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U.S. Intel: Putin Had "Clear Preference" For Trump; 5 Dead, 8 Wounded In Florida Airport Shooting; Airport Shooting Suspect In FBI Custody; Trump Downplays Role Of Russian Influence; Michelle Obama Makes Emotional Farewell Speech. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired January 07, 2017 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:16] HANNAH VAUGHAN JONES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones here in London for you. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. We are following two major stories for you this hour on "CNN NEWSROOM."
U.S. intelligence officials have released a declassified report on election hacking, directly pointing the finger blame at the Russian President Vladimir Putin. It says the Kremlin was aiming to hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump take the White House, more on that in a moment.
But first, we return to Fort Lauderdale in Florida. The airport there should fully reopen in around about hours time. A gunman shot and killed five people in the baggage claim area on Friday afternoon. He wounded another eighth people. The FBI has a suspect in custody, but they don't have a motive yet.
They say Esteban Santiago flew to Florida from Alaska on Friday. Santiago himself was a former national guardsman and he was in the army reserves. He was not crucially on any government watch list. But Santiago did voluntarily visit FBI offices in Alaska just a few months ago. He said at the time that he was hearing voices and some of them wanted him to join ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE PIRO, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI: With these types of incidents, as horrific they are, we are looking at all avenues. We have not ruled out terrorism and we will be pursuing every angle to try to determine the motive behind this attack and any associates, any connections, communication, everything that you can imagine. I assure you we are pursuing every possible lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Well, horror, fear and confusion took charge inside the airport. Randi Kaye takes us through the time line of events as we hear from witnesses who ran for their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
PILOT: OK, they want us o hold for the tango line. Guess there's firing going on in the terminal.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: We're currently having a building evacuation at Terminal 2.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's just before 1:00 p.m., when a gunman opens fire at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport. He's inside baggage claim at Terminal 2.
JOHN SCHUCHER, WITNESS: He came up right where we were. And he was shooting people that were down on the ground.
KAYE: He says they're trying to help the victims.
SCHUCHER: My wife took a leather from my mother-in-law and applied pressure to the gentleman that was right next to us. He'd been shot in the head. All of the people seem to be shot in the head. We checked the man next to him had no vital signs, he was gone.
KAYE: Another witness tells CNN, his plane had just landed and some victims are his fellow passengers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in there when they start running. I grabbed our kids. And we took off running down the ramp. We told the flight attendant to let us off the tarmac. We ran down onto the tarmac to hide behind luggage carts just like a war is out in here.
KAYE: The airport is immediately shut down. All passengers are evacuated. They run to the tarmac in search of safety. Authorities quickly zero in on the suspect.
SHERIFF SCOTT ISRAEL, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: We have this shooter in custody. He's unharmed. No law enforcement fired any shots.
KAYE: Apprehended, but not before these horrifying moments. By now, its 1:43 p.m, and the Broward County Sheriff's Office tweets that multiple people are dead. Some lucky enough to be alive are left bleeding. Someone posted video of this passenger being treated on the sidewalk.
By 2:00 p.m., the official count is three dead. Minutes later it's up to five dead, at least eight are injured. By mid-afternoon, Florida's senior senator says the TSA has told him who did this.
BILL NELSON, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: The shooter is Esteban Santiago. He had a military I.D. We don't know if that is an accurate I.D. or if it is a current I.D.
KAYE: But it's not over. About 2:20 p.m. word of more gunfire. Police are seen scrambling on the tarmac and near the parking garage. Once again, passengers spill onto the tarmac. Others duck behind parked cars.
JUDAH FERNANDEZ, WITNESS: Everybody just sprinted outside again. And so we just run out again. I honestly don't know what's happening.
KAYE: At 2:33 p.m., a tweet from the TSA, active shooter at FLL, shelter in place. Airport closed. Sniper teams are put on alert.
ISRAEL: We have a variety of SWAT teams out and assets out, clearing the entire airport.
KAYE: No other gunman is found.
ISRAEL: At this point at least like he acted alone. There is no second active shooter.
KAYE: Officials won't say if the suspect was targeting someone on an arriving flight or if he's cooperating.
[04:05:06] Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
JONES: Well, let's get much more on this. I want to bring in aviation expert, Jeffrey Thomas, for his perspective. Jeffrey joins us by Skype from Perth in Western Australia.
