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Campbell Brown
Twelve Dead at Fort Hood
Aired November 05, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight: attack on Fort Hood. At least 12 dead, including the shooter, 31 wounded in a burst of gunfire, the suspected killer, a U.S. Army major, a psychiatrist.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL BOB CONE, FORT HOOD COMMANDING OFFICER: I said the shooter was killed. He was a soldier. It's a terrible tragedy. It's stunning.
BROWN: Soldiers and families at one of the largest military installations in the world on lockdown.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.
BROWN: What could be the motive for this brutal attack?
CONE: Soldiers and family members and many of the great civilians that work here are absolutely devastated.
BROWN: We're live on the scene of today's bloodshed in what should be one of the most secure locations in the country.
REP. JOHN CARTER (R), TEXAS: A young soldier came running up to him, said: "Sir, there's shooting over there. Don't go there."
And when -- then the soldier ran past him, and he saw that the soldier had been hit and didn't know it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Hi, everyone.
Tonight breaking news: the shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas. As we have been telling you, we are expecting a news conference to begin there with the commanding general at Fort Hood. That could start at any moment. And we will of course bring that to you live as it happens.
Here is what we know right now. There are 12 people dead tonight, including the suspected gunman -- 31 others are wounded. A short time ago, the military released video taken just after the shootings, you can see there. The scene pretty chaotic, warning sirens, guns drawn, victims on stretchers.
The Army identified the gunman as Major Nidal Malik Hasan. He was -- is a 39-year-old psychiatrist, an Army mental professional. And at this hour, a second suspect we are told is in custody in connection with the case -- no details yet on what role that person may have played.
Two other soldiers who had been detained have now been released after being cleared of any involvement. And here's what the base commander told us. This was just a little bit ago. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONE: All the casualties took place in the initial -- initial incident that took place at 13:30. The soldier readiness facility, it actually comprises several buildings at -- in this same general area. Many of you know it's the old sports dome complex. There were two weapons involved at the that the primary shooter had, and both were handguns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: The soldier readiness facility where the shootings happened is where soldiers get ready to deploy. And we understand at least some of the victims were about to head to Afghanistan and Iraq. Fort Hood has just come off of lockdown.
This is more than five hours after the shooting spree took place. And right now, no one knows or no one is saying just why a member or members of our military would turn on so many of their own.
Randi Kaye has been tracking all the developments here all afternoon and evening.
And, Randi, I know what are we learning, I guess, about the alleged shooter at this hour?
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're learning quite a bit about the alleged shooter. As you said, law enforcement officials are telling us that he is Nidal Malik Hasan. That is his name. Authorities say Hasan was the -- quote -- "primary shooter" and that he had two handguns on him.
What's still unclear is if he stopped to reload at any point. Military officials killed Hasan on the scene, but that was only after they say he shot 11 others dead, including 10 soldiers and a Department of Defense contractor who was working as a police officer -- Campbell.
BROWN: And Hasan worked at the base also?
KAYE: He did. Authorities are telling us that he is a U.S. soldier, an Army major, in fact, and he is either 39 or 40 years old. This photo, take a look, it was taken just a couple of years ago. It's on his medical profile, which we found.
It shows that he was a fellow in the department of psychiatry at the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine. He was a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. Now, we have also confirmed the alleged shooter at one point worked at Walter Reed Army Hospital, where he reportedly got a poor performance evaluation.
We also looked at his medical license from the Virginia Board of Medicine and found that he apparently saw patients five days a week, but here is something interesting. It showed years in active clinical practice inside the U.S., and in his case, it says -- you can probably see it right there -- it says less than one year.
We have also learned from Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison that the alleged shooter was about to be deployed to Iraq and that he was unhappy about that. She also said that in the shooting he was targeting people that he knew.
Also, his cousin has told some media that Hasan was born and raised here in the U.S. and was a -- quote -- "good American." He said he never expressed tendencies like these, but that he did get -- quote -- "flak" for being Middle Eastern and was harassed by some in the military.
Three others, also U.S. soldiers, were taken into U.S. custody. Two of the three, as you mentioned, have been released, one still in custody.
BROWN: And, Randi, there was a graduation ceremony that was going on at the time of the shooting, right?
KAYE: Right. While all this was happening, there's this graduation ceremony taking place in the readiness center's auditorium, and right away the base was locked down. They immediately began to account for personnel.
