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Live Press Conference On Santa Monica Shooting Rampage; Nelson Mandela In Serious But Stable Condition; Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping Meet; Actress Accused Of Mailing Ricin-Laced Letters To Obama and Mayor Bloomberg; "Under 12" Rule For Organ Donations In Review

Aired June 08, 2013 - 14:59   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I am Fredricka Whitfield. Here's the top stories right now we're following.

We are an hour away from getting new details perhaps on a deadly shooting in Santa Monica, California. We'll have a live report coming up next.

Also, overseas Nelson Mandela is in the hospital for a lung infection. We'll go live to Johannesburg to find out how he is doing in just a few minutes.

An actress who appeared in "The Walking Dead" is accused of mailing poison to President Obama, and it may have all been part of a plot to ruin her husband.

To the West Coast now, police in Santa Monica, California, are expected to hold a news conference in about an hour. We hope to get new details on that rampage that went from a house fire to gunshots and to a campus, real tragedy. In the end, about four people were killed.

Kyung Lah is live for us now in Santa Monica. So Kyung, what are we hoping to hear from this news conference that's now been delayed about an hour or so by now?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Multiple delays throughout the morning that we have seen, Fredricka, and part of that police are telling us, I mean, you can see they set up the podium and they're expected to hold it and part of the reason for this delay is because this is such a sprawling investigation and involving so many crime scenes. There are a total of nine crime scenes at six different locations, and they're still processing these scenes. So police telling us that's part of the reason they want to give the information to the public and they want to make sure it is indeed accurate information.

We are expecting to learn the name of the gunman. We're expected to get a picture of him and also learn a little bit more about his motivation. We're also expecting to hear from the FBI. Certainly the big if he will be how does somebody with as our law enforcement sources told CNN, how does someone with a history of mental illness able to obtain an AR style assault rifle and then randomly shoot at people?

As you were explaining, Fredricka, this all began with the house fire, a house set on fire, found inside two bodies. At this point, we believe that they are relatives of the gunman, believed to be the father and the brother of this gunman, and then the gunman takes a chilling turn wearing all black, wearing a vest, carrying that rifle. He starts randomly firing at people outside of that house, shooting at a woman who was driving her car and then turning on another car and carjacking that car and then taking that victim and her vehicle all the way to Santa Monica college and along the way stopping to shoot at other innocent victims including people sitting on a city bus. Finally, he made his way to Santa Monica College and unleashing more bullets in the library. Here is what one witness told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He fired two in the parking lot area and then when I turned around and he shot at me, I was the third, and then I heard another three, four individual shots and until maybe three, four minutes later I heard a barrage of fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: This is a quiet beach community. For a little perspective, this is a place that is iconic, that is known for southern California's weather as well as beautiful Ferris wheel. So, this is stunning for the students on the campus as well as the people that live here. The gunman finally, taken town by police.

And Fredricka, one other thing we would like to add. We have spoken to the relatives of one of the victims, the victim identified as 68- year-old Carlos Navarro Franco. He is the first identified. We have spoken to a relative that says he was a grounds keeper at the college. He was driving his daughter in his red SUV to campus because she attends school there, just to pick up books when they met the gunman.

And one last thing, Fredricka, very sad news about that girl. The family not expecting that girl to survive because her injuries are so grave.

WHITFIELD: Terribly sad. All right, thanks so much. We'll check back you either inside the next hour or an hour from now when the press conference is scheduled to take place in Santa Monica.

All right, Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro has been indicted on 329 charges. The former school bus driver is accused of holding three women in his home for ten years against their will. The indictment describes years of brutal assaults. One charge accuses the 52-year-old Castro of aggravated murder for purposely causing the end of a pregnancy.

The bulk of the charges are 139 counts of rape and 177 counts of kidnapping. He will be arraigned next week.

And this just in, a court in the George Zimmerman murder trial has recessed for the day without a ruling on critical evidence. That rule would come from the judge. The judge was supposed to rule as to whether voice analysis of a 911 call would be admissible in court. Again, the trial is to begin with jury selection starting Monday with some experts are saying that the voice calling for help is that of Martin and that weakens Zimmerman's self-defense claim.

So again, the judge wanted to determine whether the expert analysis is indeed a fit to be placed into evidence into that trial. Again, jury selection beginning on Monday. Still no ruling coming from the judge on the motion hearing today, however, the evidence hearing will resume.

All right, and this just in, an arrest warrant has been issued for the crane operator involved in that deadly building collapse in Philadelphia. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation tells CNN that police are looking for 42-year-old Sean Benzshop (ph). And our source says Benzship (ph) will be charged with six counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Earlier a city hall source told CNN that marijuana and pain medication were found in his blood. During the demolition, a four story wall fell on a Salvation Army thrift store. Six people died in that collapse and 13 people were hurt. The district attorney's office did not return messages from CNN seeking comment.