Jeffrey, great to have you with us on the program, thank you. (Inaudible) airport security to start up with, should we be alarmed that this individuals was able to check in a firearm when he had already flagged himself up to authorities?
JEFFREY THOMAS, CNN AVIATION EXPERT: Look, absolutely. It is a very troubling background to this gentleman and from what has been reported to us, the fact that he had some problems apparently, allegedly. And then they checked his fire arm with his checked bag, which of course is allowed in certain states of United States. And that that was nothing illegal in doing that.
However, of course, what transpired of course was a terrible tragedy. But the problem with guarding here is that although some case it's legal, some cases it's illegal, if somebody wants to perpetrate something like this, whether it's legal or not is not going to stop them. And this is the big challenge for the industry is where either you have large numbers of people congregating or left an airport, to board an airport -- to board an airplane I should say, to check in at an airport. You got bags all sorts of different types of bags.
Then, you have the rest of people where this can happen up again. And let's -- on the last 35 years, we've had 26 such airport tragedies. So, unfortunately, it's not something new.
JONES: I'm just wondering if there at the airport, in Fort Lauderdale, should and could have done more though. Not just because this individual had flagged himself up to the FBI, but also because he had ammunition with him. It wasn't just a firearm. He had ammunition as well. And so surely there should be some process or should there be a process where by anyone carrying a gun through international airport should be monitored as they are going to collect their baggage.
THOMAS: That's a very good point, you're right. And this is something I guess we're going to have to have a good hard look at. It's like the shooter bomber, you know. We have to all take our shoes off now. And as different terrorist acts occur, it just results in more restrictions on travel. And as it is, the TSA and other authorities around the world are really struggling with the amount of checking an inconvenience that passengers have to go through because of all of these terrible random acts of terrorism. It's a very vexing problem.
And the other issue is these 100,000 flights a day around the world, about 10 million people get on airplanes everyday. That's an enormous logistics exercise to increase further the intrusiveness of security checking we have to go through at the moment.
JONES: And what about CCTV as well, some suggestion that perhaps he'd gone into the bathroom before opening fire on the terrified people in this terminal. And perhaps more CCTV or perhaps more collaboration between social media or agencies and authority, airport authorities would just help provide a bigger picture of when attacks could be in the offing?
THOMAS: Yes. That's a possibility. Although, you know, in the few seconds to pull a gun out of a bag, what CCTV could do with the authorities to alert them? You're talking seconds here. You know, the problem is, if somebody wants to do this, it's very easy to do it. That's the trouble. Particularly in a society where guns are permitted, people can have them in a hand bag, they can pack it in all sorts of different bags or just simply on themselves in their top pocket. It's very, very easy to perpetrate something like this in a society where guns are freely available. That's the problem.
JONES: Yeah. When guns fall into hands of vulnerable people and then making everyone else more vulnerable around them. We have here Jeffrey Thomas, we appreciate your expertise on this subject. Thank you very much.
[04:09:38] Still to come on "CNN NEWSROOM" this hour U.S. intelligence is certain that Russia tried to influence the U.S. presidential election, but president-elect Donald Trump's reactions to that conclusion has many U.S. and others scratching there head.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Richard Quest and these are the top business headlines on CNN. The Dow came with enough 0.37 points, that's $20,000 market poll were treating. It's the closest index to ever come to 20,000. The Dow sneered that level three weeks ago in a rally fueled by Donald Trump's election.
The U.S. economy added a 156,000 jobs in December. Unemployment though take up just have it slightly. Wages grew at the fastest pace since 2009. It's the final jobs report to be released during President Obama's term in office. Ford Chief Executive says putting tariffs on imported cars is a bad idea. Fields was responding plans by Donald Trump, the president-elect just called for a 35 percent tariff on cars brought into the U.S. from Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARK FIELDS, CEO, FORD MOTOR COMPANY: Tariffs, in general, you know, in general wouldn't be positive. I think the thing is making sure that, you know, as the president-elect gets into office and as the administration gets into office, that we can have a fact based discussion. Because I think I strongly believe at the end of the day the right policies are going to prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The Bank of England's chief economy says economic forecasting is in crisis. On the other day, the British bank made incorrect predictions about the fallout from the Brexit vote.
You are up to date with the business headlines, I'm Richard Quest in New York.
JONES: Welcome back.
