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Nine People Killed, Nine Wounded In Umpqua Community College Shooting; Four People Die In South Carolina and North Carolina Due To Inclement Weather. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 03, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:13] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. 3:00 Eastern, I'm Poppy Harlow joining you from New York this Saturday. And this hour we will honor the victims of the tragic shooting this week in Oregon.

We also do have new details coming in this afternoon about the gunman who open fired at Umpqua Community College. We will not show his photo and we will not say his name. He does not deserve any notoriety.

Here is what we know. The college confirms that he was enrolled in the very same English class where he did open fired. Nine people were killed, nine more were wounded in the attack. And in the middle of all the chaos, the shooter handed over his writings to a survivor telling that survivor to give them to police.

At last check, five people wounded in that rampage do remain hospitalized at this hour. We are expecting yet another update from the sheriff there any moment. Our Sara Sidner is there. You're looking at live pictures just ahead of that press conference in Roseburg, Oregon. When that begins we'll bring it to you.

I want to go to bring in CNN's Ashleigh Banfield now from the campus of the community college. She has more on the investigation and most importantly on the people, the victims in this story. The nine people that went to school that day and who every came home -- Ashleigh.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST, LEGAL VIEW: It is a very difficult story for the very small community here to deal with. In fact, Poppy, I don't think this is going to come as a surprise to you, but just about everyone in this community has some connection to all of those nine victims. And one of the most poignant moments was when the National Guard commissioned to Blackhawk helicopters to bring back the bodies from the medical examiner office. And it was just such a sorrow that had to fallen everybody at the airport here yesterday as those Blackhawk helicopters landed tenderly on the tarmac.

I think my colleague Sara Sidner may have put it best when she said it really looked like war had just came to Roseburg in more ways than one. They were offloaded from those Blackhawk helicopters on to individual gurneys and then brought to the waiting vehicles. From here it is up to the families, of course, to make their arrangements for their loved ones memorials and funerals and ultimate burials. All of this as classes will get back under way but not on Monday. The plan was for Monday, Poppy, they decided to keep the campus closed on this campus. A beautiful (INAUDIBLE) environment. They will be closed all week long as investigators continue to collect the forensic evidence. This is still a crime scene behind me.

HARLOW: I mean, just thinking, Ashleigh, about what some of these parents, these loved ones, these brothers, these sisters have said about those they have lost. You know, one of them said he finally found his way. You know, another one saying he embraced and made everyone in his wake better. You're looking at images of those nine lives that were taken. What has struck you most on the ground there?

BANFIELD: I think it is the fear and the sort of bewilderment for a lot of the people who were on site here. And there was only, you know, 15,000 student who go to this college and so many of them were either a part of it, could hear the gunfire, or were hustled away and evacuated on these buses and then had to wait as the buses stop coming even though they were waiting for a friend or God-forbid a family member, and then they heard that harrowing announcement from an official that stood up and said I'm sorry. And the official apparently choked up when having to make this announcements. There will be no more buses. That's it. There are no more survivors to bring back to this fairground, you know, area where everyone was being corralled to keep you safety.

HARLOW: The investigators, I know, are looking at some of the writings that apparently the shooter gave to one of the survivors. Have we learned anything from them?

BANFIELD: So the very strange thing, and I guess, look, if you're as troubled as to arm yourself with six different weapons, and engage with innocent people at a college, you're already troubled enough, but the writings that apparently we're learning he handed off to one of the survivors, demanding that the survivor give these writings to the authorities, apparently included something to suggest he had some sort of racial animus towards black people. That he was a loner and he was very upset with his inability to make relationships with people. That he was a virgin and upset about that as well. In another bizarre development, apparently had a fascination with the IRA of all things, sort of estrange connection there to a movement.

But then there was this revelation, Poppy, that his family had at least intimated to authorities that he had suffered mental illness and he had sought treatment for it. But there is little else that we know about that. I can only imagine what his parents at this point are going through and the kind of investigative work that they're now a process of.

[15:05:09] HARLOW: Thinking how could this possibly happen.

Ashley Banfield, stay with me as we await this press conference where we will hear from Douglas County Sheriff, John Hanlin.

