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Wolf

Officer Shot Three Times in Possible Terror Ambush; News Conference on Shooting of Officer; Shooter Says He Did It for Islamic State; Philadelphia Police Shooting. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 08, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem, 2:30 a.m. Saturday in Pyongyang, North Korea. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We start with a police officer ambushed. These are live pictures coming in right now from Philadelphia where we're awaiting a live news conference from the city's police commissioner. Here's a picture taken as the ambush happened. You can see the shooter with his hands at his pistol all the way inside the squad car. He fired 13 shots. The officer fired back before calling for help. Here is some of that call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.) Shots fired. (INAUDIBLE.) I'm bleeding heavily.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six O and Spruce.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please send me some units to six O and Irving. (INAUDIBLE.)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, we have officers in route to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Our Jason Carroll is in New York. He's watching this story. What else do we know, first of all, about the shooter, Jason?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, that dispatch audio, Wolf, is just chilling. I think the police commissioner said it best when he said a little earlier, I do not know how this officer survived. When you take a look at that picture that you see that's up on your screen, that is the suspect there. That is the man who ambushed the officer. The officer is identified as Jesse Hartnett. Apparently, this was at about 11:40 last night, Wolf. Officer Hartnett was out on patrol. And this man flagged him down --

BLITZER: All right. Hold on, Jason. Hold on for one second, because we can see the police commissioner, Richard Ross, the police commissioner of Philadelphia, getting ready to make a statement, answer reporters' questions. He's going to brief us on what we know. Let's listen in.

RICHARD ROSS, POLICE COMMISSIONER, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT (live): I'm joined here, obviously, by multiple people, the mayor you all know, Captain Clark, the SAC and ASAC from the local FBI office and some other folks here. As you know, last night about 11:40, Officer Jesse Hartnett was on patrol in uniform in a marked vehicle when he was ambushed by a male. This male fired several shots at close range striking Hartnett in the left arm three times.

Despite being seriously injured, Hartnett exited his patrol car and chased the male. He returned fire and was able to strike the male who was later apprehended by other officers. The bravery he demonstrated was absolutely remarkable. His will to live undoubtedly saved his life, and we're ever so thankful to god that he's here today, because this could have easily been a police funeral.

Officer Hartnett is presently recovering. He has some very serious injuries that will require multiple surgeries. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

The suspect in question is a 30-year-old male from Yaden (ph), and he has a Philadelphia address as well, I believe. He has committed -- he has confessed to committing this cowardly act in the name of Islam. According to him, he believes that the police defend laws that are contrary to the teachings of the Koran.

Now, at this time, if we could post up the video, I just want to show you something on this before the mayor takes the podium and outline what's going on here. So, this first video -- it's actually not even the video. It's a still shot. You can see the male in question going towards the police officer, Hartnett, already firing.

The second shot, he is literally inside that car. He's got his arm extending -- extended firing at Officer Hartnett. I'm absolutely amazed that Officer Hartnett is here with us today. This male fired at least 11 shots from the nine millimeter at close range. You can see, he begins to run away, continues to fire even as he flees away.

This shot right here is absolutely one that demonstrates his valiance and his courage and bravery. He exits his police vehicle, starts chase despite being seriously injured, returns fire. He's able to strike the male, at some point in time, and, again, his fellow officers were able to apprehend the male.

Unfortunately, I will have to tell you, in the interest of full disclosure, the weapon that this male used was a stolen police firearm. It was stolen back in October of 2013. It was reported. And that is one of the things that you absolutely regret the most when an officer's gun is stolen, that it is used against one of your own.

[13:05:14] Fortunately, again, officer Hartnett is here with us today. We ask that everybody keep him in your prayers as his injuries are very, very serious. At this time, I'm going to turn the podium over to the mayor for his comments. And then, subsequent to that, if you have any particular comments for Captain Clark from the homicide unit.

MAYOR: Good afternoon. Our main concern, at the moment today, is the well-being and the health and the recovery and rehabilitation of Officer Hartnett. Obviously, the bravery that he displayed and his -- he and his family will get everything that he needs from our police department, from our city in an effort to recover and to be whole again.