A declassified version of a report on Russian hacking concludes that Vladimir Putin was behind it. U.S. intelligence agencies say the Russian president ordered a multi-pronged campaign to hurt Hillary Clinton, including cyber attacks. It says, Putin was motivated by an old grudge against Clinton and a clear preference for Donald Trump.
Well, both the CIA and the FBI says they have high confidence in these conclusions. The reposts also warns quote "Moscow will apply lessons learned from its Putin-ordered campaign aimed at the U.S. presidential election to future influence efforts worldwide including against U.S. allies and their election processes.
Well, Donald Trump's reaction to the revelations in the intelligence report was lukewarm at best. Here's CNN Jim Scuitto with that part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JIM SCUITOO, CNN CHIEF US SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, a declassified version of the intelligence committee's report on Russian hacking concluded that quote "Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for president-elect Trump. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia's goals were undermine public face in the U.S. democratic process denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency."
[04:15:07] The Russian's assault on the U.S. election used several different techniques, blending quote "Covert intelligence operations, such as cyber activity, with overt efforts by Russian government agencies, state-funded media, third party intermediaries and paid social media users or trolls." It also said; quote, "When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the election the Russian influence campaign began to focus more on undermining her future presidency."
Following the briefing, the president-elect said in a statement quote, "I had a constructive meeting and conversation with the leaders of the intelligence community this afternoon. I have tremendous respect fort the work and service done by the men and women of this community to our great nation."
However, Trump made clear he believes the hacks do not take his election victory quote, "There was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election, including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines."
The intelligence assessment confirmed that hacking was quote "Not involved in vote tallying." However in a statement, Trump never specifically acknowledged that Russia was behind the hacking, despite the clear assessment and overwhelming bipartisan agreement on Russia's involvement?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PERALTA, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: I think that's the one thing in a statement that he should have acknowledged, that whether you are a republican or a democrat, we are not going to tolerate a country like Russia trying to interfere in our election process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Donald Trump and some of his surrogates had made the point that only the democrats were hacked here, and that's why only democratic material was released. But in fact this report contradicts that, it says that the cyber ops targeted both major U..S political parties, but because material stolen from the Democrats, only that material was released in the days and weeks leading up to the election. It is in large part because of that, it's a community concluded that the intention here was to weaken Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump.
Jim Scuitto, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
JONES: Some U.S. Democratic lawmakers are calling for a bipartisan commission to further investigate the depths of the Russian influence in the U.S. political process.
A full reaction from Moscow, let's bring in CNN Fred Pleitgen now. Fred, I'm curious though Kremlin is saying about sort of this, so they're saying it's as an embarrassment or a compliment?
FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I would say that they would be pretty angry about the results that were coming out of that report, at least a declassified version of it. There hasn't been any official comment yet from the Kremlin at all.
However, Russian media outlet the state owned once and also senior Russian lawmakers have been commenting. And they have been quite angry. There is, for instance, the former head of the Russian parliament foreign relations committee, Aleksey Pushkov, who came out with the series of tweet. He is very active on Twitter, early this morning and late last night, clearly right after reading that declassified version of that report where he says that it's not Russia that's undermining democracy, it's the U.S. that's undermining democracy, blaming the Obama administration for the poor relations with Russia.
And, of course, you know, the Russians have always said they flat out deny any of the allegations against them. And there certainly is nothing to indicate that they would change that stance even if this declassified version or even since this declassified version of the report came out. What we're hearing from a plot of media outlets here, also from some Russian officials, the said they feel that what's been put out in the public so far is very thin. Is that there is very little in the way of substance in there. There's very little actual evidence to suggest that Russia was behind this. A lot on the conclusions are there, but very little else.
One of the things they take issue with a lot is that allegation that Russia is spreading fake news in the United States. That there's some sort of Russian campaign to try and influence the mindset in the United States. In fact, the Russian state-owned media channel Russia Today or R.T. put out a very, very long article earlier today, basically refuting all of the things that were said in that declassified report that came out from the intelligence community there in the United States.
And basically, just going through one by one, through all these allegations and trying to refute them all. So there certainly is -- I would say some frustration of anger here in Moscow but at the same time obviously also a lot of combativeness, where the Russians are continuing to say that is wasn't them and especially saying that they -- or don't have any sort of media or fake news campaign going on in the United States, Hannah.