All right, Nelson Mandela is in serious but stable condition at a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa. The former South African leader was hospitalized early this morning for recurring lung infection. A spokesman says he is breathing on his own and receiving the best care possible.

Robyn Curnow is joining us live from Johannesburg.

Robyn, anything more about on how Nelson Mandela is doing this evening?

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. We have had no official updates and many here in South Africa, not expecting any updates from the government as they go to bed this Saturday night. It is about 9:00 p.m. local time.

I think there is a real sense of pragmatism, you know, whether or not Mandela will be spending another week in the hospital or not. I think some South Africans deeply and acutely aware he is old, he is frail and of course, also remembering that in that one statement today coming out of the government president Jacob Zuma also saying, also asking South Africans to pray for Mandela.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAC MAHARAJ, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN: I think people should think about him. I think we should be celebrating his life while he is with us so that we're able to celebrate it even when he is want with us because there is a simple message in his life for all of us. It tells us that our humanity is derived from what we do for others rather than what we do for ourselves. This is what Mandela has done. This is what makes us better people. And I think that the adoration that we see is a simple manifestation of people's desire to be better and we can be better if we serve and make other people's lives better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Key, isn't it, that government officials already coming out trying to perhaps prepare people already saying, you know, look to his legacy, look to his message at the same time he is spending another night in the hospital and remember, of course, that he spent Christmas and Easter of this year recovering in the hospital from this lung infection, from pneumonia.

So, people, again, hoping that he will bounced back, that he will defy all the doctor's expectations that he keeps on doing. And that this will be, again, another short stay and that hopefully he will be home soon. But, really, no indication beyond this brief statement that it is serious but stable, that he is breathing on his own and no real indication of how this will play out in the next few days

WHITFIELD: All right, Robyn Curnow. Thanks so much. Keep us posted there from Johannesburg.

All right, now, back to this country where the leaders of two super powers are meeting in southern California. President Obama is playing host to his Chinese counterpart, president Xi Jinping. The two are meeting at a resort in rancho mirage. They are talking about a number of things including whether the Chinese and some hackers there are stealing U.S. military secrets.

Chief White House correspondent, Jessica Yellin is with two presidents there.

So Jessica, last night they talked about cyber security. Did they accomplish anything and today what is the driving force of their meetings?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred.

The topics that are leading the summit are as you say cyber security, the issues on the Korean Peninsula, especially North Korea's nuclear program, and potentially Iran and Syria.

On the cyber issue, look, it is fundamentally about the U.S.' accusation that China has stolen not just U.S. military information but intellectual property from U.S. business that is costs hundreds the U.S. alleges, not just hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S. companies, but tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs in this country. And the president is asking that totally the Chinese president to see that it stops.

Now, no one is expecting that to be the result of this summit, but there to be some kind of agreement about so-called rules of the road going forward. And the indication we were given last night is the two countries will agree to work out standards going forward. But the Chinese president did downplay the issue to some extent saying that the American media hyped the threat from China on the cyber front and that this is one area of discussion but not as much of a problem as we like to make it out to be, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then, Jessica, is there any way of kind of reading what this relationship is blossoming be to like? Does it seem as though the two like each other? Is there a way in which to read that, whether their body language is saying anything important?

YELLIN: Well, I can tell you this.

The new president of China is a very different kind of leader and the very fact they're having this summit here now tells us that there is huge change in the relationship or the potential for a huge change in the relationship between the U.S. and China. America sees this president as a younger, more modern, more sophisticated kind of Chinese leader and somebody who they could talk to with less formality. And instead of having those kind of horrible state dinners and big public events that you usually have when the Chinese leader comes to the U.S., they're having this summit at a state that's usually the playground for the rich and famous, Frank Sinatra got married there. Ronald Reagan spent 18 New Year's Eves on this estate. Richard Nixon went in hiding there after he resigned.

So, it has a bit of a story cast, but is very secluded and it creates an environment where the two men have been able to meet in private and have held hours of powwows to work out the issues we have discussed. It tells you it is a different kind of relationship already -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jessica Yellin, thank you so much.

All right, in a bizarre twist now, an obscure actress in Texas is now accused of mailing ricin letters to the president of United States and to the New York City mayor.

Take a look. This is Shannon Richardson. Investigators say, she plotted to blame them the poisoned letters on her husband.

CNN's national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, joining from us New York, to keep us posted on this.

Now, what's the FBI saying about this investigation?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred.

What a twisted case. To hear authorities tell it, this was one troubled woman in a troubled marriage with her husband and apparently went to some pretty bizarre lengths if the charges are true to frame her husband. Her name as we said, Shannon Richardson, an actress whose stage name is Shannon Rogers or Shannon Guest.