The wounded were rushed to area hospitals. One hospital told CNN it received 10 shooting victims. CNN has learned two of them are in serious condition. People were advised to take cover on the base and stay inside. And a siren also on the base that was installed after the September 11 attacks was used as well. Other bases around the country did not go into lockdown, but, Campbell, security was stepped up on those bases.
BROWN: All right, Randi Kaye for us -- and, Randi, we will be checking back in with you a little later I'm sure as well.
Joining us now on the phone is the Fort Hood base spokesman, Christopher Haug, who is going to try to bring us up to date on what's the very latest on this.
Are you there?
CHRISTOPHER HAUG, FORT HOOD MEDIA RELATIONS: Yes, I'm here.
BROWN: Hi.
Christopher, so, I guess, is there anything new that you can share with us about the shooter or about what we have learned so far?
HAUG: There are a couple things.
First of all, let me say that General Cone will be doing his press conference at 7:15 p.m. That's in 10 minutes.
BROWN: OK, 8:15 Eastern time. OK. We will be standing by.
HAUG: OK, because he will have all the latest information, but there are a few things I can add right now.
BROWN: OK.
HAUG: Fort Hood officials have set up a family hot line for families to call in and get information.
And if you could that out, it's 254-288-7570. Or they can call toll free at 1-866-836-2751. And that's a family hot line where they can get information on their loved ones.
BROWN: OK. And we will put that up on the screen. We will also have that on our Web site, so we will make sure that information gets out. Go ahead.
HAUG: OK.
And Fort Hood is no longer in lockdown.
BROWN: OK. So, you guys were lockdown for about five hours after the shooting, right, and now it has been lifted?
HAUG: Families are beginning and family employees are beginning to leave the post now.
BROWN: So, if you can, walk us through this, because hearing it from you, I think, really makes a difference. Walk us through how this all unfolded.
HAUG: Well, earlier today, at approximately 1:30, we were told that there was an incident out at the soldier family readiness center, that there was a possible shooting.
Emergency personnel were sent to the scene. They engaged a shooter. And they detained two others who are persons of interest. The shooter was killed. The persons of interest have since been released, but they have detained another one, another person of interest.
At this point, families of those that are injured or have passed away are -- you know, the casualty assistance office are busily trying to get to those families and contact them and let them know what's going on. The reason the family hot line is set up is for the other families or anyone that needs information, they can call in. There are people that will answer that line and get back (AUDIO GAP) information.
BROWN: And, Christopher, I just want to follow up. You said there is this other person who is now in custody. What information can you share with us about this person?
HAUG: What I have been told is they believe there were two shooters, and he is currently being detained.
BROWN: And we don't have any other information on him?
HAUG: Well, like I said, the general is about to give a press conference. He has the most current information.
BROWN: OK. All right. Well, forgive me for being a little impatient. I'm going to ask you a few other things anyway, though.
Any reports if the shooter said anything before he started firing?
HAUG: I don't have any details of the incident like that.
BROWN: Is there anything more that can you tell us about the shooter himself that we have obviously learned quite a bit and have been reporting some?
HAUG: To be honest with you, what you have been reporting, I don't have. I would assume that as the general comes out with more information, he will release it when it's confirmed.
BROWN: There have been some reports he was unhappy about being deployed to Iraq again at a future date. Do you know when he was set to deploy?
HAUG: Like I said, I do not have any of that information.
BROWN: Just -- do you think the base is secure now? I know you said the lockdown had been lifted. Or is there still any active search going on, to your knowledge?
HAUG: I believe that they -- the emergency personnel believe that this incident has been contained, and they have removed the lockdown to allow people to go home.
BROWN: OK.
And you had mentioned the hot line. Is there any other additional support that you guys are offering the soldiers and their families at Fort Hood right now? I know this is going to be a long, difficult process for you.
HAUG: Well, as you know, Fort Hood is a very large post. It's involved in many contingencies. And this is a very unfortunate situation. Our hearts and minds go out to those families.
We have a casualty assistance office in every unit who is trained in these matters. They will be engaging with them. And these people will get all the help they can possibly get. We actually have a resiliency campus here on post to deal with grief counseling in every shape and form, so the families will get tremendous support.
BROWN: Well, Christopher Haug, who is the spokesperson there on the base, we appreciate your time tonight. I know how hard this day is for you and has been for all the folks there who are trying to deal with this.
Let me just let viewers again know, as he just told us, the commanding general at Fort Hood will be holding news conference a little less than five minutes from now. We are awaiting it any moment. You can see the live shot there, the mikes ready to go, so we're going to bring that to you as it happens.
At the White House, officials obviously monitored developments in the Situation Room. The president himself called the shootings today tragic. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas.