I want to compliment homicide division, the police department for their just tremendous work, their ongoing everyday tremendous work but especially in this particular case brig -- going to bring this case to fruition. And I think it's very important that we understand how hard they work in circumstances they work under. And also, how our officers every single day are willing to do what Officer Hartnett has done to put themselves between us and the bad guys. So, that's the first part.

The second part is that in no way, shape or form does anyone in the room believe that Islam or the teaching of Islam has anything to do with what you've seen on that screen. That is abhorrent. It's just -- it's terrible and it does not represent the religion in any way, shape or form or any of its teachings.

And this is -- this is a criminal with a stolen gun who tried to kill one of our officers. It has nothing to do with being a Muslim or following the Islamic faith. So, I want to turn it back over to the commissioner for any questions you may have.

ROSS: So, I imagine you have a lot of questions. What I cannot answer, the captain will answer or perhaps someone behind me. So, we'll open it up to questions now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Commissioner, what, specifically, did this man (INAUDIBLE) say to the officer, (INAUDIBLE)?

ROSS: Captain?

CAPTAIN: We had the suspect upstairs. The homicide unit talked to him. Right away, he didn't have anything to say. But then, he stated that he pledges his allegiance to Islamic state. He follows Allah and that is the reason he was called upon to do this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) what was his --

CAPTAIN: That he just kept on echoing those sentiments and he wouldn't give us anything more than that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Captain, (INAUDIBLE) that his living quarters out there (INAUDIBLE.) There's word certainly that he travelled from Cairo several years ago. And what about the possible terrorist materials at his home?

CAPTAIN: Right. I mean, I can't comment on that. The only thing I can tell you is that the FBI, in conjunction with homicide detectives and our Homeland Security, they're executing search warrants in his property in Upper Darby and also one in southwest Philadelphia, not too far from where the shooting took place at. We'll go in and we'll see what we find. But right now, we don't have anything as of yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are (INAUDIBLE)?

CAPTAIN: Why is?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I mean, the totality of the -- of the circumstance. I mean, you had an attempted assassination on a police officer. You have this individual saying he did it because of his religious beliefs. And because of that and what's going on around the country, everybody came forward very, very quickly to find out the answers behind a lot of questions that I'm sure you guys have.

ROSS: Let me step here for one second. Let -- Vernon (ph), let me -- let me just comment on one thing. So, I need to make something clear that in any incident like this, the FBI works very closely with us anyway. I mean, I got a call this morning before we knew this information from the SAC just offering his assistance as they always do. So, I just want to be clear about that. OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) criminal records anything from out of town (INAUDIBLE) --

ROSS: Again, as the captain indicated, one things that we hope to glean from the search warrants as well as the investigation all the federal partners and our partnerships that we have is to determine whether any of those things actually exist. And we'll try to find out. We honestly do not know, at this point. We're being as forthright as we can be about what we know. And so, we know -- you know exactly what we know, at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.) This is (INAUDIBLE) with CNN. It's stunning that this guy survived this, that Officer Hartnett survived this. Was he only hit in the arm? Did he -- was he hit in his body armor as well? How many other strikes did he take or was this (INAUDIBLE)? If this is the correct individual that we're tracking, it appears he has a very extensive history, including the history of making terroristic threats. Is that part of your -- it's the same (INAUDIBLE) February 1985.

ROSS: [10:10:16] OK. So, to your first question, three gunshot wounds to the left arm is all we have. Absolutely amazing that that's all he sustained. I cannot explain how he escaped that. Nothing short of miraculous and we're thankful for that.

As far as your second question, a lot of that will be determined from this investigation. We simply do not know a lot of this. They just got this statement this morning. And so, it stands to reason that there's more known than unknown. And as we get it, we will make every attempt to let people know what's going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you think he's 30 years old or 33 years old?

ROSS: The police officer is 33 years old. I believe -- right, right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did have a criminal -- a fairly extensive criminal record, is that -- is that --

ROSS: He's got a criminal record. I mean, the extensive part is relative, I mean, from what we see from day to day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought I had heard from (INAUDIBLE) that he was actually set to be sentenced on a case out (INAUDIBLE) Monday of next week. Do you know anything about that?

