Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Officials: Airport Shooter Planned Attack For Some Time; Suspect Told FBI in November He was Hearing Voices; Intel Report: Putin Directly Ordered Election Meddling; 50 Million on East Coast Impacted by Severe Winter Weather; Medical Conditions of Ft. Lauderdale Wounded; Trump: DNC Bears Some Responsibility for Hacking; Golden Globes Awards Sunday Night. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 07, 2017 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:59:46] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: You are live in the CNN Newsroom on this Saturday, I'm Pamela Brown in Washington, Poppy Harlow is off today.

And we have some breaking news, a disturbing picture emerging tonight of the war veteran accused in Friday's shooting spree at the Fort Lauderdale Airport. A rampage that killed five people, injured six and sent hundreds running for their lives across the tarmac. Officials now believe he was planning the attack for some time.

Moments ago, the FBI wrapped up a press conference at a field office in Alaska. The same field office the suspect visited just months ago complaining that his mind was being controlled by a spy agency, that told him to watch ISIS videos. His family also revealing that he returned from Iraq a changed man. Talking about the destruction he saw, about the killing of children and the visions that haunted him.

So far, no motive for Friday's shooting has been ruled out that includes terrorism. And at the airport in Fort Lauderdale, planes are once again departing from the affected terminal two, although the baggage claim area where those shootings happens remains closed.

We have live team coverage. CNN's Dan Simon was at the FBI's press conference in Alaska. Boris Sanchez is in Fort Lauderdale. Dan first to you, what more are we learning? What did we learn from that press conference?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well it seems like law enforcement Pamela is taking a defensive posture here. Saying that they acted appropriately. Just a few minutes ago, we heard from the head of the FBI office, here in Anchorage, as well as the chief of the Anchorage Police Department. We learn that police here actually had encounters with the suspect some five times within the past year either for a domestic disturbance case or a physical disturbance case, each time it seemed that the suspect was let go.

They really had nothing to bring him into custody with. We also know that when the suspect Santiago came to the FBI field office, he came in by himself. Apparently at the urging of associates and friends, said he was hearing voices and this is what authorities said just a short time ago with respect to that. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARLIN L. RITZMAN, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, ANCHORAGE FIELD OFFICE: In November 2016, Mr. Santiago walked into the Anchorage FBI office to report that his mind was being controlled by U.S. Intelligence Agency. During the interview Mr. Santiago appeared agitated, incoherent and made disjointed statements.

CHIEF CHRIS TOLLEY, ANCHORAGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: FAPD was contacted by the Anchorage FBI requesting assistance with a mentally ill person having disjointed thoughts. An APD arrived on scene they were informed by investigating agents that Mr. Santiago had arrived at the FBI building asking for help. Santiago was having terroristic thoughts and believed he was being influenced by ISIS. Santiago had a loaded magazine on him but had left his firearm in his vehicle, prior to contacting agents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: The bottom-line here, Pamela is this is somebody who authorities recognized as having significant mental issues, he was ultimately taken to a hospital for an evaluation that apparently lasted about 72 hours. But then he was let go. He was also allowed to keep a firearm that he actually told authorities that he had. The bottom-line here, once again, is that authorities feel like they acted appropriately, that there was really nothing more they could do. That they referred him to mental health officials and then ultimately he was let go.

BROWN: Let go. Hopped on a plane, opened fire in an airport in Fort Lauderdale and killed five people.

Thank you so much Dan Simon. Boris, to you now, you've been at the Fort Lauderdale Airport since the story broke. What's it like there?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Things are much calmer right now than they were yesterday, Pam. And there is an expanded law enforcement presence here, but it doesn't compare to what we saw as we arrived here at about 2:00 p.m. yesterday. Fortunately, terminal two is now back open and operating. Yesterday it was shut down and it was shut down for much of the day today. Right now on the second level, departure level. And just a few hours ago it was reopened and people were allowed to, the passengers were allowed to be processed there.

