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New Details About the San Bernardino Shooting Suspects; First Responder: The Situation was Surreal; Community Holds Vigils for Shooting Victims; Police Audio Shows Swift Response to Shooting; German Lawmakers to Vote on Expanded Role in ISIS Fight; ISIS to Strike UK Next, According to Intelligence Reports; FIFA Scandal Latest. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 04, 2015 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:14] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and thank you for joining us. I'm Isha Sesay in Los Angeles where it is 9:00 here on the U.S. West Coast.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Vause in San Bernardino, California. You are watching CNN's continuing coverage of the mass shooting at a California conference center.

So work place disagreement or terror attack? Investigators say the massacre at a holiday party might just have been both. Sources say the gunman, Syed Rizwan Farook, was apparently radicalized and have been touch with people the FBI is investigating for international terrorism.

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: Killed 14 people at a conference center on Wednesday.

VAUSE: Wednesday, Lieutenant Mike Madden was one of the first to arrive at the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. MIKE MADDEN, SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA POLICE: It was unspeakable. The carnage that we were seeing, the number of people who were injured and unfortunately already dead. And the pure panic on the face of those individuals that were still in need and needing to be safe. We asked -- we got as many people out as quickly as we could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Investigators say the heavily armed couple fired between 65 and 75 rounds at the conference center. They were killed a few hours later in a shootout with police.

Police have also found 12 pipe bombs and a trove of ammunition at the couple's home not far from here in the city of Redlands.

Our justice correspondent Pamela Brown begins our coverage. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: We eve learned from law enforcement sources that the couple's two cell phones apparently, these cell phones belonging to them, found in a trash bin near one of the crime scenes. These cell phones had been damaged. Investigators believe the couple was trying to hide their tracks and make it impossible for investigators to be able to see what was on their cell phones.

We're told, though, that the FBI is working with to retrieve the information on their phones. And also we've learned that the couple's hard drive, belonging to their computer, is nowhere to be found. So there has been a subpoena issued to the big providers to get the contents from their computer. And investigators are hoping whatever is retrieved will shed light on a possible motive.

This case has been somewhat puzzling to investigators. Because as one person said, it doesn't fit neatly into a box. It's unclear if this is in fact terrorism or if it is a work place dispute or a blend of the two.

I will tell you, sources I've spoken with who have analyzed the bombs that were found say that they don't match any extremist recipe. That it appears the shooters didn't follow a specific recipe from "Inspire" magazine which we know is run by al Qaeda or recipes from ISIS. There's a lot of mystery here. We know the FBI has been investigating or I should say interviewing the family members of the shooters and they have been very cooperative, I'm told. And they say that they completely shocked that from their viewpoint this couple did not seem radicalized at all. Certainly still a lot to learn here.

Pamela Brown, CNN, San Bernardino.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Let's get more now. CNN's Paul Vercammen joins us live with more details.

There was a police news conference held earlier this evening, Paul. And we are starting to get some chilling details from at least one of the first responders, who arrived on the scene here on Wednesday.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it was just one of these things. The first responder happened to be about mile from the shooting scene. And even in our L.A. newsroom, we had heard 20 casualties. That's something astounding and it makes you just, you know, almost jump out of your chairs. We headed down here and this first responder then goes into what started as a training exercise for county health workers and transisted to a holiday party and this is what he describes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADDEN: As we made our way around to the east side, it was immediately evident that the reports that we were getting were 100 percent true. There were victims who were clearly -- obviously deceased outside of the conference room. The situation was surreal. It was something that I don't think, again, we prepare for and they try to -- an active shooter, we talk about sensory overload. They just try to throw everything at you to prepare you for dealing with that. What you're seeing, what you're hearing, what you're smelling, and it was all of that and more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And when he referred to the conference room, that's where the holiday party was held.

And John, lightning has struck twice in San Bernardino County. You might remember almost three years ago, the maniacal ex-cop Christopher Dorner went on a rampage here in which he not only killed officers but was in a dramatic SWAT standoff in the mountains just above us with officers.

[00:05:10] It was a shootout that claimed another officer's life. He was armed to the teeth. He had military training.

I spoke to one officer off-camera earlier tonight. He said many of these officers also were in that gun battle with Dorner on that mountain and it might have helped them yesterday when they got in that standoff with him and his wife in another part of San Bernardino -- John.

