Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Firsthand Accounts of Planned Parenthood Shooting in Colorado Springs Reviewed; Tension Between Turkey and Russia Continues; Donald Trump Defends Comments about "New York Times" Reporter; Survivor of Terrorism Attack on Train Recounts Experience. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired November 28, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:08] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado, just wrapped up a visit to Penrose Hospital where victims were treated after a gunman killed three people and wounded nine others at a local Planned Parenthood clinic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SUTHERS, MAYOR OF COLORADO SPRINGS: And I'm absolutely convinced, I monitored the whole thing yesterday from the command center, that the way they handled it saved lives. There's no question about it. It was quite remarkable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

SUTHERS: You bet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police say 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear first opened fire in the Planned Parenthood parking lot wearing a trench coat and carrying an assault rifle. He caused a neighboring shopping center and hospital to go on lockdown for nearly six hours. He is in custody after surrendering to police. And now he's due in court on Monday.

We have some gripping police scanner dispatch to share with you. You will hear the officers attempt to extract the gunman without injuring any hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are three people hiding in the bathroom at Planned Parenthood where they think they hear the suspect. They say somebody is knocking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is anybody in the safe room?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in contact with one party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are going to hide in the back closet until it is over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have people hunkered down in the northwest corner of the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have people still inside Planned Parenthood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are seeing how many doors there are. We haven't found them yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is at least one, maybe two. One was shot twice in the chest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need a bear over here on the street ASAP.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me right now, CNN's Dan Simon who is live in Colorado Springs. So, Dan, how did the clinic's patients and staffers stay safe during this terrifying ordeal?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Fredericka. We're hearing some of the disturbing firsthand accounts of people who were actually inside the Planned Parenthood when this all unfolded, people who actually heard the gun shots, saw the gunman, and they ultimately hid in some of the officers and medical facilities inside the building before ultimately being rescued by SWAT team officers.

One search person is 22-year-old Kentanya Craion. I had to opportunity to speak with her just a short time ago. She was there with her boyfriend. She was getting an ultrasound. She had the procedure done, everything was fine, she was getting ready to leave, and then she heard the gun shots. She saw what was going on in the parking lot. She saw the gunman who was holding that assault-style weapon. And then she darted back inside and then she hid for several hours before being rescued by those police officers. This is how she described the situation. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Did you immediately recognize those as gun shots?

KENTANYA CRAION, BARRICADED HERSELF INSIDE CLINIC DURING SHOOTING: No, I didn't. It took someone to tell me to get down, you know, that there's a gun shot. Even then, I couldn't register because it felt so surreal. You could clearly tell it was in the building. It was near, it was close. One of the ladies beside me started screaming. I had to tell her to remain calm, everything's fine, because, like I said, the gun shots were there clear as day. You could hear it. We actually had a bullet go through our wall, came through one and went through the other. And you could see the gun powder and smell it. And it was just frightening at that point. We all just wanted to get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Well, as you can imagine, Fredericka, she has been reliving that traumatic ordeal. And, really, what's incredibly stressful right now is she has not heard from her boyfriend. Somehow during this ordeal they got separated. And so, she has not heard from him. Police at this point have only released the name of that one police officer who lost his life. She has called police, she has called hospitals, and they have not been able to give her any information. She's hopeful that he's OK.

WHITFIELD: Of course. And so, Dan, what is the explanation as to why they aren't either able to positively identify the other two or they're not able to share if they have the I.D. of the other two who were killed?

SIMON: That's a very good question. We're waiting to hear that answer from authorities. Possibly they have not identified those victims. That's really the only explanation that we can think of at this point because enough time has transpired where you would think they would be able to positively make an identification, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dan Simon bringing it to us when you know. Thank you so much.

And we want to take time to remember the victims in the clinic shootings. Two civilians and one police officer with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs were killed. And, again, while it is not being made clear, the identity of the civilians we do know more about the 44-year-old officer. Garrett Swasey was a husband, a father of two, and was once a champion ice skater. He was also a friend to Scott Dontanville who I spoke to earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:05:06] SCOTT DONTANVILLE, FRIEND OF OFFICER GARRETT SWASEY: As you said, he was a man of faith. He believed in Jesus Christ as his lord and savior. That's what he lived for. And we today know that no matter what has gone on and transpired there's forgiveness in the cross of Christ. And that's what Garrett would want. He would want us to forgive this man and to go on with our lives, but to be bringing the good news of hope to the world around us as we see so much destruction as I've heard on your news report. I mean, people are just in shock and don't know what to do. But that was Garrett in a nutshell. He defined himself not by his work but his relationship with Christ.