JONES: Yeah, well, substance or no substance in this intelligence, this could really damage our relations between the U.S. and Russia even further, particularly between president-elect Trump and Mr. Putin.
[04:20:01] PLEITGEN: Well, it certainly could be the potential, I mean one of things that was viewed with a lot of interest here in Moscow was the fact that Donald Trump came out with a statement shortly afterwards, where he also mention Russia is trying to hack into sensitive U.S. information.
However mentioned, they get along with China and other state and non- state actors. And I think that's something that was viewed very closely here in Moscow to see whether or not he would come out with tough statements towards the Russians or whether or not it would be something more general, as he did.
The mood here in Moscow is one that they believe after January 20th, there could be somewhat of a reset, if we can use that word, of relations between Russia and the United States. Obviously, they're hoping for concessions from the US, especially when it comes to loosening and possibly getting rid of some of the very crippling sanction on the Russian economy. It seems like something they are almost banking on.
If you look at for instance the way the ruble has gone, it's written a little bit since Donald Trump was elected. And as it becomes closer to him getting into office, generally there's more of an optimistic view here. Whether or not that's actually going to happen, whether or not all of this will translate into policy, of course, is something that they're still waiting to see, Hannah.
JONES: OK. Fred, appreciate it, Fred Pleitgen there live for us in Moscow. Thank you.
Now, Donald Trump's lack of outrage over the Russia meddling in the U.S. elections puzzling to many Americans, including at the US president Barack Obama. Mr. Obama said people should remember Russian interests are not the same as U.S. interests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think that what is true is that the Russians intended to meddle and they meddled. I'll be honest with you, George, one of the things I am concerned of that, is the degree to which we've seen a lot of commentary lately where there were Republicans or pundits or cable commentators, who seem to have more confidence in Vladimir Putin than fellow Americans because those fellow Americans are Democrats, that cannot be.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does include the president- elect?
OBAMA: Well, what I will say is that -- and I said this right after the election, we have to remind ourselves, we're on the same team. Vladimir Putin is not on our team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Well, to hear his analysis with the U.S. election and Russian hacking scandal, I'm joined by Jacob Parakilas, he is the Assistant Head of the U.S. and the America's program at the Chatham House think- tank. Thanks very much for come income today.
How difficult the position Donald Trump now in, given the fact that these questioned the reliability of his own intelligence reports? Does he now have to act against Putin?
JACOB PARAKILAS, CHATHAM HOUSE: He doesn't have to act necessarily but he has been put in a very different position. Because this reports, at least the unclassified version that's available to the public, doesn't really produce a lot of new information. But it does put the impremature of the intelligence community on it.
And it means that Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill who are more hawkishly inclined towards Russia than he is, will have something they can point to and say this is the high confident of the CIA and the high confidence of the FBI and the moderate confidence of the NSA that Russia actively worked to get you elected, and actively worked to meddle in American elections. And that's going to make any kind of hearing for particularly Rex Tillerson as state, the people will be charged with resetting Trump's relations with Russia. That will make it more difficult and it will make it more difficult for Trump to try to draw back sanctions.
JONES: What do you make of this idea that the president Putin personally authorized this sort of hacking, that its own right to the very top. What is at stake for Vladimir Putin as an individual?
PARAKILAS: I think, I mean, on the one hand is very difficult from the unclassified report to verify whether that's true. I mean I think we can say sort of just based on a general assumption that he must have been involved. But it's very difficult based on what's been released to the public to draw that linkage. And of course the intelligence committee, if they were able to verify it, wouldn't be able to say so publicly, because that would involve presumably their most sensitive source and method.
So we're -- there is a stalemate there. And I think in a way Putin has gone with a strategy, because it doesn't present a risk for him. There is no really credible threat that the United States can make in response to this with any other country. That's why he's adopted his strategy. That's why it's effective.
JONES: I guess one of the reasons by Donald Trump has being slow to kind of improve all of his own intelligence agency reports is because, it somehow perhaps delegitimizes his own election wins. But does it also perhaps imply his teams were complicit or aware of Russian hacking, and that's why they stood by and let Hillary Clinton lose while he take the victory?