VAUSE: Incredible thing that something two tragedies like that could hit one community in such a short space of time. But, Paul, we're also learning from authorities it seems that all of the victims inside that conference room were linked in some personal way to the shooters.

VERCAMMEN: You're absolutely right, John. It almost seems like there's two narratives here. There's the searching as to whether or not he was a radicalized Muslim but also he seemed to have a beef with a number of his co-workers in the county. And the statistics are just alarming because of the 14 killed 12 of them work for the county of San Bernardino, and of the 21 injured 18 of them work for the county of San Bernardino.

So they are trying to go ahead and determine if there are any links. And it's going to be, you know, a long process here. But it looks like it's the confluence of two things here -- a work place, a disgruntled worker, some sort of beef and then of course the possibility that he was working with international terrorists -- John.

VAUSE: Yes. And there are still obviously a lot of questions but that that does seem at this point to be a working theory. And we'll have more on that right now.

Paul, thank you.

Joining me right now Brian Levin, he is the director at the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.

Brian, in general terms, what would drive two people to carry out a mass murder as oppose to one person?

BRIAN LEVIN, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HATE AND EXTREMISM: Yes, you don't generally see workplace violence being a family affair.

VAUSE: Yes.

LEVIN: We've seen instances where, however, husband and wife were partners have been involved in terrorism, the Weather Underground, for instance, is one. We also saw a father-son incident where two police officers were two West Memphis police officers were killed some years ago after a car stop. They were anti-government extremists.

So as you were saying and Paul Vercammen were saying, there are things that can point in either direction. But right now I think with the FBI leading the investigation that tells you that terrorism is an active consideration until it is rebutted.

VAUSE: OK. So let's talk about this working theory that we have that it is some kind of hybrid.

LEVIN: Yes.

VAUSE: That it's religious ideology mixed in with a work place disagreement. How did that play itself out?

LEVIN: Great question. I just testified before Congress several weeks ago. And one of the things I talked about is in this new landscape. We not only have hierarchical groups and people who are strict ideologues. But we have people who are hybrids, who have anger and hatred that are a unique mix, but we have a lot of these folks are unstable people who are an amalgam of different insecurities and instability. And this anger that can be personal, can then be wrapped in an ideology and you can have something like we've seen this week.

VAUSE: And again of course this is still a theory. The police are yet not to confirm or the FBI is yet to confirm that terrorism was involved. But they're working on that.

From what we are learning about the two shooters right now, it does seem that they were living a double life. They went to great extremes to cover up their tracks. They've destroyed two cell phones, that were found not far away from the scene. Also they've done -- a hard drive, as well. Is it surprising to you that they went to this amount of effort to basically disguise what they were doing?

LEVIN: Well, that would lead me to believe if -- look, if this were a workplace violence case strictly, why would they be getting rid of their cell phones or hard drives? And there have been some connections. Look, we've seen oversees travel, we've seen some alleged conversations with other extremists but the bottom line is the evidence is not conclusive either way. Nor is it preclusive.

VAUSE: Right.

LEVIN: So we have to keep that book open. VAUSE: What we keep hearing from families, from friends, from the

person who rented them the home is that no one expected this, no one saw this coming. Do you buy that? Do you believe that no one out there had any clue what these two people were up to?

LEVIN: No.

VAUSE: Why not?

LEVIN: People leave a trail. Now I'm not saying most of their friends or even some of their family members, but we find a lot of times a precursor to attacks, not all cases but in a good minority of them, is leakage. Information gets leaked out. And it would seem to me that the fact that there was an argument at work, for instance, if it involved ideology, someone else probably heard of it.

Bottom line is, this could very well be a hybrid and we just don't know. But again, we can't rule anything out. And I think the terrorism investigation angle is still a plausible one until the evidence shows otherwise.

[00:10:02] VAUSE: Very quickly, don't have a lot of time.

LEVIN: Yes.

VAUSE: You're a former New York cop. Your assessment of the response here?

LEVIN: OK. Look. NYPD folks are not big on compliments of other agencies. I know these folks. These folks are part of our community. This was a textbook response. I'm going to tell you something, as we saw with the Dorner case, these were world-class responders and the way the different agencies coordinated, set up a triage and got to that scene within minutes saved lives. These are the heroes of our community and the nation can be proud of every single one of them.

