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American Morning
New Information Emerges about Fort Hood Shooter; Investigators Search for Gunman's Motive in Fort Hood Shooting; Easing the Tough Times for the Jobless; An In-Depth Look at Melody Barnes, President Obama's Domestic Policy Adviser; Fort Hood Shooter Being Profiled; Vet's Wife Spared Deportation
Aired November 06, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: A CNN exclusive, first images this morning of the suspected Fort Hood killer. Surveillance tape from a convenient store showing Major Nadal Malik Hasan, according to the store owner, just hours before the rampage that left more than a dozen people dead. This morning, a community shocked and stunned.
But thanks for joining us in the Most News in the Morning on this Friday, the 6th of November, I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. And we continue to follow the latest developments from Fort Hood, Texas this morning. We got word just a few hours ago that another person died from the injuries overnight, bringing the total number of victims to 13. And you just saw what we believe are the first pictures of the alleged shooter.
Despite what we heard yesterday, he is still alive. We heard from the commander of Fort Hood that told us in the last hour that he was shot four times by a military police officer. That female officer was wounded, as well. But that is what eventually brought the shooter down. We're live at the military post with all of that new information.
ROBERTS: A bill to extend a lifeline to millions of unemployed Americans is headed to the president's desk. The measure would extend federal payments by up to 20 weeks. We're waiting for the latest jobless numbers this morning from the government, and they're not expected to be good.
CHETRY: Also, her job is his agenda, jobs, taxes, education, and health care to name a few. Melanie Barnes, she's at the helm of President Obama's domestic the policy counsel. We're going to get an in-depth look at this key member of the White House's inner circle just ahead in our special series, "The Presidential Brain Trust."
ROBERTS: But first new developments in what is the deadliest shooting ever at an American military installation. We're getting a better picture this morning of the man accused of murdering 13 people.
Here's what we know, the gunman, allegedly a fellow soldier and an American-born Muslim. He's identified as major Nidal Malik Hasan, a 39-year-old army psychiatrist about to deploy overseas. Officers raided his home late last night, but we still don't know why for sure he gunned down so many soldiers that he swore an oath to help.
We do know that he drew a lot of attention with some of his apparent blog postings. The news conference scheduled from Fort Hood in just under half an hour's time.
The post itself is bigger than many cities, stretching 26 miles from east to west, 24 miles from north to south, about 339 square miles in total, the biggest single employer in Texas and home to more than 71,000 soldiers, civilian personnel and their families.
Our David Mattingly has the latest developments. He's live in Fort Hood this morning. Good morning, David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. We know that that Major Hasan had been apparently working on a long career in the army, but we do now know that he told friends that he had wanted out and that he was dreading his first ever deployment to Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: This exclusive video appears to show the suspected shooter just hours before he allegedly opened fire on a room full of U.S. soldiers. The store owner identified Major Nidal Hasan as a regular at this convenience store, and the 39-year-old psychiatrist appears to be calm, even smiling as he buys his morning coffee.
Just seven hours later, the army says he made his way here to the family readiness center, and armed with two handguns, including a semiautomatic, shot and killed 13 people, wounded 30, and plunged the world's largest military post into chaos.
The army has said little more about the man or his motives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why we've asked for assistance from the federal agency to make sure we have this investigation right.
MATTINGLY: But we've learned that Hasan might have been known to authorities for some time. Six months ago federal law enforcement officials reportedly came across an internet postings signed with Hasan's name discussing suicide bombings and other threats.
We've also learned that Hasan was apparently unhappy about his upcoming deployment to Iraq, telling a cousin he was mortified by the idea.
Military records reveal a career that span more than a decade. Born in Virginia of Jordanian decent, he graduated from Virginia Tech in 1997 with a degree in biochemistry. He received his first deployment to the army that same year.
Six years later he began work at the Walter Reed Medical Center, pursuing a career in psychiatry and counseling scores of soldiers with post-traumatic stress. Hasan received at least three medals during this time, and neighbors near Walter Reed remember him as easy going.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He seemed so calm and, you know, he was never upset with anything.
MATTINGLY: But there are also reports that Hasan received a bad performance at Walter Reed and was forced to undergo counseling and increased supervision.
His family has also said he was harassed by other soldiers for being Muslim, a frustration that they say caused him to rethink his career in the military.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And that rethinking going back all the way to 9/11 when his family says he first started to complain about that kind of harassment -- John.
ROBERTS: David, what's your sense of the atmosphere, the environment on the base this morning, because these soldiers were being prepped to go overseas? They're still going to have to go. And this happens in the middle of that whole process.
MATTINGLY: We encountered something like this before when a soldier turned on his own in Kuwait some years ago. And I was at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, looking at how they were dealing with that situation.