PARAKILAS: There is no indication again in the unclassified report of any U.S. person connected formally or informally to Trump's campaign who was aware of the hacking. That could be a very serious crime; if that were to vote, presumably if there are evidences of that, there will be more of an indication. But we -- we really don't know because, again, you get into the question of what are the sensitive sources and method, what can actually be divulged to the public. We don't know what the -- the only thing we know about the difference between classified or unclassified versions is that the conclusions are the same.
[04:25:11] JONES: Finally, we have to talk about Russia's tactics going forward. If it has on this in one election process in the U.S., it could presumably deploy kind of tactics for German presidential election, (inaudible) elections coming up next year, France as well.
PARAKILA: I don't see any reason why they wouldn't; I mean they've seen this. Their objective may have been initially to just so discord (inaudible) United States. I'm sure they take Trump being elect as a boon to their interests. Trump is certainly more friendly to Russian interests than was Hillary Clinton. So I think they, you know, regardless of what their actual objective was, I think they see this as kind of a (ph) playbook and they don't see that any particular reason not to do it in the future.
JONES: Thank you, sir. Jacob Parakilas, many thanks for joining us from CNN NEWSROOM.
Now, investigators in Florida are trying to understand what could have made the U.S. veteran open fire at a crowded airport. More on the suspected gunman background just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JONES: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world, I'm Hannah Vaughan-Jones here in London.
Investigators are trying to figure out a motive in the mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport. They say this man, Esteban Santiago open fire, killing five peoples and wounding at least eight others before he was apprehended by police.
Well, Santiago had displayed some red flags of late. But law enforcement officials didn't consider him to be dangerous. Our Pamela Brown looks at Santiago's background.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
[04:30:04] PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: We have learned the suspect in the shooting at that Fort Lauderdale airport flew from Anchorage Alaska to Fort Lauderdale on Friday after the passengers deplaned.
The suspect apparently got his checked bag from baggage claim, and according to witnesses, he came back out of the restroom and started firing in the baggage claim area, killing five people. He then surrendered to authorities and was not injured.
And we have been looking back at his past. He was apparently in the Alaska National Guard and received a general discharge in August, 2016, which means there have been some issues. And we're told by officials that he had apparently stopped showing up at the National Guard. And then later, he went to the FBI's office in Anchorage back in November and reported that his mind was being controlled by a U.S intelligence agency and that voices were in his head pushing him to join ISIS. But he didn't wish to do harm to anyone.
And official says he appeared agitated. His statements were incoherent and disjointed. So the FBI looks into his background, saw he's been in the military. He had served in Iraq but there was no apparent radicalization and the determination was made that this should be handled by local authorities.
Local police took him to the hospital, where he voluntarily checked himself in and underwent a mental health evaluation. The next thing we know he boarded the plane to Florida and opened fire in the baggage claim. The motive, still under investigation.
Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.
JONES: Well, though everything the suspect did on route to Florida was completely legal, this incident can could airlines to reconsider their policies on passengers traveling with weapons. Tom Foreman shows us how Santiago made his way into the terminal.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the Fort Lauderdale Airport. And based on everything that we have heard about this alleged shooter's travel plans, after leaving Alaska, laying over in Minneapolis and heading here, this is where he would have arrived, Terminal 2, specifically at get Gate 5 at this terminal. If you move in closer, I can show you the Gate 5 is the one right back in this area.
The people who were also in the plane say, the walk from here down to the baggage area would be about 50 or 60 yards if you travel the same way that you would expect somebody to normally do on a plane like this. It would be past something like this through the area down to the escalator down here, and then down to the baggage area.
The baggage area is on here. That's where he would have retrieved his bag with the gun in it, if the witness accounts are correct. And then people talk about him going into the restroom. There is one over there. There's also one right over here. If that were the case, he could have gone in and come right back out firing roughly about 45 minutes after his plane officially touched down. And we do know that some of the victims were actually right in this area.
Now what about this business of taking a gun on a plane? As a civilian, you cannot do that in a carry-on bag. But it is perfectly legal for to you do it in a checked bag. Aside from local and state regulations here on TSA, so the Federal Regulation there, you must tell the airline that you are carrying a firearm.
It must be unloaded. You can't have any shells in the chamber or in a clip that's loaded onto it. It must be in a locking hard shell case and only you can have the key and the combination. You can't have a whole lot of people with that information. And, lastly, if you are carrying ammunition, that also has to be locked up. Many gun owners will actually lock it in with the gun itself.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
JONES: Tom Foreman reporting that.