Ashleigh, stay with me. Let's bring in former ATF executive Matthew Horace and also our CNN military analyst retired lieutenant colonel Rick Francona. Thank you, gentlemen, both for being here.

Look, Matthew, the ATF says in all, as Ashleigh reported, they recovered 13 weapons, six at the university, seven at the shooter's apartment. All were purchased either by the shooter or his family member, it appears legally. What do you make of this compared to what you have seen as an ATF agent when you were in the field in other homes?

MATTHEW HORACE, FORMER ATF EXECUTIVE: Well, Poppy, while it sounds like it might be a lot of firearms to some, it is certainly a lot compared to what I have seen in other homes. When I was in then executing search and arrest the warrants. In certain parts of the country and people are very pro-gun, they may have 20, or 30, 40, 50, or 100 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

In this case, though, let's go back to what we just heard. He was having mental issues. His parents knew about the mental issues. And nonetheless, he still had access to firearms. And that's where the conversation has to begin.

HARLOW: Right. And it's not the first time we have seen someone troubled, their parents know they are troubled with access to firearms. We saw something similar thing in Sandy Hook.

Rick to you, this morning, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said on the program "SMERCONISH" here that he is going to be proposing legislation on Tuesday. And this legislation, he says, would ensure that no gun is legally sold in America without a background check passing.

What happens now is you have got this 72-hour window, right. And if that lapses with no results coming back from the background check, then, the gun shop can legally sell the firearm. Would legislation like that help?

RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It might. You know, I live in Oregon, not far from where this all occurred. And I have purchased weapons in Oregon. And it's a very quick process. You just give them your driver's license. They run a background check with the state police. I'm told, and I don't know this to be true, that there is a mental health check is done as part of that. But obviously, if he purchased these weapons, and he had a history of mental illness, that system is broken down and that needs to be strengthen. I don't think anybody has a problem with a background check that includes that as part of it.

Now, I will say that Oregon just recently passed a universal background check where all weapons transfers, except with these family members, have to go through a background check.

HARLOW: And Ashleigh Banfield who is still with us, investigators are also looking at some of these online postings, blogs post, I understand. Is that right?

BANFIELD: Yes. Well, here is the issue with the online posting. And that is that he had made references to that terrible killing of Allison Parker and her cameraman as they killed live while they were doing a television report. He had made references to that. He had made other references to Newtown, and he had suggested that that sort of a pathway to notoriety.

I think that our viewers by now or rather clear on CNN and our reporting, looking at the toss-up when you're supposed to be a journalist and the how, when, where, why, who and where will has to be answered, but at the same time, the last thing this network wants to do is helps this very sick and twisted individual get the notoriety that he may have seeking by killing nine innocent people and injuring nine others. But that at least seem to be reflected in those online postings that were connected to his email accounts.

HARLOW: I want to just read some of what we know, you know, about the victims. You have Quinn Glen Cooper, 18 years old. His family is saying he always stood up for people. You have Jason Dale Johnson, 34 years old. His family saying he was proud to be a Christian. That they felt he finally found his path. Sarena Dawn Moore, 44, mother of two adults sons. You have Treven Taylor Anspach, 20 years old. Treven was larger than life and brought out the best in those around him. You have Lawrence Levine, 67 years old. A teacher there that loved to fly fish. You have Lucero Alcaraz, 19 years old, wanted to be pediatric nurse and it goes on and on. Each one striving to be the most that they could be taken in an instant.

Matthew Horace, to you. I want you to take a listen to how Larry Pratt, the executive director of Gun Owners of America, how he reacted to the shooting this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY PRATT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA: The problem is that we're disarming the good guys. Making them sit there and wait for a bullet, which is what happens with a mass murder in a gun free zone. And I think that is outrageous that we're not talking about the senators' love for gun free zones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:10:05] HARLOW: Matthew Horace, to you, former ATF agent, his point, the point echoed by presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is armed the good people, let them have a chance to fight back.

