Erin Burnett OutFront : CNNW : February 2, 2023 4:00pm-5:00pm PST : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive (2024)

were supposed to do so, she had established that chain of command, done everything that she could have done to make sure that these sorts of threats got to her and yet they didn't, then she might not be liable. >> reporter: a spokeswoman told cnn she could not comment on whether the former principal was made aware of a gun on campus that day and could not discuss who might have been informed citing the on going investigation. attorneys for the teacher abby zwerner and the 6-year-old's shooter's family said they had no comment on the former prince pam's claims. wolf? >> thank you, brian todd reporting for us. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "erin burnett: outfront" starts right now. ♪

a russian lieutenant who fought in ukraine has fled putin's army and he's out front to talk about it. the lack of equipment, training, boiling rabbits for food, the atrocities he says were committed by russian fighters. you won't want to miss this interview. breaking news, the pentagon right now is tracking a chinese spy balloon flying over the u.s. president biden asking for military options. what are the chinese doing? plus, fbi agents investigating congressman george santos for allegedly scamming a veteran out of thousands of dollars meant for his dying dog. that veteran is out front tonight. what did he tell investigators about santos? and good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front, a russian officer speaks out right here. constantine served on the front lines for three months and is now telling all. the former lieutenant is the most senior russian officer to speak publicly about what he saw and did in ukraine. you're going to see that interview in just a moment. he managed to escape russia in january but still speaks with

the men he served with. i asked him about ukraine's claims that russia mobilized troops and whether they're properly trained. here is what he said to that. >> translator: these people who are coming out are not prepared. they have not been trained and they are not even aware what kind of horror is awaiting them now. this number is just a bubble because we're talking about just handy men, not servicemen. >> handy men, not servicemen. no prep, no training. he says that they go and that they are joining because if they don't, that they will go to prison. he says that they have no choice other than prison for multiple years. yefremov first spoke to the bbc. shared this video with us. this video which he took with the cell phone on the front lines russians firing a series of rockets towards ukrainian

positions last year. not only did he not know where the artillery men were shooting and his job was to protect them, that's what his unit was doing at the time, he says the russians firing those rockets had no idea what they were shooting at. of course we know, the targets are constantly civilian, homes, schools, apartment buildings. he witnessed three instances of russians torturing ukrainians. and he has this to say to the ukrainian people. >> translator: i ask the ukrainian people for forgiveness, that i came to their land with a gun in my hand. >> he is seeking asylum in the united states. you're going to hear more from him in a moment because his details about the russian forces come as president zelenskyy said that russia's new offensive is now under way. and fighting intensifies our fred pleitgen was just yards from two city strikes. he and his team were the middle of a civilian area. the attack sending everyone scrambling for shelter, afraid

of diagnose. at least seven people were injured. and you're going to see and hear from fred in a moment about this terribly close call. for the ukrainians, who are still on the line of fire with nowhere else to go, they're about to be even more of these horrible moments spokesman for putin claiming tonight that russia is on the verge of using its existing potential to the fullest in order to respond to the weapons that ukraine is set to receive from the west. fred pleitgen is on the ground in ukraine. fred, we're all so glad to see you and the incredible reporting you've done we now see comes with incredible risk and it was a very close call for you and your team tonight near the front lines. what happened? >> reporter: yeah. first of all, thank you, erin. you're right. it certainly was an extremely close call. one of the things we need to point out to our viewers is that we were going to the city to actually report on the aftermath of a missile strike that had taken place on the civilian area. but while the cleanup operation was going on and a search and rescue operation, the russians

struck exactly that area again. and it was very close to where we were. here is what happened. two missile strikes on the city of in eastern ukraine. right at the location we were about to film. there were just two massive missile strikes right in our vicinity. you can see it's just a couple yards away from where we are. we're not exactly sure what kind of missiles it was. but this is a residential area. we're right the middle of town. photo journalist ma tee ya films the damage caused by the impact. ukrainian authorities later said they believe the missiles were s300s, normally used to shoot down planes, devastating when launched at urban centers. producer tim lister checks in with our headquarters. >> extremely large detonations really, really close. we're going to stay and shelter. >> reporter: as we take cover, residents are clearly

