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Multiple People Stabbed at Sacramento Rally; New Poll Shows Clinton Taking 12-Point Lead. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired June 26, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:02] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Chris Harvey, maybe you can help us understand what happened here.
CHRIS HARVEY, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, SACRAMENTO FIRE DEPT: So the first call we got today was a little bit before noon. My understanding there was a rally planned at the California state capitol, a KKK rally and some other right wing extremists had planned to hold a rally here. They were met by a large number of counter protestors. And then we had quite a large fight and a number of smaller fights. That broke out from that.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. Now we understand at least five people stabbed and being treated or at least transported to hospitals?
HARVEY: That's correct. Our department transported five patients that met critical trauma criteria. Meaning they had stab wounds or injuries serious enough that they need to be transported to a trauma center and that number five is what causes us to call the mass casualty incident. That adds some additional resources to the call. It also lets area hospitals know that they're going to be receiving a large number of patients with critical injuries.
WHITFIELD: Do you know whether this was an organized, permitted rally?
HARVEY: At this time, I'm not sure. We do have a large number of CHP officers here as well as Sacramento Police Department officers on scene. It's unclear at this time how much of this was planned and how much of it was sort of a sudden reaction to what was going on here.
WHITFIELD: I only ask because if it's a permitted rally, then that would also mean if there would be already some sort of security reinforcements just in case because you had a potentially large gathering of people. Do you at least know whether this was a rally that also was accompanied by some kind of security presence, if that would help, you know, explain whether there was a quick response to these stabbings?
HARVEY: Well, our response to the injuries came, you know, through 911 requests. But it's pretty obvious from the amount of law enforcement here that they were aware that this was a planned event. The CHP is the agency that handles the law enforcement for the state capitol grounds, California Highway Patrol, they have a number of mounted officers here. Clearly they were anticipating something. Because they have from where I'm sitting now, I can see at least 25 mounted officers as well as a number of Sacramento Police Department personnel in riot gear. So they were clearly anticipating something.
WHITFIELD: OK. So while people have been transported, have there been any arrests that you can tell?
HARVEY: The last bit of information that I received from the Sacramento Police Department is that they did not have any arrests that were being made at this time. I do know that the state capitol grounds here has a large amount of surveillance cameras. I also saw some officers that had go-pro type of video cameras. I'm sure they're going to be looking through the footage that they have to see if they can identify some of the folks that maybe responsible for some of these injuries.
WHITFIELD: I realized a lot of review has to take place, you just explained that but when we look at this video and we're also seeing people were running with, what appears to be sticks or bats or something. Can you kind of fill in the blanks for us on that? Do you know anything what that was all about?
HARVEY: I haven't seen the video clip that you're describing. I got on scene here pretty quickly after the first initial calls of the stabbing came in. I did see a lot of folks that were carrying what appeared to be large sticks, some of them had banners on them. I didn't see anything like a baseball bat. But I did see a large number of people that were heading towards the incident, even as it was happening, almost as if they were rushing to get into the malay or at least see what was going on.
WHITFIELD: All right. All very unsettling. Chris Harvey of the Sacramento Fire Department, PIO. Thank you so much. Keep us posted.
Now onto politics this hour. Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is expected to deliver a keynote speech at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. More than 200 mayors from nearly every major city in the country have turned out for this event in Indianapolis. We'll take you there live to hear her comments when it begins.
Meantime, Donald Trump is narrowing the focus on his proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S., tweeting this, "we must suspend immigration from regions linked with terrorism until a proven vetting method is in place." Clarification coming as Trump wrapped up a trip to Scotland where he visited the opening of his golf course there. He was also there during the bombshell Brexit results.
Now the Clinton campaign is using the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland as fodder for new attack ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFED MALE: Global markets are plummeting.
UNIDENTIFED MALE: Every president is tested by world events. But Donald Trump thinks about how his golf resort can profit from them. [16:05:02]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When the pound goes down, more people are coming to (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stocks tank around the world.
TRUMP: Brand-new sprinkler system, the highest level.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's taking about his new sprinkler system.
UNIDENTIFED MALE: In a volatile world, the last thing we need is a volatile president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Let's talk about this more with CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord who is a Donald Trump supporter and Matthew Lipman, a democratic strategic, was a senior advisor to Obama during his 2008 campaign.