They're now in gigantic security lines, hours-long security lines to get in and we're waiting for the first flights to take off from terminal two since the shooting happened yesterday. The one area that's still closed and hasn't received any passengers yet is the baggage claim area where the shooting actually took place, that's just downstairs behind us. And it really was a mess last night. And you have to imagine for a lot of passengers and travelers here, it has caused tremendous headaches, there were people that were stranded more than 10,000 people had to be removed from the airport yesterday.

We are seeing a lot of the same faces that we saw last night back again today trying to get on flights and trying to get home. And you can imagine a lot of their efforts to get home are being complicated because of all the bad weather around the country. So even though the investigation has at least wrapped up here, there are still a lot of folks that were affected by the shooting that are trying to find their way back home -- Pam.

BROWN: All right. Boris Sanchez, Dan Simon, thank you very much.

And let's check more about this. Joining me now, CNN crime and justice producer, Shimon Prokupecz. Tom Fuentes, CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former assistant director of the FBI. And Philip Mudd, CNN counterterrorism analyst.

Shimon, you just heard that press conference and all the interactions that the suspect had previously with law enforcements. There seems to have been a long list of red flags.

[17:05:07] SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: Yes and it seems like based on what the police are saying, there was a whole list of things just last year.

BROWN: Yes.

PROKUPECZ: So something was going on with him last year. We have not heard of any previous years of him having issues, so something has, something happened to him. Certainly in the last year that brought him to where, to these thoughts and to where he is today. So that I think is sort of the question. What happened? We know based off of some of our conversations with sources, in law enforcement that they've interviewed his family, his friends, all have basically painted this picture of a person who was mentally disturbed. Who was having issues. Disjointed thoughts, thoughts of ISIS.

So this was the picture that they have painted for authorities. And this is what now they're working with. We also know that he sold off personal items. He sold his car recently. So all of this is helping investigators at the FBI paint a picture of what maybe motivated him. How long he was planning this. They certainly believe he was planning this for some time. We don't know how long. They haven't told us when he purchased the ticket. Today the FBI said he went to Fort Lauderdale they believe specifically to carry out this attack. And now I think they're really trying to figure out what ultimately motivated him. Was it that he really was viewing ISIS videos? Was it something else?

BROWN: So there's obviously, there was something that motivated him to launch this attack. Phil, what do you make of the fact that he waited until he got to Fort Lauderdale, he boarded this plane, checked his gun and then opened fire in Fort Lauderdale. Why wait until you get to Florida? What do you make of that?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I think we have to step back and differentiate between whether we have a criminal mind and somebody who potentially committed an act of terrorism. I don't believe so. And I don't think there's evidence of that yet. Or whether we have simply evidence of mental illness. As we look at why he went to Florida, let me step back and challenge that question about whether we have red flags, including preparation to travel to Fort Lauderdale. I do not believe so.

There's a difference between a red flag that indicates somebody has mental illness and a red flag that suggests that federal authorities should investigate an American citizen. Walking up to a federal facility, saying you've got voices in your head, one of which suggests that you, that you are inspired by ISIS, is not a federal violation. And that is not something that would lead federal authorities to investigate. Let me close on this, Pamela, when I was back at the FBI and Tom Fuentes was there, if this came to the desk of the FBI director and nothing like this did, I would have said -- we do not have the right to investigate this individual. He should be turned over to mental health professionals.

BROWN: All right. So then Tom on that note, what is the threshold where the FBI would open up an investigation? How do law enforcement officials differentiate between signs that someone is mentally ill and signs that someone could be a threat?

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well first of all, Pamela, Phil is exactly right in this situation, because this is something FBI and state, local police encounter on a daily basis. They have individuals that come in, and they're trying to assess are they really, you know, terrorists? Are they going to do a terrorist act? Or are they mentally ill? It doesn't mean they're not dangerous, we have mentally ill people that do dangerous things. But again, for the FBI once they checked all the databases, checked his background, probably talked to friend and neighbors at that time, and the police, the police would have told them about all the encounters where he tried to strangle, you know, his girlfriend and other acts that he did.