HORACE: Larry step that point, it doesn't mean that is a good point. At the end of the day, no one in - particularly, I lived in that part of the country out in the great northwest and no one out there wants people in schools with more guns. Even the people who are pro-gun don't that want that to be the atmosphere that their children have to go to school in.

At the end of the day we have to restrict access to people so that we insure responsible gun ownership. And I support the president's plea that we all come together in a nonpartisan way and develop some strategies not to make it more difficult for legal gun owners and those who want to buy guns, but to limit the access of people who have mental illness, people who would commit acts like this. Because if you look these act of shooter incidents, not only this one, but others, firearms were purchased legally by member of the families of the individuals. So someone is not watching the shop and this is the result we have.

HARLOW: Ashleigh Banfield, Matthew Horace, Rick Francona, thank you all. Stay with me.

I do want to get to our other top story that we're covering today. Historic flooding across the east coast. And this is just the beginning. More rain is on the way.

CNN's Nick Valencia is live in Charleston, South Carolina.

And Nick, the images -- people in boats in the street.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it has been steadily raining all day long. I'm Nick Valencia in Charleston, South Carolina.

More than 30 million Americans impacted all up and down the east coast. We will tell you how it is affecting you right after the break.

You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:14:36] HARLOW: All right. Take a look at your screen. We have got Douglas County Sheriff, Sheriff John Hanlin of Roseburg, Oregon speaking about the tragic shooting this week. Let's listen in.

SHERIFF JOHN HANLIN, DOUGLAS COUNTY, OREGON: I'm going to address a number of issues and details this afternoon. I will start with the investigation, specifically on tips. We're still in need of any tips, photos, videos that are relevant to this investigation. If you're unsure as to whether you have a relevant photo or video, please go ahead and call and let us decide. The tip line is 1-800-call-FBI. Again, that number is 1-800-call-FBI option 7.

The timeline. We have a timeline peer today on the board. You will get an opportunity to look at it closer. The timeline is a basic timeline as to the events as they unfolded in the first hour of this incident. As you can see, officers responded immediately. The Roseburg police officers and Oregon state police crew were the first officers on the scene that arrived within five minutes. Two minutes later, the officers tell dispatch that they have engaged the shooter. Two minutes after that, dispatch reports the shooter is down. You can see how thing progressed beyond that.

Moving on to the investigation process. This, again, this is complex investigation with many, many different facets. The shooting event at Umpqua Community College. The shooters background, including how he obtained his weapons. The use of force by the initial responding officers. We have to run down hundreds of leads and interviewed hundreds of people including victims, witnesses, neighbors and others.

Conducted searches at the school and residents as well as of the shooter's vehicle. We have seized evidence from multiple locations including the weapons and ammunition, documents, and digital media. The Oregon state police crime that lab, as well as the ATF and FBI laboratories are all engage in this effort to move forward with processing of these evidence. I want to let you know that investigators located one additional handgun during the search of the shooter's resident bringing the total number of guns seized to 14.

Now to the officers involved in the shooting investigation. I have been asked to release the following information by the Oregon state police on behalf of the Oregon state medical examiner. The medical examiner has determined the cause of death of the shooter to be suicide. The Oregon state police is conducting the investigation on the officer involved shooting. At this time I would like to introduce the Douglas County district attorney, Rick Wesenberg.

[15:18:19] RICK WESENBERG, DOUGLAS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Thank you, Sheriff. Good morning. As the district attorney for Douglas County, it is any responsibility to review all deadly force incidents to determine if the force that was used was justified under Oregon law. It is my understanding that the officer involved shooting investigation currently being conducted by the Oregon state police is nearing conclusion. I expect it to be presented with that case and this investigation early next week. Once I receive the case, I will do a thorough review and make a determination on whether or not the use of force was justified.

HANLIN: I realize that you may have questions for each of us as we make statements and comments up here. And if you would, please hold those until the end of the conference.

I would now like to introduce the Roseburg police Chief Jim Burge.

CHIEF JIM BURGE, ROSEBURG POLICE: Good afternoon. Beyond this initial incident, we want to be very area about the fact that there are no current threats against any school or facility in our area. Same at, I know that parents and students have concerns. In fact, we have police officers and firefighters that are getting the same questions from their spouses and children about whether or not they are safe in this area and their schools. I assure you that the parents and students and the general community have the same concerns.