VAUSE: OK. Thank you for that. Appreciate you being with us, Brian, and your insights and your thoughts. Thank you very much.

LEVIN: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: OK. Take care.

While investigators search for a motive in the shooting rampage the community is now already taking steps to try and heal. The largest mosque in San Bernardino County held a prayer vigil for the victims on Thursday night.

Muslim leaders have condemned the massacre and hundreds of people gathered for a candlelight vigil at San Emanuel Stadium here in San Bernardino. And Poppy Harlow was there.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The opening words of the prayer read here tonight, John, we are challenged, but we are not hopeless, talking about this community, all the people that have come together tonight holding candles, listening to beautiful music, trying to reflect on what their community has gone through in just the last two days. It is unfathomable to everyone here. The mayor talking about his phone call with President Obama this morning.

And when you look around, all of these people, young and old, every race and religion represented, they have a different story. They're here all for a different reason but they are here and they stand together. A young woman, Christina, who I spoke with, told me that she lost two friends, two friends murdered yesterday. A third shot in the head but survived. It's amazing one of her friends who was murdered is a father of six. Six children. His name Mike Wertzle. She said she's here for him, for everyone who perished, for everyone who was injured.

Another young man sitting next to me, Gustavo, told me he didn't know anyone who died but he is here because he said he is angry and he said it is hard to find logic in this. Why did this happen? How could this happen. And what has really struck me here tonight are all the children. So many parents have brought their young, young children here tonight. And I asked one mother of five, why did you bring your children? How do you explain this to them?

And she had her 4-year-old sitting next to her. And she said to me, I can't explain it to them, but they watch the news. They see what is happening. I try to give them answers as best I can. But perhaps it's because they saw the worst of humanity play out here yesterday and tonight at this vigil the best of humanity coming together, standing together, being together -- John.

VAUSE: Our thanks to Poppy Harlow for that. Meantime, the corner has released the names of the 14 people who were killed. Among them, 52- year-old Nicholas Thalasinos. He was an employee at the County Environmental Health Department. 40-year-old Roland Adams was a husband and the father of a 20-month-old daughter. His family says they were planning their first trip to Disneyland. And 45-year-old Shannon Johnson from Los Angeles. Police say the 14 people killed, 12 were county employees. There were about 80 people attending the party when the shooting happened.

We will continue to follow our breaking news coverage here on the shooting in San Bernardino, California. Coming up the chilling police audio and the chaos that followed.

SESAY: Plus, a former FBI agent joins me here in the studio to talk about the deadly shooting and the role the female killer may have played in the attacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: You are watching CNN's breaking coverage of the shooting massacre here in California. I am Isha Sesay in Los Angeles.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause in San Bernardino. Investigators here believe the shooters involved in Wednesday's

massacre may have had much bigger plans. They say they found a large stash of weapons and explosives inside the home and the SUV of Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife. Authorities also say Farook was apparently radicalized and in touch with people the FBI is investigating for terrorism. But they're still not ready to say that was his only motive.

Law enforcement officials are also looking at two smashed cell phones recovered from a garbage can near one of the crime scenes. We're now also hearing the 911 calls, emergency call from that deadly shooting. The chaos began 11:00 a.m. local time and would continue for hours.

CNN's Alina Machado has more on the minute-by-minute response by police.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: Shots heard in the area. 1365 South Waterman.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's 10:59 a.m. in San Bernardino. The first dispatched calls go out and within seconds, information starts trickling in.

UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: Subject is still inside the business 1365 South Waterman. It's in building number three. Possible active shooter.

MACHADO: Several units start heading to the Inland Regional Center.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Where on the building is the closest to the south or north end?

UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER OFFICER: So far I'm getting on the ground floor, an unknown male all black clothing with a black mask. We do have victims down.

MACHADO: About four minutes after the initial call, the first officer arrives quickly assessing the situation.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Now we have two suspects, both -- in the inside of the business, on the south side is what we're being told.

UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: Lincoln 3, do you have anybody with you?

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Negative, I need two more units with me for an entry team.

MACHADO: Less than two minutes after police arrive, the shooters escape.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: We confirm being advised that one suspect fled in a black SUV, was found from the location. We do not know if we still have an active shooter. We supposedly have two down inside. We'll be making entry. MACHADO: Turned out both killers had left the bloody scene. Once

inside --

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: We have several down in the conference room. Several down. Several medical aid.