You know, they would have realized what they did. That this is someone that should be turned over to mental health professionals and the way to do that is you turn them over to the police and the police do that. Unfortunately, and this is something, I think people are aware of this. Family members can be completely aware that their loved one is very sick and needs help and can do nothing about it. And if they do talk to the person into checking in, they have no right to look at the medical records, due to privacy laws. So they're completely helpless in dealing with a family member. And that, that helplessness is expressed all the time in these events.

And then there's other you know, the professionals call it leakage. The signs that somebody might be, you know, going over the edge. But again, none of that is going to allow the authorities to incarcerate somebody. And once this guy was checked into a mental health facility, he was in the position to check himself back out. And, you know, get his -- back because that's his property. So, he wasn't judged mentally ill by a judge or by a mental health professional. He wasn't yet a convicted felon because the charge was still pending on the alleged strangulation of his girlfriend. And so that's a situation that law enforcement is basically helpless.

BROWN: And a typical situation like this though, Phil, while he was in the hospital, his gun was under the protection of law enforcement. And then as we know, they made the decision to give him the gun back. But through the course of that process, of making that decision, would the mental health evaluation been looked at? Or would it have been protected under HIPAA? Do you even know the answer to that question?

[17:10:37] MUDD: I don't know the answer but I think there's the broader question, we're looking at this as a law enforcement problem. Were there issues that the FBI or others should have seen that should have let them to continue an investigation. I think this is a tougher question. This is a Congressional question related to whether you should consider cross-referencing mental health records with the right for somebody to hold a weapon.

BROWN: Right.

MUDD: The same thing in some ways, it's a rough parallel, but in some ways we saw in the attack in Florida. If someone was under investigation earlier, for terrorism, should they have a weapon?

BROWN: Right. And to be clear, Phil, we have been talking about that. This isn't just putting the FBI on the defensive. Because as we heard in that press conference, they did follow all the protocol.

Shimon, what else do we know about this gun, that was given back to him? Was this the same gun that was used in the shooting?

PROKUPECZ: Yes. We've been told that law enforcement believes it is the same gun that was used in the shooting. You know, look, I think one of the good things here, they did, we had initially thought maybe they gave him the gun back pretty quickly after he was released from the hospital. But it seems like at least from what the police are saying they did wait some time before giving him the weapon. It also doesn't seem like he was in any rush to get it back as they have to call him. So they eventually, you know, did give it back to him. And what was happening, you know, during that time, between him getting the weapon back to now, that I think we still don't know. And that's still part of the investigation, that is still yet to come out.

BROWN: Okay. I want to just wrap this up by asking you, Phil and Tom quickly, I mean, you both have the point of view and like we just said, look, the FBI, law enforcement did everything they could. They had their hands tied essentially based on protocol. But is there any way, Phil, that this could have been prevented in your view? Given the laws and protocol on the books?

MUDD: Well, I don't think so. And I think it's because we look at this from the wrong direction when we see one of these investigations. We take an individual and say after 24 hours when hundreds and thousands of people are looking at background information and we still can't determine a motive, should we have been able to make a case? There's 323 million Americans. And I think the right question in these cases is, how do you find someone with mental illness who might potentially do something tomorrow? And I'm afraid the answer is going to be, you can't always find them.

BROWN: All right. Tom, what's your view? FUENTES: Well same thing. And if you have a privacy issue. You

know, imagine the outcry if the FBI starts saying, oh, we believe this person is mentally ill, therefor, they should be denied rights of not only firearm ownership but to fly on an airplane or to have a job or any number of things, it's just not going to. We have a process, due process, to make judgments on people and unfortunately, law enforcement is not in a position to make these judgments. They have mental health professionals, they have judges that are supposed to do that.

And we have, we have laws in this country that make it nearly impossible for law enforcement officers even when they know that someone is sick to the point of being dangerous, there's very limited action they can take. And as I said before, there's almost nothing a family member can do to help an adult mentally ill family member.

BROWN: That is a frightening thought. Tom, Phil, Shimon, thank you very much.

FUENTES: You're welcome.