All right. Jeffrey, you first, what's going on? Explain what Donald Trump means. Has he evolved in the whole issue about banning Muslims from entering the U.S., or is it certain Muslims, what is it?
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think he's saying pretty much the same thing he's always been saying. To be perfectly candid, this sounds very much like President Carter banning Iranians in 1980 during the hostage crisis, in which he removed the visas or would not issue any more visas and deported a number of Iranians who were here in the country. What he's talking is quite clearly keeping people from terrorist regions of the world from coming in here until we have a better system --
WHITFIELD: What will that mean? What are terrorist regions?
LORD: Well, number one, we had -- with the San Bernardino shooting, we had somebody come in this country who was I believe born in Pakistan and spent quite a bit of time in Saudi Arabia --
Came in here --
WHITFIELD: That was the young lady whereas the young man was American born.
LORD: I understand but what he's talking about here at the moment is people who come into the country. She came into the country, they never even bothered to check her social media postings in which she said she was coming here to commit jihad. So the system clearly isn't working. We keep having people being murdered here. That's inexcusable.
WHITFIELD: So Matthew, former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich told the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" weighing in on Donald Trump, his strategy, his campaign saying quote, "I suspect that after the Brexit result, Hillary Clinton must be pretty darn worried. There must be a title wave of anti-establishment sentiment growing." While Donald Trump was in Scotland, he also used that Brexit, you know, moment to his advantage to a certain degree. You know, there are some Republicans who were turned off by what he did, but it's Newt Gingrich who says it should be Hillary Clinton who ought to be nervous.
MATTHEW LITTMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: So let's just be clear. About a week ago when Trump was asked about Brexit, he said, "huh, what?" He didn't even know what it was a week ago. So I don't think that people are going to feel better about Donald Trump and his leadership style as it relates to Brexit based on Trump's comments from the last week.
Whereas Hillary has been Hillary. She knows all the players. She's very respected around the world and Trump is not. We know that. Let's just talk for one second, Fredricka, about the polls that just came out, Hillary up now by double digits.
WHITFIELD: Twelve points now.
LITTMAN: And the Bernie people, we thought that might take a little while. They're moving faster to Hillary than were even expected. So from the Trump perspective, I don't know where Trump goes. I think what we're going to see is a lot of people in the Republican Party moving away from him and trying to block his nomination next month.
WHITFIELD: We're already seeing there are some Republicans who are moving away from -- you've got George Will who says he's willing to leave the whole party as a result of Donald Trump. You got (INAUDIBLE), Jeffrey, saying he's actually going to vote for Hillary Clinton. So there is a problem, is it not, even though I know you just said Donald Trump has been saying the same thing as it relates to Muslims. But there are many people -- he is evolving, he's changing his language, but it is costing him support. You have to agree with that, right?
LORD: Where he is costing support and I certainly have respect to George Will. But I have to say, this is the establishment vacating the field. If there was any message out of Brexit, Matthew was talking about Hillary Clinton. She knows all the players. Yes, she knew ail the players and she got the result exactly wrong. She was totally on the wrong side of this. So that's the problem here. Is that they know all the people. they're an "in" club basically. It's an establishment club. They make all these decisions, they talk to one another, they live in a bubble and they keep getting events wrong.
WHITFIELD: But is it an issue of making predictions or is it how you respond when things happen?
LORD: Well, Benghazi, exhibit A of how she replied. Figuratively speaking, she was asleep when the phone call came.
LITTMAN: That's very figurative. Jeffrey, we're giving examples here. Trump is down by double digits in the polls, but you're saying it's just the establishment Republicans who are turning against him. That's not true. We're talking about huge deficits with Americans now. Mitt Romney was even in the polls at this stage. Donald Trump, the Republican Party is moving away from Donald Trump.
And as you could see his fund raising has not been that good at all. Maybe a little bit better this month but what you're going to see, who's showing up at the Republican convention? You ask members of Congress, they don't want to go. No one wants to be -- "Jeffrey, I have a recommendation, Trump's VP should be Jeffrey Lord."
[16:10:08]
WHITFIELD: Jeffrey, would you say yes?
LORD: Oh, absolutely. My phone hasn't rung, so.
WHITFIELD: Well, is fundraising or the lack thereof a big problem though, Jeffrey?
LORD: Is what I'm sorry.