MACHADO: Some 300 officers from several agencies would eventually respond. They helped the wounded and secured the area, evacuating survivors from the scene.

[00:25:07] Watch as this group is led to safety, hands up, even a child is among them. One of the officers tries to keep them calm.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Try to relax, everyone, try to relax. I'll take a bullet before you do, that's for damn sure.

MACHADO: But the killers still on the run. Then before 1:00 p.m., less than two hours after the shooting, police have a lead on the identity of one of the killers.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: I talked to a witness who said the guy sits next to him who is a county worker was acting a little weird, left early, which he also thought was weird and then about 30 minutes later the shooting happened. I have a name and general age, no date of birth.

MACHADO: By 2:57 p.m., police seem to find what they are looking for.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: We got the SUV with the Utah plates. We're trying to catch up.

MACHADO: They chased that black SUV for about 18 minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: We're at the Water District. He's driving at a high rate of speed.

MACHADO: Before gunfire erupts.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: We are in pursuit of the suspect's vehicle eastbound in San Bernardino Avenue from Richardson. We got shots fired out the back window.

MACHADO: This cell phone video shows the end of the chase, hundreds of rounds exchanged between 23 officers and the two shooters.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Right now we have one down outside the car, one down inside the car.

MACHADO: By 3:16 p.m., more than four hours after they took 14 lives, both killers are shot to death. Police would later find more than 1600 rounds of ammunition in their car and at their home 12 pipe bombs. The quick action by police possibly stopping even more planned attacks.

Alina Machado, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Much more from San Bernardino in just a few moments. But first let's head back to Isha in Los Angeles.

VAUSE: Thank you, John. Well, for more on the deadly shooting I'm joined by former FBI special agent, Bobby Chacon.

Bobby, thank you for joining us again for the second night. The working theory that everyone is throwing around right now is of a hybrid motive.

BOBBY CHACON, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Yes.

SESAY: Some kind of work place grievance, intersecting with his apparent radicalization. Do you buy it? Does it make sense to you?

CHACON: It does to some extent and I think further investigation is going to be needed into that theory. I think that clearly there was some dispute at the party. That's clear. Clearly obviously he went back to the party and did this act. So, you know, it doesn't take a stretch to think that's something happened at the party that made him go back there whether he was planning to go back there or whether this was just something that set him off to go back there. That's all yet to be determined.

But clearly there was an antagonism when he left the party that's been described by witnesses and then he obviously went back and took this violent action. So, you know, work place violence, sure. By the very definition of words it's workplace violence. These are co-workers of his. He visited violence upon them. The terrorism aspect also -- is obviously coming into play. And that's being run out. You know. So I think that -- I think there is something, some credibility to this hybrid.

SESAY: But it's clearly, and I guess this is the thing, given what they found in the home of Farook and Malik. The amount of weaponry and ammunition. It clearly points to something bigger, does it not?

CHACON: Absolutely.

SESAY: I mean, do you think that this was the original target?

CHACON: Absolutely something bigger and maybe something additional. Now what's to be determined is whether or not there was another initial target planned and this just -- was a target of opportunity because of the antagonism at the workplace. And maybe they were going to hit that first and then go to the secondary target which at that point was their initial target before they went to the workplace or whether they were going to do a secondary attack.

But clearly there was more planned because of the amount of weapons, ammunition, devices that they had. It was much more than would be needed for this particular attack.

SESAY: And because of that, just what you mentioned, the weaponry, the ammunition, the devices, does that say to you -- does that suggest to you that other people could have been involved because of the quantity?

CHACON: Yes, it does to me. Both by the purchasing of all the materials that would be needed to build these, the building themselves, and I think we have some initial reports that there were gentlemen, other gentlemen being seen coming and going from that residence in the past, witnesses in the neighborhoods say I think that they saw other people coming and going. This doesn't sound like an activity that was hidden in the house. So if you were in that house, it sounds like you knew there were IEDs being built and there were ammunition and guns around.

So I think that by the very nature of the amount of thing and the type of activity that was taking place in that house and the fact that gentlemen was seen coming and going from there, that others could have been involved in the planning and maybe the execution of this, that are obviously still out there.

SESAY: Bobby, appreciate the analysis. You're going to stay with us?