It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Now, both chambers of Congress observed moments of silence for the victims and their families today.
Also obviously a lot going on at the Pentagon, and we have Barbara Starr there for us, who has been tracking this.
And, Barbara, I understand you have just obtained some new information about the suspect's military records. What are they telling you?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Right.
Campbell, we now have a copy of the military record of the suspect in this case, Mr. Hasan, age 39, we are told, was served a tour as a psychiatry resident at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center here in Washington, D.C., where certainly he would have come into contact with a number of troops from the war zone.
So he would have had some experience in that, had experience in combat casualty care, had a degree in general medicine, went to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, state university in Blacksburg, Virginia, where he studied biochemistry.
We can tell us again two suspects were taken into custody and released. A third suspect still in custody, so still this may be a situation of two gunmen, the one deceased, Hasan, and the one they still have in custody.
Also, we have spoken to someone who has asked not to be identified, but someone very well-known to us who was in the room adjacent where wounded people were brought in. This person describes to us a scene of total chaos as people rushed, Campbell, to help the wounded.
They began -- soldiers began ripping off their own uniforms, their T-shirts, their jackets, trying to cut them up, rip them into pieces, their own uniforms, so they could make pressure bandages to help the wounded in those initial minutes as the wounded were brought to safety before the ambulances could actually get there, one man actually dying on the scene right there as they were trying to help the wounded.
These people, Campbell, who were ripping their uniforms to shreds to try and make instant pressure bandages, some of them were not medical personnel, just other soldiers who were there at the time reacting instantly to this terrible incident trying to render what medical aid they could -- Campbell.
BROWN: Barbara, it's so horrifying. You can't even imagine what they have had to go through today.
Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon with that update -- Barbara, thank you so much.
We are covering all the angles of this breaking story. What could cause a military psychiatrist whose job it is to help our troops to open fire on them? We have a team of military and homeland security experts, plus reporters at Fort Hood, also at the White House and the Pentagon.
And, of course, we are waiting on that press conference scheduled to again in just moments now. We expect it to start any minute. And when it does, we are going to bring it to you live right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: We are awaiting a news conference right now at Fort Hood in Texas, where, earlier today, just in case you are just joining us, a gunman opened fire, killing 11 people, that news conference, again, expected to begin any minute.
And when it does, we are going to bring that to you live. Fort Hood is an enormous 340-square-mile base with a population of over 30,000. It's basically a small city there.
Tom Foreman is in Washington to help us get the lay of the land and show us exactly where the shooting took place -- Tom.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Campbell.
Fort Hood, as you mentioned, a huge, huge complex. It's about an hour north of Austin, Texas, the state capital of Texas. And let's fly in and take a little bit of a look at Fort Hood, as we come in a little bit closer.
And we're going to go right in to the readiness center over here. This is where we started hearing those reports early today. This facility here is -- you remember a little while ago we heard a fellow refer to the sports dome complex. That was this area. This is the readiness complex.
There are some new buildings that have been put in here, according to one of our producers who was not there not terribly long ago. And this seems to be where everything happened. When this started out, Campbell, we had a lot of reports initially of things going on elsewhere at a theater over here, at the softball field over here, at the post exchange down here, a type of store down there.
But the simple truth is now there doesn't seem to be a lot of backup for that, except for this question, of course, about the one other person. But this is where the readiness center is. We talked about the size of the base. There are roughly 40,000 troops based here at Fort Hood and about 17,000 family members actually live on the post and not that far from where the shooting took place.
If you come out like this and move over here, you can see there is housing right over here. There is an elementary school down here. So, this really happened in the heart of this building.
And one more thing I want to show you. This is where the shootings took place. The fellow who we're looking at so closely tonight, and wondering exactly what he might have been involved in, worked only about a mile away from here right down here at Darnall Hospital.
So, there's going to be an awful lot of looking at his job down here, the people who knew him here, how he got up there, why he was up there, how he happened to have weapons on him, if this all plays out that way, and how this came to be the story that it was.
So, we will be looking at all of that, and you know investigators are looking at that right now, Campbell.
BROWN: All right. Tom Foreman -- Tom, appreciate it.
As we have been telling you, this news conference about to begin any moment, but we do want to check in with a few folks as we wait here.
We have with us tonight Lieutenant General Russel Honore, who is a CNN contributor. He is joining us from New Orleans. Also with us, James Carafano, an expert on defense and homeland security, as well as CNN national security contributor Fran Townsend as well.