WHITFIELD: Fundraising or lack thereof as it pertains to Donald Trump.
LORD: Donald Trump is going to do what he needs to do to win. I don't have any problem with that. I mean it makes me a little concerned there now that I know what was happening beforehand with what they raised. But they very quickly corrected course.
I want to add, one thing about the polls. In July of 1988, Michael Dukakis was ahead of George H.W. Bush, then vice president by 17 points in the Gallup poll and we all remember President Dukakis.
LITTMAN: You already know, Jeffrey, you're absolutely right (INAUDIBLE) 30 years for that reference. But in more recent polling, what the polls are showing for example, (INAUDIBLE) you can't tell me that it's good that Donald Trump is down by 12 points in the polls. Of course it's not. Most people thought that Trump --
LORD: I'm saying these polls don't mean anything.
LITTMAN: They mean a lot.
WHITFIELD: Well, they seem to mean something when Donald Trump is winning because he refers to them often.
LORD: Like I'm saying, it's an objective fact, when we get closer, fall, you know, September, October, November, that's when they'll start to matter. Point of fact, it's not the national polls as much as the state-by-state polls that will matter. Because that is in the end how we elect a president.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jeffrey Lord --
LITTMAN: Hillary is winning in those polls as well by 4.5 points in the battleground states.
WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it right there. Matthew Littman, Jeffrey Lord, good to see you. Thank you so much. We'll talk again. All right. Coming up, from Seattle to New York, millions of Americans
are marching through their cities to celebrate gay pride today. Plus, new details coming from the officers responding to the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando two weeks ago. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: We're following breaking news out of Sacramento, California, there, the capitol, reports of stabbings taking place at a rally. Still unclear what is at issue, what the rally was all about.
[16:15:09]
You can see in the images here, there were a lot of people there. You also saw in earlier images people running. Bottom line when I spoke with the Sacramento Fire Department PIO, he said five people have been stabbed. Many transported to local hospitals. Some even in critical condition. This is a mass casualty incident. That's how the fire department and police are responding to it.
People are being triaged right there on the scene. You can see these images of people running with what appeared to be sticks or bats or some sort of baton. But even the PIO was unclear about what that was all about. We're still trying to work some details. We're keeping a close watch on that very frightening situation there in Sacramento, California.
Meantime, millions of people across the country are also taking to the streets, but they are there to celebrate gay pride and honor the victims of the Orlando shooting. In fact, Hillary Clinton marched in the New York City pride parade today, shaking hands with supporters along the way there. Then in Chicago, the theme was solidarity through pride with 160 floats taking part in the event. Chicago Police say they have increased their presence this year. And also have brought in private security to help keep an eye on the event.
So security is just as tight in New York City where police estimated that two million people have been attending the parade. CNN's Chris Welch is there. Chris, very exciting event there. I know it's going to be hard to hear me. But go ahead, what's happening?
CHRIS WELCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is exciting, Fred. Obviously with the events in Orlando, there were folks who tried to navigate the dichotomy between whether they could come out and celebrate and party or whether this should be more about respecting those 49 people whose lives were lost. This really has been a mix. There was a moment of silence at the beginning of the parade here in New York City for those 49 victims. Obviously nothing silent about what's happening behind me now. Last year's parade, there were about 1.6 million spectators. As you mentioned, the mayor, the police chief expecting more this year.
NYPD, we spoke to the chief of the department a short time ago, he told us they had about 20 to 25 percent more police personnel out on the streets. That includes plain clothed and uniformed officers. We spoke to the mayor about what today was like in the wake of Orlando. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DEBLASIO, NEW YORK: I think it is act of defiance on one level to come out and say, we stand by our values, inclusion, and love and tolerance. And we're standing up loud and proud (INAUDIBLE). So I do think there's a somber feeling obviously, and there's pain over what happened in Orlando. But the answer is not to run and hide, the answer is to stand up boldly and that's what New York City's doing today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WELCH: And this parade here will continue for several more hours. We've just been told by one of the organizers that we're not even halfway there. So this will go well into the evening but obviously spectators here lining the streets, they're telling us today is about love and acceptance and love is love really. That's the message they want the world to hear.
WHITFIELD: Chris Welch, thank you so much there in New York.