Well, one shooting survivor says his laptop and his backpack may have saved his life. He spoke to CNN Anderson Cooper about his chilling experience inside the airport terminal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE FRAPPIER, AIRPORT SHOOTING WITNESS: I dropped to the ground. I heard more of the popping sound. And then while I'm on the floor at eye level, I'm seeing people in front of me get hit.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: You actually saw them? FRAPPIER: I saw them. There was a man probably ten feet away from me that was shot in the head and his wife. You know, collapsed on top of him. And --
COOPER: Was he shot while he was standing up or was he on the floor as well?
FRAPPIER: We were on the floor.
COOPER: So the shooter just went over and shot somebody who was lying down on the floor?
FRAPPIER: It was on a certain distance, so the shooter was not necessarily walking around the whole baggage claim area. He was still several feet away from many of us as he come shooting into the crowd and in the floor and hit that man.
COOPER: Was he saying anything at all before or during the shooting?
FRAPPIER: He said absolutely nothing. He said absolutely nothing. And so there was a point where the entire terminal was, at the baggage claim area, completely silent. And all we could hear was just that, the popping of the gun.
COOPER: Then that say you remember people screaming, do you remember the silence?
FRAPPIER: The people screaming were the people that might have been hurt or people that were next to someone, you know, or a loved one that was hit.
[04:35:06] COOPER: I understand you had a backpack with you.
FRAPPIER: I did.
COOPER: And that actually saved you or may have saved you. What happened?
FRAPPIER: The backpack saved my life. I was wearing a back pack on both shoulders and then when we went to the floor, I just, you know, I dropped and the backpack was still on my back. And it was turned in such a way where at one point when the shooter shot towards my direction, there were several other people around me.
There was a bullet that ricocheted and I did not know this until much later. I felt something hit my back and I turned around. And I thought it was just the luggage which was still coming. So there was a luggage that was falling on top of me, too. And I thought it was just that luggage at that time.
And it was only later when I go to the bathroom to check myself out that the bullet had entered my backpack, hit my laptop, and then later when I gave my bag over to the FBI for investigation, we found the bullet in the pocket of my backpack.
COOPER: That's incredible. So your laptop saved your life. And your laptop stopped the bullet?
FRAPPIER: The laptop and I believe too, (inaudible) with the backpack. And so the laptop the plastic casing, all of that combination because it seems I was on the ground, you know, like a tortoise, you know, with the backpack on me. The way that it ricocheted into my bag, that would have been my back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: With that extraordinary account, that was a shooting witness Steve Frappier speaking to CNN's Anderson Cooper earlier on.
Still ahead on the program this hour, Donald Trump action plans. The accounts of cyber attack, we'll hear from a senior adviser to the U.S President-elect.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:40:34] JONES: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says he will setup a team within 90 days of taking office to find ways to "aggressively come back and stop cyber attacks".
But the current theme within the Trump transition team is that even if Russia did, was accused of doing, it did not change the outcome of the presidential election. Here's what Donald Trump's Senior Adviser Jack Kingston told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK KINGSTON, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISER: What was clear was that there was no effect of the results because of this. No tampering of machines and no motive that was found and so forth.
So I think the good part about this report and today's action and the hearings this week is that maybe we can get beyond the politics and say, "OK, what do we do about this?" Because we know Russia isn't alone. There are lone actors, there is China, there is other nations who are always trying to hack into our computer systems, what can we do about that?
And then, you know, one other question is if we are going to continue and we as a community of maybe critics in Washington, D.C., where was the president? If this was going on in 2015-2016, why did the President wait until this fall to talk to Putin about it? And even when he did talk to Putin about it, he said, "You guys need to cut that out". Those were his words.
It seems to me like it would have been a much bigger deal for the President of the United States.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
KINGSTON: And would have merited him sitting down with Putin saying, "What the heck are you guys doing and if you are going to continue doing this, we are going to get very, very involved". And things like that would have been up in this as well. BLITZER: That is a fair criticism that even some Democrats like Adam Schiff, Dianne Feinstein, have leveled against the president that he waited too long to go ahead and launch the sanctions and to punish Russia for these cyber attacks.
Well, I just want to get your personal understanding. Do you agree with this line from this report? "We further assess that Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President- elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments". Do you agree with that?