Now, in court papers the FBI accuses her of writing and sending ricin letters or letters tainted with ricin to President Obama, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and the mayor's director of a gun control group Michael Blaze. But she has charged also with planting evidence in and around the house including creating ricin research on her husband's computer, putting together a Tupperware container with ricin ingredients inside, scattering castor beans used to make ricin in the trunk of her husband's car. She allegedly mailed the letter in Texas and then drove to Louisiana and met with the FBI to accuse her husband of sending the ricin letters. Letters read in part, quote, "you will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face. The right to bear arms is my constitutional god given right and I will exercise that right until the day I die. What's in this letter is nothing compared to what I got planned for you." No explanation for why she allegedly wrote this letter.

The FBI interviewed her husband. He blamed his wife, so it is he said she said and she allegedly told the FBI it was her husband that made her do it, Fred.

WHITFIELD: So Susan, you mentioned she was an actress. What about those that work with her on sets or just within the neighborhood, what are they saying about her?

CANDIOTTI: Well, one thing you do is you check social media, right? So, we went to twitter and we found these tweets on there. One is from the former executive producer of the highly popular show "the Walking Dead" and apparently, she played a minor role on that show and he wrote this. Quote, "some actress from the Walking Dead sent ricin letters to the Prez? Never heard of her. Anyone know what role she played?" And then he gets an answer from the producer of "the Vampire Diaries" who says well, she played an equivalent role to one she supposedly played on vampire diaries. She was third background from the right or something. Ouch.

Now, sadly, Fred, this case obviously plays like a made for TV movie, but, of course. this is a real life drama.

WHITFIELD: OK. We're talking about allegedly sending poison or at least a letter tainted with poison to the president of the United States. So, what kind of potential charges are we talking about, potential penalty?

CANDIOTTI: Very serious trouble. If she is found guilty, she faces up to ten years in prison -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. Susan Candiotti there in New York.

So, we also learned this week about the federal government spying on phone calls and even internet sites. How does the government collect this kind of information? We are digging deep other that straight ahead.

And a judge's ruling means a little girl that desperately needs a transplant could be on a faster track to get new lungs. We'll talk with the medical (INAUDIBLE) who take issue with politicians and judges making decisions about who gets life-saving organs.

And this tough looking member of the Navy's exclusive SEAL team is now a woman. You will hear from her straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Obama is standing behind the NSA's one secret programs tracking Americans' phone calls and e-mail. He says the surveillance is necessary to keep the country safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nobody is listening to content of people's phone calls. This program by the way is fully over seen not just by Congress but by a (INAUDIBLE), a court especially put together to evaluate classified programs to make sure that the executive branch or government generally is not abusing them and that it is being carried out consistent with the constitution and the rule of law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, so that's the president earlier in the week in Washington. Now he is in California hosting the Chinese president. And so is all of this NSA surveillance talk upstaging that summit?

Jack Quinn is former White House council and worked for President Bill Clinton.

So Jack, good to see you. The president's agenda is being interrupted yet again. This time it is particularly tough for the president or perhaps is it not to offer assurances that Americans are not being treated like they are the enemies. Is this tough, a tough message for the president to kind of uphold?

JACK QUINN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Well, any time you have something as important as this summit meeting between the United States and China interrupted by any other news that distracts the president, it is not a good thing. Having said that, I think he has been very clear and very forthright and very forceful in his defense of what the government is doing in this regard in an effort, I believe, to try to put this to rest quickly.

WHITFIELD: Does it seem that this really is not a partisan issue? You have Republicans. You have Democrats, all defending this tracking and this Meta data. So, if this is damaging, to whom is it damaging?

QUINN: You know, I don't think it is damaging. I really don't think it is politically damaging. There are some who have tried to, you know, connect this to other things like the so-called IRS scandal and so on. These are completely unrelated things. Look. There are no absolutes in how the country is run and how we ensure the security of the American people. Almost all Americans treasure their privacy. They don't want the government snooping in their business. But almost every single American, I dare say every American, also values the safety and security of our government, of our country. So we have to balance these things. And I believe that in the operation of this particular surveillance program that's being accomplished.

You know, what the president said is absolutely true. The government is not listening to the content of anybody's telephone conversations. We're really trying to sort of connect the dots here so that, for example, data there with phone calls being placed and to whom they're placed and the duration of the call. If you were to make a phone call to a number that is known to be used by senior Al Qaeda operatives, and you repeatedly made calls like that, and you are making calls that take longer than it takes to say, I am sorry I dialed the wrong number, then they will take a keen interest in that and begin looking at you.