traumatized by the violence. it is terrifying she tells me, but what can we do? the strikes came as search and rescue efforts were on going in exactly the same neighborhood after a russian missile levelled an apartment block on wednesday night, killing at least three and wounding eight. the russians seem to be bringing the cities of this region into their war regardless of the consequences. and russian president vladimir putin is saying there is worse to come. putin spoke thursday at events commemorating the battle of stalin grad where soviet forces defeated nazi germany 80 years ago, openly threatening the u.s. and other countries supporting ukraine. clearly they don't understand that modern war with russia will be quite different for them, he said. we won't send our tanks to their borders. but we have the means to respond and it won't be with the use of armored vehicles. cities like kramatorsk know that

the kremlin is ready to escalate its war on ukraine. largely quiet just weeks ago, they are now in the eye of the storm as russian forces seek to grind their way through donetsk. when the coast seem clear, we left kramatorsk. we're going to get out of here as fast as possible in case there's more missile strikes coming. certainly seems the russians are making kramatorsk a front line in this war. a grim prospect for the thousands of civilians here and in other towns in eastern ukraine. and erin, that really is one of the things is that towns like kramatorsk really had been fairly safe over the past couple of weeks, the past couple of months and people were starting to return to kramatorsk, but now those people understand they're not safe at any time of day or any time of night. and they certainly believe and understand that things could get a lot worse very soon, erin. >> you know, fred, just to see that -- i think that's the point, right? you're going to a civilian area

to report on the aftermath and this happened. just the randomness and the terror that everyone endures. thank goodness that you and tim lister and your crew are okay. this is all part of zelenskyy saying that the new russian offensive is already under way. do you think that's part of what you experienced and saw on the ground today? >> reporter: well, could s certainly be. one of the things we have seen as we have been traveling on the eastern front in ukraine, there's a lot of places where ukrainians are saying a lot more russian forces are on the ground. a lot of those mobilized are starting to come to the front lines and certainly the russians in many places are already doing probing offensives, are trying to see and feel out basically how strong the ukrainians are. and whether there's any weaknesses in the positions of the ukrainians. but it certainly seems to us, erin, that hitting those rear echelon areas, towns like kramatorsk but also areas in that area as well is very much also part of russia's new tactic, possibly russia's new strategy. we have seen that with missile

strikes occurring in some other towns as well. and it's having a devastating effect on the civilians that remain in those areas. of course, a lot of them feel extremely unsafe and a lot are being hurt and being killed in the process, erin. >> well, thank goodness again you are all okay and thank you so much, fred. up front now, constantine, the former russian senior lieutenant who is seeking asylum in the u.s. after serving in ukraine, the most senior officer to speak openly about what he saw there. i appreciate your time. you shared with us your military id card, which i'm going to show viewers in the screen now. you were made a lieutenant in 2017. and obviously you served in ukraine. i know you still speak with russian soldiers who are there, fighting now. what are they telling you about what's happening on the ground? >> translator: well, i have to say that there are only very few

people that i have been in contact with because you can imagine just talking to me is already -- puts them at the risk of -- in fact, after this interview and just opening up i can imagine tomorrow maybe just as well today they will stop talking to me. the last time i talked to them, there wasn't much they could share with me, just hunger, cold, their circ*mstances, their conditions are very dire. >> you talk about dire conditions. and i know you shared with us some photos, constantine, from your time fighting in ukraine. and we've heard -- you talk about them being hungry. we hear about russian soldiers not having enough food. that happened to you. you took a picture of this rabbit that you had to hunt for food while you were there and then you boiled it in a bucket to eat and sent us that photo as well. what is moral like right now for the troops? i know you are describing it as