They prepare so much for everyone to go in and put their lives on the line in the name of duty. They do not prepare for one of their own to turn on them like this.
And that is very hard for them to deal with. To say that they are in mourning is an understatement. There's a tremendous sense of betrayal that goes along with this.
So everyone is having a lot to deal with today whether they knew this man or knew any of the victims or not.
ROBERTS: I'm sure. David Mattingly for us from Fort Hood this morning. David, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, we dig a little deeper now into the mind of major Nidal Hasan and possibly his motive. For six months federal investigators have been monitoring blogs that he posted online, blogs heaping praise on the actions of suicide bombers.
Authorities say they believe that Dr. Hasan wrote them but they cannot confirm that.
One of the entries is entitled "Martyrdom in Islam versus suicide bombing," and it read in part "If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard, that would be considered a strategic victory. You can call them crazy if you want, but their act was not one of suicide that is despised by Islam. Your intention is the main issue and Allah knows best," unquote.
There were a lot of questions about how this massacre could be carried out in the middle of the day at a busy army post like Fort Hood, were signals missed, and is the facility adequately secured?
Our Barbara Starr spent a lot of time at Fort Hood just a few short months ago, and she joins us now with more on this. One of the interesting things this morning in some of the reading was that this was not one of his service issue weapon, allegedly, in this situation. Are you allowed to just have your own weapons on base?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly not, Kiran. On no military base are there weapons in the hands of people who are not authorized to have them. And of course, medical personnel on base would not be authorized to have them.
This entire matter now, of course, a massive military and law enforcement investigation. As of this morning the army's criminal investigation division, the CID, military intelligence, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, all in the investigation.
Dozens of agents on the scene at Fort Hood, CID army agents in the lead here. And they are combing back through their records, through these blog postings, trying to determine what they knew and were there any mixed signals.
At Fort Hood, you know, as we've said, this is a base with more than 50,000 people. It is a virtual city. There are schools, shops, office buildings, the hospital, all on this base.
All of that was in a way a victim of this major. The community reacting to it, and in fact, the army is now expected to send more stress counseling teams to Fort Hood to help the thousands of people there get through all of this -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And you were able to speak to someone who was there at the time of the shooting. What did they say about it?
STARR: We did last night speak to someone well known to us who was in the adjacent building where the wounded were brought within seconds of the incident.
This person tells us that as the wounded were brought in and the ambulances and medical the personnel have not yet arrived, soldiers began -- who were there began ripping their uniforms off, tearing their T-shirts into strips, trying to make pressure bandages out of their jackets and T-shirts within seconds to try and help the bleeding, wounded people that had been brought in.
For the soldiers who were there, this was instantly, if you will, a combat medical situation for them again. And that is part of the terrible, tragic irony here. Many of these soldiers have already done tours in the combat zone. They were at Fort Hood, they thought they were safe, and now they are coping with this -- Kiran.
CHETRY: We heard from General Bob Cone today about the female officer who fired four shots hitting this suspect. He said four times, and that's what brought down the suspect and ended the shooting. Amazing. He talked about just how heroic that move was.
STARR: You know, it's one of the things that we have seen time and again tragically, not just in the war zone, but here at home, here at the Pentagon. On 9/11 in the face of trauma and emergency military people are very well trained. And they spring into action. This is something that tragically they know how to cope with -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us this morning at the Pentagon. Thank you.
ROBERTS: The massacre at Fort Hood magnifies the stress and suffering of many of the men and women who serve this country. Fort Hood has experienced the highest casualty rate of any U.S. army installation since 2003, cases of post-traumatic stress disorder reaching record numbers at the army post.
And that's something psychiatrist Lise Van Susteren says cannot be ignored.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. LISE VAN SUSTEREN, CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIST: It is an open secret that most of the military brass and many of the soldiers are openly complaining that they are not getting adequate treatment.
People are repeatedly being deployed. They are going on many more tours than anticipated. And the more you are exposed to trauma, the more stressful the situation, the more prone you are to pick up symptoms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: This year 117 active-duty Army soldiers have reportedly committed suicide. Ten of those suicides were reported at Fort Hood.
CHETRY: Still ahead, we're going to be talking more about the military perspective from a military doctor, a psychiatrist, about what it is like to be trying to help out people going through enormous issues with post-traumatic stress, how that takes a toll on the doctors that are supposed to help them.
It's ten minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Taxes, jobs, education, and, of course, health care -- it's one woman's job to take charge of the president's entire domestic policy agenda. Meet the president's domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes in part five of our special series "The Presidential Brain Trust" straight ahead on "A.M."
CHETRY: Well, there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered this morning about the shooting at Fort Hood and what may have triggered this bloody rampage that has left now 13 people dead.
