamed Keefe D. In 1996, Los Angeles police did pick up and question this man, they said, belonged to that same gang, Orlando Anderson, was named a suspect in the case, but he was never charged.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were you involved, in any way, in the death of Tupac Shakur?
ORLANDO ANDERSON, SUSPECTED GUNMAN IN TUPAC SHAKUR'S MURDER: No, I was not involved. I mean, I'm like a victim, you know, what I'm saying? I feel, you know, what I'm saying, sorry for him.
SIDNER (voiceover): The night of Tupac's murder, surveillance showed Anderson being beaten by Shakur and his entourage in Las Vegas. Hours later, Shakur is shot and killed while in the car with Suge Knight. No one knows what will come of the new police activity, but after 27 years of waiting, his fans and his family hope not just that the murder is solved, but the justice is served. Sara Sidner, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Sara, thank you.
Still ahead, black families who have missing relatives. A word about doubts surrounding the alleged kidnapping of a woman in Alabama this month. They fear her case will make it harder for thousands of other unsolved cases to get fair attention. We'll talk about that next.
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[07:40:00]
BLACKWELL: The case of a woman in Alabama who vanished after calling 9-1-1 to report a child walking along an interstate has renewed attention on the issue of missing black women and girls in the United States. Carlee Russell disappeared on July 13th. Mysteriously returned home two days later. Now, the possibility that Russell might have fabricated her kidnapping has left a lot of people concerned about future missing persons cases. According to the FBI's National Crime Information Center, more than 30,000 black people remain missing at the end of 2022.
Joining me now to discuss is CNN Senior Race and Equality Writer Nicquel Terry Ellis. Nicquel, good to see you this morning. And this is a difficult conversation for a lot of people who were immediately so passionate about find Carlee Russell, bring her home, and now these inconsistencies in the stories. These families that you speak of who have family members who are missing, what are their concerns? What are their fears?
NICQUEL TERRY ELLIS, CNN SENIOR WRITER, RACE AND EQUALITY: Good morning, Victor, and thank you for having me. So, I spoke with the Black and Missing Foundation this week. And they tell me that they have more than 6,000 cases of missing black people in their date base. And unfortunately, most of these cases are unsolved. So, for them, this is very serious.
Black families already have a hard time getting police to take their cases seriously when they report a loved one missing. They struggle to get police to fully investigate their cases. So, for them it's very frustrating to learn that someone could have possibly and potentially faked a kidnapping.
BLACKWELL: Yes, and it's not just the -- as you point out, the general public to be aware. It's the police, when they have to start investing resources. And I learned from your reporting is that the black community has a disproportionate number of those people -- of people reported missing versus the percentage of the general population. Explain that.
ELLIS: Yes. So, there is a higher rate of missing people in the black community. And I think for a lot of people, it's very concerning. The one thing that I have learned, that a lot to of these cases have been the result of kidnapping, the result of domestic violence, the result of mental health issues. You know, just the result of -- just different issues that have caused people to go missing in the black community.
And it's kind of a mystery as to, you know, why this is happening at a higher rate for the black community. When you look at Carlee Russell's case, there was such an outpouring of support of people on social media, posting her picture of the community in Alabama, aiding the search effort.
[07:45:00]
So, it's just very upsetting for a lot of people to see that, you know, the police are unable to verify her case. That she may have faked the kidnapping. I think people are just very frustrated about this right now. And I think there's also a concern that in the future when a young black woman goes missing, that people might think twice about sharing the story now. BLACKWELL: Yes, let's put those numbers back up if we have them, that 31 percent. 31 percent of the people who are reported missing are African Americans, black people in this country, but black people are just 14 percent of the U.S. population. You see that disparity there in those who reported missing. Nicquel Terry Ellis, thank you so much for bringing us the next part of this conversation as the investigation there in Alabama continues. Thanks so much.
WALKER: Still ahead, learning the business of free enterprise in a communist country. We're going to show you how the U.S. government is helping Cuban entrepreneurs to succeed.
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[07:50:00]
WALKER: For a long time, capitalism has been an offensive word in Cuba. But now a new batch of budding entrepreneurs have more freedom to go into business for themselves but no place to learn the ABCs of business.