As we move into next week, I want to reassure you that the Roseburg police department and the Douglas County sheriff's office will continue to work to ensure that your school is indeed safe. Thank you.

[15:20:18] HANLIN: And now, I would now like to invite fire district number two, fire Chief Greg Marler to the podium.

CHIEF GREG MARLER, DOUGLAS COUNTY DISTRICT NUMBER TWO: Thank you, Sheriff. Good afternoon. My name is Greg Marler. And I'm honored to say that I'm the fire chief for Douglas County fire district number two. Our community has been robbed by a horrendous incident. And I'm proud of our community and the resilience we have shown in the face of such tragedy.

Our fire district is apprised of over 120 personnel. And I know we have some incredible people within our organization. But the professionalism and the strength of character that I witnessed in the last couple days is absolutely confirmed now.

Prior to the incident, we have numerous mass incident casually drills. And I saw that work come bear on campus this past Thursday. There is no doubt that the exceptional patient care and the proficient use of life saving measures saved lives that day. At the scene, we had over 45 fire and EMS responders including ten

paramedic ambulances. Our crews worked quickly to establish a triage system to sort through the casualties and identify those critical patients that needed advanced life support care such as air way control, bleeding control, and gunshot wound control. We then worked very quickly to arrange transportation and transport those patients as quickly as possible to the appropriate facilities.

It was all hands on deck for our organization. And their focus and dedication made this an effective operation. We're also greatly appreciative of our law enforcement officers that allowed us to safely operate and treat that (INAUDIBLE) on that day.

However, it is with great sadness that we learned that our firefighter Justin Anspach, lost his son, Treven Taylor Anspach on that day, and our EMS paramedic (INAUDIBLE) lost his niece Becka Ann Carnes on that day.

I have been moved by how quickly our entire firefighter and EMS family has rallied together as they do in support of our families. I have been involved with emergency response for over 32 years. And I know that nothing can completely prepare you for the physical and mental toll that this can take.

Debriefings have been made available and are ongoing from our personnel and those that responded to the scene and deal with their families and help with their recovery. Please respect their privacy so they can spend time with their family and friends. If you have further questions regarding our organization, or our incident response that day, I will be make myself available after this news conference for additional interviews.

I haven't stop thinking about the many other families that have experiencing an unthinkable loss. The entire firefighting and EMS community is praying for everyone during this time. We're also thinking about those nine that were injured. And those are our patients and we wish them a full and speedy recovery as quickly as possible.

The direct support that we received from agencies throughout the state has been incredible. We want to identify and thank the city of Roseburg figure department. Bay City's ambulance and both the Roseburg police department and the Douglas County sheriff's department for their hardship and help during this fall.

I want to end by saying that while we deal with this tragedy on two fronts, both as a community and within our fire and EMS family, our stations are open and our crews are here to serve our community. And we're proud to serve and nothing or anything will stand in our way to continue to serve our community. Thank you.

HANLIN: And now Vanessa Becker, the chair of the board of trustees with Umpqua Community College.

VANESSA BECKER, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Good afternoon, Umpqua Community College is working towards helping the healing process for UCC community, coordinating support for our students, our staff, our faculty, and really working towards developing a sense of normalcy in reopening our campus.

I'm going to read off a lot of details right now and I just want to let folks know we are going to be releasing all of this in a press release and it should also be on our Web site today.

First of all, community partners have come together to provide mental health services for our students, faculty and staff. Mental health professionals are offering no cost grief counselling and sharing from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. through Sunday at the Ford family center which is at 1600 northwest Stewart parkway and also still community health alliance 201 medical loop suite 180.

Also beginning on Monday, October 5th, our grief sharing will also be available on our campus 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the campus cafeteria. Community health alliance is also still staffing a 24 hour hotline and those numbers are as follows. 541-440-3532 or 1800-866- 9780. Our plan is to reopen campus will be reopen for students and staff beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, October 5th. Classes and events are still canceled throughout the week and they will resume only October 12th.