Meantime, new information now coming from the first responders to the Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando two weeks ago. The Orange County sheriff's office releasing a 21-page report from the officers describing the initial moments of terror. CNN's Nick Valencia combed through the documents and has much more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first police report of shots fired came two minutes after 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, june 12th. At 2:05, reports released by the Orange County Sheriff's office described an all-out assault. Deputy Mark Rutkoski writes, "following a barrage of gunfire, I obtained a stretcher and responded to the south side of the building." He assists the victim while the active shooter continues firing within the Pulse nightclub.
Deputy Keith Vidler is on the scene by 2:08. He immediately seized three to four bodies lying in the parking lot. Another officer Gustavo Pizzarello writes in his report, "I observed individuals running out of the club covered in blood, with gunshot wounds and many more in the parking lot, also with gunshot wounds."
As more survivors pour out from the nightclub, officers try to get information about the shooter inside, but are unable. Responding deputies describe a state of panic.
In the 21 pages of police narratives released to the media, the reports detail the chaos. Many of the victims had gunshot wounds and some who had been carried over appeared to be dead.
Deputy Raymond Torrellas writes "he and other officers begin to search victims extracted from the club, separating them by their level of injuries. There were also concerns of possible improvised explosive devices outside the Pulse nightclub. [16:20:05]
Just after 2:30 Deputy Johnerick Sanchez writes about going inside the club while the gunman is still in there. He begins evacuating victims from bathrooms and a dressing room, located on the west side of the club.
Just before 3:00 a.m., officers have already established a perimeter and wait for the SWAT team to complete their entry. By 5:00 a.m., police breached the walls and the attack is over, three hours after it began. In the wake of the shooting, police are surrounded by the carnage of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA: And from those first hand accounts, of those first responders, we get a better sense of just how chilling it was there inside that nightclub and outside. In all, the event lasted three hours and 13 minutes. At the end of it, 49 people would be killed. 53 others injured, a handful of those remain hospitalized. Since this attack, since we got back from Orlando, I've been keeping in touch with a lot of people that either survived the shooting or injured in the shooting, they just really want to move on from it. But having experienced things like that is just reliving that nightmare all over again. It's got to be the same for the first responders.
WHITFIELD: It's a horrible situation. All right. Thank you so much. Nick Valencia, appreciate it.
More than 200 mayors from nearly every major city in the country have gathered in Indianapolis today. At any moment, Hillary Clinton will be delivering the keynote speech. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders promises he's not going anywhere. But he does have a message for the Clinton campaign when it comes to courting his supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think right now what we are doing is trying to say to the Clinton campaign, stand up, be bolder than you have been, and then many of those voters in fact may come on board.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:25:25]
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're following breaking news out of California. Multiple stabbings at rally in Sacramento. Five people have been transported to local hospitals, some in critical condition. The fire department says this is a mass casualty incident and they are triaging patients right now.
In fact, this is video of the rally showing people interrupting during the altercation. People chasing each other with large sticks, attempting to hit one another, from what can be seen there. This is more of what we now right now. A group known as the traditionalist party was holding a rally at the state capitol. They call themselves White nationalists.
And according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, it is a hate group. An anti-fascist group was there trying to counteract the speeches when the clashes broke out. You can see people in the video that are bleeding and some are actually being treated for their wounds. We'll keep you posted as we get more information about all that transpired there.
And now live images we want to show you at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis where candidate Hillary Clinton is set to deliver the keynote speech at any moment. More than 200 mayors from nearly every major city in the nation are in attendance.
There's growing concern among democrats who are urging the Clinton campaign to not take any votes for granted. So far, the campaign has focused much of its energy on key battleground states, all but ignoring the states democrats have carried for decades. But political strategists say despite sliding poll numbers, it is a dangerous idea to under estimate Donald Trump and the amount of supporters that he is able to drum up.
I'm joined now by Republican strategist Brian Morgenstern and political analyst Ellis Henican. Good to see both of you. So the Clinton campaign, perhaps there encouraged by this 12-point now lead she has over Donald Trump, according to "Washington Post"/ABC News" polling. At the same time, the message being sent, Ellis, that the Clinton campaign can't take anything for granted. Why?
ELLIS HENICAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, duh. That's politics 101, right?
WHITFIELD: I like that.