CHACON: Yes.

SESAY: We appreciate it. Thank you.

And we will go back to John in San Bernardino in just a minute and we'll hear from a man who shared a cubicle with the gunman for the past three years.

This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK BACCARI, COWORKER of SYED FAROOK: I thought somebody booby- trapped the towel dispense are because I was being pummeled while I was pulling the towels out of the dispenser. So I looked back in the mirror and I could see I was bleeding in my temple, my nose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Baccari hid in the bathroom while Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife fired off 76 rounds, killing 14 people. Farook and Baccari had shared a cubicle for three years at the San Bernardino County Health Department. They it talked about cars, Farook's six month old daughter, regular chat between two coworkers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: why do you think he did this?

BACCARI: Well, I think his beliefs were contrary to our American dreams. You think that somebody that is working to the capacity and educated to the level that you are has similar respect and values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Law enforcement sources tell CNN that Farook apparently was radicalized and in touch with people being investigated by the FBI, talking by phone and on social media with more than one person being investigated for terrorism; but a law enforcement source says those talks were infrequent. The last one had been a few months, not raising any alarms. No red flags either say U.S. and Saudi Government officials when Farook went to Saudi Arabia. The FBI says the 28-year- old had also travelled to Pakistan.

The couple's landlord, who rented the apartment they would later fill with weapons and bomb making materials, saw no sign this was coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOYLE MILLER, LANDLORD of SYED FAROOK: It's beyond my comprehension because they seemed like such a gentle, mild person. You just can't tell a book by its cover.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Farook's brother-in-law didn't know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FARHAN KHAN, BROTHER-IN-LAW to SYED FAROOK: I have no idea, why would he do that. Why would he do something like this? I have absolutely no idea. I'm in shock myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: a sentiment echoed by Patrick Baccari.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACCARI: Who wants to call their 16-year-old kid to tell them you just survived an attack? So many people didn't that we loved, so ---

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Baccari says the multiple bullet fragments in his body will stay, too risky to remove. What also remains; confusion. A man he so closely knew did this; now turning to anger and fear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACCARI: I believe every citizen here should be armed to defend themselves, in the case of this happening, but that's not everybody's belief. I couldn't have defended anybody from the position I was in, even if I was armed; but at least if they tried to come in and get us in that restroom, I'd have had some way of maybe protecting the rest of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: We could not find anything, as far as a criminal background, on Farook; but there are some court documents from a 2008 divorce between his parents that suggest that he had a turbulent childhood. His mother filed a temporary restraining order, in court documents. She described her husband, Farook's father, as being violent, mentally ill at times, often not on his meds and frequently saying that he would commit suicide. She also described him as being violent, throwing, once, a TV on her. John?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Our thanks to Kyung Lah for that report. Joining me now here in San Bernardino is our military analyst, Lt. Col. Rick Francona. Colonel, let's start with some of the tactics which were used in this attack on Wednesday. Some of them seem to be ISIS-like tactics some of them seem to be very not ISIS-like tactics. Let's start with the ones that are similar.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, they're using a large amount of fire power. They're trying to kill as many as they can very quickly. What was different was they entered the scene almost immediately after doing that. They could have stayed there and killed more people, but they chose not to. The question is why did they do that? When we - we have a lot of speculation people saying well they were going to move to another area and attack something else. Other people say maybe they were going to come back around as the first responders came in. But whatever the reason was they got out of there fast enough. What we know is they had something else in mind because they could have gotten on any of these four interstates and been out of here very quickly, but they chose to remain in the area.

VAUSE: Okay, so from an ISIS point of view, two shooters, one to cover the other?

FRANCONA: Well we see ISIS working in team.

VAUSE: Yes.

FRANCONA: And if we saw what just happened in Paris, we saw them very effectively, one covering the other, one reloads while the other is shooting. We don't know if they had that kind of coordination, but the AR-15 is not an intuitive weapon. So someone had to train them to do this and from what we're hearing they were disciplined in what they were doing.

VAUSE: Also, the use of explosives, there were pipe bombs, which are not very effective, but still explosives. We saw explosives being used in Paris.

FRANCONA: Right, and we see ISIS is a big user of the IED and they built an IED. It was supposed to go off, later on, with a remote- controlled detonation. That didn't work fortunately, but we see them integrating long arms and explosive devices together.