We're learning this morning that the suspect, 39-year-old Major Nidal Malik Hasan was shot four times by one of the first responders, a female civilian police officer.
Hasan is a veteran army psychiatrist. His job was to help soldiers at the post deal with the stress of returning from war. Our next guest knows something about that. Dr. Paul Ragan is a former Navy psychiatrist. He is now an associate professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and joins us from Nashville this morning.
Dr. Ragan, thanks for being with us.
DR. PAUL RAGAN, FORMER NAVY PSYCHIATRIST: Kiran, good morning.
CHETRY: What was your initial reaction when you heard not only about this shooting, but that it was -- the suspected shooter was a psychiatrist?
RAGAN: Well, obviously that was horrifying to me personally and to my profession as a psychiatrist.
I think one thing you mentioned and I want to correct is this was not a veteran army psychiatrist. He had just finished his training this summer. So I suspect that Darnell Hospital in Fort Hood was his first operational tour. And it looks like he really wasn't equipped or prepared for it for whatever reason.
CHETRY: Well, he also spent an enormous amount of time at Walter Reed Medical Center, and that's where he had talked about, you know, dealing with patients and seeing people, talking to him about the horrific wounds of war both emotionally and physically.
So, you know, he's somebody who was at least exposed to this, and, in fact, as we said, given some awards, actually.
But, you know, the question is more about how long he was doing it, but just the fact this is somebody who troops are going to for help when they're in need and they may be dealing with some severe mental issues because of the wounds of war. And they're going to get help from somebody, and here's what we allegedly have seen happen.
How does that happen?
RAGAN: Well, that's the $64,000 question. Why after spending probably the better part of $1 million in training him and going to the military medical school, uses, training at Walter Reed, why was it that this man, he's 39, he's not 19 like a lot of the young enlisted soldiers that go overseas, why did this 39-year-old man not seem to be prepared? Why was it after being in the military for 10 years or more he didn't have a good military identity? He didn't identify with the mission overseas. What was it in his training that went to awry or --
CHETRY: And is that -- and is that something that commanders take into consideration? I mean, as we've said this morning, one of our producers spoke to the convenience store owner who said that he had conversations with him. And he said that he was, you know, this is video that we're seeing of him the day of the shooting.
RAGAN: Yes.
CHETRY: The morning of the shooting according to the store owner that he was feeling very, very upset about the possibility of being deployed to Iraq. That he was talking about having possible conflicts because he did not want to attack fellow Muslims. Are these things that come up during the course of assessing whether or not people are equipped and fit and ready mentally to not only to care for people here, but to go and be sent overseas?
RAGAN: Well, absolutely. And I think that if he voiced that to any of his supervisors during his training at Walter Reed, someone should have taken him aside and said, look, young man, you've been accepting a military paycheck, you're wearing a uniform, you've gotten training in the military for a number of years. And now, you seem to have some conflict about doing what you've been trained for. And my heart goes out to the people on Fort Hood post who are looking for a trained Army psychiatrist to be able to assist them.
CHETRY: There's also a report that came out earlier in the year about the growth in suicides, sadly on military bases. In 2008, just within the Army, 128 Army troops committed suicide. And, you know, we talk about these visits that are either occasional or sporadic visits by mental health workers. Is it time to rethink the entire way soldiers are treated? Not only when they return, but before they go into combat?
RAGAN: Well, absolutely. Now, we have to understand that this Major Hasan was in the support corps. He wasn't going to be seeing combat. Obviously, he'd be going to a combat theater of operations. But, you know, what was it along the way that he, in my opinion, failed to acquire a military identity, failed to identify with the mission? How could you be wearing a uniform and not know at some time if you have a passing reference with the news that you wouldn't be deploying?
So I think he somehow developed a psychotic depression or something and was so out of touch with what he was trained for and what the mission was that, you know, his motive obviously I think was a murder/suicide. I think he was intending on taking a lot of people out and then sort of like suicide by police was intending to be killed himself. So it'll be interesting to see what emerges since he's expected to live, survive his injuries.
CHETRY: You know, we will have to see. I'm sure they're going to be trying to question him as soon as possible about this. Dr. Paul Ragan, thanks so much for joining us this morning.
RAGAN: Thank you. Kiran, thank you very much.
ROBERTS: We're awaiting a live news conference coming to you from Fort Hood this morning. Just about 12 minutes from now. They're getting ready. We're expecting Lieutenant General Bob Cone, the commander of Fort Hood, to attend that.
We'll bring you the very, very latest on what's going on on the wake of yesterday's tragedy. Coming right up on the Most News in the Morning.