I appreciate you guys all standing by. Obviously, I may have to interrupt you if this news conference begins.
But, General, let me go to you first here.
You were the deputy commander at Fort Hood for two years. Just what is your reaction to all of this?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I'm in shock, as most of America and the world and particularly our Army family, that something has happened on one of our premier Army installations, Fort Hood, Texas, home of III Corps and the 1st Cavalry Division, as well as the Corps Support Command, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment.
This is one of our premier installations that has every available asset to help soldiers and families.
BROWN: General, I know you have also been following up with a lot of people that you know there at Fort Hood. Is there anything more that you have learned about the two suspects here that we may have not heard yet about these -- about the two shooters?
HONORE: No. I think that information is still breaking, Campbell.
And I think when we look at concerns around the Army, that the Department of Defense and the Army and the other services will put together a working group to isolate what was going on in this major's life, who he was in contact. They will probably even talk to the soldiers he may have counseled.
But he himself, as the records show now, was in the process of deploying, so this stress or possibly of even an ideology switch may have kicked in. And the investigations will show that.
And our hearts go out for our Army family.
BROWN: They certainly do, General.
Let me, Fran, bring you into this.
We don't know what the motive was, whether it was the fact that -- that he was about to deploy again and didn't want to go or what sort of set off this trip wire.
You do know, though, how this investigation is going to proceed, so sort of walk us through what is likely to happen next.
FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, Campbell.
As I have confirmed with former colleagues, there are meetings going on in the White House Situation Room as we speak trying to gather information. Investigators will immediately go to the suspect's computer, telephone. They will do searches. They will pull all his communications. They will look for connections perhaps to this other individual who is still in custody.
Very interesting, Campbell, that they believe there was more than one shooter, and if they were working together, the investigators will be looking for clues as to what the connection was.
General Honore mentioned a potential switch in ideology. All of that will be the subject of extensive scrutiny, particularly of his communications. The key here to understanding his motives will not just be the interviews with people that he worked with and knew, but they will look at what they find in his house, what they find in his office, and what his communications tell them about a broader potential conspiracy.
BROWN: Guys, stand by. James, if you will hold on just one moment, I want to play for you -- CNN did -- one of our camera crews did an interview with the cousin of the alleged shooter. I want to play this for you and get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FOX NEWS)
NADER HASAN, COUSIN OF ALLEGED SHOOTER: Both of his parents are American. I want to make sure everybody understands, he is a good American.
And we are shocked. We just found out on the news that he was being deployed. He never even told us, because we have known for the last five years that was probably his worst nightmare.
He deals with stories. He would tell us how he would hear things, horrific things. But even before things from the war that was probably affecting him psychologically, he was dealing with some harassment in some of his -- with some of his military colleagues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: And, Joe, let me just clarify that was not -- that was an interview that was done with FOX News, not by our CNN cameras.
But give me your reaction from what you just heard, again this being the alleged shooter's cousin.
Joe, you there?
JAMES CARAFANO, SENIOR FELLOW, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I'm sorry. You talking to me?
BROWN: Yes.
CARAFANO: Oh, sorry. It's Jim.
So, what you -- this is going to be one of lots of information. And what we cannot do is, we can't jump to conclusions here. You are never going to know what's inside his head, but have to go where the evidence takes us. And as Fran said, this is going to be part of a systematic investigation.
They're going to go to his workplace. They're going to go to his quarters. They're going to start to interview people, and from that they will put together a picture to try to identify his motivation.
But at this point it's really, really all speculation, and we will hear lots of things from lots of people. But until they put all these pieces together, I think any kind of speculation on what his motivation is and why exactly he did this is premature.
This is not unprecedented. We see all the time. We have a lot of workplace violence that happens in this country. And when these incidents happen, we always have the same questions, and we always have to wait until we get the information before we can really start to make really good answers.
BROWN: Absolutely.
And, again, we're waiting on the commanding general there at Fort Hood, who is about to speak any moment, who hopefully will have some answers for us.
Let me go back to General Honore and ask you again more of a general question, though, because you were stationed at Fort Hood. The shooter, as we understand it, had two guns on him. Do most soldiers on the base generally carry their weapons? Would that have, I guess, blended right in or raised any flags?
HONORE: Well, I would assume these were personal weapons, but who knows, Campbell. The investigation will bring that out.
Fort Hood is a closed post. Anyone entering, even uniformed people, have to stop and show their I.D. card, and that is done to keep our families and our soldiers safe in their sanctuary. And all that was broken today with the absence of trust with their fellow soldier, who could get these weapons at any place and could conceal them in his car.