VAUSE: So they had, maybe, the tactics but not necessarily the training to put in to practice as effectively as --

FRANCONA: It looks like they had a fairly good plan, it just wasn't executed very well and the further they got in to the plan the more it started to fall apart. [00:35] VAUSE: Okay, let's talk about the stuff which is not like

ISIS. Thing which struck me most was the fact that a woman was involved in this attack. I always thought that groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda frowned upon women being involved in this kind of thing.

FRANCONA: Well, al-Qaeda core, yes, that was always the thought, and ISIS was starting out we saw that; but we're seeing that change as we get further away from what we call core ISIS in Iraq and Syria. As you get out into the other areas, into Europe and here in the United States, we are starting to see them use more and more women. Of course the Islamists have used women in the past quite effectively, in Chechnya for example.

VAUSE: Yes, the female suicide bombers, of course, as well. One question which a lot of people out there continue to ask, and I find this incredible, is the aspect of radicalization: how is it that someone could be radicalized to a point, when you are a woman, to be able to give up your newborn child, which is what this woman did and as a father to give up your child?

FRANCONA: John, we've been talking going around and around - I've talked to other analysts about this and none of us can reconcile how they got that radicalized because usually you figure this is the one thing that ameliorates any of these feelings, that they would have a family now and they're going to not turn to this radical activity; and yet we see both of them dropping off this child, knowing full well that they were not going to see it again.

VAUSE: And the thing that that says to me is that it was a terrifying level of commitment to this plan and so, essentially, they were prepared to give everything.

FRANCONA: It's unbelievable, and you have to say to yourself, how do you fight someone with that much commitment? It's like there's no feeling whatsoever left inside.

VAUSE: And how do they keep it away from their families?

FRANCONA: How are the families going to resolve this? We're hearing the interviews from some of the families; they had no idea. We hear this over and over.

VAUSE: Yes.

FRANCONA: Remember when were in Oregon it was the same thing.

VAUSE: Yes.

FRANCONA: We had no idea this was going. We had no idea this could happen to this family.

VAUSE: Great to speak with you. Thank you for being with us, even under these circumstances. Thank you.

Still to come here, we'll be joined by one of the physicians petitioning Congress to actually view gun violence like any other health epidemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is "CNN News Now"; hello, I'm Natalie Allen. Germany will vote in a few hours on whether it will expand its role in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Lawmakers are expected to vote in favor, though the German military will not be conducting its own air strikes. Meantime, there's new intelligence that indicates ISIS plans to carry out the next attack against the U.K., which has just started air strikes in Syria.

Two men have been arrested in Belgium in association with the Paris terror attacks, but the search for this man has gone cold. Salah Abdeslam is believed to be the eighth attacker. A senior counterterrorism official says European security agencies have no trace of him since he was dropped off in Brussels November 14th, the day after the attacks.

The President of the Brazilian Football Federation is taking a leave of absence; Marco Polo Del Nero says he will devote his time to defending himself against U.S. charges stemming from the FIFA corruption scandal. U.S. Federal Prosecutors announced criminal charges against 16 FIFA officials on Thursday. they allege the officials were part of a 24-year bribery scheme.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT L. CAPERS, U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, BRONX, NEW YORK: We say to you enough is enough. If you are involved in or have a desire to take partake in this type of corruption that we're investigating prosecuting, now is not the time to hold power or seek to gain power. Now is the time to step away, to make room for a new generation of leaders who we hope will give the beautiful game of soccer, and millions of its fans, the honest leadership it so richly deserves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:40] ALLEN: That is "CNN News Now". I'm Natalie Allen; continuing coverage on the mass shooting in California continues next.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN's breaking coverage of a deadly shooting here in California. I'm Isha Sesay in Los Angeles.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause in San Bernardino. The U.S. President, Barack Obama, paid tribute to the shooting victims during the annual tree lighting ceremony in Washington on Thursday. The entire First Family was there for the lighting and despite it meant to be a festive evening, there was a somber tone. Mr. Obama took a few moments to remember those who lost their lives on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Their loss is our loss, too, for we are all one American family. We look out for each other, in good times and in bad. They should know that all of us care about them this holiday season. They are in our thoughts. They are in our prayers and we send them our love.