dire. >> translator: everyone or nearly everyone who is there understands that what's happening is wrong. that this is all very wrong and they truly do not believe putin's fables about ukraine's threat of invasion. and i would like to say that at the very fact that they are in trenches, their living situation for many of them, their military service is their means of living. and basically they only have one choice. it's either their family and children end up on the streets or they have to be in the trenches. and now after the immobilizization, many of them in general after the mobilization they cannot resign otherwise they'll be sent to prison for seven, ten years. so, basically there is no choice. they either have to remain there or find ways to flee.

so like i already said, the circ*mstances are dire. >> you know, obviously some of what has happened on the ground, you know, we know about horrific war crimes committed by russian forces across the entire spade of this war. you shared a video or photo with us in front of a building in ukraine where you say that ukrainian prisoners were tortured. what did you see happen? >> translator: i personally see -- saw how the deputy commander of the unit whose name is shapaga tortured and threatened with sexual violence prisoners of war from the 36th navy division. >> were there others who had issues with this? because obviously many soldiers were participating and going

along. >> translator: i cannot say that anyone would have dared to say anything to this cornell or could have showed their disapproval because just like he shot that ukrainian prisoner of war, he could have easily shot me or anyone else who said that they didn't agree with this besides he was drunk nonstop and he was driving around the nearby villages where there were other prisoners of war, as far as i know there were about 20 others, ukrainian prisoners of wars. but i myself was a witness of interrogations of three ukrainian prisoners of war. >> you tried to resign from the army. you ended up being dismissed because you refused to return to ukraine. they sent you a document. you shared it with us. let me just read part of it to our viewers. this serviceman refused to go to the tear of ukraine to perform his service and combat mission.

thereby senior lieutenant committed gross disciplinary offense expressed from his evasion of military service. you're now hoping to seek asylum in the united states. you have left russia. why do you think the united states should grant you asylum? >> translator: i believe that the united states of america is the country of democracy where human rights are upheld. and i've already been in mexico for a month. and over this period of time i've been trying to seek appointment with the border guards and unfortunately so far my efforts have been in vain. and therefore i addressed mass media and human right advocates to support me in seeking political asylum.

>> thank you so very much for your time. the pentagon right now tracking a chinese spy balloon that is flying over the united states. this is not a balloon, as you may envision it, it's the size of three buses spotted by a commercial plane. what the president and his military advisers are doing about it tonight. plus, update to a story first out front, the fbi investigating congressman george santos alleged scheme to thousands of dollars from a veteran, meant to save his dying dog. the veteran is back with me. what did he share with the fbi. the sky camera that captured the fatal beating of tyre nichols. we'll take you inside that sky cop operation and talk to the man who placed that camera in just that exact place that captured the brutal arrest. i remember when i first started flying,

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canada. president biden has been briefed on the situation and senior defense official says he requested options on how to deal with the massive balloon. the military so far decided against shooting it down. comes as the secretary of state antony blinken is about to leave for a visit to china. oren lieberman is out front. what are you learning about this balloon. they decided not to shoot it down, but it's there, right? it's still fliying over the u.s as we speak. >> the pentagon says they have been tracking it since it entered u.s. air space coming in from over canada and they have been monitoring it since then. even launching f22 fighter jets to keep an eye on this. the pentagon says it has traveled over a number of sensitive sites. although they won't specify what those sites were, we know that montana, for instance, is home to ballistic missile silos. it's possible that's what this balloon was going after with its intelligence gathering capabilities as the pentagon keeps an eye to see where this is going. and what's happening here and how it evolves over the next

several days here. the pentagon obviously very concerned about this. they do say this has happened several times in the past. they haven't said when. but they did say it happened in previous administrations. of course, the key question is what do you do with this? president joe biden was briefed about it. he asked for military options, but senior military leaders including general mark milley advised against shooting it down, at least for now. there is some risk to people, to essentially facilities on the ground if you shoot it down. not all that much. montana isn't the most populated state, but there is some. crucially the pentagon says they don't believe this gives china any huge surveillance or intelligence gathering capabilities over the satellites they already have. >> yeah. so i guess to that question, do they know what it's doing and why they're doing this now? >> they don't have a specific answer to that yet in terms of what it's trying to gather. is it controllable, what is it looking for? but obviously this has raised tensions at a time when they're already sky high.