Or there's a possibility he had his military weapon with him, but it's most unlikely that he would be authorized to have his military weapon in and around a readiness center in this type of environment. Over.
BROWN: All right. Let me ask you all to stand by.
We're going to take another quick break, as we await this news conference at Fort Hood expected to get under way momentarily now. We're going to bring it to you live as it happens.
Stay with CNN for our breaking news coverage. It continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: As we have told you, we are awaiting a news conference that is set to begin at Fort Hood in Texas, where, earlier, a gunman opened fire, killing 11 people. That news conference, we are told it will begin momentarily. We're going to bring it to you live when it does.
We want to check in now with Ed Lavandera, who has been standing -- who is standing by for us at Fort Hood at this hour.
And, Ed, just describe what it's like there on the ground. What's going on?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Campbell, you can sense throughout the area here around Fort Hood, in the nearby town of Killeen, where so many of the Fort Hood community live and breathe -- and just a while ago, you were hearing from officials here at Fort Hood that the lockdown had been lifted. We start hearing the sirens that we believe indicated that that lockdown had been lifted. And now what we're seeing is a massive line of cars that are trying to make their way on to the post here at Fort Hood.
We understand that there are several schools on the Army post that had been locked down as well. So, a lot of children who had been in school throughout the day had still been there. And now many parents trying to get back to them as well.
And as we drove around the area on the outskirts of the Army post this afternoon as well, we had seen a lot of law enforcement agencies from surrounding communities that have also descended here on the Army post to protect the entrances in and out. And a lot of that has been lifted as well.
But now really the focus turns on to the gunman to try to figure out who he was, why he did this. And, of course, that is the question that seems to be lingering here intensely tonight, is why something like this would happen -- Campbell.
BROWN: Absolutely, Ed Lavandera for us tonight.
And, Ed, we will check back in with you in a little bit.
We want to bring in Texas Congressman John Carter, whose district includes Fort Hood, and has been working the phones and reaching out to his folks there all day today.
Congressman, just give us a sense of what you have learned. I know you have been getting regular briefings as you have been trying to keep people informed. What can you tell us?
CARTER: Well, I can tell you that I believe, as we sit tonight, they're operating on the belief that there was one gunman.
Now, there were -- there were at least three other people that were picked up and dealt with. And from what I understand from my -- when I talked with the folks at Fort Hood, they're -- they're convinced those people were not involved. They were just reported to have been seen running into a building, and that building was close to where the scene was, but they had checked it out, and there's nothing -- they don't think there's anything there.
BROWN: OK. Can I --
CARTER: We also note --
BROWN: Can I just -- let me just follow-up, Congressman, because a few minutes ago we had the spokesman on from Fort Hood who had told us that they did -- two had been released, but they still had one additional suspect in custody. So is it your understanding that that information is wrong and that this third person has been released?
CARTER: Whether or not he's still in custody I think that the general -- I believe I was told the general consensus is that they don't believe he was involved either.
BROWN: OK.
CARTER: But it may still be expanding. I think the most important thing is they're doing the forensics on the scene. They got shell casings to count, angles of fire, and so forth to make sure that it's realistic that one person can do this kind of damage. And quite honestly, it's horrendous, a lot of damage out from one person with two guns.
BROWN: Oh, Congressman, I also know that one of your aides, I understand, was attending a graduation at the base when the shooting happened. Did he witness anything?
CARTER: He was there -- he could hear the shooting and a soldier ran up to him just as he got out of his car, the way I understand it because he called me on the cell phone right after that, about 3:30 this afternoon. And he said there's gunfire and soldiers run up to me and said don't go that direction, sir. There's gunfire over there.
This gentleman is the former post command chaplain at Fort Hood. He's now retired and working for me, and a lot of people know him on Fort Hood. He said then he noticed that the soldier was actually wounded. He then realized he was wounded and they got him to a medic, and then he was inside the building and they were sealing the building off. So no bad guys, if there were any out there, could get into the building. I am waiting to talk to him tonight, but we played -- his phone has been turned off, and my phone has been tied up, and hopefully I'll talk to him later.
BROWN: Yes, I know you'll want to. Your district is this really tight knit military community. I know you've been talking to a lot of folks down there. How are people coping tonight?
CARTER: I will tell you that I think that the Fort Hood Killeen, Copperas Cove area, those folks are in shock. They are unhappy. They're sad. I'm sure they're going to be a memorial sometime. Hopefully next week because I'm going to attend it.