It's now 19 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes after the hour. Christine Romans here "Minding Your Business" this morning. And the president is going to be signing a very, very important measure for people who do not have jobs.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He's going to sign today into law another extension of unemployment benefits. Also this homebuyer tax credit and there's a business tax break that businesses have wanted all year. A business tax break in here as well.
I'm going to put on amFIX for you, folks, of the states that you live in with high unemployment that you're going to get 20 weeks of extended unemployment benefits. A lot of people have been asking me, wait, what are the states that are going to get 20 weeks?
The nation gets 14 weeks more jobless benefits. Some states will get 20 weeks, up with those at CNN.com/amFIX for you.
Here are the business tax breaks the president is going to sign today. Refunds for taxes paid on earlier profits. So this is for companies who may have had a profit four or five years ago and now they will be able to claim that -- claim their losses here more recently against those and get a little bit of a refund. So it will be money back for them.
However, bailout recipients need not apply. They made very sure, your members of Congress, that anybody who's accepted a federal bailout will not be able to get this new tax break, which I found pretty interesting. This will probably help home builders. It will probably help the banks who have not received bailouts, smaller banks, semiconductor companies, retailers, media companies, a lot of different kinds of companies out there that will be able to get a little bit of help here. And this, of course, helps the business community at the same time that we've been trying to find ways to help people out there at home who may have survived the past couple of years but now they're realizing they are the end of their rope still trying to get jobs.
ROBERTS: You're saying the treasury secretary had an interesting analogy for everything that's going on?
ROMANS: When the whole crisis first started, he had made this comment that we have to get foam on the runway. So this was, you know, about a year ago. This is what we're doing. Congress, the president, the Treasury Department, they're all still putting foam on the runway to try to cushion this economy, this labor market as this plane is like --
ROBERTS: Coming in for a hard landing.
ROMANS: Coming in for a hard landing, and that's what this is. This is not going to fix the world, you guys. This is not going to fix -- this is all about foam on the runway.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning with all her foam. Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: I like that analogy.
ROBERTS: It is. It's a good one.
CHETRY: Christine, thanks so much. All right. We're now about 23 1/2 minutes past the hour and about seven minutes we're expecting to get a live press conference and new details on the massacre at Fort Hood. We're going to be getting a live update and we'll bring it to you here on American morning.
Right now it's 24 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. White House adviser Melody Barnes certainly has a lot on her plate. She is the woman behind the president's entire domestic policy agenda.
ROBERTS: An in-depth look now from White House correspondent Dan Lothian in part five of our A.M. original series, "The Presidential Brain Trust."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Families -- make sure those kids have a good education.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Melody Barnes may not be the most visible face in the White House, but her fingerprints are all over President Obama's domestic agenda. Education, jobs, health care.
MELODY BARNES, DIRECTOR, OBAMA'S DOMESTIC POLICY CONCIL: Reform is needed to bring costs under control.
LOTHIAN (on camera): Is it more challenging in a sense that you're dealing with so many different issues at one time?
BARNES: It's almost like going to the beach and you go on the water and the wave hits. You get up and you shake yourself off and then another wave hits.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): And the waves keep coming as this Richmond, Virginia, native steers the president's domestic policy council, a plum role for a policy wonk who had no interest in political campaigns before 2008.
BARNES: I couldn't resist being involved and feeling as though this was a moment in history and I didn't want to look back and say I didn't do what was necessary. And I have to say, I am thrilled that I did it.
LOTHIAN: She meets with the president several times a week, sitting in the Oval Office. It's a life she's still getting used to.
BARNES: And then there are days when all of a sudden it will hit me. The president of the United States is really engaged in this conversation with me and relying on my opinion. And you know, it makes you sit up a little straighter.
LOTHIAN: Barnes has been close to power before. She was Senator Ted Kennedy's chief counsel for more than eight years.
(on camera): How difficult was it for you when he passed away?
BARNES: It was extremely difficult. And there are days when I still expect the phone to ring and that he'll be on the other end.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): In this White House surrounded by powerful men, Barnes has found herself in the middle of a heated debate, not over policy, but play.
BARNES: I mean, my husband and I joke that it's like the tee shot heard around the world or something like that.
LOTHIAN: As President Obama's boys-only sports outings were coming under the microscope, she cracked the so-called grass ceiling becoming the first woman to play with the president.
BARNES: We do what people do on the golf course, which is, you know, you talk a little trash and you try to psych your opponent out.
LOTHIAN: Barnes dismisses any gender tension inside the White House but sees a teachable moment.
BARNES: It's reflective of a broader conversation that people are having about the workplace and the relationship between men and women in the workplace.
LOTHIAN: But let's get back to that game.
(on camera): And how did you do by the way?