china reacting angrily to choose earlier today that the u.s. gained access to more bases in the philippines. saw similar angry reaction with the announce frmt the u.s. that they're revamping a marine corps facility in okinawa right near taiwan. the tensions are high here. this only adding to those tensions. the pentagon says they have raised this with china both through the embassy here and in beijing. so that gives you an idea of how angry they are. and they pointed out if they do assess the risk is growing, they do have options. >> all right. thank you very much for your reporting. and now let's go to retired air force cornell cedric leighton stationed in southeast asia where he watched china during his military career. let's look at this balloon that we're reporting on. it's the size of three buses, it's enormous. china has satellites. they're watching the united states all the time. what is this thing about? what is china doing here? >> so one of the big things, erin, that china could be doing with this is they could be scooping up signals and

intelligence. they're look at our cell phone traffic, looking at our radio traffic. they're looking at the government's commander in control networks. and as was pointed out, we have a ballistic missile base, series of ballistic missile silos in montana and north dakota and wyoming. these are the kinds of things they could be looking at. also, they're probably looking at the strategic bomber bases that we have in the dakotas. so this is something that gives them a chance to perhaps augment their satellite coverage and it's definitely a system that could be collecting a lot of data. >> so that's what you're saying is that there is more data and specific data signals intelligence, cell phones, they wouldn't be able to get other ways they could get from this. just to make the point clear, you're talking about the strategic bomber bases, i'm sorry, nuclear facilities. this was seen over billings, montana. and as oren says, there's not a lot of people there. that's part of the reason why they're so strategically important to the united states, to our nuclear arsenal.

and to the strategic bomber base. i mean, this location is hugely significant. >> it is. and you know, part of what we call our nuclear triad made up of bombers, missiles and submarines. two parts of that triad are right directly in the path of this chinese balloon. >> so, i guess i'm curious whether you think they should shoot it down. it's just floating there. this is a real question. they've decided not to do that for now. what do you think about that? and i know you also think that china may actually be doing this not just for itself but for putin. >> yes. in fact, there is a very robust intelligence sharing of relationship between china and russia. so, one of the things that you have to look at when it comes to this is what kind of a diplomatic fiasco it would be if they did shoot it down. you know, there's the potential that it could raise tensions even more. there's the potential, of course, if you did shoot it down, as oren pointed out, there would be the possibility of the loss of life on the ground.

so these are things that have to be weighed. and if they believe they can mitigate the collection efforts and if they can make them relatively meaningless or relatively harmless, then they usually opt to let things like this fly over and let them pass on to their handlers. >> all right. thank you very much, colonel lleyton. i appreciate your time. >> you bet, erin. next, update to a story we have been following. i'm going to speak to the veteran who is now talking to the fbi after accusing george santos of stealing thousands of dollars meant for his dying dog. what did he share with the agents? plus, former president trump unloading on governor ron desantis. >> ron desantis got elected because of me. you remember he had nothing. he was dead. >> so far desantis refusing to publicly take the bait by name. is it the right move? ♪ i recommend sensodyne. sensodyne toothpaste goes inside thehe tooth and calms the nerve down.