ROSS: I do not. Not at this time. We will find out all that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Ross, do you have any idea how exactly he obtained this gun?

ROSS: He obtained it -- no, we do not know. We know it was stolen. How many hands it may have passed through in the last couple years, I have no way of knowing. And he did not -- he did not talk about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was reported stolen?

ROSS: It absolutely was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you talk about the circumstances surrounding with that?

ROSS: All I can say is it was a theft, a police offers gun. It was reported as it was required. And sometimes things happened and someone was disciplined for it. I will tell you honestly about that as it's our protocol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From the home?

ROSS: From the home. From the home. From his home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Commissioner, what about protections for officers in situations like this? Was he wearing a bullet-proof vest? Does the car have any elements of protection for an assault like this?

ROSS: Well, I think, one, he had the grace of god, first and foremost. But -- because I can't explain it, based on my beliefs, in any other way. But he had a will to live as I've mentioned before which is equally big. But he had on his vest. But under those circumstances, man, I can't imagine that almost anything that you could have could protect you. That is chilling, absolutely chilling when you watch that. And if that doesn't just make the hairs on your neck just raise when you see that. It's scary. That's all I can say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any indication that you have any links to anybody else in that plan for a terror attack?

ROSS: No, we don't have that indication right now. I think he was savvy enough to stop just short of implicating himself in a conspiracy with anything. Even if one exists, we don't know right now. The detectives in question did a remarkable job in even getting that from him. He doesn't appear to be a stupid individual, just an extremely violent one, obviously by his actions. And we're going to have to wait to see where the investigation takes us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know anything about his mental history?

ROSS: No, we don't. Obviously, that was one of the first thoughts that we had. It's only natural to go there when you see something do something so barbaric, that, you know, what's wrong with him? And I never want to lay the foundation for excuses later in court. But you do have thoughts like that, but we have not determined it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just so we're all -- just so we're very clear about this because this is what, of course, everybody's talking about. You have no indication, at this point, that he's part of a larger organization or know any real knowledge whether he was radicalized as a sick individual. But he has specifically -- he simply made a point that he is doing on behalf of Islam and the Islamic state. And beyond that, you don't know whether there's a connection if this individual was radicalized or just a guy, who, in his own mind, said, I'm going to do this on behalf of (INAUDIBLE)?

ROSS: We do not. And I think that was part of his savviness, if you will, in stopping just short of implicating anyone else. And I say that -- and I caution you to say, that I don't know that there is or isn't. But he seemed to know how to navigate around just enough. And so, I don't know whether that means it's because he knows not to do that or because he was just lucky. I really don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Ross, does it appear to be premeditated?

ROSS: Well, it looked like it to me. I mean, in the manner that he did it and it seemed -- he certainly was targeting police. It wasn't just targeting a motorist driving down the street. He knew who he was shooting at. And, my god, I mean, the way he's got his arm inside that vehicle, I mean, he knew what he was doing. He was trying to assassinate this police officer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what is the condition -- what is the condition of the suspect right now?

ROSS: Well, he's actually been released. So, I mean, obviously, we had him in our custody. So, I guess he's OK for now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Commissioner, (INAUDIBLE) the audio with the dispatcher -- it was terrifying listening to the officer. How did that -- was he holding the button down while he was chasing this guy down? Did he roll down the window? Did he expect -- did he suspect he was going to have him before the man started shooting? And then, what was his condition? By the end of that audio, he sounds weak and in trouble. What is his condition?

[13:15:08] ROSS: OK. Unfortunately, I'm probably going to only be able to answer your last question. The - all the rest would be mere speculation on my part. I don't know exactly how he was keying his mike or anything like that. You can clearly see his left arm is immobilized and at some point he's courageously firing back. So I - I don't know how he did it. I don't know how he escaped it, period.