It's a sad time for our community because our soldiers go through enough when they have to deploy three, four and five times. Now to be at risk on the post is something that everyone is upset about and those in charge are certainly very upset about it. Security will, I'm sure, increase heavily all around Fort Hood. It's caused quite a crisis in our community.
BROWN: Talk to me a little about this, because you said that these guys are deploying three, four and five times. What kind of stress are these soldiers under, and what kind of support do you think they're getting?
CARTER: They get a huge amount of support from the Fort Hood, the cities that surround Fort Hood. I would argue that Fort Hood, Killeen, Harker Heights, Copperas Cove and the surrounding area, they give more support to soldiers than any place in America. That there's so much that goes on to make sure that not only the soldiers but the families of soldiers when they're deployed have resources available to them. And not only Bell County, where Fort Hood and Coryell County where Fort Hood is located, but now Williamson Country where I live, which is just south of there, has adopted many, many units from Fort Hood and they're also working with the families to take care of the families and make sure that they've got the things they need during deployment.
BROWN: Congressman John Carter joining us tonight. And we should mention, again, his district includes Fort Hood.
Congressman, I know how hard this has got to be for you and a lot of your people. So we wish you all the best in trying to get through this. Thanks for your time tonight. Appreciate it.
CARTER: Thank you. We need prayers for Fort Hood. Thank you very much.
BROWN: We are going to take a quick break. We've got a lot more ahead on the shootings today at Fort Hood. Still sitting tight for that news conference that we had been told was going to start at 8:15 Eastern Time, so they're running a little behind, obviously.
This is with the commanding general. We anticipate it will begin any moment, and we're going to bring it to you live as soon as it begins. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: As we have told you, we are waiting a news conference at Fort Hood in Texas where earlier today a gunman opened fire killing 11 people. That news conference expected to begin any moment now. We are going to bring you that live.
As it does begin, the base has just come off of lockdown. The commanding general had the base on lockdown for about five hours afterwards. They have given the all clear from what we have been told, and did lift the lockdown a short time ago.
Randi Kaye is back with me right now. She has been tracking all of the information coming in for us throughout the night. And you have some new information to share as well, Randi.
KAYE: We do. We actually have some new video even to show you. Just a short time ago, the military released a video taken just after the shootings.
The scene, as you'll see there, was pretty chaotic. Warning sirens, guns drawn, victims on stretchers all around the area. The army identified the gunman as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old psychiatrist and Army mental professional. And at this hour, a second person we're told is in custody in connection with this. That person may have also been a shooter. Authorities from Fort Hood have told CNN.
Two other soldiers who had been detained have now been released after being cleared of any involvement. The Soldier Readiness facility where the shootings happened is where soldiers get ready to deploy. We understand at least some of the victims in this case were about to head to Afghanistan and Iraq.
BROWN: And let me just say, too, which hopefully we'll get some clarity on this when this news conference starts as Congressman Carter a moment ago had told us, that they actually now think that maybe the second person who was in custody is not involved. He has been -- or is about to be released. He wasn't clear on that. So we'll see.
Well, obviously, that's going to be a question that's going to be posed to the commanding general when this news conference gets underway. But you do also have some new detail about the suspect, the alleged shooter here. What do we know?
KAYE: Right. As I mentioned, law enforcement officials tell us that he is Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan. Authorities say Hasan was the quote, "primary shooter" and that he had two handguns on him. What's still unclear is whether or not he stopped to reload at any point. Military officials killed Hasan on the scene, but that was only after they say he shot 11 others dead, including 10 soldiers and a Department of Defense contractor who was working as a police officer there.
BROWN: And he worked on the base also.
KAYE: Right. The military is telling us that he was, in fact, a U.S. soldier, an Army major. He's 39 years old.
This photo, take a look at it, was taken just a couple of years ago. It's on his medical profile, and it shows that he was a fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine. He was a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry.
We've also confirmed the alleged shooter attended Virginia Tech University where he majored in biochemistry. Also, that he worked at Walter Reed Army Hospital as a psychiatrist where he reportedly got a poor performance evaluation.
Now, we looked at his medical license from the Virginia Board of Medicine as well and found that he apparently saw patients about five days a week, but here's something interesting. It shows years in active clinical practice inside the U.S., and in his case it says less than one year.
We've also learned from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison that the alleged shooter was about to be deployed to Iraq and that he was unhappy about that. She also said that in the shooting he was targeting people that he knew.