BARNES: We did quite well. The president and I won.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LOTHIAN: Now, Barnes says that she was surprised by all of the attention that that golf outing got. I said, well, you had to have known it was such a big issue at the time. She said, "Well, I did know it would get a lot of focus," but she was surprised that it got that much attention, especially when she came back here to the White House and all the cameras were focused on her.
I also asked her about whether there was any tension between the domestic policy team and the foreign policy team vying for the president's attention. She said that that was not the case. That all of these issues, both domestic and the foreign policy issues, are very important and that they have their access. The domestic policy team has plenty of access so the president has his ear.
Back to you.
ROBERTS: Dan, did we ever find out who won the match? Because as Lyndon Johnson said, it's never a good idea to beat the president at golf.
LOTHIAN: Right. Well, here's what happened. It was a foursome that went out there. Four people went out. She was teamed up with the president. So she said that they won, that team won. That's the best way to do it, you know.
CHETRY: Absolutely.
LOTHIAN: And, of course, the president will always win. So if you're on the president's team, then you win.
ROBERTS: There you go. That is the politic way to do it.
LOTHIAN: That's right.
ROBERTS: Dan Lothian for us this morning with that inside look. Dan, thanks so much.
LOTHIAN: OK.
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour now, and new this morning, a tough reminder that the economy still has a long way to go before it fully recovers. In one hour, the government releases its monthly employment report. Many economists predict the jobless rate will surpass 10 percent.
CHETRY: The suspect behind the mass shootings at Fort Hood caught on camera hours before the deadly attack according to the store's owner. In this exclusive video, the convenience store's owner said that Major Nidal Malik Hasan looked normal when he came in for hash browns and coffee as he often does. Hasan is in custody in stable condition after he was shot four times by civilian police officer (INAUDIBLE). Thirteen people were killed in that shooting spree.
ROBERTS: The two Northwest pilots who overshot the Minneapolis Airport by a little bit, 150 miles, want their jobs back. They're appealing a decision to revoke their licenses. The men claimed they lost track of time last month while working on personal laptops. It could take up to four months for the National Transportation Safety Board to consider their request.
CHETRY: And as we said, we are awaiting a news conference this morning to start any minute now at Fort Hood, Texas, where a gunman as we've been talking about all morning opened fire, killing 13 troops.
ROBERTS: FBI agents have joined the investigation at the Fort Hood massacre. They are trying to put together a detailed profile of the Army psychiatrist who allegedly went on yesterday's shooting spree. So how will investigators accomplish that if the suspect refuses to cooperate?
Thomas Fuentes is a former assistant director with the FBI. He is in Washington and joins us now. Tom, it's great to see you this morning. So we know that Major Hasan is in stable condition with multiple gunshot wounds. As far as we know, he's not talking.
So in the early stages of this investigation, how do you go about putting together a picture of how this whole thing unfolded? Oh, Tom, hold on that thought for just a second, because the press conference is starting.
COL. JOHN ROSSI, DEPUTY COMMANDING GENERAL-FIRES: Colonel Steven Braverman, the hospital commander is on my left. I'd like to start by saying that this has been a tragic incident and our hearts and prayers go out to all of those who have been impacted by this tragedy. The investigation, the incident is ongoing, initial findings indicate that there was a single shooter who was ultimately shot and subdued by our first responders.
At this time, the number of victims killed remains 13 and 28 injured and remain hospitalized. This continues to be a cooperative investigation with both state and federal law enforcement officials. The outpouring of support from federal, state, local agencies, local community members throughout the country has been exceptional, and we are at Fort Hood greatly appreciate it.
The Army is providing the post with additional grief counselors, chaplains, and public affairs support to ensure we were able to give our soldiers, families, and civilians the most comprehensive and wide- ranging support and care as possible. Again, local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies are also supporting the investigation of the incident.
We are continuing to focus on three main areas. And the first one is being care for the wounded and I'm going to let Colonel Braverman address that before I continue.
COL. STEVEN BRAVERMAN, HOSPITAL COMMANDER: Yesterday we had great support both from the community and within the hospital structure here at Fort Hood in order to take care of our folks. Great work from first responders, ambulances, helicopters, from throughout the area. We had combat, seasoned emergency department personnel, and surgeons here at the Army Medical Center who were able to rapidly triage and treat and transfer as necessary the soldiers who were injured yesterday in the attack.
Approximately half of those who were hospitalized required surgery, and all are stable today. Our focus today is going to be on those soldiers who are continuing to require medical care from admitted patients. That are both in our hospital here at Darnell as well as three other community hospitals in the area. We also will focus on the behavioral health needs of our soldiers and family members and other folks in the community.