BROWN: Coming up on this Saturday, a Russian-led campaign to undermine the election and a declassified report pointed the finger at Putin. But today, Trump is putting the blame on Democrats, and he says only stupid people think warm ties with Russia are a bad thing. All the details, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:17:24] BROWN: President-elect Donald Trump is downplaying Russia's election meddling. Despite his briefing on a declassified report while at his briefing was classified. That concludes President Vladimir Putin directly ordered efforts to undermine Hillary Clinton and help Trump win the White House. Trump tweeted, "Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed, is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed." And this -- "Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing. Not a bad thing. Only quote, "Stupid" people or fools would think that it is bad. We have enough problems around the world without yet another one. When I am President, Russia will respect us far more than they do now. Both countries will perhaps work together to solve some of the many great and pressing problems and issues of the world!"

So let's talk it over with Elise Labott, CNN's Global Affairs correspondent and Philip Mudd, he is back with us. CNN counterterrorism analyst.

Elise first to you, you have studied this report. Why does Putin seem to have such a grudge against Hillary Clinton? Why was he apparently so bent on undermining her?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, this goes back many, many years even to when Secretary of State, former Secretary Clinton was in the Senate. But when she became Secretary of State, she was one of the most vocal voices against Vladimir Putin. She accused him of trying to recreate the Soviet Union. She was always very wary of him. And then during the election, in Russia, parliamentary election in 2011, she seemed to suggest that the voter count was rigged. That the investigation was rigged. And even some people think kind of fomented protesters to go out and protest against Vladimir Putin.

So this is something that he sees as the Obama administration and led in some ways by Secretary Clinton. Influencing in trying to meddle in his election. So, it seems as if he felt that he obviously was, had an animosity towards her and wanted to do as much as he could to undermine her. Now this report is really interesting, it seems to indicate that Putin and the Russians motives evolved over the course of the campaign.

At first it was really just to discredit Hillary Clinton. Thinking that she was always the front-runner and she would always win. But when it became apparent that Donald Trump was the Republican nominee, the report said that clearly it had a preference for Donald Trump. But it doesn't make any conclusions that the vote was influenced in any way.

BROWN: Right.

LABOTT: That the intelligence community said that was not really their job.

BROWN: So, before to you Phil, did the report lay out though, talk to us about how they viewed Donald Trump. Beyond having a grudge against Hillary and favoring Donald Trump, did it lay out why they wanted Donald Trump more than Hillary Clinton?

LABOTT: Well I think it was because Donald Trump had in addition to the Russian animosity for and Putin's animosity for Hillary Clinton, it was also because some of the comments that Donald Trump has said, that he continues to say, he was praising Vladimir Putin. He was calling him a great leader. He was saying that he wanted to have better relations between the U.S. and Russia. And I think that, you know, clearly the Russians felt that this was a more, you know, Russian-friendly president.

The Moscow has had a lot of problems in the international community. Not just with sanctions, but with isolation over its policies in Ukraine, in Crimea and Syria. And so clearly they had a preference for Donald Trump who seemed to suggest that he might even recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea. Or overturn those sanctions. So clearly the preference was for someone they felt that would have more Russia-friendly policies.

BROWN: All right. So, let's listen to CIA Director James Clapper answering a key question on Capitol Hill this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CLAIR MCCASKILL (D), MISSOURI: Who actually is the benefactor of someone who is about to become commander-in-chief, trashing the intelligence community? JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I think there is an

important distinction here between healthy skepticism, which policy makers, to include policy maker number one. Should always have for intelligence. But I think there's a difference between skepticism and disparagement. I've received many expressions of concern from foreign counterparts about you know, the disparagement of the U.S. intelligence community. Or I should say, what has been interpreted as disparagement of the intelligence community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:22:10] BROWN: So Phil, you worked at the CIA for years. Same question to you -- who benefits here?

MUDD: I think the former director or the current director of National Intelligence was too polite. It was not disparaging, it was mockery. If you're a former intelligence officer, you have to realize in the coming four years, an incoming president, you're going to have to talk about issues ranging from Russian involvement in Eastern Europe and Syria, what's going on with Iran nuclear program, what's happening with ballistic missiles in North Korea. And now you have to question what's going to happen as soon as he walks out of the Oval Office.