So, as somebody so well said earlier, when we're looking to for a needle in a haystack in these surveillance operations and these data are the haystack. You have to have that in order to be able to find the dots that you want to connect in order to find the bad guys and stop them. And we have been given assurances by both Republicans and Democratic leaders of the congressional intelligence committees that in fact these operations have enabled our government to interfere with, to put a halt to terrorist attacks, not unlike the Boston marathon bombing.

WHITFIELD: And the president tried to offer those assurances once again yesterday. Do you feel like that is enough said by the president or will the White House have to take yet another approach to try to offer assurances to the American people that in order to secure your safety, there has to be this kind of probing, if that's going to be the message from this White House?

QUINN: Well, I think the fact that you and I are talking about it suggests that the president hasn't really put it to rest yet. As I said earlier, I think he did a terrific job of explaining this. I suspect that because some other news outlets are continuing to mischaracterize what's going on here, that it will take some repeating of the president's message really to put this to rest once and for all.

And, you know, it bears emphasis that it is important that the Congress continue oversight. As the president said, you have congressional oversight, have federal courts looking at this, there has been created a privacy and civil liberties oversight board which will be looking at this and making sure we strike the right balance in these things, and so you want vigilance here.

Nobody wants to see governmental powers abused, have these used for the wrong purposes, political or otherwise. But I think based on what we have seen so far, there is really nothing for the American people to be concerned about, and you have seen so many times that when you put it to the American people, they're willing to give up a little privacy in order to make sure our country is safe.

WHITFIELD: All right. Leave it right there.

Jeff Quinn, good to see you. Thanks so much.

QUINN: Nice to see you. Have a good day.

WHITFIELD: So, there is more. So, just how does the NSA gather information on your phone calls or internet sites? We'll take a closer look at that a few minutes from now.

And also ahead, a former Navy SEAL is out with a new book about. It is about his journey from being a man to becoming a woman and she is talking about it exclusively with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: For years he was an elite member of the Navy Seals. He served his country for 20 years including seven combat missions. Before retiring, he earned a bronze star and purple heart. Now she has dubbed herself a warrior princess.

This is Chris beck before and Kristin Beck now living life as a woman. That wasn't possible while living the life of a SEAL. Beck has written a book about her experience, "warrior princess" and in part two of Anderson Cooper's interview she says the secret never compromised the job she did while serving in the U.S. military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTIN BECK, TRANSGENDERED, FORMER U.S. NAVY SEAL: I did my best 150 percent all the time, and I gave strength and honor and my full brotherhood to every military person I ever worked with. And I feel that pretty much any transgendered person that is in the military right now and there is a lot of them right now probably doing service. They're doing the same thing, and you would never know that they were trance gender or anything. It is just too bad because they're doing a great job and nobody even knows it.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, AC360: What would have happened if you had said to some of the SEALS you were serving with that this is who you are?

BECK: Well, it is probably very similar to some of the support I am getting right now, but it would have been only that a few of them that would have accepted it and said, hey, you're my brother and I never seen you do anything wrong and totally honorable and it is good to go and may have accepted it and maybe half and half, maybe less. I don't know. It is a chance that if I took it, I might be dead today.

COOPER: You might be dead because of what?

BECK: If it had got out while I was in active duty, I don't know. I mean, it is hard to say what the reaction would be.

COOPER: That was an actual fear of yours, a concern of yours, that if this got out, somebody might kill me in the field.

BECK: Yes. That's a fear I have right now. I don't know. When the book came out, some amazing support and some amazing praises, but also some pretty amazing bigotry and hatred and they don't want to know. And it is like the comments I will never read that book, and I said, hey, if you read it you could educate yourself a little bit and I don't want to you love me, I don't want you to like me, but I don't want you to beat me up and kill me. You don't have to like me. I don't care. But please, don't kill me. COOPER: What is it like to go outside now as you? I mean, is it -- I imagine part is liberating and there has to be also fear.

BECK: It is something that I probably have to think about a lot more and let me just step back and maybe a couple years after I retired. So, after I retired, it was --

COOPER: You retired in 2011.

BECK: 2011, yes. So in 2011, I started -- I went out in public a couple times and started kind of, you know, going out the front door. I always went outside the door, but it was a very scary thing.

COOPER: You went out the side door of your own house.

BECK: Yes, because I didn't want too many lights or anything and I would go out and quickly jump in my car and drive and I try to drive from here because you are safe on my own house and run to the car, open the car door up and drive away and go to a safe haven.

COOPER: Where are you on this journey?

BECK: This is an amazingly long journey. I just recently came out. I am starting to live my life as a full female. I live -- this is my life.

COOPER: What do you hope happens?

BECK: I want to have my life. I want to live in peace and happiness. I thought for 20 years for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I want happiness.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So for more on this story, be sure to check out at CNN.com.