KINGSTON: Well, I would accept that. But, you know, again, now that we have this report, can we get beyond the political side of it and say, you know, what are we going to do about it from this point forward? And in that respect, Donald Trump called for a 90-day action plan. He's going to put the handcuffs, he's going to put my Pompei, General Flynn, everybody to task immediately, to come back with what are we going to do about this? How do we prevent it in the future from other nations and, again, solo actors who are out there?
I think that the president-elect has acted in a very responsible manner. And he also, by the way, as you know, complemented the intelligence community. So I think he wants to get the kind of the public debate over with and let's move to a constructive solution of how do you learn from this and what can we do going forward?
JONES: Well, just a reminder that was Donald Trump's Senior Adviser, Jack Kingston, a former Republican Congressman from George, speaking to Wolf Blitzer.
Now, staying with U.S. politics, and the first lady who has not been someone who hides how she feels. Michelle Obama's last official speech was no exception.
Mrs. Obama was hosting top high school counselors from all around the country. The first lady got extremely emotional and some of the guests also cried as she spoke.
Michelle Kosinski has more on them from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: As I end my time in the White House, I can think of no better message to send to our young people. Something that has carried us through every moment in this White House and every moment of our lives and that is the power of hope, the belief that something better is always possible if you are willing to work for it and fight for it.
It is our fundamental belief in the power of hope that has allowed us to rise above the voices of doubt and division of anger and fear that we have faced in our own lives and in the life of this country.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In a crowd of educators, advocates, school counselors, the first lady took this opportunity to speak to America's youth about America's values. And as someone who, over eight years has emerged as one of the most powerful voices for Democrats, from her emotional speech at the convention last year.
[04:45:09] M. OBAMA: I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I've watched my daughters, two beautiful intelligent black young women, playing with their dog on the White House lawn.
KOSINSKI: To her surprising words just days ago with Oprah Winfrey.
M. OBAMA: See, now, we're feeling what not having hope feels like.
KOSINSKI: Here she didn't miss the chance to once again hit out at the kind of rhetoric she has said defined the Trump campaign.
M. OBAMA: If you or your parents are immigrants, know that you are a part of a proud American tradition and whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, these religions are teaching our young people about justice and compassion and honesty. You see our glorious diversity, are diversity of faiths, and colors and creeds that is not a threat to who we are. It makes us who we are.
KOSINSKI: Noting, too, that it comes with responsibility half of those young people she is speaking to didn't vote at all.
M. OBAMA: You cannot take your freedoms for granted. Empower yourselves with a good education. Then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise. Lead by example with hope, never fear and know that I will be with you rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life.
And I am so grateful to all of you for your passion and your dedication and all the hard work on behalf of our next generation and I can think of no better way to end my time as first lady than celebrating with all of you.
So I want to close today by simply saying thank you. Thank you for everything you do for our kids and for our country. Being your first lady has been the greatest honor of my life. And I hope I've made you proud.
KOSINSKI: You got the sense that that was difficult to deliver. I mean, her face was serious throughout. Not smiling very much, the emotions seemed difficult to keep under control.
And it was surprising just days ago to hear for her words in an interview with Oprah Winfrey when she said now we're feeling what not having hope feels like. Well, here is a message worth continued hope. And then afterwards, Friday night here at the White House the Obama's hosted a star-studded farewell party. Also this weekend, President Obama is expected to work on his farewell speech that he'll deliver next week in Chicago. The White House says his goal is to keep it optimistic and forward-looking.
Michelle Kosinski, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
JONES: Michelle, there was an emotional farewell from the U.S. first lady. Next on CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has our weather forecast including a look at a winter storm targeting parts of the southeast U.S. Do stay with us for more.
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[04:50:45] PATRICK SNELL, SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, there. I'm Patrick Snell with your CNN World Sport Headline.
Starting up with the oldest cup competition of the morning is F.A. Cup dates all the way back to the early 1870s, but something to think in a new Friday night the home of West Ham United City may have dropped to fourth in the premiere league. But they are right on form at the home of the Hammers easing to victory in the English capital of the 2012 Olympic stadium.
The first time an F.A. Cup fixed has been played there, (inaudible) spend booking their spot in round four. Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic is through to settle this final in Qatar setting up a early seizing clash between the two best plays in the world just days before the Australians Open.