And here's something just coming in. There are media reports that federal law enforcement had an eye on the suspected shooter because of Internet postings that discuss suicide bombings and other threats. Also, his cousin has told some media that Hasan was born and raised here and was a quote, "good American." He said he got quote, "flack" for being Middle Eastern and was harassed, Campbell, by some in the military. BROWN: All right. Randi Kaye, well, a lot of information there. We'll, obviously, hear some of the reporters down at Fort Hood now follow-up with the commanding general once this news conference gets underway. Randi Kaye for us tonight.
We are going to be back. We have more coming out of the White House to share with you. Again, our breaking news coverage continues of the shooting spree at Fort Hood. We're standing by for the news conference set to begin any moment. Stay with us.
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BROWN: We are covering this breaking news out of Fort Hood, Texas. We're expecting this news conference to begin shortly, as we've been telling you with the commanding general there. And we were told it was going to start at 8:15, so -- Eastern Time. So we are definitely running behind here.
We are watching it very closely. We will bring it to you the moment it begins.
We do want to go to the White House now and check in with Ed Henry who has told us that top administration officials gathered in the situation room tonight. Ed, give us the latest from there.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Campbell, that's right. They have been gathered for several hours in the White House situation room here. A secure facility where they can read through intelligence, get the latest information from the scene, and they're trying to coordinate, among variation law enforcement agencies as well, starting with the Department of Homeland Security within the president cabinet, but also the FBI and local law enforcement officials.
The president's own involvement, he was informed about this by his press secretary Robert Gibbs shortly after the rampage began about the initial reports on the ground. Shortly thereafter, the president made some public comments calling this a quote, "horrific outburst of violence." After making those public comments, we're told the president in the Oval Office placed a phone call to the commanding general in Fort Hood to personally express his condolences and also try and get some more information as the White House pieces all this together to try to get a handle on how far this goes, whether there was a lone gunman or not.
Basically, I've been told by senior officials here that they have no evidence so far suggesting that it was part of any sort of a terror plot. But they're also stressing it's very, very early in the investigation. They're leaving open every possibility making sure they go through this piece by piece, Campbell.
BROWN: All right. Ed Henry for us from the White House today. We want to go to Brian Todd now. He's at Walter Reed hospital. He has some new information for us.
Brian, what do we know? BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Campbell, one of our producers, Eric Segal (ph), just returned from Silver Spring, Maryland and joined us here at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Eric got some new information from a former neighbor of Nidal Hassan in Silver Spring in an apartment building there.
This is a lady who did not want her name used. She said that she lived near in this apartment building, lived near Hasan and a man who she assumed was his brother. She called them very nice, kind of cool, calm people. She did notice a religious fence to their demeanor. They did not wear any religious garb, but she said there was a banner on their apartment door with writings that appeared to be Muslim.
Again, she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary about these two gentlemen. Just said that they -- she was shocked at this. They seemed like very nice guys to her. Again, you know, just expressing pure shock at what happened given that the man she knew -- we did show her a picture of the alleged suspect. She was very clear that that was him.
BROWN: All right. Brian Todd, again, there from Walter Reed. And again, we are watching this new conference. We are going to have more breaking news coverage in a moment.
How could a shooting spree like this happened to our soldiers on our soil? All the latest developments tonight, including that news conference. We'll be back after this.
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BROWN: And we are back with more of our breaking news coverage. You're looking at a live picture from Fort Hood there, the microphones where a news conference with a commanding general is expected to begin any moment now. We will bring that to you live when it does start.
We want to tell you about an interview now that we have to share with you. This is a woman whose daughter is one of today's shooting victims. Her daughter was shot apparently in the stomach.
We do understand she is in stable condition. She was just about to head off for Afghanistan, and her mother spoke with our Milwaukee affiliate WTMJ earlier. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA PFUND, DAUGHTER GOT SHOT IN FORT HOOD: We got a call from her at 1:30 just hi, mommy, how are you doing call. And we talked for about five minutes and then all of a sudden she said I got to go and hung up.
And the next call I got was I don't even know what time it was. And it was the E.R. doctor.
And the E.R. doctor didn't even tell me she was shot. I had to guess because she could not tell me nothing. Stable condition, that's the last I heard. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Back with me now, General Russel Honore, James Carafano and Fran Townsend to talk about this.
And, General Honore, just give us a sense, if you can, for the kind of psychological testing that soldiers go through. Do they undergo any at Fort Hood? I mean, the base does have a reputation for taking the mental health of soldiers there very seriously.