All right. In about a half hour from now we're expecting police to update us on that deadly shooting on a California campus. We'll bring you that news conference as it happens.

And a boy and a girl that desperately who need lung transplants are now on the list to get organs from adult donors. Could their cases change the rules for who gets a transplant?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This weekend, Anthony Bourdain heads to the Congo, and he learns a rather unique and acrobatic way to fish.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST: Stanleyville. (INAUDIBLE) "Heart of Darkness"? It's the inner station.

The Congo River stretches across the country's middle. Conrad describes it as a twisting snake with its head in the Atlantic Ocean and its tail buried deep in Africa's heart. The Europeans, it was a natural route to transport slaves, ivory, rubber, minerals. The commodities upon which modern-day Brussels and Antwerp are built.

For the Congolese, both before and after the Belgians, it provided more basic things: water -- to wash, to clean your clothes in, to cook with, to drink. Also fishing. Since long before the expeditions of Dr. Livingston and Henry Morton Stanley, the Wagenia tribe has been fishing the river in unique fashion. Highly coordinated and acrobatic, the Wagenia dive into the treacherous rapids of what is still referred it as Stanley Falls. Navigate downstream between baskets that need tending. Perched on a precarious network of wooden poles, they hoist together. The catch these days, not much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. Extraordinary stuff. You can watch Anthony Bourdain's season finale trip to the Congo on CNN. That's tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Next week, the board that oversees organ donations in the U.S. will meet and may make an unprecedented move. Its members could lift what's known as the "under 12 rule," which limits sick kids' access to adult organs. The issue came to light after the family of 10-year-old Sara Murnaghan went to a judge to get the rule changed. Now she and an 11-year-old boy have a better shot of getting the lungs they desperately need. CNN's Jason Carroll has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDNET: Javier Acosta's family is hoping he has a better chance at surviving. The 11-year-old has cystic fibrosis and needs a lung transplant, so too, does ten-year old Sarah Murnaghan. She suffers from the same disease, both are at the same hospital in Philadelphia. Each family praying a lung donor will come in time now thanks to a federal judge's decision.

JANET MURNAGHAN, DAUGHTER NEEDS LUNG TRANSPLANT: We sat down and we explained the system a little bit in a way that she could understand. She had a lot of hope last night when I explained that to her.

CARROLL: Earlier this week judge Michael Baylson ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to temporarily suspend policy in Sarah and Javier's case, which have prevented all children under the age of 12 from receiving priority in the adult pool of patients waiting for transplants. Lung donations from children are rare, but children can use a modified lung from an adult, and since there are more lung donations from adults, the Murnaghan say what should happen now is clear.

MURNAGHAN: The system needs to be changed. It needs to be fair for everyone, for adults and for children. I don't want Sarah in front of anyone who is sicker. This should be the sickest person first. CARROLL: Javier's family knows the pain of waiting all too well. In 2009, his brother who also had cystic fibrosis died while waiting for a transplant. The Murnaghans initiated the lawsuit against HHS and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urging her to change the so-called under 12 rule. Sebelius was questioned about it during a budget hearing.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HHS SECRETARY: The worst of all worlds in my mind is to have some individual pick and choose and who lives and who dies. I think you want the process where it's guided by medical science and medical experts.

CARROLL: The HHS has declined to comment on the ongoing legal matter, on Monday, the United Network for organ sharing, that's the organization that manages the list and works with HHS will hold an emergency meeting to review its lung allocation policy. The lawyer representing both families says the organization should do more than just review it.

STEPHEN HARVEY, ATTORNEY, PEPPER HAMILTON LLP: And I don't think that the prudent thing to do would be to suspend the policy (inaudible) pending for other review.

CARROLL: And suspending the policy is not entirely out of the question. In a copy of a letter from the United Network for Organ Sharing written to Secretary Sebelius earlier this week, it says if their committee finds the available data suggests a change is warranted, the committee would be able to approve it.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And today, Javier's mother explained what we are family has been through watching their second child grow closer to death as he waits for lungs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILAGROS MARTINEZ, MOTHER OF JAVIER: This is like watching a movie that you have seen before and you want a different ending, basically. So you are inclined to do whatever it takes to change that. And it was very difficult dealing with that.

My son was 11. He was a month shy of his 12th birthday when he passed. He didn't get the opportunity to receive the adult lungs. It impacted our lives and Javier's also. That was his best friend, his buddy. They did everything together. They were hospitalized together. It has impacted him greatly. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. These cases are fuelling a debate on whether dying children should get fast tracked to receive adult organs. Arthur Caplan is the head of the bioethics unit at New York University's Langone Medical Center. Good to see you. So, do you agree with these rulings? DR. ARTHUR CAPLAN, NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER: I think the situation is grim. Remember, adding children like these two pushes someone else out of the lifeboat. There is no real simple and easy answer.