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VAUSE: In their first appearance since Wednesday's shooting, the Republican Presidential Candidates expressed condolences to the victims' families, as well as the survivors, and while President Obama has hesitated on calling the shooting terrorism, some GOP Candidates did not hold back.

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DONALD TRUMP, R-NY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We had another event which probably was -- the one yesterday, probably was related -- radical Islamic terrorism. I'll tell you what; we have a President that refuses to use the term. He refuses to say it. There's something going on with him.

SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TX, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Politically correct double speak that comes from the Obama Administration has gone beyond the point of ridiculous.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTY, R-NY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm convinced that was a terrorist attack and the President continues to wring his hands and say we'll see.

GOV. JEB BUSH, R-FL, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The brutal savagery of Islamic terrorism exists and this President and his former Secretary of State cannot call it what it is.

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VAUSE: We'll have more from San Bernardino in just a moment, but for now let's head back to Los Angeles and Isha.

SESAY: Thanks, John. Well records show that mass shootings occur in the U.S., on average, more than once a day. shootingtracker.com defines a mass shooting as one that "leaves four or more people wounded or dead." There have been 353 of those in the U.S. this year, taking place in 220 cities and 47 states, including Wednesday's attack. A total of 462 people have been killed in mass shootings in 2015, and more than 1300 have been injured.

Well hours before Wednesday's shooting a group of doctors delivered a petition to Congress asking them to lift restrictions on gun violence research here in the United States. Supporters say this latest attack underscores an urgency for objective medical perspectives. I spoke to one of the physicians pressing lawmakers to reconsider.

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SESAY: Dr. Alice Chen, thank you so much for joining us. Now, you said the U.S. is dealing with a gun violence epidemic and you actually belong to a group of physicians who believe we should be looking at the problem of gun violence as a public health issue. Why is that important? DR. ALICE CHEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DOCTORS FOR AMERICA: Gun violence is something that is affecting communities, individuals, families across the country every single day, and as medical professionals, as doctors, as nurses, as public health professionals, we are seeing these people coming in to our hospitals, our ER's, people who are coming in with injuries; people who are killed by gun violence; we are see them; we're having to treat them every single day. So it is clearly a public health issue.

SESAY: So with that in mind, I've got to ask you, what went through your mind when you first heard about Wednesday's a mass shooting in California?

CHEN: Well, like everyone else, I was -- I had a mixture of shock and feeling of wow, is this happening again, yet one more time? And I really had the sense that we've had this ban on the CDC doing gun violence research for 20 years and it is time, it is beyond time for Congress to take action and make sure we can do research so we can prevent these kind of tragedies from happening so, so often.

SESAY: So talk to me about the impact of this ban. Talk to me about the data you believe is being lost because it's in place.

CHEN: Well, we do have a small number of researchers who have been [00:45] doing research during the past 20 years, but it's not nearly enough. We have over 32,000 people who are dying of gun violence every year in America and there's so much information that we don't have. We don't know what are the best ways we can prevent a teenager from committing suicide with a gun? What -- where are the - the urban violence that's happening, where are those guns coming from? Are they illegal? Are they legal? How -- what are the best ways to prevent a child from accidentally finding a gun and shooting their sibling? These are some basic questions that we need answered.

SESAY: And I think it is worth underscoring what you said, the focus here is not just simply looking at mass shootings, of the kind that just happened in California -

CHEN: That's right.

SESAY: -- you're looking at gun violence as a whole.

CHEN: Absolutely. 89 people a day are dying from gun violence in this country. Two-thirds of those are from suicide. There are so many people who are being harmed, families that are being harmed and we need answers.

SESAY: How much buy-in do you have from law enforcement for the lifting of the ban on research?

CHEN: There's a lot of -- there's a lot of outcry among - certainly among the medical and public health community. I think a lot of people in this country who don't even know this ban is in effect. Most people I have talked to they say wait. What? We can't do research on gun violence? That doesn't make sense. So the more we have been talking to people, the more people have realized wow, this is a ban that makes no sense for this country. We need to lift it now. We need to fund the research that's going to save lives.

SESAY: How optimistic are you that the ban will be lifted?

CHEN: I am optimistic. Congress has an opportunity right now to lift the ban. If they don't do it now, they have an opportunity at any moment that they could lift this ban. We are seeing an increasing outcry among so many people who are saying this is not an issue of right versus left, of Republicans versus Democrats. These are questions everyone wants answers to. Every time we hear stories of another shooting, one of the first questions all of us asks is, how did this happen and how we prevent it. That is exactly what we are trying to get done.