We're getting a lot of questions about donations. And there are a couple local organizations that are mobilizing and working with us for that. The first is the Greater Douglas United Way, they are accepting donations via text and online. Their website is as follows -- www.gduway.org/uccgive. And again, that is the Greater Douglas United Way.

Umpqua Community College foundations is also accepting donations online on our Web site, Umpqua.edu/scholarships-donations. The Web site should be up and working today, so I encourage people to go to the Umpqua Community College web site.

We also strongly recommend that donors cast a careful eye when considering other funds. As some are not base in charitable organizations and may have high fees. Also unfortunately, at times like this there are unscrupulous people who will set up false accounts. So I really encourage you to look at our local donations and what we are doing to mobilize that.

As far as community support, community organizations are creating an I am MUCC and UCC strong decals. We also have some lawn signs and or things that are going to be floating around town. I encourage you to go to our Web site to find out, we're just getting those worked out right now. Again, we will be having those on the Web site and they will be in the press release as well.

And then again, just in closing, starting Sunday, also the school issue news advisory for media beginning at 3:00 p.m. with pertinent information every day until further notice. Thank you. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want to clarify that the -- what we're

opening is actually at annex b which is on the mercy campus not suite 80. So, if people need assistance they can go to either the Ford family location or to annex b, thank you.

HANLIN: Mental health resources, I want to talk about those for a second here. We have the health and human services national disaster mental health team, 16 people in total, who have flown in to help our community recover. They are providing immediate assistance and developing a strategy for long-term support of our community. The executive director of the community health alliance (INAUDIBLE) who just spoke is with us today and will be available after the press conference for one-on-one interviews. Looking ahead, we are still collecting investigative information from

various sources. Those details will continue to come in over the next few days and weeks. We continue to have law enforcement and victim service teams working with the families to provide any help they may need. This includes counselling resources, helping to make any arrangements related to upcoming funerals and more. The FBI's behavioral analyst team has arrived on the scene, and will assist with helping us to understand the why of this event.

This is our last planned press conference. As the need arises, however, we will continue to provide information through the Douglas County sheriff's office and our local partner agencies. I cannot understate the support that we have received from our local, state, and federal partners. If I were to read you the list of all of those supporting agencies right now, we would be here for a long time. So we will take that list and put it on the press release sight and you can visit that sight to see who all of those partners are.

I cannot say thank you enough to each and every responder investigator, victim specialist, analyst, and all of the many others that have responded to help. Your help has been invaluable in getting us through this most difficult event and helping Douglas County to move down the path of recovery.

And finally, I want to express my most sincere appreciation to those most directly touched by this incident. The two Roseburg police officers who responded and stopped the shooter from killing dozens of other people who were in that classroom and in the immediate vicinity. The student who, by all reports, charged the shooter and suffered multiple gunshot wounds and to the families of the victims, our hearts are with you. And you know that our hearts will be with you forever. Please know that we consider your loved ones to be our heroes. They will never be forgotten. At this time, I will attempt to answer a few questions.

[15:30:05] UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Sheriff, can I ask you to expand on what you said before. Obviously we know there is no suspects on the loose. You solved that aspect. Can you tell us in a general sense what you're looking for now? Why the investigation needs to go on? What unanswered questions are there right now?

HANLIN: Really, the biggest question at this point -- well, we want to ensure that we have all of the information, all of the leads, all of the potential details of this horrific situation gathered. And primarily, at this point, what we really want to do is just try to gain an understanding. So that we can work together with law enforcement agencies all across the country and attempt to try to prevent future situations. And of course, like I mentioned many times over, our focus is on the families of the victims and they deserve to know the answers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Sheriff, can you tell us about these documents and digital media. Were they handed over by the government? Where did you get them?

HANLIN: The question is --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: The documents and digital media that have been recovered. Where did they come from? What did the gunman hand this to somebody as has been reported before --?

HANLIN: I can tell you that that is part of the ongoing investigation, and the details of that will be forthcoming. At this time we are not prepared to make a statement about those specifics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: The shooter was a student in class (INAUDIBLE). I mean, there are reports that the shooter was a student. Can you confirm that, say what he was studying and if he was in the class already when he started --?