BLACKWELL: As Patrick Oppmann reports, they're now getting a lesson curtesy of the U.S. government.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA-BASED CORRESPONDENT: Amara and Victor, being a business pioneer in communist-run Cuba requires guts and patience just learning the know-how behind running a successful business in a country where private industry was banned for decades is a challenge in and of itself. But a new program run by the U.S. embassy in Havana is attempting to fill in some of those gaps.
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OPPMANN (voiceover): A business seminar in a hotel meeting room may not seem that groundbreaking. But not long ago in Cuba where all capitalism used to be outlawed. It would have been impossible to imagine. All the more so since the man teaching this business boot camp organized by the U.S. embassy in Havana is Cuban American development expert Gustavo Arnavat, who left the island as a young boy to flee Fidel Castro's revolution. He's been invited by the U.S. government to share his knowledge with Cuba's trailblazing entrepreneurs.
GUSTAVO ARNAVAT, TEACHING BUSINESS SEMINAR: What they is, they need capital, they need an idea, they need persistence, they need to really work through very difficult times. Every entrepreneur is going to have to good days and bad days, and some days are going to be extremely challenging to point where, you know, give up. Again, no different than any other country, but here is particularly difficult.
OPPMANN (voiceover): Particularly difficult because for decades following the 1959 revolution, all private enterprise was banned in Cuba. Cubans were required to work for the state. Then following the collapse of the Soviet Union, official prohibitions on self-employment slowly began to ease. OPPMANN: The first entrepreneurs in a generation here faced a unique problem. There are no business schools, scarce knowledge that can be passed down about self-employment. Cuba's budding capitalists have but to learn by doing.
OPPMANN (voiceover): Juan Carlos Blain (ph) has turned a side business selling hamburgers into a restaurant franchise, a small supermarket, and logistics company. Altogether he says, he employees more than 60 people. Attending the business boot camp, he says, helped him to identify areas of future growth.
We've done courses on e-commerce, marketing, risk capital, private financing, he says. There are very current things, very modern, and things that we can use a lot.
Even though the U.S. government says it wants to help Cuban entrepreneurs, U.S. economic sanctions intended to impact the Cuban government also hurt business people here. Making it all but impossible for them to access the U.S. banking system or receive financing. The U.S.'s top diplomat in Havana says, the Biden administration is studying if sanctions can be eased for Cuban entrepreneurs.
BENJAMIN ZIFF, CHARGE D AFFAIRES, U.S. EMBASSY IN HAVANA, CUBA: There's a shortage of food, there's a shortage gas, there's a shortage of water. The Cuban state economy is no longer able to provide for its people. And the answer to that is not a necessary evil private sector, it is more better, more empowered private sector.
OPPMANN (voiceover): So far, the U.S. embassy in Havana says about 200 entrepreneurs have taken this boot camp. And the hope is that they could move beyond the decades of hostility between the U.S. and Cuba. To not only transform their lives, but their country.
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OPPMANN (on camera): Over the last two years, the Cuban government has authorized about 8,000 new small and medium businesses here. Experts say though, that's not nearly enough to jump start Cuba's flagging economy. A lot of the Cuban entrepreneurs I've gotten to know say that they see that how when Cubans leave this island, they're able to have great success starting businesses abroad. And all they want is the same ability to thrive in their own country. Amara, Victor.
WALKER: All right. Patrick Oppmann, thank you.
Still ahead, the Ukrainian City of Odessa is reeling this morning from a new wave of Russian attacks. We're going to go live to Ukraine, next.
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WALKER: How did investigators solve the decade long Gilgo Beach murder mystery? See how new technology led to the suspected killer on a new episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper." Here is a preview.
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JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, what they need from Rex Heuermann is DNA. A surveillance team is sent to midtown Manhattan, the area where he works. And they're basically watching the building. When he comes out. When he goes to a pizza place, and they see them go through three slices of pizza, and he takes the box and shoves it into a green trash can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, that was a treasure drove of DNA in there with that pizza box.
MILLER: So, from a chain of custody stand point, they've seen him eating it, carrying it. They've seen him discard it. And they pull that box out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're able to test it with his DNA to match the DNA at the crime scenes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One hair matched the DNA profile that of the defendant, Rex Heuermann.
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WALKER: "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" airs tonight at 8:00 on CNN.
BLACKWELL: Some people in Utah are calling this toadmageddon (ph). Why would they do that? Thousands of toads moving across the road in a line stretching as far as a mile. Experts tell our affiliate KSL, it's part of a mass migration of these juvenile toads in Stockton, Utah.
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