HENICAN: Stuff happens. It's a long way until November. I mean, I don't think we're quite anywhere near panic. She's up 12 points in the new "Washington Post" poll, the battleground states look even better. Donald Trump can't stop beating himself over the head. So while it is always good to be cautious, I don't think we need to get too nervous yet.
WHITFIELD: OK. So Brian, the same can be said then for the Donald Trump campaign. They can't take anything for granted. He's enjoyed a lead for a very long time. He gets a lot of attention and has been getting a whole lot of attention after the Brexit vote. But what do you see happening in the background for the Donald Trump campaign in terms of strategy, reorganizing, any worry?
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Sure, it's never a good day for a campaign to have negative poll numbers come out. But it looks like, you know, going step by step, kind of reorganizing and targeting things for the general, getting Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager, and sort of setting up the new leadership team.
Look, Trump throughout this campaign seems to be wanting to turn the midwest bright red and make, you know, these sort of -- the mid western voters who may be traditionally are sort of union guys, who are sort of blue dog democrat types, he wants to flip them into the Republican's camp. That seems to be what he's going to spend his time doing over the next few months. He's got some work to do, obviously. That poll came out. There was a "Wall Street Journal" poll that had things a little closer, maybe four or five points. He's still losing, but closer. It's just a matter of building, building, building that coalition into the fall and see if he can do it.
WHITFIELD: And so Ellis, you know, the presumptive candidates, you know, their conventions right around the corner. A great focus on the conventions. At the same time, they can't lose sight of all the work that has to be done come November. What do you suppose Hillary Clinton's camp is trying to focus on most?
HENICAN: Well, they're doing a couple of things. First of all, they're honing their message and focusing in as much as possible on those middle class anxieties that frankly, Donald Trump has had some success playing to. But also, this maybe the biggest contrast of all, they're running a campaign.
[16:30:00] I mean, they've got people in all the battle ground states. They're targeting messages, they're responding quickly, and they're using ridicule as a tool something that most of the Republican opponents of Donald Trump were not able to do. Just, you know what just make fun of the guy. Make him out to be unfit to be president. That really has resounded more than -- than any actual issues I think.
WHITFIELD: Or, Brian just say nothing in that, you know, she's allowed a campaign ad to say something. But for the most part, she hasn't said very much about Donald Trump. He has kind of been, you know, dominating the airwaves and it hasn't always been very flattering.
MORGENSTERN: Yes, well look what happens...
WHITFIELD: ...in recent days, since Thursday.
MORGENSTERN: Right. Yes, but -- and so, you know, part of her strategy might be kind of hoping the guy self-destructs. But -- but look at what happened in the Republican Primary to everybody who came after Trump. So you have to believe that heading into this general election, the Clinton camp is thinking, my God, how do we go after this guy without, you know, then having the earth-scorched right back at us. So, you know...
(LAUGHTER)
MORGENSTERN: they're -- I'm sure they're taking some sort of measured steps and dip in their toe in the water there in terms of how they're going to criticize him embracing for the backlash of course, because they don't want to wind up just like his 16 opponents who, you know, were put by the wayside in that primary.
WHITFIELD: All right, earth-scorching moments, dull moments, that's why I love you guys...
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Brian, Ellis, thank you so much.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good to see you...
WHITFIELD: All right, take care. All right, coming up next, more on that breaking news out of Sacramento, a frightening moment there. You see the images there, people running with sticks. But even more frightening is that there are a number of people who have stabbed at a rally. We'll talk about that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, hello again and thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield of Breaking News out of Sacramento, California. Multiple stabbings at a rally there, five people have been transported to local hospitals. Some are in critical condition. The fire department says this is a mass casualty incident and its triaging patients right now.
[16:35:00] In fact, you're looking at a video of people at the rally who were running, some carrying what appear to be batons or sticks or maybe even baseball bats, people chasing each other. And you're also seeing images of people who are being treated with injuries.
This is what we know thus far about this rally. A group known as the Traditionalist Worker Party was holding a rally at the state capitol. And apparently, this is a group that calls itself a White Nationalist group. And according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, it is a hate group an anti-factious group was there also trying to counteract the speeches when these clashes broke out reportedly.
You can see the video of people who are bleeding. You see right there on the lower left part of the screen people appear to be treated there on the ground. Moments ago, we spoke with Chris Harvey, the public information officer for the Sacramento Fire Department and this is what he had to say.