If he does not agree with your assessment, will he walk out in front of the camera and mock you? He's creating before he's ever taken the oath of office an environment where people walking in to brief him every day are going to have to question how he will treat them. Remarkable for a man who is not just the president, remember, he's the leader, the manager of the executive branch. And I think now, with his comments about the CIA, my friends who served 30 years, have to wonder how they're going to be treated in the coming four years.

BROWN: And Donald Trump has since tweeted, and said that he was only questioning the conclusions, not the intelligence, that he is a big fan of the intelligence community. But of course, he has cast doubt repeatedly on this assessment about the Russia hacking. And today, Elise, he even tweeted that it's important to focus on building a good relationship with Russia that this would be a good thing and that the two countries could work together to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. How likely is that?

LABOTT: Well I think also -- just to kind of build on what Phil was saying. I think we have to see what Donald Trump's assessment as president of intelligence, when it's not related to questions that are directly involved in perhaps his legitimacy, as what he sees as a threat on his legitimacy of the election. I mean, this report never made any conclusions that Donald Trump was not legitimately elected president. But I think he perceives this as you know, questioning whether the Russians might have influenced the election in some way. So there's that.

Whether the U.S. could have a better relationship with Russia, I think, you know, that's certainly what Donald Trump hopes and that's certainly the noises that the Russians are making, that it's a new day with Russia, that the U.S. and Russia can work cooperatively together. And if you see some of the policies that the President-elect is talking about, about teaming up in Russia, with Russia in Syria, perhaps even abandoning the opposition, working with them on in Syria, working with them on ISIS. I mean, these could be policies that could be more friendly to Russia.

I think the concern not just of, you know, Democrats, but Republicans on Capitol Hill and members of, you know, the rank and file, of whether it's the CIA, the State Department, are in an effort to have a better relationship, with Vladimir Putin and Russia, is the President going to kind of look the other way, to some of the activity of Russia. Not just against the United States and the hacking, but in Eastern Europe. In some of the meddling of elections across Europe, in Syria. Elsewhere. That a lot of officials find concerning. And his, ideas the question I think in people's minds is, you know, the President going to give Russia a sphere of influence in the world that the Obama administration and previous administrations have tried to deny it.

BROWN: And Phil, I want to go to you because for year, we saw President Obama be criticized by Republicans -- that he would talk to leaders in the Middle East. That President Bush had been on a war footing. When we look at these tweets where Trump is lauding the benefits of a stronger relationship with Russia in your view, what could those benefits be?

MUDD: Look, I think he's right to say we have to at least open the prospect of a conversation with Vladimir Putin. Look at how we dealt with Crimea, the annexation of Crimea by Russia. If you look at the absence of a significant American influence in Syria. If you look at the importance of the Russian relationship as we try to determine what to do with the Iranian nuclear program. Iran, a long-time partner with the Russians, it is important to talk to the Russians. And I think it's not only important, it's critical. I think the question and the President-elect skipped this in his tweet is no whether every American should want a good relationship. It's what price you pay.

As you go forward and I would encourage him to speak with Vladimir Putin. Clearly they have something going on between them. As he moves forward, the question about price has to be, if the price is meddling in American elections and if the price is partnering with the Russian, with the Russian leader who supports a Syrian ally who has murdered Syrian citizens with chemical weapons, is that a price you're willing to pay? Of course we need better relations and the relationship with Russia is not good. My question going forward for the next four years, what's the cost? That's it.

[17:27:01] BROWN: All right. Philip Mudd, Elise Labott, we'll leave it there, thank you both.

MUDD: Thank you.

BROWN: And coming up on this Saturday, snow, sleet, ice and rain, brutal winter weather creates misery for millions across the South. And update on the conditions, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:30:57] BROWN: It's been a weekend of severe winter weather for much of the southeast, with snow, ice and freezing temperatures, but forecasters say the northeast is getting hit with an even bigger weather event. Here's what it currently looks like in the Boston area. 10 of the lower 48 states are currently under some sort of winter storm advisory. The National Weather Service says it is impacting some 50 million people.