WHITFIELD: And that really does speak to the kind of impact that he had on the church, on his family, on his friends. As an officer, what kind of impact are you aware that he made on the community? Or how did he intertwine, you know, his commitment to the community, his commitment to the church?

DONTANVILLE: Well, obviously, you know, we see that in a practical way just in what's happened over the last couple of days. There's been an outpouring around the world of support for him and his family reaching out to him.

But I just find it ironic, here's a man who stands on principle, loves Christ. And obviously, you know, he might not be in alignment with the abortion industry. But he'd be willing to go in and lay down his life for those people. And that's just a testimony to me of the kind of man that he is. Not just courageous, but Christ- like because that's what Christ has done for us. And so that is the man. And that's the impact. And I think it's going to have a real positive impact on our community in bringing us together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And a fund page has been set up by a Swasey family friend in honor of the fallen officer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:10:58] WHITFIELD: Intelligence officials in Kenya say they have uncovered an Iranian sponsored spy ring in their country. Authorities arrested two men who they say were working for Iranian state intelligence, and they were planning to carry out terror attacks in that African nation. Kenyan officials also mentioned they have an active manhunt underway for a British national who sneaked into their country to join an Al Qaeda affiliate.

And France says it has stopped nearly 1,000 people from entering the country since the Paris terror attacks. The French interior minister says people who have been turned away were deemed, quote, "security risks to our public order." He also said there are 15,000 officers currently stationed along France's borders.

And tensions appear to be escalating between Russia and Turkey over the downing of a Russian fighter jet. While the Turkish president Erdogan called on Russia to open a dialogue, Russia is now responding with sanctions against Turkey. Reuters is reporting new economic measures, including restricting travel and hiring of Turkish workers for some companies.

Earlier, I spoke with General Wesley Clark, the former NATO supreme allied commander and now a senior fellow at UCLA'S Berkeley Center for International Relations. And I began by asking him how this could impact relations between Russia and Turkey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: I don't think it's going to result in a large escalation of the conflict at this stage. But I think it indicates that Russia and Turkey have opposing objectives, opposing policies, opposing outcomes they're seeking in this conflict. And Russia has weighed in by striking these villages and these civilians in the north part of Syria or southern part of Turkey depending on how you draw that border, and threatening the Turkish grip on the northern part of Syria. And Turkey has responded by shooting down a Russian aircraft.

Now, Russia's put in stronger antiaircraft system there in northern Syria. So it's a standoff militarily, it's a standoff politically. And at this point, neither side wants to escalate the rhetoric or the fracture, because both sides are playing very complex, nuanced games. HANNITY: So standoff for now, but is this a prelude to something

else? You underscore Russia and its air strikes there in northern Syria just on the Turkish border, but do you see retaliation by Russia on Turkey proper in any way?

CLARK: Well, not yet. Not military retaliation. But what you can see is that there's economic retaliation. There's diplomatic retaliation. And this, of course, is embarrassing to Turkish president. On the other hand, Turkey's received strong support from president Obama and NATO. But no one wants this to escalate.

Instead, Turkey and the United States would like to see Russia join in the attacks on ISIS. Russia, of course, is not prepared to escalate its attacks on ISIS despite rhetoric. It wants to clear out the resistance fighters who were near the Syrian occupation, occupied areas of northwestern Syria and around the Russian military bases. So we've got conflicting policy objectives, conflicting military activities, and it's a stalemate right now as both sides jockey for leadership and greater influence.

WHITFIELD: So Turkey is a NATO member. What's the relationship between NATO and Russia?

CLARK: Well, it's strained at this point because NATO has seen what Russia has done in eastern Europe. Of course Russia seized Crimea, put its military forces in there. Russia's supported the fighting in eastern Ukraine with a large number of troops and equipment and leadership over the last almost two years now.

[14:15:05] And NATO has supported the European Union's sanctions, economic sanctions against Russia for these activities.

So NATO is on alert. NATO member countries of eastern Europe know that what happened in eastern Ukraine could foretell some trouble for them with their minorities with Russian influence. So NATO's not about to roll over and say to Vladimir Putin, you're our savior in Syria. But, of course, this is what Putin would like. What he would like to do is get control of the refugee situation among the Europeans, have the Europeans rely on him militarily, and then come back to them and say, let's get rid of these sanctions on Russia. This, of course, would also fracture NATO. And so this is also something that Putin would be very happy to see.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks to General Wesley Clark there. Turkish president Erdogan has invited Vladimir Putin to have a side meeting at the climate summit this week, and so far Putin has not responded.