HANLIN: I'm having a difficult time understanding your --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Was he a student and was he enrolled in the writing class?

HANLIN: OK. The shooter was a student. And that class was a class he was registered in, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Did he hand over a box to one of the victims?

HANLIN: A box?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: A box?

HANLIN: That I do not know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Did he hand something to one of the victims?

HANLIN: We're not prepared to comment about anything he may have done in the classroom at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: The two police officers who were heroic brought him to a stop, how the shooter was stopped? He committed suicide, but we understand that he was shot first by these two officers, and then ran. Can you expand on that?

HANLIN: That is part of the officer involved shooting investigation which is being handled independently of the overall incident. I can tell you that as those two officers arrived at the scene, there was an exchange of gunfire. The shooter was neutralized at that point in time. And as far as the very specific information regarding whether it was an officer's bullet or his own bullet, we aren't prepared at this time.

[15:35:13] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: How recently had the shooter passed a background check?

HANLIN: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: How recently had the shooter passed a background check?

HANLIN: I don't know the answer to that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

HARLOW: You were listening to Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin there speaking in what he said will be the last press conference that we know of at this point following the tragic shooting this week at that community college in Oregon. I want to leave you with this before we get a quick break and he said our hearts will be with you forever, speaking to the victim's families, your loved ones are our heroes.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:22] HARLOW: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of that deadly shooting in Oregon this week. The press conference just wrapping up held by the local sheriff there.

I want to go straight to our Sara Sidner. She was in the press conference. She joins us now from Roseburg, Oregon.

And Sara, one thing that - I mean, he was moved to tears and so were the other officials at one point pointing out that one of the firefighters who responded there lost his son, Treven Taylor Anspach and one of the paramedics, one of the first responders lost his niece, Rebecka Carnes.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And that is something that they told everyone yesterday. But today, they talked about it in more detail and just how hurt they are, personally, after this tragedy. We saw both Sheriff Hanlin talking about some of the new details and at the very end, choking on his words, having a difficult time getting out of his words. That the stress and pressure of all of this. The sorrow that this community has been going for, certainly is going to hit the officials here, too.

We should also talk about some of the details that he outlaid. He said that an initial gun, another gun, has been found inside of the shooter's apartment. That brings the total number of guns they found either at the school that belong to the shooter or at this home, to 14.

He also talked about how the shooter died. He mentioned that the medical examiner, after doing his initial analysis and autopsy determined that the shooter committed suicide. And that is the cause of death for the person responsible for this massacre. He did not go into detail, but he did talk about how police officers

actually got on the scene and neutralized him. And everyone was trying to figure out a little bit about what that meant, but stopped him from shooting more people. We do understand now that one of the officers was able to shoot him, potentially render him unable to go forward and do more damage to the students and innocent victims and teachers inside of the classroom.

We also know that he reiterated that he did attend that school. That he did, indeed, was enrolled in two classes including the class that he ended up shooting in. We should also talked about the fact the he talked about some evidence. Some of the evidence they got and he mentioned something that he had not mentioned before. Not only that they picked up some paperwork from him, some weapons, but also there was some sort of media that he was able to get from him, digital media.

So they are going through all of this, bringing the FBI profilers in to try to understand the why, not just the how. And that is how the investigation is going forward now, Poppy.

HARLOW: Sara Sidner, thank you very much. Stay with us.

Ashleigh Banfield, to you. You have been on the ground right away after the shooting there. Talk to me about some of the legal responses that we heard in that press conference to what we know now.

BANFIELD: Yes. Well, you can see behind me the sheriffs are still in place here and it is still an active forensics scene. They won't let anyone get within 0.8 of a mile of the actual campus at this point. And they have actually marked this a part of the crime scene. The crime tape is right behind me. So it is a very large crime scene. And one of the reporters in that news conference asked a very poignant question, why?