Meteorologists Jacqui Jeras has more.

What should we be bracing for?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEORLOGIST: the next couple of hours is going to be critical. Especially from Long Island through southern parts of New England. And this is where we're going to see the heavier banding of snow and strong, gusty winds, which are creating blizzard conditions at times so Boston being impacted as well as Rhode Island, through eastern parts of Connecticut and Long Island. Snowfall reports already more than six inches. We've got blizzard warnings in effect in the red here. We've got winter storm warnings in the pink. But notice interior parts of the northeast, no gain for you. Snowfall accumulations on the range of 1-3 in D.C. New York City looking at 3- 9. And Boston, when all is done, we're probably going to see 6-12 inches of snowfall. Even in the cape where we think it will be worse. We could get some accumulations around a foot and a half.

Here's some numbers we've seen from today. This storm impacted the south hard in the last 24-36 hours. 11.5 inches in Williamsburg, Virginia. High Point, North Carolina, eight and a half. And six inches in Landrum. As the storm system ramps up to the northeast and begins to exit, we've got bitter cold air that's diving down to the south. And we're not just talking about places like Atlanta and Nashville. We're talking south Florida. Miami had a record high today of 87 degrees. Cold front approached and brought you the rain. You dropped to the 70s. Wind chill advisories in effect through much of Florida and Ft. Myers and Naples. It feels like temperature will be down into the 30s. For the south, it's a big deal.

Here's a look at the current cold right now. We've got 20s on the map. But gusty winds bringing feels-like temperatures down into the teens. And when you wake up tomorrow morning look at the numbers. Really dramatic, down into the single digits, a deep freeze in many locations. Everything that got melted is up, which means hazardous travel will continue even long after the snow is gone.

BROWN: People should keep that in mind.

Jacqui Jeras, so great to see you.

Coming up, the victims of that deadly south Florida mass shooting rushed to the hospital after a gunman opened fire at the airport. Some of them are getting to go home. We're live from the hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:37:02] BROWN: We've been able to confirm the names of two of the people shot and killed yesterday in the baggage claim area of the Ft. Lauderdale airport. One of them, a grandmother from Georgia. Olga Waltering, she was with her husband, about to go on a cruise. Another name confirmed, Terry Andres, from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Three other people were killed, six people were wounded before the gunman stopped shooting and surrendered to authorities. Some of the people wounded, being treated at the hospital.

CNN's Ryan Young is at the hospital in Broward County, Florida, where those people are being treated.

What are you hearing about the condition of the victims right now, Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, a very tough story. Six of those people rushed here to the hospital. We were told they put their emergency protocols into place. They got a heads-up from the airport that people were coming here in critical condition. They were able to upgrade three of those people up to stable. Three others still remain in critical condition. You think about this, the hospital has a plan in place, they have a separate team ready to handle all situations like this. So as everyone was pulled up to the hospital, doctors and nurses were ready to get the critical care started. When you think about gunshot wounds and how devastating those can be. You know that time is of the essence.

One young man who was shot several times talked to the governor about his run, away from the shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SCOTT, (R), FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Mostly what you think about is the positive stories. I had one that told -- Johnny Damon -- that he could outrun him. Even though he had three bullets in him. So, there's positive stories. When you talk to people that have been impacted, they're appreciative, they're appreciative of the care they're getting. The people here, the caregivers here are outstanding, they're very appreciative of the care. If you lost somebody, you know it's traumatic. Because it's just, it's totally out of context.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Pamela, we've talked to gunshot victims before. When you talk about traumatic, even if you get shot, that's traumatic in itself. People have the blank stares on their faces, you can see how shocked they are when they arrive here. Everyone has been talking about the doctors and nurses here providing excellent care. We know from the governor that he said one person was going to get released from the hospital just this afternoon. Not sure if that person has been released yet. I think the bright spot here is the fact that three people have been upgraded. That expert care from doctors who were able to go into surgery and help these people helped to save those lives and stabilize the situation. BROWN: This is the kind of thing that, sadly, they have to train for.