Still ahead, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson just released a statement about his surprise trip to visit Syrian refugees in Jordan. His comments next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:14] WHITFIELD: Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson says the United States must do more to help with the Syrian refugee crisis. Carson is in Jordan visiting refugees on a two-day tour of multiple camps. Carson's trip comes as he has faced scrutiny over his foreign policy credentials. He even released a statement just moments ago saying "The United States must do more. Bringing 25,000 refugees to the United States does nothing to solve the crisis." Carson says in the coming days he is going to release a plan to better address the refugee crisis.

Meantime, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump just spoke to a packed crowd in Florida addressing the new wave of controversy over his apparent mocking of a disabled "New York Times" reporter. CNN correspondent Athena Jones joining me from what was the rally site in Sarasota. So what was said?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Well, what wasn't said? It's hard to know where to begin when Trump spent at least 10 minutes talking about not just the "New York times" but also the media more broadly. He did spend most of his time, though, talking about the "New York times," Calling it, again, a failing financial institution, And, again, demanding an apology from the paper, and saying that he did not know this reporter, Serge Kovaleski, who has been drawing his ire all week, even though Kovaleski reported on him for years back in the late '80s. Take a listen to what else Trump had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I was very expressive in saying it. And they said I was mocking him. I would never mock a person that has difficulty. I would never do that. I don't know him. He knew me and we were on a first name -- give me a break. Give me a break. And the problem is he's using what he's got to such a horrible degree. I think it's disgraceful. And I think the "New York Times," frankly, should give me an apology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So Trump echoing some of the demands he's made this week. And, again, suggesting that Serge Kovaleski is using his disability to his advantage. He put out a statement earlier this week saying he was using his disability to, quote, "grandstand." So we heard more of that today.

One thing to point out to you, Fred, is, of course, Kovaleski says that Trump knew him. He spoke to him at least a dozen times while covering him as a reporter for the "New York Daily News." And CNN Money folks found another reporter who remembers seeing Trump and Kovaleski talk to each other back in the late '80s and appear so chummy, this reporter said, that she thought they knew each other socially. So two different stories here we're getting, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, Kovaleski with a congenital joint disorder. And when people saw the videotape of, you know, Donald Trump making the motions he did in respect to that, it's hard to believe that he didn't recall that reporter. OK, interesting. Athena Jones, appreciate it.

Before the Paris terrorist attacks, there was a foiled plot to attack a train in France. Still to come, we'll talk to one of the heroes on that train who was shot preventing the attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:08] WHITFIELD: We now know that the mastermind of those horrific attacks in Paris was also involved in four other terror plots, including a plan to kill on a Paris-bound train earlier this year. That attack was foiled by three Americans, and also in part by an American born professor who was shot while wrestling with that gunman. Here's CNN's Martin Savidge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mark Moogalian knows what it's like to be shot by a terrorist.

MARK MOOGALIAN, SURVIVOR OF TRAIN ATTACK: And the force of the shot did kind of push me forward. And I felt like I was just hovering in the air for just a second.

SAVIDGE: August 21st, on a high-speed train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris, Moogalian is one of the first to see an armed terrorist. He jumps on the gunman, an act that nearly cost his life.

MOOGALIAN: The bullet broke two ribs, pierced my left lung, and then came up through the neck and came out here.

SAVIDGE: The gun shot alerts the rest of the passengers to the danger. The attacker, armed with an assault rifle, a semiautomatic handgun, a box cutter, and gasoline, could kill dozens on the crowded train. But three more Americans run to the rescue. Among them, U.S. Air Force paramedic Spencer Stone who subdues the gunman and treats Moogalian.

MOOGALIAN: He said, you're a hero, but I didn't feel like a hero, because I thought that the hero gets the guy.

SAVIDGE: Paris, Friday the 13th. Like everyone, Moogalian is sickened by the slaughter, and then horrified to hear the man behind it is also believed to have plotted the attack that nearly killed him, a terrifying connection.

MOOGALIAN: I can now put myself to a certain degree in the places of victims lying there in their own blood, knowing they're going to die, but nobody came to save them.

SAVIDGE: Moogalian is still recovering from his own wounds, and his love of music is part of that healing. It's not always easy, but he is alive. He'd like to meet with some of the wounded from the Paris attack.

How would that conversation begin?

MOOGALIAN: How are you? You know. Maybe you know who I am. I went through something kind of similar, and I'm glad to see that you've made it through. And if there's anything you'd like to talk about, anything at all that we could share, because it was a scary experience for me.

SAVIDGE: Just as on the train, Moogalian believes he has a role to play. This time not as a hero, but as a survivor spreading the message of hope.

Martin Savidge, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we have so much more straight ahead in the CNN Newsroom at the top of the hour. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. Thanks so much for being with me today.

[14:30:00] "Vital Signs" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now.