HARVEY: So, the first call we got today was a little bit before noon. My understanding was, there was a rally planned at the California State Capitol, a KKK rally and some other right wing extremists -- extremist had planned to hold a rally here.
And they were met by a large number of counter protestors. And then we had quite a large fight and smaller fights that broke out from that. Fire department transported five patients that met critical trauma criteria, meaning they had, you know, stab wounds or injuries that were serious enough that they needed to be transported to a trauma center.
And then that number five is what causes us to call what's called the mass casualty incident that add some additional resources to the call. It also lets area hospitals know that they're going to be receiving a large number of patients with critical injuries.
WHITFIELD: All right, horrible situation. So, again five people being treated with injuries, stab wounds, transported to hospitals. You're looking at these images of what was a rally taking place at the State Capitol there in California, Sacramento and something happened, potentially the clashing groups.
And next thing you know, people were being stabbed. You also see in the images people running with sticks or batons or bats of that sort. Still unclear what kind of exchange of words, what precipitated the stabbing and what is the severity of the stabbing? We do understand from the PIO that some are actually in critical condition at the hospital, still unclear whether this was a permitted rally.
But when I did talk to the PIO, he said there was security in the general vicinity. It may have been known that there was going to be this rally. But still trying to work out the pieces of what happened and why things evolved in this way. We have been hearing reportedly that the Traditionalist Worker Party was the one that was holding the initial rally.
And, now we're getting this statement from this TWP, the Traditionalist Worker Party, saying the "Traditionalist Worker Party is America's first political party created by and for working families. Our mission is defending faith, family, and folk." This is the mission statement rather as opposed to a real response coming from what took place here.
But the Southern Poverty Law Center does categorize that group as a hate group. And let's talk more about what happened, how police, how law enforcement will respond to this kind of incident, CNN, analyst Art Roderick with us on the phone.
So Art, from what you know about this incident that -- that it was a planned rally still not sure whether it was permitted planned rally -- a planned rally involving this group that is considered a hate group, by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It was another group to counteract the message...
ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ...by this reported hate group. Tell me about how law enforcement responds to something like this when this kind of thing unfolds.
RODERICK: Well, it seems to me that they were probably -- one of them must have had a permit, I would assume here, because these are -- looks like fairly -- two fairly large groups. Generally, law enforcement tries to keep these two opposing groups apart from one another. It looks like they got a little too close and some words were exchanged.
And I'm seeing the individuals running around here with batons and the fire department already call up -- come out and called this a mass casualty event. So, it looks like they're doing triage right there on the scene. And it looks to me like it's a little bit of organized chaos.
But, it sounds like they've got this pretty much under control at this point. You know, law enforcement responds in mass to these types of events. And -- so you got both the fire department and the police department responding calling this already a mass casualty event.
And, you know, presumably, a law enforcement would break up down this gathering, even if it were permitted.
RODERICK: Right.
[16:40:00] WHITFIELD: When something like this unfolds, that means that the rally is now officially over but there -- but there, in lies another potential problem, right? Because while everyone these opposing groups may no longer be gathered in one place, they do have to disburse, and that still could be a potential problem for law enforcement to try to -- try to prevent, try to, you know, protect...
RODERICK: Right.
WHITFIELD: ...at all.
RODERICK: Right. Well, but not only that Fred, by also, you know, they're going to make some arrests here. Luckily they've got video and I'm sure a lot of these buildings in that area also have video. So, they'll be looking for a lot of the cell phone video to try to identify who -- who committed the stabbings and the assaults -- the assault charges that will come out of all this.
WHITFIELD: Right. When I talked to the PIO, he said no arrests right now. But as you...
RODERICK: Right.
WHITFIELD: ...say, you know, after looking at videotape, that maybe coming later. Now, what do you know of anything about this Traditionalist Worker Group?
RODERICK: I have heard of them...
WHITFIELD: ...or party.
RODERICK: ...but, I don't know that much about them. But just looking at some of the -- the language that they have on their website, you could -- you could see where there would be some issues here. I am just very surprised that if both these groups were permitted to hold these protests that the -- that they let them get this close to each other. Generally, they keep them apart and actually sometimes put them in completely different areas. So, there is no contact...
WHITFIELD: Yes, we still don't know. I mean it could be the case that one group was permitted.
RODERICK: Right.