We have more than 200 behavioral health providers here on Fort Hood will be supplemented by the combat stress units from the first medical brigade, the 85th combat stress control unit. We will have behavioral health teams that will also be augmented by staff from Brooke Army Medical Center and the southern regional medical command, and we also have behavioral health teams in the community through Value Options and our Humana Partners with the Southern Tricare regional hospice in the south to support as necessary.
So we have an initial surge of behavioral health providers that will be here this morning. And the capability to reach out to anybody who needs it with further assessment as we identify what we need down the road.
ROSSI: The second area we're focused on is security installation. The post is no longer locked down. Approximately 9:00 p.m. last night we opened the gates to allow the soldiers off and begin normal operations. However, we are operating at a heightened level of security and we'll continue to do so until we determine to bring it back to normal operations. We are fully confident in the security of this installation and remain so.
Third, we continue to focus on casualty assistance efforts. And this includes notification of family members and of grief counseling. The notification process is underway, and we ask that all fully support and respect the privacy of families that have been effected by this tragedy.
Lastly, I would again like to praise the efforts of our first responders and all the agencies who have come to the support of our soldiers and families in this critical time. And again, I'd like to highlight the heroic efforts. And you've heard some of them of our great soldiers and civilians at the scene who were also responding, even those that were wounded to help their buddies.
Today on Fort Hood, we will observe a day of mourning and remembering and our thoughts and prayers to the victims of this incident. And at this time, we'll take your questions.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Hasan?
ROSSI: I'll turn that over to John.
BRAVERMAN: He's stable in one of our civilian hospitals.
QUESTION: Is he on a ventilator?
BRAVERMAN: I believe that information's been provided that he is on a ventilator.
ROSSI: Next?
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
ROSSI: No, at this point there's no input from - and the investigators will provide that as that comes to fruition.
QUESTION: Is there an explanation as to why (INAUDIBLE)
ROSSI: Yes, that was mentioned earlier. In the heat of the incident, there was a lot of confusion, there was approximately about 400 people at the scene between soldiers, civilians, and first responders. Obviously numerous wounded, some killed, and in the incident, there was just confusion.
And we had full accountability over security instantly after he was the first responder shot him and escorted him to the hospital. And it was immediately, as soon as we found out there was nothing that was - that we were failing to provide. It was just a mistake.
And as soon as we found out, the indications were that there was a mistake, we wanted to verify, and that's why it took some time to get you accurate information and that was provided a little bit later on his status and that was provided.
QUESTION: Any help?
ROSSI: We're not going to speculate about motives. We'll let investigators find that out. And at this point, we have one suspect as we said, the lone shooter. That's all indications, the lone shooter and he's the suspect.
QUESTION: On the notification of families?
ROSSI: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: Can you say how many, what percentage of families have been notified? There's a lot of soldiers, their families who don't know (INAUDIBLE) yet?
ROSSI: At this time, last check I had was about 90 percent on those that were killed. And it continues, aggressively continues, but we are adamant about making sure this is done properly and we ask that we be respectful.
QUESTION: Are there civilians among the dead and the wounded?
ROSSI: Yes.
QUESTION: How many?
ROSSI: Of the killed, there was one that was a civilian and 12 soldiers.
QUESTION: I'm sorry, what was that? ROSSI: One civilian and 12 soldiers. I'm sorry?
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
ROSSI: For Hasan?
QUESTION: Yes.
ROSSI: I'm not sure.
BRAVERMAN: The reports are that he was wearing his uniform.
ROSSI: His uniform.
QUESTION: Any idea on motive yet?
ROSSI: No. And again we're not going to speculate on it. The investigators are here, and they're looking into it. And when the investigation is completed, they'll provide that.
(INAUDIBLE)
ROSSI: ... weapons on post, we're researching now. Our investigators are looking into is soldiers like citizens are allowed to maintain privately-owned weapons and purchase them and use them for hunting and target shooting. If we're looking into in this case whether it was registered on the post which should be a requirement (INAUDIBLE) to do so to register it but you know, random checks are done on vehicles coming in of the gate. So in this case, he could have just brought it on to the installation.
QUESTION: The only other person in that are (INAUDIBLE) police officer, the civilian police officer who returned fire?
ROSSI: Right. The first responders, police officers carried their weapons for this purpose. The soldiers were in the administrative area, dressed in this uniform and they were performing administrative process.
(INAUDIBLE)
ROSSI: I'll turn it, doc.
BRAVERMAN: I'm sorry, what was the question?
QUESTION: The woman who shot him? What is here condition?
BRAVERMAN: She's in stable condition. Also one of our community members.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
BRAVERMAN: Right. Correct.
QUESTION: Did he say anything? ROSSI: Don't know. Witnesses are still being interviewed all through the night. By the investigators. And they're gathering the information right now.
QUESTION: Was there an initial confrontation before the shooting?