With regard to his condition at the time, he had to be very weak, because he'd lost a significant amount of blood at that scene. And we all know what happens when - when that occurs. So, again, the whole culmination of thing, and everything involved in this is just - it's both confounding and astonishing that he was able to escape it like this. And I can't say enough for his bravery in how he conducted himself. I mean I really, really can't. And he really just demonstrated, I mean, a paragon of excellence when it comes to what it means to be both a police officer in terms of being a warrior and everything else when he had to be.

And -

QUESTION: How many years on the force?

ROSS: He's got five years on the force. He actually was a lateral from another department. And he - I just had a discussion with a vice president of the FOP, and everyone says that in addition to the acts of bravery that are demonstrated here, that he was a compassionate police officer in that even an individual he arrested not long ago for narcotics, he stopped and got food for that individual's son, the very person he arrested.

QUESTION: Can you - can you clarify, did he do this in the name of Islam or did he pledge allegiance to the Islamic State?

ROSS: Well, he said a lot of thing and so - I mean for us he clearly gave us some motive. And so a lot of the things that we get, we're going to try to connect via evidence we hopefully obtain. Again, he didn't say a lot beyond that, so it wasn't like laying it out completely chapter and verse for us. I mean we're left to try to say, OK, he's leaving a trail for us, where's it going to lead us, if anywhere. And so I don't have an absolute for you, but those are the things that he said, things that, you know, I told you about and the captain expounded on is what we're working with.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) - what do you know about where the suspect was earlier in the night and earlier in the day, how he got to that corner, why he was there?

ROSS: Very evasive about that. Obviously the detective asked that question. And, again, either smart as a fox or just lucky he just - he avoided all that and I think in some regards there was a method to his madness and whether he knows that or not, but it certainly came off that way, and so I don't know any of those - those answers, unfortunately.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) -

QUESTION: You've been searching a residence near the scene. Is that owned by him as well?

ROSS: I don't know who actually owns the house. We just are going to search these residences that we know he has resided or lived his head in different times. QUESTION: Can you talk about the incident like police firearms being

stolen and used in like crimes at all? I mean is this something common that happens?

ROSS: I don't think it's common. I mean, but, you know, police officers are citizens as well, and, you know, sometimes things happen, and it's unfortunate. Again, you know, in this case, man, you know, you're talking about a heavy burden on your conscious, irrespective of whether or not or how culpable you may or may not have been, but it was your firearm, and that's the bottom line.

QUESTION: Could you speak to where Officer (INAUDIBLE) shot the suspect and also how the suspect was apprehended? Because we see him running away, but how was he actually (INAUDIBLE)?

ROSS: He - he was able to strike him in his - in some part of his buttocks. Other officers responded and caught him roughly about a block away or so. And that's how that happened.

Vern (ph), you have a question?

QUESTION: Did he flag this officer down (INAUDIBLE) just comes (ph) out of nowhere?

ROSS: He just came out of nowhere and started firing on him. I mean he - he just came out of nowhere, started, really and literally, traversing towards that patrol car. I don't even know when Hartnett first noticed him. But we know that he just - you can see him from across the street. He had already started firing. So there was - was no attempt, there was no call to - in that regard. He just started firing with one aim and one aim only, is to kill him.

QUESTION: The car was parked or -

ROSS: The car was moving.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) bystanders you talked to around there (INAUDIBLE). Did they come to Hartnett's aid?

ROSS: I don't believe there was anybody else out there at that time. I didn't see anybody in the video. And some of them behind me can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall seeing that.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)?

ROSS: That's how Philly PD actually operates. I mean we have a myriad of assignments. Some of them are two-person, usually tactical or - but in our department, we've historically done that. Obviously, when these things happen, we make adjustments, but, you know, it's just one way we patrol.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)?

ROSS: Well, we changed it last night. Whenever you have an incident like this, you know, all fears are heighten, and rightfully so, and we want to allay the concerns of the men and women who wear this uniform as much as you can with the situation. I mean because this - this is a dangerous job. And I think this video, this incident just captures the essence of that. And anybody that doesn't begin to understand what men and women across this country deal with and are faced with and that you never know what that next encounter will be.

[13:20:29] QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) the video itself?