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tonight, fbi agents now looking into whether congressman george santos stole thousands of dollars meant for a veteran's dying dog. the congressman saying today that he's not worried. dodging questions about the

federal investigation. >> are you concerned about the fbi investigation? >> i am not. >> have you spoken to the fbi? >> mr. santos, you're facing a federal investigation here. this is very serious. can you explain to your voters and your constituents what happened with this veteran? the conversations that you had with him? mr. santos? >> met with silence there. we spoke with that veteran, rich osthoff in an interview you saw first "outfront" last month. george santos promised to get his dog a life-saving surgery and set up a gofundme page in 2016. after $3,000 of donations poured, he stopped answering his calls and texts. he never saw a dime and his dog died just four months later. rich osthoff is back out front with me now along with the new jersey veteran's network who intervened and tried to help osthoff get the money. of course you also spoke with

george santos. so rich, how do you feel -- you get a call from the fbi after all of this comes out. how did you feel when you got that call? >> elated. i didn't think it was still prosecutable after so many years. and that call just verified that it was. made me feel really good. >> and what did you share with the fbi agents? what did they want to know? >> i gave them everything that they asked me for. texts, emails and some of the go fund me screen shots and stuff that i had. >> right. >> i don't have anything to hide. so i gave them everything they asked for. >> everything they asked for. michael, you spoke directly with george santos. >> yes. >> we now know to be george santos. when you tried to help rich get the funds. you reached out and you tried to help him. you thought this was going to be a routine conversation. hey, guy. and of course it wasn't. i understand you will also be speaking with the fbi about all of this. and everything that conversation that you had.

what does it mean to you to see this being investigated, though, now? >> just being there for richard from the beginning. i love richard. he knows that. and seeing him being a victim at the time and vulnerable and now seeing richard at this point it's been a long, long road to get here. and being a police officer, former police officer, i really want to see justice because this is bringing life back to richard. closure for this whole entire incident that has happened. >> we just saw him, manu raju was asking the question about the investigation into this. he had nothing to say about the fbi investigation. in fact, as you know, rich, he's trying to clean up all of the lies that he has proven to have made about many other things. and here is what he said in an interview earlier this week. >> no, i don't think lying is excusable, ever. period. i am sorry. i'm deeply sorry. i have been calling supporters to apologize directly to them.

>> what do you say to that? >> doesn't look sorry to me. i think if he was sorry he would resign. he's just a big distraction right now. everything that i've seen is just him being followed around by reporters, hounding him. he's like a circus. he's not getting anything done. >> michael, he has been able to weather the storm. rich is pointing out. he's there at work everyday and meeting with mccarthy who said he has more questions for him now. but he's still a member of congress. he gave a speech, in fact, about supporting the jewish community. i'm mentioning that because he claimed he was jewish during the campaign. >> yes. >> obviously he is not. listen to this. >> i urged 118th congress to now stand together, proudly upholding every single american, no matter race, pedigree, religion nor creed any less american than their neighbor. >> that's him right now on the floor of the u.s. congress. how does it make you feel to see

that? >> it's just noncontrollable lying. he doesn't care what he says. there's no repercussions at the time when he was saying all these things, he really believed he could get away with everything that he said. and he was for a long period of time. he's in his 40s, right? this gentleman has been doing this for a long time. he's very good at it. he's very intelligent. >> rich, you sit here tonight, you have two dogs and now i know because of all of this they're getting service trained, you're going to get another dog today happens to be your dad's birthday. >> happy birthday, dad. >> how are you doing right now? >> i'm doing great. just -- i'll be doing a lot better when i stop seeing him on tv so much. it's an open wound. every time i see him it's like pouring salt into it again. but i'm not in that bad place i was six years ago. since this has all been going down, my dog has been getting a lot more love from me every time i come home, i bring them a big bag of pig's ears.

it's making me realize how much i love them all over again. >> all right. >> good stuff. it's bonding. >> all right. thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. and next, it's getting personal between trump and desantis with the former president unleashing a wave of new attacks against the florida governor. plus, first on "outfront," it's called sky cop. that's the overhead cameras that captured the key moments of tyre nichols' brutal and deadly arrest. the man who literally installed the camera at that crucial intersection speaks out. people remember ads with a catchy song. so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's a little number you'll never forget. ♪customize and save♪ ly pay for what you need. ♪liberty liberty liberty♪ ♪liberty♪ (bridget vo) with thyroid eye disease... i hid from the camera.