Clearly, the practice really paid off. You say that one of the victims, one of the wounded victims will be released from the hospital today. What about the others? Do we have any sense of when they might be released?

YOUNG: We've been trying to dig for that information. With the patient privacy, they're not releasing a lot of the information about it. The great news is the fact that three have been upgraded. The others are struggling, we're not sure how many gunshot wounds or where the people who were shot suffered those wounds are just yet. We're hoping to get more information from them as the days go on. We do know some of the doctors and nurse who is are here are taking the day off after such a long night.

[17:40:13] BROWN: A well-deserved day off.

Ryan Young, in Ft. Lauderdale, thank you very much.

Coming up on this Saturday, Trump, Twitter and the Terminator.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHAWRZENEGGER, SHOW HOST & ACTOR: Connie, you're terminated. Hasta la vista, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The president-elect takes a swing at Arnold Schwarzenegger and NBC, but is it part of the larger strategy to distract from other issues?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A newly declassified report may blame Russia for campaign cyberattacks, but President-elect Donald Trump says the Democratic National Committee also bears some responsibility. Trump tweeting overnight, "Gross negligence by the Democratic National Committee allowed hacking to take place. The Republican National Committee had strong defense!"

Trump's tweet was posted just a few minutes after FOX News Host Sean Hannity decried gross negligence by the DNC in his show's opening monologue. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, HOST, HANNITY: The sore losers, snowflake, left wing, they can whine all they want, but the truth is they can only blame themselves and their gross negligence on cybersecurity for this election hacking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And we should point out the intel report says the Russians also collected information and hacked into Republican-affiliated targets, but disclosed much less compared to Democrats.

Joining me now, CNN senior media correspondent and host of "Reliable Sources," Brian Stelter.

Brian, what do you think? Should we read into anything in terms of the timing of Trump's tweet, right after Sean Hannity says it on TV?

[17:45:19] BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: I'm going to go on a not-very-long limb and say, yes, Pamela. Whenever Donald Trump weighs in on things now, whether it's about nuclear policy, whether it's about Russia, anything else, I always go looking and try to figure out what caused the tweet. Where did the words come from? And oftentimes you can trace it back to cable news, something said on CNN or FOX News. It sure does not seem like a coincidence, Sean Hannity speaking about this a few minutes before Trump weighed in. Another example of this cable social media presidency. I think the best way to understand it is, of course, Donald Trump cares a lot about what is said on cable news. He consumes a lot of cable news. But it's not just about cable. It's also about his ability to weigh in all the time on social media. So, it's the cable social media presidency we're going to see in a few days.

BROWN: We have entered a new era in that regard. The president-elect also tweeting about something else on his mind, Schwarzenegger's debut as the host of his show: "Whoa, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got swamped or destroyed by comparison to ratings machine, D.J.T. So much for being a movie star. Who cares? He supported Kasich and Hillary. Bottom line."

Brian, Trump is an executive producer on the show, what's your take on this?

STELTER: I think it has more to do with Donald Trump's psychology. What he cares about, which is what all of us care about, your own personal approval ratings. Donald Trump always cared deeply about his ratings at "The Apprentice." when I worked at "The New York Times" covering TV, I would occasionally get these handwritten messages from Trump. He would take out the page in the newspaper with my story about ratings, circle the reference to "The Apprentice" and write me a note. Usually because I didn't brag enough about how well "The Apprentice" was doing. The truth is, the show was a hit, about 10 years ago, and then the numbers did sag, as most primetime shows do still Donald Trump's final "The Apprentice" season, 2015, did do better than Arnold Schwarzenegger's is doing so far. So, Trump is right on the facts. Trump is right on the facts, but I think it does go to show, even though Donald Trump is preparing to take over, he does still care deeply about the various measures of popularity. Once he does take office, the ultimate measure of popularity will be his approval ratings.