ROSS: I don't think so. It's a little too sensational. And in respect to him and his family and, to be honest with you, there is a sentiment of not - not giving this person more credence than they deserve. And - and I'm a little concerned about what some other people may see when they watch this video. I think you - you - these pictures capture the essence of what it is. You really are not missing anything, it's just motion. I mean you - you really - you're seeing the incident in its entirety. The only difference is, those figures are moving. That's the only difference. So you're not missing anything other than just sensationalizing it, and I don't really think that's necessary at this point.

QUESTION: Is there any additional surveillance today of individuals or organizations that may be associated with any kind of terrorist threat?

ROSS: I don't know. And, obviously, you know, we work in conjunction with the federal authorities and we're not necessarily the experts on that and so you'd have to ask some of them about that. And I'm sure, as good as they are, they're going to work very hard to uncovered that. If there's something to be uncovered, I have every faith in the FBI and Homeland Security in that they're going to find out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One final question.

QUESTION: Commissioner, because - because of the way this individual did this, because he's being circumspect in his questioning, it sounds as though you - you heavily doubt or doubt to some degree his (INAUDIBLE) at any sort of other (ph) nexus to terrorism, other than the (INAUDIBLE).

ROSS: Well, I would qualify that by saying that I just don't know. And I'm just hesitant to jump to conclusions one way or another. And that we have to base it on what we have. And we're going to also see where the investigation leads us. And that's what's important. And so, again, we've indicated we haven't yet to complete is search warrants. We will. And hopefully, in conjunction with the FBI's investigation, we will uncover something else, if it's even there. And so we just don't know a lot of those answers at this time.

All right.

QUESTION: He appears to be wearing Muslim clothing, is that correct? Is that your -

ROSS: I don't know whether that was Muslim clothing or not. Some folks said it may have been, but I don't even want to jump out there on that limb. I mean we've already established what he believes he did it and that's probably enough. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, we'll e-mail this - this footage, these still shots, out to everyone so that you have an opportunity to see it, as well as the officer's photo and the suspect's photo. So that will be e-mailed very shortly. But we can go through the slides one more time for some of you here that need to get that shot.

(CROSS TALK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so there you see a very, very dramatic moment, an awful moment last night. A 30-year-old suspect goes up to a police vehicle. There's an officer in the car, in the driver's seat. The police officer, Jesse Hartnett, 33 years old. The 30-year-old suspect puts his revolver, his pistol, right inside, shoots several times, at least 11 times, three wounds to the left arm of the police officer. As the suspect is escaping, remarkably that police officer gets out of the vehicle, chases, fires. Other police officers apprehend the 30-year-old suspect.

We just heard the police commissioner in Philadelphia, Richard Ross, say that the suspect later told police that he was doing this in the name of Islam. The - then police homicide captain, James Clark, went one step further. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CLARK, PHILADELPHIA POLICE HOMICIDE CAPTAIN: Right away he didn't have anything to say. But then he stated that he pledges his allegiance to Islamic State, he follows Allah, and that is the reason he was called upon to do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Pledges allegiance to the Islamic State, and follows Allah. Islamic State another name for ISIS or ISIL.

Jason Carroll is with us. He's covering this story. Our law enforcement analyst, the former FBI assistant, Tom Fuentes, is with us. Also joining us from Toronto, Mubin Shaikh. He's a former jihadist, now a counterterrorism operative.

Jason, I understand New York City Police acting very quickly in the aftermath of this suspected ISIS-related assault in Philadelphia on a police officer. What happened in Paris, France, yesterday, an assault on a police station there, apparently ISIS-related as well. New York, the NYPD, has issued a memorandum to all police officers, give us the gist of what they're telling them.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. This - this really hits close to home to New York City and its police officers. A memo going out this morning, Wolf, an internal memo, to the officers. Let me read part of it to you. It says here, "members of the service are reminded that ISIL has called for its supporters and sympathizers in the United States to carry out attacks, specifically mentioning law enforcement, military and intelligence personnel as priority targets." Basically asking officers out in the streets to use extra vigilance. [13:25:25] And, you know, when I say hitting close to home, you'll

remember, Wolf, that back in 2014, two officers on patrol in Brooklyn were ambushed by a suspect and killed. That suspect later killing himself. The motive in that particular situation was different, but two officers still lost their lives. And based on what's happened in Philadelphia, this is, again, and you heard the police commissioner, Richard Ross, mentioning this too, it's just a reminder of how dangerous the job is and how officers seem to be targets now more than ever regardless of what the motive may be.