That said, who could begrudge the families for doing what they're trying to do to get a lung for their dying child? And I think most Americans would say we ought to have fairness to children. We ought to give them perhaps even extra points, just because they're children; morally they may have a special claim. They haven't lived their lives yet.

The difficulty really is what are the facts? Do lungs from adults work in kids? Some skepticism that if you only use a piece of a lung to fit it into a small child, it is not going to work as well as it would in an adult. I think that's the core fact we'll have to get clear about this coming week. If they do poorly, then the rule makes some sense. If the evidence isn't there, the rule doesn't make a lot of sense.

WHITFIELD: And it is difficult to please everyone. Because you hear from one side like one parent who says why not allow those who are sickest get to the front of the line? But then the medical argument is exactly what you just spelled out. If certain lungs, adult-sized lungs don't even fit in children customarily, then a lung, you know, or lungs may go to waste just by virtue of the fact they may have been at the top of the list and not because it would have been a potential fit.

CAPLAN: That's right. So, basically you are using a piece of the lung, and I think that makes many surgeons nervous that it is not going to work as well as if you use the whole thing, if you will damage it in trying to make it fit.

The other thing to keep in mind here is we have a system. It works very well. It has been distributing organs, livers, hearts, kidneys and lungs for a long time, and people live and die every day waiting for these. You don't want to destroy the system. It isn't great to think about people suing and saying I don't want to be at the end of the list here, I don't want to be at the end of the list there.

What we do need is a system, however, that has some room for an appeal and some compassion that may come out of this case, too.

WHITFIELD: And you think the policy should be suspended while this review is taking place?

CAPLAN: I do.

WHITFIELD: Yes, all right. Dr. Art Caplan, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

And we're also awaiting word of a press conference saying place in Santa Monica, California, momentarily to update us on that deadly shoot out that took place involving a Santa Monica college yesterday. At least four people killed. In fact, I understand the press conference is just now getting underway. You see right there people getting into place there as we await the officials to come to that podium and explain where the investigation is going.

We know at least four people were killed, and possibly a fifth person who is in the hospital who, according to sources, is not doing well. It was the daughter of one of the victims who was in a vehicle on who may have been hit by bullets. But apparently she is in very serious condition, so right now the death toll being four.

Of course, when we get more information about when the officials come out with this press conference with information about the identity of the gunman -- that, too, is likely to take place. In fact, we're seeing streamline there of police officers approaching the podium. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE PRESS CONFERENCE COVERAGE)

SGT. RICHARD LEWIS, SANTA MONICA POLICE: OK, is everybody ready? Okay.

Good afternoon. My name is Sergeant Richard Lewis. R-I-C-H-A-R-D L- E-W-I-S. Again, I want to express my condolences to the victims and their families. You will be provided an update today.

First to speak will be chief of the Santa Monica College Police Department. It's Albert Vasquez. A-L-B-E-R-T V-A-S-Q-U-E-Z. Second up to speak will be chief of the Santa Monica Police Department, Jacqueline Seabrooks. J-A-C-Q-U-E-L-I-N-E S-E-A-B-R-O-O-K-S. We have some additional personnel that are up here. Whether they speak or not, I will give their names at that point. With that said, Chief Vasquez.

CHIEF ALBERT VASQUEZ, SANTA MONICA COLLEGE POLICE DEPT.: Good afternoon. I am Albert Vasquez, the chief of the Santa Monica College Police Department. On behalf of Santa Monica College, we send our heartfelt condolences to the victims of the crimes that occurred yesterday within the city of Santa Monica and culminated on our campus.

We can confirm that the woman who was shot outside of the library succumbed to her injuries and passed away. We can also confirm that the driver of the red Ford Explorer, Mr. Carlos Franco was an employee of Santa Monica College, and again we are saddened by these horrific events and offer our thoughts and prayers for the families.

As the criminal investigation is ongoing and in its infancy, we are working with our allied partners to have our staff and students escorted onto campus late this afternoon or evening in order to pick up their vehicles. And hopefully by tomorrow we will be able to escort them onto the campus and have them retrieve all of their personal belongings.

We also have our counseling services available for our students and staff at the Bundy campus today until 3 p.m. And tomorrow between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. The SMC main campus will provide the same services beginning Monday at 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily, most likely throughout the rest of the month. Our 24 hour counseling support hot line number is 866-315-7370 for all of our students and staff. The SMC main campus will reopen on Monday morning at 7:00 and all final exams will take place on Monday as scheduled. We will post all of the information on our SMC Web site and we will be sending out information via e-mail as appropriate.