We don't have someone to prosecute. He is dead. And as Sara Sidner just reported, the medical examiner determined he is dead by suicide. So why all of this forensic collection? What really do we really need to know? And the sheriff was able to really iterate that this is a determination of why it happened and perhaps future prevention. He talked about sharing a lot of the details of what this investigation will yield with other department and law enforcement agencies around the country. Let's hope that is already been happening with the different shootings we almost have to attend every week in this country. But that is effectively what they are trying to establish with the investigation which leads to sort of some bewilderment as to why he won't answer certain other question at this point like did the shooter deliver a box to one of the victims and insist that the victim give that box to the authorities? And the sheriff said that is still under investigation and we're not prepared to make a statement on that. Again, I'm not clear on why there is a discrepancy in time. We are not protecting anyone's due process here, he is dead.

So it is a difficult process to try to get information. But I will say. There is one process that is ongoing here. And the DA actually took to the microphone, Poppy, and said that there is an officer involved shooting investigation.

Yes, this killer may have died by his own hand, but there is still an investigation going on at this point. The preliminary suggests that this was a justified shooting. I don't think anybody has any question about that. But there is still has to be finalize. So there is still some work to that end. I don't think you need Sherlock Holmes for that one. But effectively they will still cross the T's and dot the I's on that officer involved shooting.

[15:45:27] HARLOW: Ashleigh, thank you very much.

Matthew Horace, former ATF with us, CNN military analyst Rick Francona with us as well.

Rick Francona, let go to you. The fact that we know that the shooter had 14 guns. We have previously been told yet 13 guns, I mean, you know, 14, 13, what have you, he carried out an absolute atrocity. As those on Capitol Hill argue over a solution to this, with your experience is there anything that can be done to prevent something like this?

FRANCONA: I think the key goes back what Matthew was saying, how do we keep these firearms out of the hands of those who are incompetent to handle them? And I bet you that was the case here and we're hearing that he had medical issues. We heard that he was discharged from the army. He did not even make out on basic training, although, we don't know the exact reason. The failure to meet administrative requirements generally means some sort of incapability with military service. That could be a mental illness. So we will find that out in the future.

As far as the number of guns, as Matthew said earlier, I don't put a lot of stock in that. I live in southwestern Oregon and almost everyone has weapons, multiple weapons. It's just the way of life in cruel part of the country. But you're asking me how is to prevent this, and that is to keep those weapons out the hands of people who are mentally incompetent. That is a real challenge. I know we want to have a different kinds of background checks. I don't know the answer, Poppy.

HARLOW: Matthew Horace, to you, in some schools, in some, you know, high schools, and some universities, you do have metal detectors. There is a lot of disagreement over -- if anyone wants their child to have to walk through a metal detector or of any student wants to walk through a metal detector, do you think that would help?

HORACE: Well, you know, so we have two issues we have to deal with here, Poppy. The first is cost. There is always a cost consideration and security. And security is one of those things that everyone wants, but at the end of the day, it comes down to budgets.

The second issue is this. What is the tone and the climate of the people who are paying the bills and setting the standards? Do we want metal detectors at the opening of every elementary, middle high school and college? I think the answer has been a resounding no because every time this happens the dialogue stops after the victims are buried.

And in answer to your question to him a couple seconds ago. I think for one time we are going to have to continue this dialogue after the victims are buried so that we have movement going forward.

HARLOW: Would it help? Would metal detectors help?

HORACE: I think it would help keep people out of schools that might have guns, are but they would just figure out another way to complete their carnage.

HARLOW: Matthew Horace, Rick Francona, Ashleigh Banfield, Sara Sidner, thank you very much. Stay with us, we have to get a quick break in here. We'll be right back.

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[15:51:33] HARLOW: A dangerous deluge of rain is pounding the east coast, closing roads, causing blackouts and evacuations. Hurricane Joaquin is now a category four storm, and it has intensified over the Atlantic. But the hurricane is not the main problem right now, at least for the east coast corridor. A second weather system is triggering record rainfall in some areas and very serious problems, even deaths.

Take a look at this video, new video from Brunswick County, North Carolina. It's the first to show an aerial view of the huge floods, look at that, and the damage. People's homes flooded, all their belongings soaked or gone. Five hundred people evacuated from this area alone.