HONORE: Yes. Fort Hood has one of the largest and more modern facility we have because our soldiers have been deployed so much in trying to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, as well as reentry issues. Soldiers coming back from repeated deployment and reentering and having to deal with their family again and all of the issues associated with being away from home after repeated deployments. So Fort Hood has a great capacity.
Obviously, what we see here today is an exception to any rule, but it shows that a lot of effort has been made and is being made at Fort Hood to deal with the stress associated with a PT combat.
Campbell, nobody imagined that this volunteer Army would be engaged in two wars simultaneously with deployments around the world and many other countries for over eight years now, and some of these soldiers have been deployed two, three, four times. And I think just what we're seeing is a toll of combat and repeated deployment on this great volunteer Army.
BROWN: Let me ask you one other thing, though. This is a tough question. The cousin of the shooter told FOX News earlier that Hasan got flack in the army for being a Muslim. So much so that he had hired apparently a military attorney. Do you think, general, that Muslim soldiers do get hazed in the military now?
HONORE: I would suspect that would be something that would be highly investigated. For him to be openly harassed or hazed, that would be beyond the norm of what happens in the Army. Could it happen by exception? Possibly, but I think we need to wait until the investigations are over with here before we speculate or confirm any degree of harassment by fellow soldiers.
Him being a major should be able to deal with that, so I'm a little suspect on any of those reports earlier on, but anything can happen when we're dealing with people.
BROWN: James, give me your take on this. You spent 25 years in the Army.
CARAFANO: Sure. Well, I think, you know, one of the things you have to segregate here is this is not a case of post traumatic stress syndrome. This person didn't deploy to combat. He didn't have repeated combat deployments. So we've got a lot of discussion about that issue, but we really ought to put it off the table because that's not what's going on here. This is different. The harassment issue, I think the general makes a great point. He was a major in the United States Army. He was an officer. Hard to believe that soldiers would have harassed him.
Would his fellow officers harass him? Again, kind of hard to believe that that would be a major factor, but we're going to have to go where the evidence takes us. They're going to go to his home. They're going to go to his workplace. They're going to interview family. They're going to collect an awful lot of information, and from that I think we'll get a much clearer picture of why this happened.
Again, we have workplace violence. When that happens, we always go through this. We always try to unpack the motive, and it does take some time and some digging, and so we can't jump to conclusions.
BROWN: All right. James, Fran and General Honore, if you'd all stand by with us just for a moment.
Again, waiting -- awaiting that press conference with the commanding general there. As you can see, the reporters gathering. The microphone is ready to go. We will see when that begins hopefully shortly. We'll be back to you right after this break.
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BROWN: And we are back with more of tonight's breaking news. And we want to go back to the Pentagon. Correspondent Barbara Starr standing by there with more on the alleged suspect -- alleged shooter here, I should say. His military record, Barbara, what do we know?
STARR: Well, Campbell, first I want to say that Pentagon officials are really emphasizing tonight that people should not jump to conclusions about motivations or the ethnic origin of the alleged shooter or any stories that they may be hearing. This matter is now under law enforcement investigation and military investigation at the highest levels, and they are emphasizing tonight they really do not know very much information confirmed about what maybe -- what might have gone on with this man before this happened.
This is Army Major Malik Nidal Hasan, 39 years old. As Randi Kaye has reported throughout the evening, someone with a psychiatry degree, medical degrees, had worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which would have brought him into contact with the wounded, Campbell.
BROWN: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon. Let me go back to Ed Lavandera who is in -- who is at Fort Hood right now awaiting that news conference we've been telling you about.
And, Ed, I know you've had a chance to talk to a few folks down there. I can't even imagine how shaken they must be tonight. How are people dealing?
LAVANDERA: Well, I think you can see that the tension around town, as you see people kind of grappling to deal with what is going on. Also just the magnitude of the intensity of what is going on. I don't think, you know, words can really fully capture that on this particular day. And really what you're seeing people here is just trying to get their lives back to some sort of normality here.
As we've been reporting throughout the morning, the lockdown lifted up here at Fort Hood. We've been waiting for the lieutenant general here at this post to come out and speak and brief reporters on the latest information. That has been pushed back repeatedly throughout the course of this hour, and I think that really kind of speaks to the fluidness and how quickly things might be changing here behind the scenes -- Campbell.
BROWN: All right, Ed. We'll check in with you a little bit later from now as well. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be back hopefully with that news conference shortly and more information for you. Stay with us.
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BROWN: A heartbreaking day for a lot of folks at Fort Hood. Our thoughts and prayers are with them tonight. Our coverage continues with Larry King.