We also want to reiterate this was not a school shooting scenario as the incident began off campus and was unfortunate that the suspect chose Santa Monica College to continue the crime spree. Finally, we are thankful for many partners who have come to our assistance after the occurrence of these tragic events. I would now like to introduce Chief Seabrooks, who will discuss the on going investigation.

CHIEF JACQUELINE SEABROOKS, SANTA MONICA POLICE DEPT.: Good afternoon. Before we go too far with the conversation this afternoon, I wanted to apologize for the misunderstanding and miscommunication regarding the set up of the press conference. I realize that that did create a bit of consertation.

Having said that, I'm Jacqueline Seabrooks. I'm the police chief for the Santa Monica Police Department. This morning, just over 24 hours after yesterday's events, we're providing an update as to those aspects of the initial information that was disseminated yesterday but we know to have changed over the course of the ongoing investigation.

By way of providing you with a recap of what happened, on June 7 at 11:52 a.m., the police department received a call of shots fired in the area of the 2000 block of Yorkshire. Responding officers encountered both a structure fire and a shooting victim. As this was being investigated, the police department was provided with additional information regarding a potential suspect vehicle. We determined that the vehicle was that of a carjacking - that was taken in a carjacking and that the driver of that vehicle was a victim of that carjacking.

The suspect forced the driver to drive toward Santa Monica College. Along the way at Cloverfield Boulevard, the suspect - Cloverfield and Pico (ph) Boulevard, the suspect got out of the car and began firing indiscriminately. His round struck a passing municipal bus operated by the city's municipal bus line. Two people on the bus sustained minor injuries. They were treated at local area hospitals. The bus continued along to Cloverfield and Olympic where it stopped so that the folks on the bus could be treated.

The suspect then forced the carjacking victim to drive to the area of 20th and Pearl. He got out of the car and shot at a Ford Explorer. One of the occupants of that Ford Explorer was killed. The other is in grave condition currently at a local hospital. The suspect walked along campus, shooting as he went along. He encountered an unidentified woman in front of the campus library, he executed her and she died -- or he shot her; she later died at an area hospital.

The suspect entered the library, attempted to kill several library patrons who were hiding in a safe room. It is miraculous that those individuals weren't physically injured. The suspect returned to the main area of the library where he encountered three police officers, two from the Santa Monica Police Department and one from the Santa Monica College Police Department. Relying on their training and tactics, they were able to neutralize the suspect.

The suspect was dressed all in black including a nonload bearing vest, meaning it didn't have ballistic panels in it but it was capable of carrying the same. He was armed with a .223 semi-automatic rifle similar in type to an AR-15. He was in possession of multiple loaded magazines. And as he progressed through the campus, it is important to note he dropped the large bag which also contained additional loaded magazines, a handgun and the upper receiver for a semi- automatic rifle.

The suspect has been informally identified. He died of multiple gunshot wounds. He's been connected to the address on Yorkshire as well as an address in the Palms area of Los Angeles. Because the next of kin has not been notified at this point, his personal information will not be made public at this time. As soon as we have confirmation that that notification has been made, the police department will publicize the information. We understand that his family may be out of the country, and we are making efforts to ensure that the notification goes forward.

I will confirm at this point, though, that the police department did have contact with this individual in 2006. However, because the individual was a juvenile at the time, I'm not at liberty to discuss the circumstances of that contact. I'm also aware that this individual and potentially a family member who may have been involved in the circumstance were recently enrolled at Santa Monica College as recently as 2010.

Yesterday's circumstances were such that the initial reports reflected a degree of inconsistency in the death count and the numbers injured. The number killed in this tragedy totaled four. One victim is currently at an area hospital in grave condition, and her prognosis is not good. The suspect is dead as well. So including the suspect, yesterday's shootings left five individuals dead and one with a very grim prognosis and others with injuries.

We are unable to provide the names of the deceased aside from that which was provided by Chief Vasquez because again, the next of kin have not been notified by the L.A. County Coroner's office.

The Santa Monica Police Department and the Santa Monica Fire Department used a unified command structure to manage this large-scale investigation. To that end, we have been assisted in this complex,- multi faceted investigation by various law enforcement partners to include those at the federal, state and local levels. We thank them for their assistance as the investigation continues.

We want to express our condolences to the families of those who were killed by this cowardly murder. Moving forward, the police department is now in an investigative phase. We are working with our criminal detectives, the district attorney's office as that relates to the inquiry regarding the officer-involved shootings, and with other law enforcement partners to assist us with processing the aspects of the various crime scenes that are along the continuum of the moving crime scene as it were.

I will take a few questions.

QUESTION: You said you don't know the identity of the man. But what do you know about the motivation of the shooting rampage?

SEABROOKS: That's part of the investigation, and we don't have that information at this point.