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tonight, former president trump not letting up on his attacks on the florida governor ron desantis. someone who hasn't announced he's running for president. just listen to this. >> ron desantis got elected because of me. you remember he had nothing. he was dead. he was leaving the race. he came over and he begged me, begged me for an endorsem*nt. he was getting ready to drop out. and there were tears coming down from his eyes. he said, if you endorse me, i'll win. >> "outfront" our senior data reporter, harry enten. trump is clearly focussed on

desantis. more than anybody else. >> yeah. >> fine with nikki haley and fine with anybody else. oh, he's not fine with detesant. >> he is not fine with the florida governor. you get a good understanding of why he's not fine with ron desantis. it's trump first, desantis second, both above 30%. and then mike pence at 7, nikki haley at 3%. basically it's a trump/desantis universe and then everybody else and nobody else at this point is anywhere close to where those two gentlemen are. >> now, okay, so it's still 20 months to go. >> yes. >> there's a lot of things that can change. obviously you've got potential indictments, the complications of biden's classified documents, we have never seen anything like this. and maybe that's why desantis is also waiting. who knows. so we are in this ahistorical moment, yes. >> still when you look at history, 20 months ahead you look at front-runners, how likely that any of them are the nominee. >> look at polling at this point and go back all the way since

1972, it turns out the national polling gives you a pretty good indication of who is going to win the primary, right? if you're polling basically in the trump zone, 35% north, likelihood of winning the primary is 75%. if you're in the desantis zone, 20% to 35%, you're likelihood of winning the primary based upon races since '72, 40%. the other territory less than 5%. we're not saying this is necessarily what's going to hold in 2024. but if based upon history, you would much rather be desantis and trump than anybody else. >> right. as you say if you're ahistorical and something happens to trump for these legal reasons, who knows, you have desantis sitting there. >> that's exactly right. >> there are a lot of people poised to announce. nikki haley, chris sununu, mike pence clearly and going to be more than. so when you have two people taking up this much oxygen at this point, does that deter other people?

>> it does. in fact, you know, if you look essentially back at past years in which two candidates added up to more than 70% of the early primary polling vote, right, what do we know? there are only two such examples of that, at least when there's no incumbent running, one in 2000. one was 2016 both on the democratic side. look how many people ran in the two years. two in 2000, five in 2016 on the democratic side. so if you are making a bet based upon the polling at this particular point, you would definitely bet far fewer republican candidates than say the democratic side, you know, four years ago when we had north of 20. probably going be in the single digits. >> multiple, multiple debate nights. just to get everybody in. okay. harry, thank you very much. >> thank you. so now let's go to former republican lieutenant governor of georgia, jeff duncan. you saw harry's numbers. from the inside, how do you see it? is the race 2024 down to trump and desantis or do you see a

real opening for someone else? >> ever be election ahistorical, it will be this election with all the stuff gone on to get to this point. certainly the polling right now is all over the place. i actually saw a poll from new hampshire, statewide poll, that had desantis 12 points over trump. it's still a moving target. certainly three lanes developing. the donald trump lane, ron desantis lane and this third party polling in the single digits going to be a developed lane. >> so politico has reported that trump is getting ready for an all-out offensive against desantis and already started. right? just listen to him over the past few days. >> ron would not been governor if it wasn't for me. so, then when i hear he might run, i consider that very disloyal. i'm way ahead in the polls. ron desantis is way behind me. i have 1.2 million more votes than ron desantis. people don't know that. >> and of course, you know, that's not really fair comparison, right? that was for governor of florida. let's just be clear, though, jeff, when you look at this,