And also this new video from Charleston, South Carolina. Knee-high, knee and thigh-high water there, people struggling just to walk through the flood waters to get home. Up to 500 people evacuated in coastal parts of North Carolina.

South Carolina, North Carolina, New Jersey, Virginia, all declared states of emergency. More heavy flooding could hit the states all the way up the east coast. Nick Valencia is in thick of all it. He is in Charleston, South Carolina. The president just issuing a state of emergency there. Largely that's tied to getting some federal funding in there to help.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly. They could use all the help that they can get. This, Poppy, is the most relief that we have had all day long. This area of road I'm standing on right now, usually a heavily trafficked, pretty busy intersection and streets in the city of Charleston. Water up to ankles now. You can see that's receded, but the problem back here still remains. Those cars have been there all morning long, finally getting towed out, since the water has receded to where it's safe for the tow truck drivers to get in here, but it has been a storm that's coupled with hurricane Joaquin to present life threatening dangers.

Four people have lost their lives in the states of South Carolina and North Carolina combined, three of them traffic related fatalities. Person in North Carolina losing their life after a tree fell on top of them.

Just a short time ago I spoke to the fire EMS, let's show viewers what we're dealing with, just a while ago I was talking with fire EMS. They say they've had to rescue, literally physically rescue people, 25 of them outside of their homes because of the flood waters. And the issue, of course, is the high tides. There's about eight and a half feet of water here just to the left of me on water front near the battery. You could see here it's still a lot of flooded streets behind me, even more issues. Some people have been making light of the situation, mostly college students. We've seen a lot of students from the college of Charleston here, whether it's bravery, curiosity, or a sense of adventure, they've decided not to pay attention to the governor issue of shelter in place. They came out here and some were in kayaks, others on paddleboards. They decided to help rescue. We even spoke to some people that came from three hours away to be part of the search and rescue effort.

But by and large, this rain has been an issue all morning long through the afternoon and will persist throughout the weekend. The governor saying yesterday in a press conference that the state could see historic rainfall. We're talking about at least 20 inches of rain all across the state with places like Columbia and here, especially Charleston, along the coasts being the hardest hit - Poppy.

HARLOW: Nick Valencia, thank you very much. I hope they get some relief.

Let's go straight to meteorologist Chad Myers.

So Chad, these are two different things, right? Joaquin is not directly causing this, but it's sort of like a one-two punch.

CHAD MYERS, METEOROLOGIST: It certainly is. You know, we talk about this on the west coast, the pineapple express, this is more like a coconut or conch shell express. This moisture is coming from the Bahamas and up and around a low pressure center. There's been over a foot of rain in many cities here and more rain is to come. Flash flood watches, warnings, river flood warnings still going on right now. It is still raining North of Charleston and it will continue to rain because there's a stream of moisture, tropical moisture that just keeps running right back into where it's already rained.

Here's the next 24 hours. It is still going to be raining in Myrtle Beach, Charleston tomorrow morning, even tomorrow afternoon when we look at this again. There could be another ten inches of rain before it finally stops.

And the good news is, that this wind, yes, 40 to 50 miles per hour, but there is not Joaquin, because Joaquin now is up to only one mile per hour, less than a category five hurricane. It is 155, 156 miles per hour out there in the Atlantic. Thank goodness this thing did not take a turn toward North America.

So how come we have all this moisture? How could this be possible? If Joaquin is way over here and not feeding us the moisture, there is an upper level low, a regular upper level low that we get here in the northern hemisphere. It's taking the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and it is wrapping itself around. And it's got no place to go but back on land and guess what happens when you get to the land, land goes up. And that up is like a gold front, it push the moisture up, it gets colder the higher you go, all of a sudden, can't hold the moisture and we have flooding like we have today.

[15:56:33] HARLOW: Wow. Not fun. Four deaths, Chad.

All right, we keeping a very close on. Thank you very much.

Quick break. We're back in a moment.

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[15:59:39] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

HARLOW: Top of the hour, I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. I want to take you straight back to Oregon Mercy Medical Center. Let's listen in to some of the families of the victims of this week's mass shooting.