BLITZER: Standby for a moment. Tom Fuentes is with us as well.

Tom, you listened very closely to that news conference, the police commissioner, we heard what the mayor had to say, also the police homicide captain. Is there a new effort underway right now based on these incidents for ISIS sympathizers to go after law enforcement or U.S. military personnel?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think, Wolf, it's the continuing effort. They've been continuing for more than a year to put this message out to kill law enforcement or to kill military. But one advantage for them in killing law enforcement is that they'll come to you. You don't have to go to a stadium or a train station or a bus station. You wait for a police car to come rolling by and you flag him down. The officer will lower the window or get out of the car to see what he can do to help you. And you're a sitting duck. So that's the one advantage to them to taking out police officers is, the officers are always on patrol, and they will come to you.

BLITZER: The 33-year-old police officer, Jesse Hartnett, according to the police commissioner, recovering now, he's alive, but he will face multiple surgeries. He's obviously got a long road ahead. We also learned, Tom, that the weapon was a stolen - was stolen from a - a police officer back in 2013. That raises more alarm bells.

FUENTES: Well, it does, but we don't know the circumstances yet of how that theft happened, and how it got into his hands. And as the commissioner mentioned, they don't know. They don't know how many hands it passed through to end up in the shooter's hand. But it sounds like, and what it looked like in the video is, that the officer raised his left arm and sustained all those shots at close range, possibly keeping those shots from going into his head to being fatal. So raising his arm, he sacrificed his left arm to do that, but he was able to survive the attack, radio for assistance, get out of the car and give pursuit.

Also, you know, modern police radios, when you key that microphone as a police officer, the dispatcher sees that it's you in that radio at that location. And so even if you just get a short message for help, they'll know where to send the help to.

BLITZER: Yes. But the stolen police firearm, that's always alarming.

Mubin Shaikh, you have unique perspective on what's going on now here in Philadelphia, what happened in Paris yesterday. Obviously this follows San Bernardino, the massacre in Paris earlier back in November. Is there a new intensified effort underway right now by ISIS to go out there and convince its so-called sympathizers, you got - if you can't go fight in Iraq or in Syria, do whatever you can, kill the so-called infidels wherever you are.

MUBIN SHAIKH, FORMER COUNTERTERRORISM OPERATIVE: Yes, Wolf, that's been the consistent message for at least a year. And what you're going to start to see is, you know, individuals like this come out of the woodwork, so to speak, and conduct this kind of what's called a spontaneous ambush, not to be confused with what's called an entrapment ambush where an officer is lured to a location and then attacked. And really, truly, really by the grace of God, but also you notice from the studies by the International Association for the Chiefs of Police, 70 percent survival rate if you return fire, 70 percent if you have body armor. And really it comes down to about 50 percent survival rate in both types of ambush attacks. So there's the ambush attack part, and then there's, of course, the ISIS desire to create more of these ambush attacks.

BLITZER: And the - the message - the instructions to those who are sympathetic to ISIS to go out there and kill law enforcement, where specifically is that? It that - I assume it's on social media on various websites. Is that right?

SHAIKH: Yes, this was released by Mohamed el Adnani (ph) himself, who's actually been reportedly injured in Iraq where he made these statements. Military, police, intelligence personnel, if you can. And also, of course, if you look at the perception of police in the U.S., it makes it easier for them to kind of get away with police as victims as opposed to if you were going against civilians, which maybe don't carry a negative perception in the public at the current time.

[13:29:58] BLITZER: Tom Fuentes, when the New York City, the NYPD, issues this memorandum to all police officers in New York City, and among other things says, "the New York City Police Department strongly advises all members of service to exercise a high degree of vigilance and to employ proactive safety measures at all