QUESTION: Do you think it was premeditated?

SEABROOKS: Well, I would presume any time someone puts on a vest of some sort, comes out with a bag full of loaded magazines, has an extra receiver, has a handgun and has a semi-automatic rifle, carjacks folks, goes to a college, kills more people and has to be neutralized at the hands of the police, I would say that's premeditated.

QUESTION: So you believe he planned to go to the college and shoot people on campus?

SEABROOKS: That I don't know if he planned to go there, but that's where he ended up.

QUESTION: Chief, how did he obtain the weapons? (INAUDIBLE)

SEABROOKS: I can't confirm that at this point. That will be clarified as the investigation continues.

QUESTION: What have you learned about his mental history?

SEABROOKS: I have not learned anything I can disclose at this point.

QUESTION: Chief, the whereabouts of the guns? Have you tracked who the owners are and how he was able to get them as well as the magazine clips?

SEABROOKS: The guns he was in possession of at the time are in the custody of the county sheriff's department, their crime lab. We'll be working with the sheriff's department and the ATFE to do a trace on those weapons and obtain more information.

QUESTION: Registration. Do you know who they are registered to?

QUESTION: -- family members --

SEABROOKS: I can't confirm that at this time.

QUESTION: Do you know who the weapons are registered to?

SEABROOKS: That's part of the investigation at this point.

QUESTION: Chief, can you describe the -- cable down below?

SEABROOKS: Okay. I'm going to leave that to staff to work with you to describe that because I haven't really taken a look at it and its layout currently. I do know there are magazines. I do know that there is a receiver and other things.

QUESTION: Given the fact that the president was here, did that change your response yesterday?

SEABROOKS: I can only take one question at a time.

QUESTION: -- police officer - (INAUDIBLE).

SEABROOKS: It was the combined efforts of the three police officers on scene. We'll make a closer determination as the investigation continues.

QUESTION: Chief, there were students inside that safe room in the library. How did they survive?

SEABROOKS: It is my understanding they were able to see what was going on. They ran into that safe room as would be appropriate. They stacked items found in the safe room against the door, hunkered down and avoided shots that were fired through the drywall at them as they were in the room.

QUESTION: When you talk about a safe room, what do you mean? For this type of circumstance?

SEABROOKS: I don't know if it was for this type of circumstance. But at the end of the day, it was used for this type of circumstance for which we should be grateful.

QUESTION: How many people were in that safe room?

QUESTION: -- investigation at 14th and Pearl and --

SEABROOKS: Fourteenth and Pearl?

QUESTION: 17th and Pearl?

SEABROOKS: I'm not familiar with what you speak of at 14th and Pearl.

QUESTION: How many people were in the safe room, Chief?

SEABROOKS: I don't know. I don't have that count. We'll provide that at another time.

QUESTION: Chief, why are you saying this is not a school shooting? It seemed it turned into one (INAUDIBLE).

SEABROOKS: Well, as we traditionally evaluate school shootings, it is when people go specifically to a campus to exact a level of carnage. In this case, the circumstances began in the community of Santa Monica, occurred throughout the city of Santa Monica or in various locales, and then ended on a campus. By the way we traditionally look at definitions such as that, that's not a school shooting.

QUESTION: So, do you believe he intended to go to the school?

SEABROOKS: I have no idea what his intent was.

QUESTION: Can you clarify what you meant by - when you said the resident was connected to the residence where the people were found? And were those two (INAUDIBLE)?

SEABROOKS: OK, we know there are connections because we know informally who this person is. I cannot confirm publicly who that person is pending the notification of kin by the family. But our investigation indicates at this point that there is a connection to the residence on Yorkshire as well as to the connection - the connection to the residence in Palms, and it is a familial connection.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) You're say the next of kin has not been notified because they are not in the country?

SEABROOKS: That's our information at this point, yes.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Did his story check out when he said he found weapons? That's what he told us as he was getting into a car. He said he found weapons (INAUDIBLE) his ex-girlfriend. Did that all check out?

SEABROOKS: Yes, it did.

QUESTION: So, which weapons did he find?

SEABROOKS: Well, he was on campus in a poorly timed effort to be a good Samaritan for his -- two of his friends. While he was on the campus, he bypassed the bag in which we found additional magazines and the like. And that's what he was conveying to the responding officers.

QUESTION: Is it a father and a son (INAUDIBLE) in the house?

SEABROOKS: That's not confirmed to my knowledge.

QUESTION: Have police ever responded to that Yorkshire residence before?

SEABROOKS: I'm not quite clear -- I believe that we did as part of an investigation. I don't know that the investigation started at the Yorkshire address. I believe we were led there as a result.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: -- domestic incidents?

SEABROOKS: That would be the 2006 incident, yes.