ROSSI: Not that we're aware of.
(INAUDIBLE)
ROSSI: I'm sorry?
No, we are not.
(INAUDIBLE)
ROSSI: Again, we really don't want to get into whether he was resisting and speculating about what he was doing. We're going to let the investigators run that.
QUESTION: How long did this entire incident last, start to finish?
ROSSI: Approximately with the shooting and then the follow-up, it was about 30 minutes. As information was being gathered.
QUESTION: And shots were fired (INAUDIBLE) shots fired...
ROSSI: That was about a 10-minute, 10-minute period.
QUESTION: What's the condition of the civilian officer (INAUDIBLE)?
BRAVERMAN: She's in stable condition.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
BRAVERMAN: Everybody who is still alive are in stable condition.
(INAUDIBLE)
QUESTION: ... friendly fire?
ROSSI: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: Was anyone hit by friendly fire? Have they ruled that out?
ROSSI: No, the investigators right now are on the scene. I came from the scene earlier this morning. And they are analyzing that right now. Of all of the rounds, the trajectories, all the weapons, all the shots, where they came from, that will be determined by the investigators.
QUESTION: Can you confirm (INAUDIBLE)? ROBERTS: Colonels John Rossi and Steve Braverman there with a briefing from Fort Hood this morning. And the headline out of that, it's a day of mourning at Ft. Hood. The post is no longer locked down. Returning to normal operations there, but there is heightened security.
A lot of praise for the first responders who sprang into action yesterday, in particular that civilian police officer who took Major Hasan down. He is on a ventilator, according to Colonel Braverman and the death toll now 13, one civilian dead, 12 soldiers.
And questions about whether or not the two weapons that Major Hasan had and they were both his personal weapons had been registered as is necessary with the post provost marshal or not. They're trying to figure out exactly how they got on post. Forty-three minutes after the hour. We'll continue to follow the breaking news. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: As we said just a few minutes ago, FBI agents have joined the investigation of the Fort Hood massacre trying to put together a detailed profile of the army psychiatrist who allegedly went on the shooting spree.
So how will investigators accomplish that? Tom Fuentes is a former assistant director of the FBI and he's back again from Washington. Sorry about the interruption, Tom, but we did have to go to that press conference live.
I had asked you just before we ducked away there, you know, this fellow, according to the colonel who was - at the press conference is on a ventilator. He's obviously not talking to investigators right now. So how in the early going here, in the early hours after the incident, go about putting together a picture of what happened?
THOMAS FUENTES, PRESIDENT, FUENTES INTERNATIONAL LLC: Well, John, the first focus is going to be was he by himself for sure? We know that it appears he was a lone shooter on the base, but was he in communication with other individuals possibly at other U.S. military bases in the United States or overseas? So they're going to want to determine that this actually was just a lone shooter acting alone without anybody else's help or cooperation.
The other focus is going to be it's a criminal investigation. We have 13 murders committed on a U.S. military base, so the FBI is going to be gathering all of the evidence to support the eventual prosecution of that case as well. So the FBI, the Army's Criminal Investigative Division will be working very diligently on that.
Right now, the early focus will be to obtain his telephone records, examine his computer records, his e-mail traffic, try and determine who he might have been in contact with either - or visited, his credit card records, his financial records, trying to put together a complete picture of his behavior, his contacts, who he has been in communication with, interviews of co-workers, family members, neighbors, obviously the convenience store owner - anybody who had contact with him, especially recent contact that may have indicated that he intended to do this attack.
So there'll be many aspects of the investigation going on and it will take time. Just getting the telephone and computer records will take some time.
ROBERTS: Yes. Obviously it's going to be a lengthy, involved investigation. The FBI, Tom, reportedly had - I don't want to say they had their eye on this fellow, but knew about him for a period of about six months, according to some reports, because of postings that he had made on the internet. What - what do we know about that? And in what latitude does the FBI have to act if it suspects that someone is starting to show signs that - that something may be brewing.
FUENTES: Well, first of all, I've seen contradictory reporting on whether or not there was indication that the FBI was aware of traffic on his part that was threatening. It's very easy for someone to use the computer anonymously to send messages or to use someone else's name to post a message and - and it would be very difficult to absolutely identify the individual in this case.
The second thing to keep in mind is that there are thousands of people that send threatening messages or - or believed to send those kind of messages. The FBI is tracking 10,000 Jihadist Web sites throughout the world, trying to determine who - who is going to those Web sites, who might be influenced by those Web sites, and - and it's very difficult to establish one individual as - as being involved in something like this.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, whether the FBI had - had their - had its eye on Hasan or not, there's a lot of information on this fellow that's beginning to percolate up, and - and a puzzle is coming together very quickly. Should - should someone have somewhere along the line taken those pieces, put them together and said, there's a potential problem here, or is it very easy for someone like this to fly below the radar?