WHITFIELD: The other group came, maybe didn't even, you know, advertise that they were there. Wouldn't that be a real difficult situation predicament for law enforcement to be able to identify who is who, who's representing what, until something of this magnitude were to happen.
RODERICK: Exactly. I mean, the video that you're showing right now on CNN, is obviously going to be a big help. They'll try to identify all these individuals. You see a couple of them running around with poles and sticks and batons.
They'll identify each and every one of these individuals, and then whatever charges will come out of it, you know, we'll be hearing very shortly if there are any arrests. But it might take them a couple of days to go through all this different video.
That they'll collect not only from cell phones but also from buildings in the area that have security camera setup.
WHITFIELD: And those security cameras, what in your view will be analyzed? I mean the obvious of people who may, you know, be partaking in, you know, cutting, slashing, hitting with batons but what else do you look for?
RODERICK: I mean they're going to look for any potential crime that occurred while this protest was going on. Who initiated it, you know, what were the outcomes and they are going to be looking for specifically individuals that, you know, were involved in these stabbings.
Then you also got -- I mean, I'm just watching this video and you got multiple assaults going on here with the individuals that are carrying the batons. So -- and you see these mass individuals. So, once they get a couple of these individuals in custody, they'll probably identify the rest.
WHITFIELD: All right, Art Roderick, thank you so much.
RODERICK: Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: Again, we're going to continue to follow all that's unfolding there in Sacramento, very unsettling situation, very volatile, dangerous and pretty sad. All right, we'll have much more right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:00] WHITFIELD: All right, following Breaking News right now out of Sacramento, California multiple stabbing is taking place at a rally unfolding. Five people have been transported to local hospitals and we've just been told the injuries are not life-threatening.
This is video however of the rally showing people running during this, you know, altercation. People chasing each other with large sticks, perhaps batons, bats still unclear. And you see people running away. Let's listen in to what this woman has to say.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're not afraid to get down there. The first man who appeared that you guys all have attacked over there, and then, you know, every time it seemed like there was a sign of anyone who may have been Nazi, the crowds would just run. And that was just part of the plan?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, you know, it's important for anyone who's thinking about joining racist genocide and a racist genocide recommendation like the Nazi who are holding this. But they are not welcome and if they trip and fall in the process of that, good. They need to go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...then we succeeded in driving them off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It seems like you're very happy with the overall come out. Is there anything you might have changed, I mean five people, remotely hurt at least five did get stabbed, part of the counter-protest group, which would be your side.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we are really glad to say that the people who are injured did not sustain life-threatening injuries. And we do have people who are, you know, making sure that they're getting taken care of. And that they have people who are taking care of them. But this mean, though -- but, I'm not -- I feel like all of us, from that, all it did was fuel our determination to keep this movement going and fight even harder, which is what we did after that.
The Nazis, a couple of them, tried to come out on the steps for 20 seconds and they were driven out and were said to be scurrying back into the building and then they have to cancel the entire event. And so, you know, this is -- but that's why the Nazis are dangerous and that's why we need to take them on directly. Take them on head-on. Confront them but with as many people as possible, prepared to shut them down. And that is what this demonstration did today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see you're fighting. I've seen you leading the chants. I've seen you getting fury by talking about then, it seems like this was a whirlwind of emotions for you. What does it mean to you that this was successful (ph) that you've accomplish what -- would that be your goal?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I am very, very proud of everyone who came out for this protest today because this wasn't just a protest for the sake of protesting or for the record. We've got to build a movement in this nation.
Everything is polarizing in this country and around the world, especially in terms of racist attacks on immigrants and the scapegoating of immigrants in this country, especially Latina and Latino and Mexican immigrants, women immigrant myself from the Philippines.
But we have people here of all races -- Latina, Latino, Filipino, Asian, Arab, White, anti-racist, white people, LGBT people, people who are receptive (ph) standing together saying we will not accept or allow racist genocide organizing to take place on the front steps of the Capitol of California.
And we would do it again. And I am really, really glad that we did that and we'd do it again. And we are jumping (ph) people to join us next time. So more people who will come, the more we can defeat them in the future.