SESAY: Dr. Chen we appreciate your efforts and you just joining us here to discuss them. Thank you so much for speaking to us.

CHEN: Thank you so much for having me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well our breaking news coverage of the attack in San Bernardino, California, continues. Up next, we will take you inside one of the emergency rooms where patients were brought after the mass shooting.

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[00:50]

SESAY: You are watching CNN's breaking coverage of a mass shooting at a conference center here in California. I'm Isha Sesay in Los Angeles.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause in San Bernardino. Robert Adams was planning his daughter's first ever trip to Disneyland but now they won't be going. He is one of 14 people killed here in San Bernardino in that shooting spree. Many of the dead were county employees preparing to attend a holiday party. On Thursday the Coroner's Office released the names of all of the victims, and just a few hours ago, hundreds gathered for a candle light vigil at a stadium in San Bernardino to honor all of them.

Along with the dead 21 people were wounded in the brutal attack and they were rushed to nearby hospitals. Six were taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. The doctors and the nurses had just moments to prepare. CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, spoke to some of the medical team about what they faced.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You are looking inside one of the emergency rooms where patients were brought after the mass shooting that rocked Southern California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have ten operating rooms ready to go and radiology was ready. Everyone was ready. GUPTA: So here's where things took place, we're in the emergency room

at the Arrowhead Medical Center. Here's where the calls came in. They had about 30 minutes before the patients would start to arrive. Behind these doors are the trauma bays. Take a look at what it looks like now and compare it to what it looked like yesterday.

For every patient brought in, there were four or five doctors prepared to treat the wounded.

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GUPTA: If you are looking at one of these bays, what does it look like as you are waiting for patients to come in?

DR. KONA SENG, ARROWHEAD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: Essentially we had a senior ER resident at the head, with the attending anesthesiologist. We had an attending trauma surgeon at the foot running the show; and we had a junior ER resident doing primary survey, disrobing patients and checking for injuries.

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GUPTA: Dr. Kona Seng was the ER doctor in charge.

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GUPTA: How much information do you have before the patients come through the doors?

SENG: Very little, to be honest. Essentially, I was given reports of patient injuries, as far as location, where they were shot and mental status. That was basically all we had as they hit our doors. We had to sort of prepare for a larger influx of patients that we normally would; so things that you wouldn't normally think of, calling blood bank for blood, getting enough blankets and getting enough iv fluids, that sort of things.

GUPTA: Dr. Dev Gnanadev is the Chief Of Surgery who, along with Dr. Seng, spoke exclusively to CNN, describing how they had to manage the worst mass shootings these doctors have ever seen.

DR. DEV GNANADEV, CHIEF OF SURGERY, ARROWHEAD REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: We made decision to send one patient straight to the operating room; two patients to the CT Scan and one had to wait.

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GUPTA: And it's the waiting, the not knowing, that's the toughest part for any medical team.

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GUPTA: What do you worry about the most in these types of situations?

GNANADEV: That your resources get stressed so much that you might not be able to provide care to all the people who come and you have to decide who goes first, who goes second, who goes third; and sometimes you have to decide who is -- whose care is futile so don't waste a lot of time and resources. That will be the most difficult thing you can decide in mass casualties.

[00:55] GUPTA: That's something you probably think about over and over again.

GNANADEV: Absolutely because in my mind God should be the one who decides that, rather than you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: Whoever made the decision, all six people treated here are expected to survive, and do well.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, San Bernardino County, California

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And, Isha, we should also make the point here that many of those hospitals were actually on lockdown at the time. So inside the victims were treated; outside the relatives were trying to get in to find out the condition of their loved ones. It was a horrific day.

SESAY: Yes, it was a horrific day; and just the circumstances. It's awful anyway, a mass shooting of this nature, but to have it at a Christmas party where people were celebrating; you know we hear these descriptions of decorations on the table; a Christmas tree lying on its side, terrible images to contemplate.

You are watching CNN's breaking news coverage of a shooting massacre here in California. I'm Isha Sesay in Los Angeles.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause live in San Bernardino, California; and we'll be back with much more after a short break. You are watching "CNN", live around the world.

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