desantis responds sometimes very clearly, but not clearly. he doesn't say trump's name. he talks about how he won and how resounding it was and he punches back but he does not use trump's name. do you think that that's right? or does he need to hit back more directly? >> well, this is just trump being trump. we know what we're going to get and there's no surprise when you see on the tv and listen to him say those things and pick on people. my encouragement as a republican would be for ron desantis to not take the bait. stay focus on pointing folks back to his conservative record in florida, how he's grown an economy, helped navigate a state through a pandemic a lot like governor kemp here in georgia. and our opportunities to put on display what conservative leadership really, truly looks like. don't take the bait. stay focussed on the mix ahead. >> so to the gop-led house today voted to remove democratic congresswoman ill han omar.

democrats at the time criticized and called anti-semitic. she said politic supported israel because it's about the benjamins ch and in 2021 compared the u.s. and israel to hamas and the taliban. but democrats say, look, this is too far. this is mccarthy getting back at democrats for kicking people like marjorie taylor greene off of their committees when democrats had the power. mccarthy says, no. no, it's this specific committee for these reasons. how do you see it? >> well, like republicans and democrats, i push back on her statement. those anti-semitic statements were horrible to listen to and not appropriate. she tried to walk those back even here on this network. but those statements were made. you know, look, at the end of the day, one of the strongest roles that the speaker has and i had as lieutenant governor was setting these committee assignments. so it's important to use that. but look, i'm worried, like many other americans worried about the stock market, the economy, the immigration, national affairs, foreign policy.

those are things that are keeping me up at night like most americans. we run the risk here of trying to make a point and not make a difference if we just focus on these small ground squirmishes around committee assignments. as a republican, we need to push back on statements like marjorie taylor greene's statements. you know, we've got to make sure we push back on both sides. >> thank you very much. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. geoff duncan, former lieutenant governor of georgia. next a story you'll see first "outfront." we'll take you behind the technology that captured that horrific overhead footage of tyre nichols' beating. >> the camera was put here to deter crime and to capture crime. and it did what it was supposed to do. ♪ plus, see how two brothers who fueled america's addiction to painkillers were making nearly a million dollars a week. by creating what they called the disneyland of pain clinics. ♪ humpty dumpty doeses it with a great fall.

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interesting piece. let me bring in my expert. mmm so many scratches... oh those are from my car keys. - such a rich history. - yeah. this won't do well at auction. but at at&t, it's worth a brand-new samsung galaxy s23. - wait really? - mmhmm. what about this? at&t's deal is back. - wow. pre-order a free samsung galaxy s23 with a galaxy phone trade-in. any year, any condition. tonight, the memphis police department set to release more footage of the fatal beating of 29-year-old tyre nichols in memphis, tennessee. the d.a. says it includes audio of people talking after the beating that we have not heard. some of the most disturbing

video, which we have seen so far, which i warn again before i show it was captured without audio. it was caught from above on a sky cop street camera, which gave that aerial view of the officers striking nichols nine time in less than four minutes. ryan young is "outfront" live from memphis. ryan, you actually spoke to the person today who installed the exact camera that captured this crucial footage, without which we wouldn't even have known how this went. what can you tell us? >> yeah, i did. and look, this video is all across the world right now. people are talking about it. and there are so many questions about how this video not only was recorded, but how did someone turn the camera? that got us thinking. we wanted to share the public what's in the sky here all over memphis. it's called sky cop. you can see the camera array right there. this light throughout the entire city. and the video is crystal clear. in fact, if you look up here, you can see the camera switch. this is from inside one of the video integration centers.