[16:50:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For anyone who may criticize the militant tactics or the violence, what would you say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I say it's self-defense and it is what we have to do because if we ignore them and allow them to just hold their rallies, they are not non-viding (ph). They are organizing to attack and kill us. So we have a right to self-defense. We have an obligation to that. And that is why we have to shut them down, by any means necessary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...I don't know if you answered this already, but some people were upset because they felt like the capitol was protecting the Nazi group. What do you say about that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I mean that was absolutely outrageous and scandalous that the cops run out -- they never should have gotten a permit to begin with and that the police were out here protecting them.
One of our main chance as cops claim (ph) hand-and-hand because we know in the end, the police are out here to back them up. That's ridiculous. At the same time, I have to say that that did not stop us from achieving our goal which was to shut them down, which we did anyway.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell us about your injury?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's, you know, it looks worse than it is. It's actually pretty dramatic, I'm sorry, just because, you know, head injuries have a lot of blood. I'm fine. And I do want -- I don't want people to feel, you know, put off by that or afraid of that, because in the end, they came out of this in worse shape than us. Not just physically, but politically they lost. The Nazis did not recruit anyone here today. And our side did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened here today with you in contrary...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, there is -- there is a -- we shut down the Nazis and in the process of that, you know, they attacked us. But they were not successful in doing that on balance overall. And the people who are injured, we're really very glad they did not sustain any life-threatening injuries. And they came out of this in worse shape than our side.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly what happened to you that you were guys on the ground punched over that...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, there was a lot going on at the time and so, you know, but I'm -- I'm okay. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May I have your name please?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...have you gone to the doctor?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'm going to be checked out and everything but I'm -- like I said, head injuries look worse than they -- they do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you want to tell people that felt like they have a lot of bad words and kind of violence from both sides here today that's the police are saying?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, racist genocide, the Nazis, has to be stopped by any means necessary. And the mass militant action of an integrated group of people that mobilize that here today, they are organized to shut them today. Other people came out to shut them down, we succeeded in doing that.
And in the end, that's going to stop and prevent more violence by the racists against our communities especially to defend the rights of immigrant community Latina, Latino, Asian immigrant community, Arab people in this country and that's what we have to do to stop them from taking violent action against us. We'll do it again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And who are stubbed here today, was it the Nazis or was it the other side?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are people at our side who are stabbed by the Nazis. They clearly are not here to just speak and talk. They are here to attack us. They are dangerous and they need to be stopped and that's why we're mobilizing this action to shut them down.
WHITFIELD: All right, you hear this woman right here and even though despite her head injury there, she says, the goal was to stop the racist genocide. This was a planned, at least according to that woman, a permitted rally by a group that is known to be a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
You're looking at new images right now. People gathered, and the woman that you just heard, she and a number of other people, said their goal was to shut them down, shut this rally that was being conducted by this hate group, this Traditionalist Worker Party, as it's known. Southern Poverty Law Center calls it a racist -- a hate group.
The woman saying there were injuries sustained. But the bottom line is she called it self-defense, that she and others would come there to help stop racist genocide, to shut them down. Many of the members of according to that eye witness -- the members of the party that were holding this rally were forced into a building consequently leading to the end of this rally.
According to Sacramento Fire, there were five people who were injured. Five people who were cut in a number of stabbing incidents taking place. They're still unclear who was conducting the stabbing. Law enforcement analyst, Art Roderick is with us.
So, Art, does your point of view of what transpired change in anyway by hearing from that injured eyewitness?
[16:55:00] RODERICK: Yes, I mean it's clear that this white nationalist rally did have a permit. And as you can see with the amount of police there they tried to take control of the situation. And this other group who didn't have -- sounds like they didn't have a permit, were there just to disrupt this rally, I think, looking at the video that you've got here currently running, there's enough information in there to ID who these individuals are.
And, you know, some arrests will be made. But this -- this is -- this is the sort of nightmare that law enforcement has to deal with because all these groups, as we've seen, you know, throughout our history, have a right to form -- to have these rallies. It really is up to law enforcement and the city to figure out if there's high enough threat not to do it because of incidents...
WHITFIELD: Okay.
RODERICK: ...just like this.
WHITFIELD: All right, Art Roderick thank you so much. Of course, we're going to continue to watch the development as a result of this rally that led to a stabbing involving a hate group and others who came out to try to silence the hate group that had the permit to conduct a rally there in Sacramento.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM with Suzanne Malveaux right after this.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: It's 5 o'clock here in Atlanta. You are live in the CNN, Newsroom. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Poppy Harlow.