FUENTES: It is very easy to fly below the radar. You have thousands of people in - in military service, thousands trying to be recruited every day, and in this case you have someone who's already been in the service for many years and is a high-ranking officer. So the ideas lurking inside of his mind as to what intent he had or - or at what point he may commit acts like this, would be very difficult to - to determine.
ROBERTS: Right. And as you said, the FBI will be assisting the - the Army in its investigation and I assume that any trial that comes out of this will take place under the uniform code of military justice. Can - can you explain how all of that will work, how the FBI works with the military and - and how all of this will take place in a military court as opposed to a civilian court and what the differences will be?
FUENTES: Well, I think that will be determined down the road, exactly the nature of the prosecution. As far as the investigative jurisdiction, the Army has its uniformed police force, the MPs, who in this case responded to the incident. The Army also has the Criminal Investigative Division that conducts investigation of - of a more serious nature on military bases or concerning military personnel.
But in the case of a capital crime committed on a military base, the FBI will have the lead in this situation. And, just to be safe, you know, for outside possible terrorism influence or connections to other persons of an interstate or international nature, the FBI will be - will be looking at that. But the actual presentation of the prosecution down the road, that'll - that will be determined later. Right now they're in the intensive fact-gathering case.
ROBERTS: Let me just back you up there. So in terms of investigating this - it obviously will be investigated as a homicide, but you're saying it will also be investigated as a potential act of terrorism?
FUENTES: Well, certainly there's a potential there. We want to know, is he alone? Did he have other people involved in a conspiracy? Could this be part of - and this, obviously, was the biggest concern yesterday. You had military bases locked down all over the world on the part of the U.S....
ROBERTS: Is it, Tom, because it was an attack on a military base? Is it because of his religion? What - what prompts that investigation? Because there are so many homicides that take place in this country, day after day after day, that are not investigated as an act of terrorism.
FUENTES: No, it would not be based on - on his religion. It would be based on the fact that somebody attacking fellow soldiers was motivated to do that and that the determination of the motivation is a critical factor here. Was he influenced by other people directly, or indirectly by Web sites, or is it a case of a single person having a mental breakdown and - and causing this kind of violence?
So that - that approach of terrorism would be made in any case, just to be absolutely safe. And, again, the FBI is going to err on the side of caution in terms of the extensiveness of the investigation and making sure that there are no other connections to other individuals who may have already planned to do this at other military bases or government installations.
ROBERTS: All right. Tom Fuentes for us this morning. Tom, it's so good of you to come in. Thanks for joining us. Really appreciate it.
FUENTES: You're welcome, John.
ROBERTS: Coming up now on 53 minutes after the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
CHETRY: Well, we wanted to show you that breathtaking shot. It's a beautiful picture of the Hudson River, the GW Bridge this morning.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 56 minutes past the hour. We have an a.m. follow-up for you. When Army Specialist Jack Barrios - you may remember him. He's an Iraq war veteran. He's fighting to keep his wife from being deported. Frances Barrios she was brought here illegally by her parents when she was a small child and she didn't even know that this have happened until she was in high school. Well, she didn't know she was brought here illegally.
We told you this story yesterday and about seven hours after our report aired, the couple got some very good news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA DOMINGUEZ, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: It is an honor, it's a privilege for me to be able to tell you that as of today, the Department of Homeland Security has joined in requesting that your deportation proceedings be terminated. That means there will not be any more deportation proceedings against you. The Citizenship and Immigration Services has granted you wife parole, which means that you can now give her legal permanent residence status without her having to go back to Guatemala. Congratulations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: It took a second to sink in there for Frances, but you see her in tears as her husband hugs her. She can now apply for a Green Card. Normally, as an illegal immigrant, she would have been required to leave the country for 10 years before being able to apply for legal entry. Jack was terrified of that prospect, wondering not only what it would do to his kids, but he said she's his best friend as well.
ROBERTS: CNN focused on this throughout the day yesterday and "The LA Times" had also done a story on it, so it's great to see some action and a happy ending for that story.
This morning's top stories are just minutes away, including new information - bless you - on the military massacre at Fort Hood. Another person wounded in yesterday's mass shooting has died. Thirteen dead there now. We're live with the latest from Fort Hood.
CHETRY: Also a lot of unanswered questions about the accused gunman. His name appears on radical internet postings. We're going to take a look at how he got the attention of authorities before allegedly committing mass murder.
ROBERTS: And in just a few minutes' time, we're going to be joined by Dr. Heidi Kraft. She is a former navy psychiatrist who now treats soldiers who are suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.
Those stories and more coming your way in just 90 seconds.
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