and you can see how someone can control that camera. my photographer jd and i are out here. and you can see the license plate on that clear clearly. you can see us walking. and dispatch can listen to the police officer radio in, turn the camera, and even zoom in to get a little closer and give you that up close detail. so many questions about this video, but it proved crucial in this case. >> joe, what's that camera? >> a memphis police sky cop. >> reporter: it's a system used to capture the overhead shot of the brutal beating that led to the death of tyre nichols. five former memphis police officers now charged with second-degree murder. joe patty installed the exact camera that captured the crucial footage of nichols being beaten up by the scorpion unit. >> was put here to deter crime and capture crime. it did what it was supposed to do. >> reporter: patty is a memphis pd officer who oversaw the sky

cop program from 2010 to 2018 and now works for sky cop, a private company that works with police departments to build the cameras and technology that goes with them. >> so this is a -- this is a utility pole powered by the light. it has a recorder inside. it has blue light. it has a pan tilt zoom camera on it and connection with cellular. so that we can pull this camera up at any time. it's always recording. if we need video, we pull it up in the crime center. >> reporter: is it a 360 view or is it important for whoever the operate is to make the turn like they did that night? >> it has the capability of 360, but it has to be turned into a certain area, field of view. >> reporter: each skycop box has three cameras, and there are currently about 1500 across memphis. the data is analyzed by police staff in a real-time crime center. how did the camera know to move? >> the memphis police has a

realtime crime center. it can access any one from here. they have computer dispatch. they would be monitoring anything going on in this city. >> reporter: memphis pd says the crime data they gather is analyzed to provide information on the type of crime, day of the week, time of day, and the location the crime is occurring, which makes the department more accountable and responsible for the crime that occurs across the city. >> it's a virtual officer on the pole. never has to take a vacation. always reporting. >> reporter: in the case of kyrie irving, this was recording and the speed of which the five officers were fired and the district's decision to fire them and could potentially lead to more charges as the investigation continues. you think about it. the body cameras were on strublgstrublg obstructed by all that happened if not for this one. it's amazing how close it can zoom in. skycop is a memphis-based

company. all that is made in america. as you come back to the ground you see the details the camera can provide. even though all the officers knew that camera was right up above, they still continued with the action they did. when you think about this in the end, there will be more video coming out. skycop still in the sky, helping citizens across the city. erin? >> ryan, thank you very much. absolutely incredible to see that, going back and forth. and showing that it can be controlled, and that what they were watching. it's absolutely incredible. ryan, thank you very much for that amazing report. and next, the wild story of two brothers who are making nearly a million dollars a week by fueling america's addiction to painkillers.

how many rooms are in there? should we go check it out? yeah. we get to stay here all weekend! when you stay at a vrbo... i call doing the door code! ...the host doesn't stay with you. it looks exactly like the picture. because without privacy in your vacation home... it's a full log cabin guys. ...it isn't really a vacation... we can snuggle up by the fire. ...is it? wow, oh my-

[birds chirping] even when things seem quieter, the urge to protect means staying on the lookout to help keep others from harm.

at pfizer, we're driven by this impulse. we've reached hundreds of millions of lives with our covid-19 response. and we keep innovating. whatever comes next, we will respond fiercely. like family. ♪ and finally tonight, as the opioid crisis continues to take more than 100,000 live every year in the united states, a cnn film looks at the rise and fall of two brothers who built an empire pushing all those pain pills. >> the george brothers did not start the opioid crisis, but they sure as hell poured

gasoline on the fire. >> let's talk about growing up in florida. >> anything to do with money perks chris and jeff's interests. the big money was at the pain clinics. >> it was window dressing that allowed them to deal drugs legally. >> it was a line all the way down the street. >> it was like a frat house. >> we were the disneyland of pain clinics. >> they thought they were smarter than everyone else and could get away it. >> i felt the whole thing spiraling out of control. >> florida was the never ending pill bottle. >> all these patients drive from out of state. >> people were dying because of them. they didn't care. >> this was just bat -- crazy. these people buried themselves. >> we have a signal. >> only in america. >> american pain, sunday at 9:00 on cnn. >> thank you so much for joining us. "ac 360" begins now.

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