BROWN: It's fascinating seeing this play out. He's now president- elect, but yet, he still thinking about the ratings and so forth. He tweeted about NBC and the "Celebrity Apprentice" on the same day that there was so much talk about the new intel report and how the intelligence community believed that Russia was trying to hurt Hillary and help Donald Trump.

In this age of Twitter, how does the media decide what is a political distraction and what's worthy of traditional presidential coverage?

STELTER: I think whatever the president-elect, whatever the president is saying is newsworthy. It doesn't automatically mean it's true or very, very important. So, we've got to contextualize these tweets. We want to put it into context. Whoever is president in the future, we're going to always see our leaders in the future use the social media platforms. So, in the news rooms, we've got to figure out how to analyze them quickly, contextualize, and fact-check these messages.

BROWN: These messages are 140 characters. Sometimes it's hard to get the full context.

Very quickly as we wrap up here, Trump also yesterday asked Congress to investigate what he says was top-secret intelligence shared with NBC prior to him seeing it. Beyond the fact that, an investigation like that would typically fall to his Justice Department. What can you tell us about that?

STELTER: This is probably the most-important message he posted in the past few days for the media world. "The Apprentice" is interesting. It speaks to how he thinks about ratings. What he's really doing here is threatening a leak investigation. We'll see if there's follow- through. I don't want to presume that anything will come of this. It does have a chilling effect, when the president-elect says publicly he wants to investigate a leak. President Obama investigated many leaks through the Justice Department, but didn't talk about it publicly the way Trump is doing now.

BROWN: I know a lot of us in the media are thinking, oh, no, because we felt like under Obama a lot of us were investigated and now it's going to continue.

Brian Stelter, thank you very much for perspective.

STELTER: Thank you.

[17:49:57] BROWN: Appreciate it.

Coming up on this Saturday right here in the NEWSROOM, the stars set to shine tomorrow night at the Golden Globes. A look at the big contenders up for awards on TV and film when we return live on the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Get ready for the glitz and glam of the Hollywood award season. Tomorrow night, the red carpet will be rolled out for the Golden Globes.

And our Stephanie Elam has a sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SHOUTING)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The glitz, the glamor -

(SHOUTING)

ELAM: -- the Golden Globes. Hollywood's annual kick off to award season looks to honor the best in film and television.

(SINGING)

ELAM: With seven nominations, "La-La Land" leads the pack on the motion picture front.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Very, very exciting.

MATTHEW BELLONI, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: It takes a very traditional medium, the Hollywood musical, which has been around for a century, and it really does reinvent it for a modern audience.

(SINGING)

ELAM: The Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling-led movie is up for best motion picture musical or comedy, alongside "20th Century Women," "Dead Pool," "Florence Foster Jenkins" and "Sing Street."

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We all love and all pride in this house.

ELAM: "Moonlight," a gritty coming-of-age film has six nominations, including one for best motion picture drama, "Lion" and "Manchester by the Sea."

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: People do admire me, Johnny.

ELAM: With five nods "The People versus O.J. Simpson, American Crime Story," dominates the TV categories, including a nomination for best miniseries or television movie.

[17:55:13] UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: My reign has just begun.

ELAM: For the fourth year, "Game of Thrones" is up for drama series, "Newcomers," and it faces off against "The Crown," "Stranger Things," "This Is Us," and "West World."

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: I get to wear this tux.

(SHOUTING)

ELAM: Taking a stab at the master of ceremonies duties this year, Jimmy Fallon.

FALLON: I'm already practicing wearing it every single night and handing out awards to random people.

ELAM: The "Tonight Show" host follows previous Golden Globe M.C.s Ricky Gervais and Tiny Fey. BELLONI: What makes the Golden Globes fun is this sense that anything

can happen. And that goes with the host as well.

ELAM: From first bottle to last trophy, the show should live up to its title as Hollywood's biggest party.

(APPLAUSE)

ELAM: Stephanie Elam, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And coming up tonight on CNN, it's the CNN special report, "The Legacy of Barack Obama." That's tonight at 8:00 p.m.

I'm Pamela Brown. See you back here at 7:00.

But first, "Smerconish" starts right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)