Murray sweeping aside Thomas Berdych to secure his 28 straight win. It was a little more differently, though, for the serve who had to come from behind to hold off the world number 42, Fernando Verdasco in three sets.
They say all good things must come to an end on Thursday nights. So it would be an historic milestone miss by the NHL Blue jackets up for an incredible run a form in which the team from Columbus, Ohio went on to a run of victories that reach an incredible 16 straight. Unfortunately, that was a chance to tie the league all time mark of 17. The Blue Jackets falling massively short on Thursday night thrashed on the road by the Capitals 5-9.
That's all for your CNN World Sport headlines, thanks for joining us. I'm Patrick Snell.
JONES: Hello, again, welcome back. A wintry makes of snow, ice and rain is moving to part of the southeastern United States right now. In Georgia, leaders declared a state of emergency due to the threat of severe weather. Three-to-five inches of snow or more may fall in Atlanta. Well, it looks like these guys are making the most of it and already having a lot of fun playing in some of that ice and snow. Well, the meteorologist the Derek Van Dam joins us now with the latest from the CNN weather center. Derek looks like lots of fun to be have that some risks as well.
DEREK VAN DAM, METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, absolutely. It's going to be kind of a rude awakening for people in Atlanta. We didn't get the snow that we originally anticipated. There's a lot of meteorological reasons for this. But basically, it fell as freezing rain. And that is probably the worst case scenario out of all of this. This is a very familiar site here across Atlanta if we go back to 2014. We have the quote on quote "snow apocalypse" that took place just really stalling the entire city for several days on end. I don't want to say that that's the situation that we're dealing within Atlanta but it's eerily similar. You can you see I snapped this photo just outside of the CNN headquarters right downtown Atlanta and you can see the icicles on some of the overpasses and the light fixtures overhead. It is a significant scene out there. People are going to have to drive with care if they do get out on the roadways this morning as they wake up.
We are measuring the ice accumulation for the metro Atlanta area between a quarter to a half an inch in some of the locations. And the problem is that when we start factoring in the stronger wind gusts and all the ice that has accumulated on let's say the trees, for instance, there is the potential to see those tree branches fall off, perhaps causing some power outrages definitely concern going forward. There are several 1,000 people in Atlanta metro that have already lost power from this storm system.
The good news is, however, that the backside of the system already moving through Atlanta. So now, we need to start focusing our attention a little further to the north and east because this storm is not done.
Places like charlotte into Norfolk and even further north towards the nation's capital. We're in a full on winter storm. In fact, Norfolk has a blizzard warning as we speak. So they're going to expect upwards of a foot of snowfall before its set and done. We've got another 8 to 12 hours of snowfall across this region. You can see the winter storm warnings stretching from Alabama, north Georgia, into the Carolinas as well as Virginia, even further north as well. New York, you are out of the warning but look at Boston, into parts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, you have a winter storm warning because you are next.
[04:54:59] This system continues to move along the East Coast. So scanning the coastal regions, that means interstate 95 is going to be a mess today traveling across that region. Hey, I'm going to take to you the other side of the United States. The West Coast bracing themselves for another plume of moisture called the pineapple express. We call it that because we can trace that moisture all the way back towards its originating point, which is Hawaii. And that is going to take up a significant amount of moisture from the Pacific Ocean dump it in the form of snow in the higher elevations.
Good news from the ski resorts, but in the valleys and lower elevations, it will be a significant amount of rain, a liquid equivalent. And that means we have a great flood potential for sierra. It could be the worse in 10 to 15 years.
Look at the snowfall totals. We're going to be measuring this in feet for the Sierra Nevada region. Look out though in the Sacramento Valley. That's where we're expecting flooding with the potential for 10 inches of rainfall through the course of the weekend and into the early parts of next week. Hey, we're going to take you across the world. This is CNN International. So we are going to talk about the weather in Istanbul, Turkey. This is as photo taken from a body and mind heading the work and this is at Turk Airport. Wow. They are dealing with 25 centimeters of snow, causing delays but also creating quite a sight. Beautiful sight, too, Hannah, right?
JONES: Yeah, a classic winter cocktail of snow, ice and rain. Derek, thank you very much, indeed.
DAM: You are welcome.
JONES: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones in London. And I'll be back with another hour of news in around the world after this break.
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JONES: Hello, I'm Hannah Vaughan-Jones in London. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. We're falling two major stories for you this hour.
